[Update 9/22/09: The American Conservative story is now posted. As well, the office of the Congresswoman named for the first time in the report has offered a vehement denial of the allegations to The BRAD BLOG. Her full response, rebuttal now here…]
On Friday, we reported on the coming exclusive American Conservative cover story interview with formerly-gagged FBI translator turned whistleblower Sibel Edmonds by quoting the magazine’s own teaser description of the piece as “explosive.” Over the weekend, we received an embargoed look at the final version of the AmCon interview by former CIA officer Phil Giraldi, and yes, “explosive” may be a vast understatement. At least if the U.S. corporate media bother to notice it this time.
It seems it may be difficult not to notice it, given that Edmonds finally names, on the record, for the first time, in a right-leaning periodical founded by Pat Buchanan, the identity of the currently-serving Democratic Congresswoman she has previously described as married with grown children and having been “hooked” into participating in a lesbian affair with a Turkish foreign agent, as she was secretly video-taped for blackmail purposes.
Edmonds has alluded to the Congresswoman, without naming her, in the past, most notably in her recent sworn and video-taped deposition in the Schmidt v. Krikorian case now pending before the Ohio Election Commission. In that testimony, she did manage to name the names of other Congress members she had previously identified publicly. At the time, we (and virtually no other media outlets) reported on her disclosures that Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Bob Livingston (R-LA), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Stephen Solarz (D-NY), and Tom Lantos (D-CA, deceased), were all participants in blackmail and/or bribery schemes by and with agents of the Turkish government, as she became aware while translating wiretaps in the FBI’s counterintelligence division after 9/11. Some of those crimes are said to have resulted in the theft and sale of nuclear weapons technology to allies and enemies alike.
In her 8/8/09 D.C. deposition, she discussed, for the first time on the public record since being previously gagged by the Bush Administration’s use of so-called “State Secrets Privilege” (twice), details of what she heard while reviewing and translating wiretaps of Turkish agents who were targets of a long-running FBI investigation centered out of Chicago, but extending far beyond.
In addition to specific details on allegations of serious wrongdoing by the Congress members mentioned above, as well as State and Defense Department officials such as Marc Grossman, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle, Edmonds had offered details, during the deposition, about a Democratic Congresswoman who is “married with…grown children, but she is bisexual.”
“So they have sent Turkish female agents,” she testified, in her sometimes-broken English, according to the transcript [PDF]. “And that Turkish female agents work for Turkish government, and have sexual relationship with this Congresswoman in her townhouse actually in this area, and the entire episodes of their sexual conduct was being filmed because the entire house, this Congressional woman’s house was bugged.”
She went on to add that she hadn’t used her name in the past because she left the FBI before knowing whether or not the information was actually used against the Congresswoman to blackmail her, or if the woman had even been made aware of it. “I don’t know if she did anything illegal afterwards,” Edmonds said.
In Giraldi’s AmCon interview, Edmonds again repeats that she doesn’t know if the Congresswoman “ever was actually blackmailed or did anything for the Turkish woman,” but she does name her name this time…
The Congresswoman in question, according to Edmonds, is Illinois’ 9th-district Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
The BRAD BLOG has attempted to contact Schakowsky’s office over the weekend, but they have yet to return several calls and emails seeking comment. We will, of course, update this story if we are able to receive comment. [UPDATE: Schakowsky’s office has now offered a response, rebuttal to the allegations here…]
Edmonds says in the Giraldi interview that “in 2000 … Turkish agents started gathering information on her, and they found out that she was bisexual.” A female Turkish agent is said to have “struck up a relationship with her,” and then, following the death of Schakowsky’s mother, the woman is said to have attended the funeral “hoping to exploit her vulnerability.”
“They later were intimate in Schakowsky’s townhouse,” Edmonds tells Giraldi, “which had been set up with recording devices and hidden cameras.”
The reason for attempting to get at Schakowsky, Edmonds believes, is so that they would be able to get both her “and her husband Robert Creamer to perform certain illegal operational facilitations for them in Illinois,” along with Hastert, who was already on the payroll, and several other Chicago officials.
Edmonds has previously disclosed some of Hastert’s dealings with shady Turkish operatives. Many of those charges were originally detailed in a 2005 Vanity Fair exposé by David Rose, which focused on the allegations of payoffs to Hastert by the Turks to the tune of some half a million dollars, or more.
Schakowsky’s husband, lobbyist Robert Creamer, was indicted on 16 counts of bank fraud in 2004. In 2005 he pleaded guilty to one count and was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months of house arrest. He was released from the federal penitentiary in 2006.
Since leaving Congress, Hastert, as Edmonds points out to American Conservative, and as previously reported, now works as a registered lobbyist for the Turkish government for some $35,000 a month.
Schakowsky is a member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management and the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation.
A Metastasized National Security Cancer
Some more details from the interview in a moment, but I want to note that Giraldi’s interview is exceptional and brings together a great deal of the entire breadth of Edmonds’ long-quashed allegations in a simple, clear, cogent, easy-to-understand (even for beginners to the story) narrative.
He’s done an excellent job in that regard, and Edmonds told me over the weekend that she believes it was due to his own knowledge of the topic, from both his years of covering her story at various times, as well as his own inside knowledge as a counterintelligence officer at the CIA, working a similar beat.
The exclusive interview lays out the details of what can be described as nothing short of a national security cancer that has metastasized throughout the U.S. government, to the covert monetary, military, and strategic intelligence benefit of our allies and enemies alike.
Edmonds is more specific than even in her recent deposition, in explaining what she’s been disallowed from talking about publicly for so long. She names very specific names, describes massive government infiltration and the theft of weapons technology and nuclear secrets beginning at the very top of government (the State Department and top White House officials and appointees), going through Congress (at least half a dozen current and former members) and defense contractors (RAND), through Ph.D. programs (MIT) and highly-classified nuclear facilities (Sandia, Los Alamos) and even, for good measure, through the media (New York Times) and beyond.
She discusses a well-organized foreign intelligence black market superstore, benefiting everyone from treasonous U.S. officials to operatives and governments in Turkey, Israel, Pakistan, Iran, Libya, al-Qaeda, and beyond.
“No one has ever disproved any of Edmonds’s revelations, which she says can be verified by FBI investigative files,” Giraldi notes in the opening of his nearly-4,000 word article/interview. “As Sibel herself puts it,” Giraldi writes, “‘If this were written up as a novel, no one would believe it.'”
Bingo. And shy of investigation from other media and/or law enforcement, that could still remain the case, even after AmCon’s exclusive.
Where any of her allegations may be untrue or inaccurate, given the exceptional gravity of them, it would be nice if the media investigated if only to disprove them. If they can. Or, otherwise, corroborate them with other sources.
Virtually all of the mainstream corporate media outlets that have bothered to investigate her story over the years — largely before Edmonds was able to speak out herself — such as CBS’ 60 Minutes, Vanity Fair, Sunday Times of London (front-page series here, here and here), etc. — have almost all been able to find corroboration from various sources, including within the FBI, for the allegations.
It remains both astounding and alarming that almost all of those same media have now stopped dead in their tracks from continuing to dig, investigate, and report.
As we’ve pointed out many times before (and so does Giraldi), an unclassified FBI Inspector General’s report, released on her case in 2005, declared many of Edmonds’ classified allegations to be “credible,” “serious,” and “warrant[ing] a thorough and careful review by the FBI.” In 2002, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), then the ranking members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, co-wrote letters on Edmonds’ behalf to Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and DoJ Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, calling on all of them to take action in respect to her allegations. In 60 Minutes’ 2002 report Grassley says about Edmonds: “Absolutely, she’s credible…And the reason I feel she’s very credible is because people within the FBI have corroborated a lot of her story.”
In the next week or so, we hope to offer still more corroboration from an FBI source concerning her allegations.
At right is a brief 2007 video compilation by Edmonds expert Luke Ryland, featuring everyone from Grassley to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to “Pentagon Papers” whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg to even Paul Newman singing her praises.
More Details from the American Conservative Exclusive
Among the other new and key allegations fleshed out in the Giraldi interview, in addition to the disclosure concerning Schakowsky:
- Giraldi describes “a pattern of corruption starting with government officials providing information to foreigners and helping them make contact with other Americans who had valuable information.” That information, “including weapons technology, conventional weapons technology, and Pentagon policy-related information,” according to Edmonds, was then sold on the black market to Turkey, Israel and beyond, and “the money that was being generated was used to corrupt certain congressmen to influence policy and provide still more information-in many cases information related to nuclear technology.”
- The most serious allegations in the piece are detailed against Marc Grossman, who had served as the Ambassador to Turkey before being named as the third-highest official at the State Department by the Bush Administration, where he is said to have “received money directly” for his work on behalf of Turkish agents. The article explains, in the most detail to date, Grossman’s criminal involvement as the ring-leader for much of this, as first exposed in a January 2008 London Sunday Times front page story which described Grossman’s activities but, due to British libel laws, didn’t identify him by name. The paper also followed it up with some corroboration of FBI case files on the allegations later that month, and then dropped a blockbuster concerning Grossman’s outing of Valerie Plame-Wilson’s CIA front company Brewster-Jennings to Turkish diplomats long before she was ever outed publicly by Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Robert Novak.
- A great deal of explanation is given concerning Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s extremely close alliance with Turkey and the American Turkish Council (ATC) in all of these matters, and how the now-deceased Democratic U.S. Congressman from California, Rep. Tom Lantos, was “the top person obtaining classified information” concerning Israel in Congress for both groups.
- Former Lousiana Republican, and almost-Speaker of the House, Rep. Bob Livingston is described as “the number-one congressman involved with the Turkish community, both in terms of providing information and doing favors.” Livingston now runs a lobbying firm representing Turkey. “Number-two after him was Dan Burton” of Indiana (still serving), Edmonds tells Giraldi, “and then he became number-one until Hastert became the speaker of the House.”
- Details about how the Bush Administration, including officials such as Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, and Paul Wolfowitz, were “discussing with the Turkish ambassador in Washington an arrangement whereby the U.S. would invade Iraq and divide the country” between the U.S., Great Britain, and possibly Turkey, some four months before 9/11 occurred.
- Former Bush Sr. administration official Brent Scowcroft, who had become chair of the American Turkish Council (ATC), is said to have been involved in similar discussions as well prior to 9/11, along with James Baker and Richard Armitage. Scowcroft, Edmonds alleges, only came out against the Iraq War when the George W. Bush administration decided against an arrangement for a “Turkish protectorate” in northern Iraq.
- Some members of Congress were wiretapped directly by the FBI after information had been obtained “secondhand through FISA, as [the FBI’s] primary targets were foreigners.”
- “The epicenter of a lot of the foreign espionage activity was Chicago.” Hence the involvement of Hastert and Schakowsky, all of which leaves Edmonds with many concerns about Illinois’ former U.S. Senator Barack Obama and his current Chief of Staff, the former U.S. Congressman from Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel.
- Edmonds further details what she had briefly discussed with me on air in June, during an interview I did with her while guest hosting the nationally syndicated Mike Malloy Show, in which she had said she was aware of the “intimate relationship with Bin Laden and the Taliban … all the way up to September 11,” 2001, by certain forces in the U.S. Whatever the operations were with bin Laden — actually “‘bin Ladens’ plural” as she clarifies to Giraldi — Edmonds notes that “Marc Grossman was leading it, 100 percent,” and that the U.S. was “100 percent” aware of the deal. “From Turkey,” she says, “they were putting all these bin Ladens on NATO planes. People and weapons went one way, drugs came back.”
- There is much more, but one new point, in particular, caught my eye and certainly demands further immediate follow-up, though it could be difficult, even as it may serve to help explain the virtual U.S. media blackout on this story up until now. Edmonds tells Giraldi about Grossman paying off “some other people, including his contact at the New York Times.” She says he bragged about faxing articles to the paper, which were then printed under the names of Times reporters or Op-Ed columnists virtually verbatim. In speaking with her on Sunday, in hopes of following up on that a bit — no reporter is identified by name in the AmCon article — she said this “also happened with the Washington Post, but the New York Times was their primary one for this.”
“Every time they wanted something on Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan, for example, they just faxed it over [to the Times], and it was run under their own guys’ name, even though it was written by the State Department,” she said during our conversation on Sunday. “This was an ongoing operation, at least during a four year period of time” from 1997 to 2001.
Edmonds was fired by the FBI in 2002, after she began reporting to her superiors on a colleague in the translation department who was, herself, a member of one of the Turkish organizations being targeted by the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation.
Edmonds went on to found the non-partisan National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) in August of 2004, “comprised of current or former federal employees or civilians working under contract to the United States who, to their detriment or personal risk, bring to light fraud, waste, and abuse in government operations and agencies when such improprieties compromise the national security of the United States.”
Giraldi’s article in The American Conservative should be on newsstands and on the Internet, in full, at their website by Tuesday.
UPDATE 9/22/09, 1:40pm PT: The American Conservative story is now posted. Rep. Schakowsky office has offered a vehement denial of the allegations to The BRAD BLOG. Details shortly…
UPDATE:9/22/09, 10:45pm PT: Schakowsky’s full response, rebuttal, denial now here…
Sibel Edmond’s complete 8/8/09 video-taped deposition in the Ohio Election Commission’s Schmidt v. Krikorian case, where she was allowed to speak publicly, on the record, for the first time since being gagged by the Bush Administration, can be viewed here. The text transcript may be downloaded here [PDF]. Shorter excerpts from the deposition transcript related to corrupt by specific members of Congress can be read here. She is likely to be called to testify in the case as a witness, live on the stand, when the hearing resumes on October 1.
Please consider donating to The BRAD BLOG in support of our years-long continuing coverage of the Sibel Edmonds case.
I haven’t bought a hard-copy magazine in years, and never a political one, much less a conservative one. But right after work today (or perhaps sooner), I’m marching over to Barnes and Noble to buy a copy (or maybe a few) of American Conservative. I hope they carry it. And that the delivery hasn’t been interdicted by scary looking men in black suits.
Wow
1. Is there any actual evidence on Rahm Emanuel?
2. Has Grossman ever made any statement?
Perhaps this is why tomorrows weather forecast for Chicago includes 500 mph winds and tritium showers?
Just sayin.
Wow,,what a hero..
No surprise the MSM wouldn’t cover her story.
They wouldn’t help me when I was trying to expose,”Bush was spying on everybody under National Security for Political Reasons” in Jan/Feb,2005…
The New York Times finally broke the story in Oct/Nov.2005..
Then they wouldn’t help me to expose the Rothschild/CIA Mk Ultra Program…
I’m under Protective Custody now and all the information should be in the hands of the law..
Sibel’s story is a bomb,,my story is an atrocity, both against the United States of American and it’s citizens…
Told you so!!
Brad….
Did Steve Clemons ever contact you, as he said he might?
It seems I’ve become personna non gratis with Steve since I pressed this issue on his blog. But I’m still posting there at TWN, and I do not intend to let up on the issue. He expressed a “like” for you, no matter whatever transpired between him and Sibel, so I was hoping that you could convince him that this story deserves exposure on a grand scale. I think, possibly, his friendship with Grossman may be the main factor fueling his reticence to get involved in a journalistic or blogging sense, and whatever transpired between he and Sibel is just a smokescreen.
August 19, 2009 – Peter B Collins Radio Podcast
Philip Giraldi, former CIA and DIA officer, on US/Israel relations, AIPAC, wiretapping and Rep. Jane Harman. This is the third installment of Boiling Frogs interviews co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds, and is quite explosive.
Radio Du Jour (voices from the truthland)
…or I should say, I posted that Wayne Madsen had this information on August 9, 2009.
COMMENT #12 [Permalink]
… Styve said on 8/10/2009 @ 5:24 pm PT…
————-
Brad Friedman said on 8/11/2009 @ 1:18 am PT…
Styve @ 12 asked:
What do you think of the following paragraph from WMR, about the Schakowsky situation
AntiWar Radio will interview Phil Giraldi, David Rose (Vanity Fair) and Joe Lauria (Sunday Time) tomorrow:
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/09/21/sibel-edmondss-big-day/
Ding,ding,,the bells are ringing,,
OMG,,
The Rothschild/CIA via Mk Ultra used me for storage and a 24/7 telephone line starting in April 2001 until Nov.2004 when the law tapped them on the shoulder…
Anyhow they stored TOKOYO ROSE…
This is HUGE,there are some MSM’s that are sending messages via there media,,orders,delivering messages,everything,,
They have worked out a system and have been doing this for several years..
Not only were the Rothschild/Rockefeller,CIA and Hughes Ind,,using me to communicate,,,they also had there operation Tokoyo ROSE on High after Bush stepped into power,,,
CNN I think worked with the Mossad in Houston to send messages-orders…
There was one REALLY BAD message,,
Around Sept/October 2008,,,An assassination order.
I know who and why,,
I have emailed this to Rachel Maddow in hopes that she might cover it.
“I have emailed this to Rachel Maddow in hopes that she might cover it”
You GOTTA be kidding. Maddow, although on the other side of the fence from the likes of Hannity or Beck, is no less biased or management controlled. Have you EVER seen her comment on the Isr/Pal dynamic, the settlements, or Netanyahu’s arrogance in the face of Obama’s stance on the settlements? Just like Fox, MSNBC has an agenda too, and exposing Sibel Edmonds’ allegations are obviously no part of it.
Sibel, I’ve long held the opinion you are a National Hero. I have followed your story for years and knowing what is at stake and who these players are, you are very courageous, thank you,
Joe
POA @ 7 asked:
I don’t believe he did. Would be happy to hear from him, work with him, etc.
Um, yeah, if he’s really friends with Grossman, then yeah, I suspect that’s a problem. Do you know that for a fact?
That said, if he actually is friends with him, he’d do us all a favor by posting Grossman’s “side” of the story. Would love to hear it!
Mr. Grossman is NOT gonna like what’s about to come out in the AmCon piece, I can tell ya that. He seems to be the top, corrupt, treasonous dog here, if Sibel’s allegations have any merit in the slightest.
But, by all means, let Steve know we’d love to hear from Grossman!
Sibel, you are a True American Hero. We are in desperate need of whistle blowers in order to expose the lies in the run-up to 911 and the lies about the events of that day. The level of corruption in our government and the media is unbelievable. A Coup d’état took place in this country many years ago and the symptoms are beginning to surface.
Brad……
I believe, if memory serves me, that steve mentioned a friendship or close contact with Grossman in a personal email he sent to me. I will look for it, but if thats the case, I certainly would not be comfortable sharing such a correspondence. If he meant it for public perusal, he would have simply posted it on his blog. It is also possible he mentioned it on his blog, prior to the thread I am linking to, (in response to my constant needling on unrelated threads). I will examine those, as well to see if I can find the comment about thier “relationship”, if any.
Here is the initial thread that Steve put up as a result of me, and others, needling him in January of ’08, and it does shed some small light on Steve’s position. Its also interesting that Giraldi commented on the thread, as did “Lukery”….
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/01/sibel_edmonds/
By the way, I see no reason that it is constructive for me to “middle man” any correspondence or contact you and Steve might initiate. My suggestion would be for you to directly contact Steve, and express your curiousity about Steve’s read on the issue, especially as it pertains to Marc Grossman. His Email is listed at TWN…
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/
Feel free to email me if you still think you need my assistance to initiate contact.
What is the reason for the Brad Friedman/Wayne Madsen animosity? Either tell the details or stop slamming one another.
I don’t have any particular animosity for Madsen, Molly. I just find him to be an *incredibly* irresponsible writer. (Yeah, he also seems to have a serious anti-semetic thread, but that’s a separate issue). He has gotten huge elements, in important story after important story completely wrong, and failed to bother to correct it even when called on it. He has brought a great deal of damage to important stories that folks won’t touch if they see that Madsen has touched them (often extraordinarily incorrectly and irresponsibily). I’d refer you back to his initial inaccurate coverage of Clint Curtis. His wholly inaccurate claim that he had in his hand a check for $12 million written by Saudi Arabia to throw the 2004 election for Bush, and so much more.
As I said, I have no particular animosity for him, and hope that he is well and healthy. But it would be helpful for all of us if he considered a different profession where he can’t cause quite as much damage to serious issues that need real investigation versus “my unnamed super-secret sources say”.
Hope that clarifies.
I just don’t know. This sounds explosive. I’d say the media might actually make a big deal of it to throw the scent off the next big move. I hope this is for real but lets just see what the MSM do with it. If they ignore it its probably for real. If they cover it and it jams up the blogsphere then you gotta wonder what other more important event they don’t want you to notice. Keep your eyes and ears open wider than ever for something/else big the elites might be planning. It is likely just what it seems.
OT – Keep your eyes glued to the next G20 meeting I’d say with an eye on the small print. At the last one they quietly in the small print approved the issueing of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the “Bank of International Settlements” a currency that has been dormant for 50 years. You can read about it here.
The Tower of Basel: Secretive Plans for the Issuing of a Global Currency
What certain individuals were doing in the four months lead up to 9/11, including US troop movements, proves that 9/11 was in fact an inside job. Everyone in DC knows it was.
Shutting down Able Danger is evidence of planning. So was the murder of Chandra Levy. Anyone and anything standing in the way of the 9/11 coup plot was removed.
It’s time for more whistleblowers to step forward.
I don’t think any of this is true. It really sounds like something someone made up. 10 minutes basic research on the internet and I’ve found a several flaws in this woman’s story.
Brad… can I call you Brad? Thanks Brad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojig6MeN0go
9/11 Truth will set us free.
{Ed Note: Obnoxious, anti-Turkish racist post deleted. – BF}
Madsen antisemitic? That would be a nice trick, since the Ashkenazis that founded “Israel” and commit treasonous acts like we’re talking about here (Grossman, Perle, Wolfy) aren’t Semites. But hey, war by way of deception, so why not?
You chastise others for irresponsible statements. Well that’s a big one of your own. What has Madsen said or written that shows he hates Jews, which is what you accuse him of?
Aidan,
Most of this she testified to in a court of law, and is subject to laws of perjury if she knowingly was misrepresenting the truth. Now its possible that there might be some complex disinformation campaign to cover up something that is legitimate, but i that is the case, then someone like Marc Grossman needs to be prepared to accept the costs of such a disinformation campaign and be subject to criminal prosecution for treason. That’s not a very smart disinformation campaign if he values his life. Gone unprosecuted, it promotes distrust of our government not following the rule of law to protect our country from within.
I think if you claim their’s inconsistencies out there that merit throwing out everything she says, you owe it to us to provide us links to substantiate that claim. Would YOU be prepared to go and testify that she’s lying like she’s already done in making her case? Somehow, I think not.
Aidan @ 23 said:
Really? What are they? We don’t do hit and run attacks here, Aidan. Either offer the cites/URL’s to your information, or you won’t be hanging out here very long.
Thanks!
Brad, you’re not making sense regarding your disrespect for Wayne Madsen.
First of all, I’m wondering why you didn’t address “Styve’s” concern (comment #9) regarding your initial discrediting in early August of Madsen’s report that the Congresswoman in question was Jan Schakowsky.
In August you called him irresponsible for using unnamed sources, which happens to be a near universal practice for those who chose to protect them from retribution.
Today (Comment #19 above) you answered Molly’s question (#18 above) regarding the basis of your disrespect, repeating the accusation that Madsen’s use of unnamed sources discredits his credibility.
Yet, today’s “explosive” story has Edmonds confirming Madsen’s initial report that it was in fact Jan Schakowsky. Instead of acknowledging Styve’s “I told you so” regarding Madsen’s now proved veracity, you ignore it and then use Molly to reaffirm your now discredited claim.
By the way, I have found Wayne Madsen to be one of the very few journalists to exercise a healthy skepticism — at times even outrage — regarding the dangerous and disproportionate influence of the Israel Lobby within our “republican democracy”, but I’ve never, ever observed him to be “anti-semetic” (sic), as you assert.
Dude, you need to come clean and let go of what now appears to be professional jealousy.
On an issue of this import, inter-blog rivalries, animosities, misunderstandings, or disagreements should not be encouraged or incited by the readers or commentors. It only detracts from the issue at hand, and gives fuel to those that would have us all pewrcieved as conspiracy kooks and malcontents.
If Wayne and Brad have ideological conflicts that have nothing to do with actual events or developments, I for one hope they won’t be aired on a public forum.
We need to keep our eye on the ball.
Brad,
there’s a good chance that “Aidan” is a plant. Turkish lobby posters like Kirlikovali like very non Turkish aliases, plus they can’t help attacking Sibel’s gender in place of her facts. Deep sexism is not an exclusively Turkish mindset, I admit.
The Shit is about to hit the fan. Get ready for something wicked on Tuesday. It’s coming fast.
Sorry I need to correct my own comment above.
“approved the issuing of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the “Bank of International Settlements”
“approved the issuing of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) by the “International Monetary Fund“
So this whole article and its wild far reaching allegation are all built on the heresay of one person in a low level FBI position who got fired? Not to say its not true, but thats pretty slim as far as evidence. How would a translator for the federal cops even have had access to most of this if it were true? Not to say that it can’t be true, but it falls below the standard of evidence, allegation doesn’t mean fact. Investigation is not a bad idea of course.
Progress @ 29 asked:
“Near universal”? Nonsense. We will use unnamed sources here on on the absolute rarest of occasions, and even then, largely when there is some form of documentation to present to go with it and/or other corroborating and independently verifiable information for readers. Madsen uses “sources say” constantly, while presenting little or no documentation to go with it. Often it’s complete and utter nonsense. When he has used documentation (see the Saudi check, for example), it was phony, and took about 15 minutes for us to check it out and find that to be the case. He never bothered to do so, and then never came clean about it, but instead told readers that it had really been a clever trick by the Bush crime family, or some such, to keep him from noticing a different story (the Clint Curtis story, which he then proceeded to also botch).
Sorry. Those are the facts. As I said, I’m sure he’s a very nice fellow and means well. But he does no favors for the profession of journalism. I assure you, there is no “professional jealousy” here, as someone suggested upthread. I wish him all the luck in the world. Just wish it didn’t come at such a huge cost to so many important issues, and to the credibility of legitmate reporters on the Internets.
A broken clock is also correct twice a day. That aside, I don’t enjoy this report on Schakowsky myself, as there is no evidence that she’s committed any crimes, or even knew about the taping, if it’s true.
However, Edmonds has now made the claim, in print, on the record, and so it needs to be reported out as such. Madsen neither quoted any sources, nor cited any crimes in his article. That is irresponsible in my opinion, as I mentioned previously.
Hope that clears it up. And I agree with the poster who says this sort of discussion is unseamly, which is why I’ve tried to avoid doing so. But as I’ve been asked now several times in these recent threads by readers, I thought I’d reply. Nothing to hide, and nothing to be concerned about. I just find him to be an unreliable source of news, and so I don’t either read him or cite him. I also have been trying to avoid disparaging him for many years, because it’s just ugly and a huge distraction from what actually matters. Which I hope we can now get back to. Thanks!
Jaik @ 34 said:
“Hearsay”? No. Aside from Edmonds’ credibility having been attested to by high officials in both houses of Congress, in the DoJ inspector general’s office, by a number of her colleagues in the FBI and in other branches of the government, various elements of the story have been indepdently corroborated by papers such as the Sunday Times of London, Vanity Fair and more.
You need to read up on her stories. I’ve offered many links for you in the above story. There are scores more here at BRAD BLOG and hundreds more elsewhere.
You are correct. Allegation doesn’t mean fact. Which is why her allegations are pointed out as such. And why investigation is called for (and being done, by those of us who give a damn, even with the meager resources we are able to scrape together).
A better question may be why folks like Henry Waxman did not hold an investigation once his party attained the majority in Congress, as he supposedly had promised he would.
Another question is why the U.S. corporate media hasn’t seen fit to investigate. The media in other countries have done so, but by and large the U.S. corporate media has been entirely silent, save for 60 Minutes’ 2002 report. Why haven’t they followed up, now that she’s able to speak and tell the whole story?
Glad to see you agree.
Brad,
Although I’m happy this story is reaching a wider audience; and although I’m supportive of your right to write the articles on this blog as you see fit; I would prefer that you spend less space pondering upon the juicy mysteries of a bi-sexual “hooking” operation, and more space as to how our political system has been subverted in more ways than one.
For those of us that had the opportunity to watch Sibel’s deposition, yes, I’m sure all of us are curious as to who this mystery-congresswoman is. I grant you that. and perhaps we have a good reason to want to know, even though Sibel cannot say whether or not this congresswoman even compromised herself.
but, again, for those of us that already watched Sibel’s deposition, what we really need now is a well-thought analysis, and perhaps more information to spread around the blogosphere. you know what I mean?
what I mean to suggest is: say you’re encountering this story for the first time. what are the immediate impressions you would come away with? and are those the impressions that you, as the writer, hope to convey?
sex is distracting. one tends to lose their train of thought. it’s the whole physiology thing.
like I indicated above, I’m glad you’re getting the story out. and, naturally, write how you see fit.
Sex is not distracting. Sexual blackmail is a foreign espionage tactic. This is a case of foreign espionage, and blackmail is central to it (see Hastert and Google sexpionage). Mossad is the world leader in this tactic and has every phone in the US wiretapped. Lewinsky? Chandra Levy? Do the math.
It is clear that AIPAC only allows men and women who are subject to some form of blackmail to enter the political arena at the outset. How many closeted gay Republican Senators and Congressman are there, really?
How long is the list of prominent public officials caught in the web of sexpionage by foreign “swallows” and “ravens?” Whatever happened to the story about the wild poker parties at the Watergate?
It’s not just relevant, it’s central. A feature, not a bug.
EDMONDS: Absolutely. And we also had Pentagon officials doing the same thing. We were looking at Richard Perle and Douglas Feith. They had a list of individuals in the Pentagon broken down by access to certain types of information. Some of them would be policy related, some of them would be weapons-technology related, some of them would be nuclear-related. Perle and Feith would provide the names of those Americans, officials in the Pentagon, to Grossman, together with highly sensitive personal information: this person is a closet gay; this person has a chronic gambling issue; this person is an alcoholic. The files on the American targets would contain things like the size of their mortgages or whether they were going through divorces. One Air Force major I remember was going through a really nasty divorce and a child custody fight. They detailed all different kinds of vulnerabilities.
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/nov/01/00006/
Thanks Brad for an extremely well-written summation of Sibel’s revelations.
While the word “explosive” may well be an understatement, I can’t say that we should be shocked by any of this.
Corruption is endemic to the very structure of our corporate, ad revenue-based electoral system that in most instances excludes any who do not sell their souls to the multinational corporate conglomerates, Wall Street and international finance in order to acquire the money required for deceptive campaign advertising.
From the betrayal of the American electorate it is but a small step to the betrayal of the nation to foreign lobbyists and governments.
Even if every one of the individuals Sibel names were successfully prosecuted for treason (no doubt, many should be), the problem will remain so long as we allow ourselves to be deceived by the corporate-owned media and the PR industry.
In this context, the corporate media’s failure to cover Sibel’s explosive allegations is understandable. Once the word gets out, people may begin to raise the very question as to whether the explanation for endemic corruption lies in the structure of a system which permits a handful of giant media conglomerates to not only control 95% of what we see, hear and read but to determine whom we elect, with those not willing to play the corporate shell game marginalized as “unelectable.”
This is why we are getting so much shit about a shitty healthcare bill that could never pass. Look over here there’s nothing to look at over there.
on Jan Schakowsky:
it is funny, since the firstname Jan is a Polish counterpart of John. So the congresswoman has a male firstname.
COMMENT #38 [Permalink]
… PLUNGER said on 9/22/2009 @ 3:19 am PT…
COMMENT #38 [Permalink]
… phil said on 9/22/2009 @ 2:36 am PT…
hmm? CONFLICT.
Fine I will slam it a second time
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Wanna know what I’d like to see now?
1000+ hours over the next year, of pure hard core blood sweat and production work (e.g. Air Time / Final Product on Broadcast Spectrum) in all network studio’s, all discussing this, and forcing by proxy of sheer volume of people becoming informed to force the government to get to the bottom of this ASAP. And the REASON is: If corruption IS in government, it needs to get the hell out of Classified Computer Networks, and our Classified Documents as fast as possible, with accuracy, and without becoming a witch hunt. If someone is named and we simply shut them down (by limiting their fucking security clearance) until it can be proven they aren’t a screw up. Why is this concept so hard to understand? Cause nobody explains it to YOU like this. That’s why.
Simultaneously 400+ hours on electronic vote tabulation devices. Nice how the media neglects this shit until election crunch time and then uses TIME ITSELF as a weapon against us, when the friggin electronic vote count screws the pooch with no public oversight.
Simultaneously 400+ hours on Senators, and the Monetary system. Before the dollar goes to zero and the bond market forces our Government to be “no more.”
Simultaneously 400+ Hours on FISA and the Path to roll back our Constitution to the pre- 1970’s backup. I joke somewhat but it ain’t funny, my country feels DIRTY!
Simultaneously 400+ hours on Fascism in 2009 and public methods to hold responsible the Media by making the comments in their public file’s hold the key to their ability to hold a frequency allocation and station license. If they are not in the public interest then what are they doing on public spectrum?
That ought to fit the FCC’s “education for children” on all Broadcast spectrum. Even reading rainbow should be shoved to the side.
With the added benefit, we can start cleaning our government up, one arrest warrant at a time, while the people clean up the representatives up, one transparent paper ballot hand counted with an unbroken public chain of custody at a time.
Alternatively “they” (don’t tell me you don’t know who they is) can just keep driving the United States Of America off the cliff.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Fine I will slam it a second time
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Wanna know what I’d like to see now?
Fine, http://sacxtra.com/mbs/node/386
Yeah same number as the cpu.
ps: I am hoping this isn’t punishment for accidentally digg-“ed” or dugg the wrong fucking ACORN thread. — Yeah I made a mistake. But with the shit that is news these days, it’s easy to do, at least I admit I fucked up.
Frankly, I think ACORN is done. Stick a fork in it. I don’t agree, but there it is.
Oh let’s not play games here, Sibel Edmonds intel is way too important for this petty nonsense.
Then again maybe the moderator screwed the pooch. Or maybe you want me to shut the fuck up cause my shit covers too much info at one sitting? I dunno. I do know eventually I will find out, If I was bad in some way. I am fucking sorry.
lets pay the turkish lobby to bribe congress into passing health care reform.
One person posted the American Conservative article at Seminal at Firedoglake( would put money that this post will not make that little box over at FDL) The “editors” and chosen ‘team” over there only allow what they like in that little box and then filter down what stays in their previous entries. Interesting filtering process going on over there.
Most of us know that there are serious blog clogs when it comes to Sibel Edmonds or anything that might shed any attention on the I or Turkish lobby and how they are intertwined and have undermined U.S. national Security.
You can be sure that Rachel, Keith, and the rest of the crew at MSNBC and other MSm outlets will not touch this article and its contents.
Sibel is a brave woman and a true patriot
Nothing about this article or Sibel coming out up at Huffington Post, RAw Story, Crooks and Liars. Wonder how long if any of these alleged liberal blogs will touch this story.
Or do most of these blogs avoid writing or posting anything that would shed a negative light on the I lobby. Blog Clogs when it comes to anything close to shedding a bad light on the lobby at these three sites for sure.
I tried to reference the article on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire. Never made it past the “editor”.
If you do a google “News” search on “Sibel Edmonds”, the American Conservative article doesn’t show up.
Over at “The Washington Note”, despite my needling, Steve Clemons has just snubbed me,
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2009/09/bill_clintons_g/#comments
Posted by Steve Clemons, Sep 22 2009, 2:11PM –
“I have decided not to cover the Sibel Edmonds story as I have told you before my friend. Just not into it. Others are way ahead on the detail, and I don’t have time to drill down into the story. But I will not revisit it. I tried once and just am not into sorting through the volume of material that is out there — and some of which I don’t have confidence in.”
“You are welcome to post what you will here. But I won’t be writing about Edmonds unless something in the dynamic of her story and its traction changes. Thus far, I don’t believe I have an onramp to the story — and am too busy with other stuff”
“Good luck to her though and to those pushing the story”
Steve Clemons
End quote.
I wonder, doesn’t sworn testimony equate to a “change in traction”??? It’d be nice to see Sibel post a response at TWN. Steve’s intransigence on this issue is beginning to get my hackles up.
Bradly; The Turks are not a Race. “any individual within the Republic of Turkey; whatever his/her faith or racial/ethnic background; who speaks Turkish, grows up with Turkish culture and adopts the Turkish ideal, is a Turk.” That’s what I love about you, you always check your Fax, you jackass.
So Shaj, are you trying to tell us that the government of Turkey makes no distinction between a predominantly Muslim majority and ethnic Armenians who live within borders of Turkey?
Oh, your post is so enlightening. Now I know why they deny the Armenian genocide? There are no Armenians. They’re all Turks. So how could the Turks carry out a genocide?
Brad, Having once worked in highly classified programs, and having an intel background, this is making me physically ill. These allegations, makes all of our representatives suspect – each a potential traitor, far worse than Robert Hansen. Now each must be cleared of the cloud of espionage against the people of the United States of America. Against each of us – sold out for a few peices of silver and dirty movies. Of all crimes large and small there is none worse than that of traitor to ones own country and people. Ms. Edmonds should (but will not) go down into history books as the greatest patriot to have served her country and her fellow citizens. Rather America will sleep on, and watch reality television and football games – Rome has burned and they do not realize it.
Total nonsense. But I liked the sex part. I am ready to give all the information that I have to interested parties if they send me good looking hot women. Serious..
@Seattle_Truthseeker, Politicians are corrupt and their is no Santa Claus but St. Nick was from Turkey and According to the 1985 Book “Nuclear Battlefields” Turkey has 500 NATO Atomic weapons on it’s soil. So the Turks should know about Nukes cause they got so many of NATO’s overthere. cann4ing I was just Quoting Ataturk and Correcting Bradley.
Breaking News – Sibel Edmonds Does Not Exist!
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/8385
I DO realize that politicians are corrupt, however this is NOT corruption this is espionage under United States Code (USC) Title 18, para 794(a) Espionage against the people of the United States and Para 794(c) Conpiracy to commit.
When I was granted access to classified information, I took my oath seriously (as do everyone except traitors), and realized the penalty for breach of that oath is and remains DEATH. Sir, or Madam, this is not simple corruption. I believe that anyone including Ms. Edmonds holds the same view, and understands the implications of espionage and sabotage, and the gravity of the protection of classified information, regardless of sensitivity. These traitors put each and every American citizen at risk. Again far more so than Robert Hanssen, who until this occured was the worst spy and traitor in the history of the United States.
“Robert Hanssen, who until this occured was the worst spy and traitor in the history of the United States.” Wrong again Bra, he is the worst spy and traitor, Caught. If Slick Willie can give the PRC Satellite Secrets, so that they can use them to take over Taiwan, any day now. And the Busch Family can push China to the most favored trading status then Wacko Hansen is just small Potatoes. Real Small. And please Do not tell me your were NSA or CIA Or DOD, please.
Hey Plunger!!! I was so impressed to see your post on FDL this afternoon after reading the comments here first.
And now it’s gone gone gone.
You guys were right. How disheartening!!!
Dogout…
The FDL thread has not been removed, just backpaged, or something to make it more difficult to find.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/8366
What’s with all the f#ckin’ italics?
Where the hell do they sell that rag? It wasn’t at borders or barnes & Noble. Oh well, maybe it will be there within the next few days. I would never have pictured myself purchasing a copy of “The American Conservative…”
italics no italics
well, that didn’t work, did it. Hey Brad, close italics is not working right. Thank you.
Regarding Sibel’s report of disinformation channels, I wonder who the moles are at the New York Times? Discounting all those revealed through informed intuition, that is. I think it’s safe to guess that Judith Miller was one. Her little trip to jail to protect her source (Libby) was quite a farce, especially after riding through Iraq looking for WMDs escorted by Ahmed Chalabi.
ANYONE who believes in the msm media at this point is clueless, afraid, or in complete denial of reality.
I have followed this for years and am astounded at the media deception.
It’s worse than the cold war and what they say “THEY” said they said.
Think about all the “COVERAGE” of …
-Jon Benet Ramsey
-You know the rest
And Hastert making 35 G a month playing this crap in Chicago gets not a peep?
Let alone this is the tip of the iceberg?
I watched all the tapes and it was pretty obvious that Turkey and ATC was a front for CIA / MOSSAD
ops.
These are the guys that pulled 911.
Mossad and CIA and all those revolving doors that the media refuses to look at just like Sibel.
It’s sickening.
Hey Progress~
Thanks for the mention last eve, and we did get some good fodder from Brad re WMR, for sure. It is too bad reporting avenues get polluted with ideological protectionism, if that makes sense. My understanding of the Clint Curtis matter is different from what Brad related, but not going to get into a he said/he said thing.
What are the next steps, and when can cuffs be put on the perps…can you bottomline this for me?!
Call me a racist if you feel the need but,
WHO (Israel) benefited from Saddam and Iraq being attacked.
ISI was tied into this mess also.
WHO benefits when we saw what happened on 911 and WHO profited the most.
Why was the FOX expose by Carl Cameron wiped on the spying on US citizens?
Y?
I can’t help but notice how the article is written. The trivial stuff–whether Schakowsky hd an affair–is featured close to the beginning of the article while the important stuff–Perle, Wolfowitz, and Feith discussing invading and partitioning Iraq four months BEFORE 911 is only covered at the end of the article.
Maybe you have a reason for this–like trying to attract the attention of the MSM–but this article seems like a trivilization of an incredibly important story. I don’t care who Schakowsky did or didn’t have sex with. I do care that many thousands of human beings have died because Pentagon officials thirsted for war with a country that posed absolutely no threat to us.
I imagine the Kurds would be very concerned about becoming part of Turkey.
POA @ 52
Poor old Steve probably can’t touch this topic with a 12ft barge pole.
Steve works for a ‘Think Tank’ — who funds this ‘Think Tank’? Well, for starters:
Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz donates $1,000,000+ to Steve’s New America Foundation. I’m sure he’s not doing it to be a nice guy?
http://www.newamerica.net/about/funding
Who is Bernard L. Schwartz? Well we know he is a major ‘vocal’ donor to the Democratic Party. A ‘Liebercrat’ and one of the signatories to that infamous letter to Pelosi [with Haim Saban]. You don’t think he has something to say to make sure the certain democrats that deal with national security and ‘intellegence’ aren’t messed with?
Just sayin’