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Onward,
Alexander, Jeffrey, Becky and Deva
November
15, 2006
Part One: the Foreign Agent Factor
The
Highjacking of a Nation
By SIBEL EDMONDS
In his farewell address in 1796, George
Washington warned that America must be constantly awake against
"the insidious wiles of foreign influencesince history
and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most
baneful foes of republican government."
Today, foreign influence, that
most baneful foe of our republican government, has its tentacles
entrenched in almost all major decision making and policy producing
bodies of the U.S. government machine. It does so not secretly,
since its self-serving activities are advocated and legitimized
by highly positioned parties that reap the benefits that come
in the form of financial gain and positions of power.
Foreign governments and foreign-owned
private interests have long sought to influence U.S. public policy.
Several have accomplished this goal; those who are able and willing
to pay what it takes. Those who buy themselves a few strategic
middlemen, commonly known as pimps, while in DC circles referred
to as foreign registered agents and lobbyists, who facilitate
and bring about desired transactions. These successful foreign
entities have mastered the art of 'covering all the bases' when
it comes to buying influence in Washington DC. They have the
required recipe down pat: get yourself a few 'Dime a Dozen Generals,'
bid high in the 'former statesmen lobby auction', and put in
your pocket one or two 'ex-congressmen turned lobbyists' who
know the ropes when it comes to pocketing a few dozen who still
serve.
The most important facet of
this influence to consider is what happens when the active and
powerful foreign entities' objectives are in direct conflict
with our nation's objectives and its interests and security;
and when this is the case, who pays the ultimate price and how.
There is no need for assumptions of hypothetical situations to
answer these questions, since throughout recent history we have
repeatedly faced the dire consequences of the highjacking of
our foreign and domestic policies by these so-called foreign
agents of foreign influence.
Let's illustrate this with
the most important recent case, the catastrophe endured by our
people; the September Eleven terrorist attacks. Let's observe
how certain foreign interests, combined with their U.S. agents
and benefactors, overrode the interests and security of the entire
nation; how thousands of victims and their loved ones were kicked
aside to serve the interests of a few; foreign influence and
its agents.
Senator
Graham's Revelation
It has been established that
two of the 9/11 hijackers had a support network in the U.S. that
included agents of the Saudi government, and that the Bush administration
and the FBI blocked a congressional investigation into that relationship.
In his book, "Intelligence
Matters," Senator Bob Graham made clear that some details
of that financial support from Saudi Arabia were in the 27 pages
of the congressional inquiry's final report that were blocked
from release by the administration, despite the pleas of leaders
of both parties in the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Here is an excerpt from Senator
Graham's statement from the July 24, 2003 congressional record
on the classified 27 pages of the Congressional Joint Inquiry
into 9/11: "The most serious omission, in my view, is part
4 of the report, which is entitled Finding, Discussion and Narrative
Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters. Those
27 pages have almost been entirely censured.The declassified
version of this finding tells the American people that our investigation
developed information suggesting specific sources of foreign
support for some of the September 11 hijackers while they
were in the United States. In other words, officials of a foreign
government are alleged to have aided and abetted the terrorist
attacks on our country on September 11, which took over 3,000
lives."
In his book Graham reveals,
"Our investigators found a CIA memo dated August 2, 2002,
whose author concluded that there is incontrovertible evidence
that there is support for these terrorists within the Saudi government.
On September 11, America was not attacked by a nation-state,
but we had just discovered that the attackers were actively supported
by one, and that state was our supposed friend and ally Saudi
Arabia." He then cites another case, "We had discovered
an FBI asset who had a close relationship with two of the terrorists;
a terrorist support network that went through the Saudi Embassy;
and a funding network that went through the Saudi Royal family."
The most explosive revelation
in Graham's book is the following statement with regard to the
administration's attitude on page 216: "It was as if the
President's loyalty lay more with Saudi Arabia than with America's
safety." Further, he states that he asked the FBI to undertake
a review of the Riggs Bank records on the terrorists' money trail,
to look at other Saudi companies with ties to al-Qaeda, to plan
for monitoring suspect Saudi interests in the United States;
however, Graham adds: "To my knowledge, none of these investigations
have been completedNor do we know anything else about what I
believe to be a state-sponsored terrorist support network that
still exists, largely undamaged, within the United States."
What Graham is trying to establish
in his book and previous public statements in this regard, and
doing so under state imposed 'secrecy and classification', is
that the classification and cover up of those 27 pages is not
about protecting 'U.S. national security, methods of intelligence
collection, or ongoing investigations,' but to protect certain
U.S. allies. Meaning, our government put the interests of
certain foreign nations and their U.S. beneficiaries far above
its own people and their interests. While Saudi Arabia has been
specifically pointed to by Graham, other countries involved have
yet to be identified.
In covering up Saudi Arabia's
direct role in supporting Al Qaeda, the 9/11 Commission goes
even a few steps further than the congress and the Executive
Branch. The report claims "there is no convincing evidence
that any government financially supported al-Qaeda before 9/11."
Their report ignores all the information provided by government
officials to Congress, as well as volumes of published reports
and investigations by other nations, regarding Muslim and Arab
regimes that have supported al Qaeda. It completely disregards
the terrorist lists of the Treasury and State Departments, which
have catalogued the Saudi government's decades of support for
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Why in the world would the
United States government go so far to protect Saudi Arabia in
the face of what itself declares to be the biggest security threat
facing our nation and the world today?
Why is the United States willing
to set aside its own security and interests in order to advance
the interests of another state?
How can a government that's
been intent upon using the terrorist attacks to carry out many
unjustifiable atrocities, prevent bringing to justice those who've
been established as being directly responsible for it?
More importantly, how is this
done in a nation that prides itself as one that operates under
governance of the people, by the people, for the people?
How did our government bodies,
those involved in drafting and implementing our nation's policies,
evolve into this foreign influence-peddling operation?
In order to answer these questions
one must first establish who stands to lose and who stands to
gain by protecting Saudi Arabia from being exposed and facing
consequences of its involvement in terrorist networks activities.
In addition to identifying the nations in question, we must identify
the interests as well as the actors; their agents. Let's look
at Saudi Arabia as one of the successful foreign nations that
have mastered the art of 'covering all the bases' when it comes
to buying and peddling influence in Washington DC, and identify
its hired 'agents' and 'agents by default.'
Foreign
Agents by Default
Although when it comes to our
complex diplomatic threading with Saudi Arabia the easiest answer
appears to be the 'oil factor,' upon further inspection the Saudi's
influence and role extends into other areas, such as the Military
Industrial Complex and the too familiar Lobbying Games.
According to the report published
by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Saudi Arabia
is America's top customer. Since 1990 the U.S. government, through
the Pentagon's arms export program, has arranged for the delivery
of more than $39.6 billion in foreign military sales to Saudi
Arabia, and an additional $394 million worth of arms were delivered
to the Saudi regime through the State Department's direct commercial
sales program. Oil rich Saudi Arabia is a cash-paying customer;
a compulsive buyer of our weaponry. The list of U.S. sellers
includes almost all the major players such as Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman, and Boeing.
The report by FAS establishes
that despite the show of U.S. support demonstrated by this astounding
quantity of arms sales, Saudi Arabia's human rights record is
extremely poor; see the U.S. State Department's 2000 Human Rights
Report. Saudi Arabia's position as a strategic Gulf ally has
blinded U.S. officials into approving a level and quality of
arms exports that should never have been allowed to a non-democratic
country with such a poor human rights record.
Further, there are indications
of Saudi's active role as a player in the nuclear black-market.
According to Mohammed Khilewi, first secretary at the Saudi mission
to the United Nations until July 1994, the Saudis have sought
a bomb since 1975; they sought to buy nuclear reactors from China,
supported Pakistan's nuclear program, and contributed $5 billion
to Iraq's nuclear weapons program between 1985 and 1990. While
the U.S. government vocally opposes the development or procurement
of ballistic missiles by non-allies, it has been very quiet in
Saudi Arabia's case, considering the fact that it possesses the
longest-range ballistic missiles of any developing country.
The Military Industrial Complex
certainly seems to be a winner in having the congressional report
pertaining to the Saudi government's role in supporting the 9/11
terrorist activities being classified. The exposure would have
meant grounds for U.S. sanctions and retributions; it would have
risked the loss of billions of dollars in revenue from its 'top
customer.' These companies don't even have to officially register
as foreign agents; after all, their strong loyalty and unbreakable
bond with foreign elements exists by default; it is called mutual
benefit. They are 'Foreign Agents by Default.'
This holds true for other parties
and players involved within the MIC network; the contractors
and the investors. Let's look at one of these famous and influential
players; another foreign agent even if only by default; a man
who defended the Saudis against a lawsuit brought by the 9/11
victims' family members; a man who happens to be the senior counsel
for the Carlyle Group, which invests heavily in defense companies
and is the nation's 10th largest defense contractor with ties
to the Saudi Royal Family, Enron, Global Crossing, among others;
James Baker; Papa Bush's Secretary of State. On the morning of
September 11th, 2001, Baker was reportedly at a Carlyle investor
conference with members of the Bin Laden family in the Ritz Carlton
in Washington DC, while Bush Sr. was on the payroll of the Carlyle
group.
The Carlyle Group, a Washington,
DC based private equity firm that employs numerous former high-ranking
government officials with ties to both political parties, was
the ninth largest Pentagon contractor between 1998 and 2003,
an ongoing Center for Public Integrity investigation into Department
of Defense contracts found. According to this report, overall,
six private investment firms, including Carlyle, received nearly
$14 billion in Pentagon deals between 1998 and 2003. Considering
the fact that Saudi Arabia is the top buyer of the U.S. weapons
industry, Carlyle's investment and its stake, and of course Jimmy
Baker's far reaching influence within the Pentagon and congress,
everything seems to come together and fit perfectly to shield
this foreign interest no matter the price to be paid by the American
public.
The political action committees
(PACs) of the biggest defense companies have given $14.2 million
directly to federal candidates since Clinton's first presidential
bid, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). In
1997 alone the defense industry spent $49.5 million to lobby
the nation's decision-makers.
Between 1998 and 2004, for
the six-year period, Boeing Company spent more than $57
million in lobbying. For the same period of time, Lockheed Martin
poured over $55 million into lobbying activities. Northrop
Grumman exceeded both by investing $83 million in lobbying,
and based on a report issued by POGO, it contributed over $4
million to individuals and PACs.
With 'dime a dozen' generals on their boards of directors, numerous
high-powered ex congressmen and senators at their disposal in
the 'K Street Lobby Quarter,' tens of millions of dollars in
campaign donations, and billions of dollars at stake, the Military
Industrial Complex surely had all the incentives to act just
as foreign agents would, and fight for their highly valued client;
the Saudi Government. They appear to have had all the reasons
to ensure that the report would not see the light of the day;
no matter what the effect on the country, its security, and its
interests.
K Street
Lobby Quarter
The fact that Saudi Arabia
pours large sums into lobbying firms and public relations companies
with close ties to congress does not come as a big surprise.
The FARA database under the DOJ website lists Qorvis Communications
as one of Saudi Arabia's registered foreign agents. In 2003,
for only a six months period, Qorvis received more than $11
million from the Saudi government. Another firm, Loeffler Tuggey
Pauerstein Rosenthal LLP, another registered foreign agent, received
more than $840,000 for the same six-month period, and the list
goes on. Just for this six month period the government of Saudi
Arabia paid a total of more than $14 million to 13 lobbying and
public relations companies; all registered as foreign agents.
Why do the Saudis spend nearly
$20 million per year in lobbying activities in the U.S. via their
hired agents? What kind of return on investment are they getting
out of the United States Congress?
Let's take Loeffler's group
and examine its value for the Saudi government, since it was
paid over $3 million in three years between 2003 and 2005. The
firm was founded by former Republican Congressman Tom Loeffler
of Texas. Loeffler served in the Republican Leadership as Deputy
Whip, and as Chief Deputy Whip during his third and fourth term.
He was a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Energy
and Commerce Committee and Budget Committee. In the two Bush
campaigns for governor, Loeffler, who contributed $141,000, was
the largest donor. In 1998, he served as national co-chair of
the Republican National Committee's "Team 100" program
for donors of $100,000 or more, and afterwards held the same
title during George W. Bush's presidential campaign. Loeffler's
generosity extends to the members of congress as well. In 6 years,
he has given more than $185,000 to members of congress, 97% of
it going to only Republican members. During the same six-year
period, Loeffler's firm received more than $18 million in lobbying
fees.
The firm's managing director
happens to be William L. Ball. Ball served as Chief of Staff
to Senators John Tower (R-TX) and Herman Talmadge (D-GA). In
1985, he joined the Reagan Administration as Assistant Secretary
of State for Legislative Affairs. Later he was assigned to the
White House to serve President Reagan as his chief liaison to
the Congress. Wallace Henderson is also a Partner; he was Chief
Counsel and Chief of Staff to Representative W. J. Tauzin (R-LA),
Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator John Breaux (D-LA).
By having foreign agents such
as the Loeffler Group, in addition to their foreign agents by
default, the MIC, the Saudis seem to have all their bases covered.
Former secretaries and deputy secretaries with open access to
the current ones, former congressmen and senators who used to
be positioned on strategically valuable committees and know the
rules of the congressional game, and millions of dollars available
to be spent and channeled and re-channeled to various PACs go
a long way toward ensuring results. Money counts. Money is needed
to bring in votes. Professional skills and discretion are required
to get this money to various final destinations. The registered
foreign agents, the lobby groups, are geared for this task. The
client is happy in the end; so are the foreign agents and the
congressional actors.
Other Savvy
Nations
Of course, the sanction and
legitimization of far reaching foreign influence and strongholds
in the U.S., despite the many dire consequences endured by its
citizens, is not limited to the government of Saudi Arabia. Numerous
well-documented cases can be sited for others such as Turkey,
Pakistan, and Israel, to name a few.
I won't get into the details
and history of my own case, where the government invoked the
state secrets privilege to gag my case and the congress
in order to 'protect certain sensitive diplomatic relations.'
The country, the foreign influence, in this case was the Republic
of Turkey. The U.S. government did so despite the far reaching
consequences of burying the facts involved, and disregarded the
interests and security of the nation; all to protect a quasi
ally engaged in numerous illegitimate activities within the global
terrorist networks, nuclear black-market and narcotics activities;
an ally who happens to be another compulsive and loyal buyer
of the Military Industrial Complex; an ally who happens to be
another savvy player in recruiting top U.S. players as its foreign
agents and spending million of dollars per year to the lobbying
groups headed by many 'formers.' Turkey's agent list includes
generals such as Joseph Ralston and Brent Scowcroft, former statesmen
such as William Cohen and Marc Grossman, and of course famous
ex-congressmen such as Bob Livingston and Stephen Solarz. Turkey
too seems to have all its bases covered.
Another well-known and documented
case involves Pakistan. Over two decades ago Richard Barlow,
an intelligence analyst working for then-Secretary of Defense
Dick Cheney issued a startling report. After reviewing classified
information from field agents, he had determined that Pakistan,
despite official denials, had built a nuclear bomb. In the March
29, 1993 issue of New Yorker, Seymour Hersh noted that "even
as Barlow began his digging, some senior State Department officials
were worried that too much investigation would create what Barlow
called embarrassment for Pakistan."Barlow's
conclusion was politically inconvenient. A finding that Pakistan
possessed a nuclear bomb would have triggered a congressionally
mandated cutoff of aid to the country, and it would have killed
a $1.4-billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad. A few
months later a Pentagon official downplayed Pakistan's nuclear
capabilities in his testimony to Congress. When Barlow protested
to his superiors, he was fired. A few years later, the Executive
Branch would slap Barlow with the State Secrets Privilege.
As we all now know, Pakistan
provided direct nuclear assistance to Iran and Libya. During
the Cold War, the U.S. put up with Pakistani lies and deception
about their nuclear activities, it did not enforce its restrictions
on Pakistan's nuclear program when it counted, and as a result
Pakistan ended up with a U.S.-made nuclear weapons system. Yet
again, after 9/11, the Bush administration issued a waiver ending
the implementation of almost all sanctions on Pakistan because
of the perceived need for Pakistani assistance in the fight against
Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who ironically were brought to power
by direct U.S. support in the 1980s in the first place.
Weiss, in the May-June 2004
issue of the Bulletin states: "We are essentially back where
we were with Pakistan in the 1980s. It is apparent that it has
engaged in dangerous nuclear mischief with North Korea, Iran,
and Libya (and perhaps others), but thus far without consequences
to its relationship with the United States because of other,
overriding foreign policy considerations--not the Cold War this
time, but the war on terrorism." He continues: "But
now there is a major political difference. It was one thing for
Pakistan, a country with which the United States has had good
relations generally, to follow India and produce the bomb for
itself. It is quite another for Pakistan to help two-thirds of
the "axis of evil" to get the bomb as well."
FARA &
LDA
An agent of a 'foreign principal'
is defined as any individual or organization which acts at the
order, request, or under the direction or control of a foreign
principal, or whose activities are directed by a foreign principal
who engages in political activities, or acts in a public relations
capacity for a foreign principal, or solicits or dispenses any
thing of value within the United States for a foreign principal,
or represents the interests of a foreign principal before any
agency or official of the U.S. government.
In 1938, in response to the
large number of German propaganda agents in the pre-WWII U.S.,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was established to insure
that the American public and its lawmakers know the source of
propaganda intended to sway public opinion, policy, and laws.
The Act requires every agent of a foreign principal to register
with the Department of Justice and file forms outlining its agreements
with, income from, and expenditures on behalf of the foreign
principal. Any agent testifying before a committee of Congress
must furnish the committee with a copy of his most recent registration
statement. The agent must keep records of all his activities
and permit the Attorney General to inspect them. However, as
is the case with many laws, the Act is filled with exemptions
and loopholes that allow minimization of, and in some cases complete
escape from, warranted scrutiny.
There are a number of exemptions.
For example, persons whose activities are of a purely commercial
nature or of a religious, academic, and charitable nature
are exempt. Any agent who is engaged in lobbying activities and
is registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) is exempt.
The LDA of 1995 was passed after decades of effort to make the
regulation and disclosure of lobbying the federal government
more effective. However, LDA also has serious and important loopholes
and limitations that can be summed up as: Inadequate Disclosure,
Inadequate Enforcement, and Inadequate Regulation of Conduct.
The recent congressional scandals make this point very clear.
In addition, neither act deals
with an important issue: Conflict of Interest. Many of these
agents, with their loyalty to the foreign hand that feeds them,
end up being appointed to various positions, commissions and
special envoys by our government. Recall Kissinger and his appointment
to head the 9/11 Commission, and of course the recent revelation
by Woodward on his advisory position to the current White House.
Take a look at Jimmy Baker's current appointment on the Iraq
commission. Same goes for the father of all the 'dime a dozen
generals', Brent Scowcroft, and one of his new protégés,
General Joseph Ralston. In short, neither FARA nor LDA creates
meaningful oversight, control, or enforcement; neither deals
with conflict of interest issues, and neither provides any deterrence
or consequences for unethical or illegal conduct.
It used to be congressional
'pork projects' and 'corporate influence' that raised eyebrows
now and then; here and there. Gone are those days. Today the
unrestricted and uncontrollable money game and influence peddling
tricks within the major decision-making and policy producing
bodies of the U.S. government have reached new heights; yet,
no raised eyebrows are registered. Sadly, today, a new version
of 'The Manchurian Candidate' would have to be produced as a
documentary.
The other day I received a
request to sign on to a petition put forth by a group of 9/11
family members urging the congress to reopen the investigations
of 9/11 and declassify the infamous 27-pages which deal with
foreign governments, U.S. allies, that provided support for those
who carried out the attacks on our nation. My heart goes out
to them. I do sympathize with them. I am known to take on similar
propositions and methods of activism myself. However, looking
at the realities, seeing what it takes to get things done in
Washington, realizing how this beast works in the Real Sin City,
I would encourage them to look at the root cause, rather than
the symptoms. There are only two ways I can see that can bring
about what they have been fighting for and what the majority
of us desire to see in terms of bringing about Truth, Oversight,
and Accountability; Justice.
The family members, and their
supporters, us, either have to tackle the major cause; the corruption
of our government officials via unrestricted and undisciplined
'revolving doors' and 'foreign influence & lobby' practices,
and push for expedient meaningful reforms by the new ambitious
congress, and have them prove to us their worth. Or, they may
as well give up their long-held integrity, go bid high for one
or two former statesmen, hire a few dime a dozen generals, and
buy themselves a couple of ex-congressmen turned lobbyists; that
will do the job.
Sibel Edmonds is the founder and director of National
Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
Ms. Edmonds worked as a language specialist for the FBI. During
her work with the bureau, she discovered and reported serious
acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking
of intelligence that had national security implications. After
she reported these acts to FBI management, she was retaliated
against by the FBI and ultimately fired in March 2002. Since
that time, court proceedings on her case have been blocked by
the assertion of "State Secret Privilege"; the Congress
of the United States has been gagged and prevented from any discussion
of her case through retroactive re-classification by the Department
of Justice. Ms. Edmonds is fluent in Turkish, Farsi and Azerbaijani;
and has a MA in Public Policy and International Commerce from
George Mason University, and a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology
from George Washington University. PEN American Center awarded
Ms. Edmonds the 2006 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.
She can be reached at: sedmonds@nswbc.org
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