Sibelgate: New installment on the Balkans

The Next Two Balkan Wars

An excerpt from Former FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds Calls Current 9/11 Investigation Inadequate by Jim Hogue, May 07, 2004:

JH: Can you explain more about what money you are talking about?

SE: The most significant information that we were receiving did not come from counter-terrorism investigations, and I want to emphasize this. It came from counter-intelligence, and certain criminal investigations, and issues that have to do with money laundering operations.

You get to a point where it gets very complex, where you have money laundering activities, drug related activities, and terrorist support activities converging at certain points and becoming one. In certain points - and they [the intelligence community] are separating those portions from just the terrorist activities. And, as I said, they are citing "foreign relations" which is not the case, because we are not talking about only governmental levels. And I keep underlining semi-legit organizations and following the money. When you do that the picture gets grim. It gets really ugly.

An excerpt from The Highjacking of a Nation, Part 2: The Auctioning of Former Statesmen & Dime a Dozen Generals by Sibel Edmonds, November 29, 2006:

Long gone are the days when generals were content to retire and go back home where they held their heads high as honorable patriots and heroes who had served their nation; where they marched in their towns' parades as proud distinguished men and women who had fulfilled their duty to the people. Today, as we clearly see, they perceive themselves and their authority as a commodity; they go about marketing their worth (nationally and internationally; foreign and domestic) long before they leave their positions as public servants.

Bush OKs supplying arms to Kosovo, Global Research, March 20, 2008, in its entirety:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President George W. Bush authorized Wednesday supplying Kosovo with weapons, signaling the establishment of government-to-government relations after recognizing its independence, the White House said.

In a memo to the State Department made public by the White House, Bush said: "I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense services to Kosovo will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."

A senior official said the authorization followed US recognition of Kosovo's independence and was part of the normal process of establishing relations with a new government.

In a comment apparently meant to allay concerns from Serbia and its ally Russia, the official stressed the military restrictions imposed on Kosovo under a plan by former UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari.

Under the Ahtisaari plan [!!!!?], which is the basis for Kosovo's supervised independence, Kosovo is allowed a lightly armed 2,500-person security force under NATO oversight and training.

Kosovo, an Albanian-dominated Serbian province under UN administration since 1999, unilaterally declared its independence on February 17. The United States recognized it on March 18, despite strong opposition from Serbia and Russia.

The US official, who asked not to be identified, said the US weapons deliveries were preparing the ground for the future, adding that the United States had struck similar relations with other countries in the region.

Furthermore, the official said, provisions of defense equipment and services would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The official said that providing military equipment to Kosovo would improve security relations and engagement with Kosovo, promote security and stability throughout the Balkans, improve Kosovo's capacity to take part in peacekeeping activities, to detect, deter and defeat terrorists, and to deal with humanitarian emergencies

An excerpt from The Highjacking of a Nation, Part 2: The Auctioning of Former Statesmen & Dime a Dozen Generals by Sibel Edmonds, November 29, 2006:

The foreign influence, the lobbyists, the current highly positioned civil servants who are determined future 'wanna be' lobbyists, and the fat cats of the Military Industrial Complex, operate successfully under the radar, with unlimited reach and power, with no scrutiny, while selling your interests, benefiting from your tax money, and serving the highest bidders regardless of what or who they may be. This deep state seems to operate at all levels of our government; from the President’s office to Congress, from the military quarters to the civil servants' offices.

An excerpt from Former FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds Calls Current 9/11 Investigation Inadequate by Jim Hogue, May 07, 2004:

JH: Here's a question that you might be able to answer: What is al-Qaeda?

SE: This is a very interesting and complex question. When you think of al-Qaeda, you are not thinking of al-Qaeda in terms of one particular country, or one particular organization. You are looking at this massive movement that stretches to tens and tens of countries. And it involves a lot of sub-organizations and sub-sub-organizations and branches and it's extremely complicated. So to just narrow it down and say al-Qaeda and the Saudis, or to say it's what they had at the camp in Afghanistan, is extremely misleading. And we don't hear the extent of the penetration that this organization and the sub-organizations have throughout the world, throughout their networks and throughout their various activities. It's extremely sophisticated. And then you involve a significant amount of money into this equation. Then things start getting a lot of overlap -- money laundering, and drugs and terrorist activities and their support networks converging in several points. That's what I'm trying to convey without being too specific. And this money travels. And you start trying to go to the root of it and it's getting into somebody's political campaign, and somebody's lobbying. And people don't want to be traced back to this money.

This image is from a report filed by the Albanian American Public Affairs Committee (AAPAC), which is the political action committee affiliated with the Albanian American Civic League (AACL) and former Congressman Joseph DioGuardi. For background connecting AAPAC and the AACL to Albanian organized crime, see The Balkan Connection, Part 2 and McCain's Ties to Islamic Terrorists -- and Heroin Traffickers?



An excerpt from An Interview with Sibel Edmonds, Page Two by Chris Deliso, July 1, 2004:

SE: I can't say anything specific with regards to these departments, because I didn't work for them. But as for the politicians, what I can say is that when you start talking about huge amounts of money, certain elected officials become automatically involved. And there are different kinds of campaign contributions – legal and illegal, declared and undeclared.

In addition to arming narcotraffickers who essentially run the government of Kosovo, the Bush Administration is setting the stage for the next two wars in the Balkans, as Greater Albania gets established in the hands of organized crime. This map shows how Montenegro and Macedonia will be the next nations dismembered:



This will be due to alleged persecution of ethnic Albanian minorities in both nations. I encourage you to browse the AACL's website from which I have taken both of these images:





As I have previously addressed, though more so in the case of the latter, both Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John McCain are deep in the pockets of Albanian organized crime; both will support continued Albanian nationalism and expansionism at the expense of other Balkan nationalities, and both will work to ensure that it will be not honest Albanians, but rather Albanian organized crime factions that benefit.

Meanwhile, President Bush is doing now, on the payroll of the US government, that which will endear him to his heroin-trafficking friends and make for a soft retirement from public service -- exactly in the manner described by Sibel Edmonds in the context of her case.

From the office of the President,
Right down to me and you,
Me and you.
It's a losing proposition,
But one you can't refuse.
It's the politics of contraband,
It's the smuggler's blues,
Smuggler's blues.

Posted by Yankee Doodle at 11:00 AM

Sibelgate: the Heroin Lobby, Part 4

The Heroin Lobby, Part 4

We continue from Part 3.

Mr. McCurdy is the treasurer of a political action committee called the TURKISH COALITION USA PAC (TC-USA PAC). Since its inception about a year ago -- about the same time the TCA was being established -- the TC-USA PAC has contributed to the election campaigns of various political figures; those who are also members of the TCA's Congressional Caucus received contributions on the dates and in the amounts indicated (see links):

BARRETT, GRESHAM VIA BARRETT FOR CONGRESS, 12/12/2007, $1000.00, 28930167805

BURTON, DANNY L VIA DAN BURTON FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 05/15/2007, $1000.00, 27990339096

CHABOT, STEVE VIA STEVE CHABOT FOR CONGRESS, 03/28/2007, $1000.00, 27990339102

COBLE, JOHN HOWARD VIA COBLE FOR CONGRESS, 09/15/2007, $1000.00, 28930167806

ENGLISH, PHILIP S. VIA PEOPLE FOR ENGLISH, 04/20/2007, $1000.00, 27990339099

FOXX, VIRGINIA ANN VIA VIRGINIA FOXX FOR CONGRESS, 06/18/2007, $1000.00, 27990339103

FOXX, VIRGINIA ANN VIA VIRGINIA FOXX FOR CONGRESS, 09/14/2007, $1000.00, 28930167814

FOXX, VIRGINIA ANN VIA VIRGINIA FOXX FOR CONGRESS, 10/05/2007, $300.00, 28930167815

GILLMOR, PAUL E VIA CITIZENS FOR GILLMOR, 03/28/2007, $1000.00, 27990339095

HASTINGS, ALCEE L VIA HASTINGS FOR CONGRESS, 07/30/2007, $1000.00, 28930167808

HASTINGS, ALCEE L VIA HASTINGS FOR CONGRESS, 12/21/2007, $1000.00, 28930167808

HOLT , RUSH D VIA RUSH HOLT FOR CONGRESS, 04/12/2007, $1000.00, 27990339101

JACKSON, JESSE L JR VIA JESSE JACKSON JR. FOR CONGRESS, 06/26/2007, $1000.00, 27990339098

LANTOS, TOM VIA TOM LANTOS FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 03/16/2007, $1000.00, 27990339102

LEWIS, JOHN MR. VIA JOHN LEWIS FOR CONGRESS, 10/03/2007, $1000.00, 28930167809

MEEKS, GREGORY W VIA FRIENDS FOR GREGORY MEEKS, 06/06/2007, $1000.00, 27990339097

MILLER, RALPH BRADLEY VIA BRAD MILLER FOR UNITED STATES CONGRESS, 03/16/2007, $1000.00, 27990339095

ORTIZ, SOLOMON P VIA ORTIZ FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 05/17/2007, $1000.00, 27990339098

PRICE, DAVID VIA PRICE FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 04/29/2007, $1000.00, 27990339100

PUTNAM, ADAM HUGHES VIA PUTNAM FOR CONGRESS, 06/18/2007, $1000.00, 27990339100

REYES, SILVESTRE VIA REYES COMMITTEE, INC., THE, 04/26/2007, $1000.00, 27990339100

ROS-LEHTINEN, ILEANA VIA ROS-LEHTINEN FOR CONGRESS, 05/13/2007, $1000.00, 27990339101

ROS-LEHTINEN, ILEANA VIA ROS-LEHTINEN FOR CONGRESS, 10/08/2007, $1000.00, 28930167812

ROS-LEHTINEN, ILEANA VIA ROS-LEHTINEN FOR CONGRESS, 11/01/2007, $300.00, 28930167812

RUPPERSBERGER, DUTCH VIA DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER FOR CONGRESS, 04/16/2007, $1000.00, 27990339096

SESSIONS, PETE VIA PETE SESSIONS FOR CONGRESS 2008, 05/24/2007, $1000.00, 27990339099

SHAYS, CHRISTOPHER VIA CHRISTOPHER SHAYS FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 09/14/2007, $1000.00, 28930167806

STEARNS, CLIFFORD B VIA FRIENDS OF CLIFF STEARNS, 09/14/2007, $1000.00, 28930167806

WEXLER, ROBERT VIA ROBERT WEXLER FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 03/16/2007, $1000.00, 27990339101

WEXLER, ROBERT VIA ROBERT WEXLER FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 07/25/2007, $1000.00, 28930167811

WEXLER, ROBERT VIA ROBERT WEXLER FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 12/11/2007, $300.00, 28930167811

WHITFIELD, ED VIA WHITFIELD FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
04/07/2007, $1000.00, 27990339103

WHITFIELD, ED VIA WHITFIELD FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE, 07/31/2007, $1000.00, 28930167815

Summarizing the list of who is both on the TCA Congressional Caucus, and a recipient of TC-USA PAC campaign contributions, we have in the $1000 category (in alphabetical order):

Rep. Gresham Barrett R-South Carolina/3rd $1000
Rep. Dan Burton R-Indiana/5th $1000
Rep. Steve Chabot R-Ohio/1st $1000
Rep. Howard Coble R-North Carolina/6th $1000
Rep. Phil English R-Pennsylvania/3rd $1000
Rep. Paul Gillmor R-Ohio/5th $1000
Rep. Rush Holt D-New Jersey/12th $1000
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. D-Illinois/2nd $1000
Rep. Tom Lantos D-California/12th $1000
Rep. John Lewis D-Georgia/5th $1000
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks D-New York/6th $1000
Rep. Brad Miller D-North Carolina/13th $1000
Rep. Solomon Ortiz D-Texas/27th $1000
Rep. Bill Pascrell D-New Jersey/8th $1000
Rep. David Price D-North Carolina/4th $1000
Rep. Adam Putnam R-Florida/12th $1000
Rep. Silvestre Reyes D-Texas/16th $1000
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger D-Maryland/2nd $1000
Rep. Pete Sessions R-Texas/32nd $1000
Rep. Chris Shays R-Connecticut/4th $1000
Rep. Cliff Stearns R-Florida/6th $1000

But, perhaps more interesting is the list of people who have received more than the standard contribution of $1000 given to the above legislators. In the $2000 category are:

Rep. Alcee Hastings D-Florida/23rd $2000



Rep. Ed Whitfield – Co-Chair R-Kentucky/1st $2000



And, in the $2300 category are:

Rep. Virginia Foxx R-North Carolina/5th $2300



Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Florida/18th $2300



Rep. Robert Wexler – Co-Chair D-Florida/19th $2300



The receipt of these campaign contributions is not a crime. But I, for one, would be interested in knowing what this Turkish lobby, with its links to traffickers of heroin and nuclear secrets, gets for its money from these Congressional Representatives. In particular, I would be curious to know what it gets from these last five Congressional Representatives that makes them worth more than the others.

I would be most interested to find out why Congressman Wexler is not just a member of the TCA's Congressional Caucus, but a co-chair -- and, why contributions from the TC-USA PAC to his campaign have been maxed out.



From The Heroin Lobby, Part 1:

The drug and weapons cartels, flush with money from running heroin, sex slaves, weapons and nuclear secrets, and with their business contacts in the terrorist world, buy influence via front organizations who pay off officials in Washington.

Sibel Edmonds got a snapshot of what this underworld was like about the time of 9/11. Many researchers of the Sibel Edmonds case focus on what is known now about what she found out then. However, the underworld is very dynamic, and it has been evolving, changing, and growing since then.

From An Interview with Sibel Edmonds (Page Two), 2004:

SE: I can't say anything specific with regards to these departments, because I didn't work for them. But as for the politicians, what I can say is that when you start talking about huge amounts of money, certain elected officials become automatically involved. And there are different kinds of campaign contributions - legal and illegal, declared and undeclared.

From Did Speaker Hastert Accept Turkish Bribes to Deny Armenian Genocide and Approve Weapons Sales?, 2005:

Yes, we are hearing about them coming down on some charities as the real funds behind al Qaeda, but most of al Qaeda's funding is not through these charity organizations. It's through narcotics. And have you heard anything to this date, anything about these issues which we have had information since 1997? And as I would again emphasize, we are talking about countries. And they are blocking this information, and also the fact that certain officials in this country are engaged in treason against the United States and its interests and its national security, be it the Department of State or certain elected officials.

Posted by Yankee Doodle

Sibelgate: The Heroin Lobby Part II: Yankee Doodle Dandy

The Heroin Lobby, Part 2

In the Sibel Edmonds case, the American Turkish Council (ATC) was identified as an organization that was under investigation by the FBI for its links as a front for Turkish organized crime. While working as a translator at the FBI, Edmonds encountered material implicating the ATC, and other organizations, in bribing US officials, including members of Congress from both houses and from both parties. The organized crime activities include the trafficking of nuclear secrets and of heroin.

In a post from the The BRAD BLOG we learn the following:

In the article, just filed tonight, Edmonds reveals details overheard on wiretaps she translated during her time at the FBI, just after 9/11. Her disclosures to the Times reveal a maze of nuclear black market espionage involving U.S. Defense and State Department officials, that resulted in the sale and propagation of nuclear secrets to Turkish and Israeli interests. In turn, that information was then sold to Pakistan and used by A.Q. Kahn for development of nuclear weapons. The secrets were subsequently proliferated to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and potentially al-Qaeda's Osama bin Laden, just weeks prior to September 11th, 2001.

Sibel Edmonds caught, in late 2001 and early 2002, a glimpse of how Turkish organized crime had its tentacles into the highest levels of American government, not just in Congress, but in the Executive Branch, as well -- including having key people in the FBI derail and obstruct investigations in Turkish organized crime activities.

Last fall, Sibel Edmonds offered to defy the US government gags that are on her, preventing her from talking under something called the State Secrets Privilege, supposedly to protect national security. In another post at the The BRAD BLOG, her story was described thus (see the original for extensive links):

She has met with, and told her story to, U.S. senators including Republican Charles Grassley and Democrat Patrick Leahy, both of the Senate Judiciary Committee, both who found her extremely credible. 60 Minutes producers may remember when Grassley told them, "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 fact, the FBI itself has done so. Their Inspector General found her allegations, as described in the unclassified version of his report, to be "credible," "serious," and "warrant[ing] a thorough and careful review by the FBI."

As far back as 2002, Grassley and Leahy 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 the allegations she's made.

"Certain officials in this country are engaged in treason against the United States and its interests and its national security," she said during an August 2005 interview on Democracy Now. That comment followed 60 Minutes' revelation years before alleging that Edmonds had information revealing that a "Turkish intelligence officer" she worked with at the FBI "had spies working for him inside the US State Department and at the Pentagon."

She's briefed many legislative offices --- as well as the 9/11 Commission --- in regard to her claims, and now, she says, she's even prepared to tell the media "the names of every single Congressional office who has received the names of the witnesses" to the crimes she's detailed.

When we spoke last week, Edmonds seemed to reserve most of her frustration for Congressman Henry Waxman's office. Waxman is the Democratic Chairman of the U.S. House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.

After briefing members of his security-cleared staff "inside the SCIF" --- a high-security room in the U.S. Capitol, specially created for discussion of highly sensitive information --- Edmonds says she was told on several occasions, prior to the 2006 Election, that her case would be one of the first heard in his committee, once he became Chairman.

"I even gave names of former and current FBI agents who were willing to go to Waxman's office and give more information on all of this," she said.

"Before the elections, I had a promise from Congressman Waxman's office." She claims they told her, before the election, "the only reason they couldn't hold hearings, was because the Republicans were blocking it."

"They said 'your case will be one of the first ones we will hold investigations on,'" she told us. Now, however, since the Democrats have become the majority in the House, Waxman's office is "going mum." They won't even respond to her calls.

The congressman's office did not respond to several requests for comment on this story.

As I explained in a post entitled The Turkish Lobby, Obstruction of Justice and Henry Waxman, a big part of the reason Congressman Henry Waxman hasn't acted is because Waxman is himself implicated in receipt of bribes. In particular, Congressman Waxman, who had been fully briefed on the Sibel Edmonds case prior to the 2006 general elections, joined the Congressional Caucus of a new organization which was set up in 2007, called the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA), and which was established with the help of one G. Lincoln McCurdy. Here is part of Mr. McCurdy's biography from a page entitled Organizing in Politics:

He served as the senior advisor to the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York in 2005 and 2006. McCurdy was the president and chief executive officer, 1998 - 2004, and executive director, 1989 – 1998, of the American-Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington, the leading business association in the United States devoted to the promotion of U.S.-Turkish commercial, defense and cultural relations. He received ATC’s Distinguished Career Award in 2005. Before joining ATC, Mr. McCurdy served in the American Consulate General in Istanbul as the Consul for Commercial Affairs, 1980 – 1984.

With those credentials, it is fair to assume that Mr. McCurdy was in deep with the Turkish organized crime figures who used the ATC as a front; consequently, it is reasonable to assume that the TCA is a front for Turkish organized crime, as well, especially since Congressman Waxman has both joined the TCA's Congressional Caucus and refused to hold the promised hearings into the Sibel Edmonds case.

In a Democracy Now article from August 10, 2005, entitled Did Speaker Hastert Accept Turkish Bribes to Deny Armenian Genocide and Approve Weapons Sales?, Sibel Edmonds stated:

SIBEL EDMONDS: As I said, Amy, I have been giving all the details to the appropriate channels. And they have been confirmed. And what I have said all along is the fact that as far as the 9/11 is concerned, September 11 is concerned, these departments—and when I say “these departments,” the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense—have intentionally blocked the investigations of real—the real criminals in this country. And we are talking about countries involved. The Vanity Fair article points out to Turkey—countries. And it’s very interesting. To this date, we are not hearing anything about targeting, you know, certain Central Asian countries. They are not speaking about the link between the narcotics and al Qaeda. Yes, we are hearing about them coming down on some charities as the real funds behind al Qaeda, but most of al Qaeda’s funding is not through these charity organizations. It’s through narcotics. And have you heard anything to this date, anything about these issues which we have had information since 1997? And as I would again emphasize, we are talking about countries. And they are blocking this information, and also the fact that certain officials in this country are engaged in treason against the United States and its interests and its national security, be it the Department of State or certain elected officials.

Well, in addition to emphasizing that it deals not just with Turkey, but with other countries as well, and with Al Qaeda and with heroin trafficking, Sibel Edmonds also pointed out that it deals with certain elected officials in this country who are involved in treason.

(Continued in Part 3)

also posted today:

http://welcome-to-pottersville.blogspot.com/2008/03/
truth-what-gets-found-in-translation.html

FORMER FBI TRANSLATOR MAKES SHOCKING ALLEGATIONS

Sibel Edmonds alleges that in the course of her work for the government, she found evidence that the FBI, State Department, and the Pentagon had been infiltrated by a Turkish and Israeli-run intelligence network that paid high-ranking American officials to steal nuclear weapons secrets. In addition, she claims that the FBI received information in April 2001, from a reliable Iranian intelligence asset, that Osama Bin Laden was planning attacks on 4-5 cities with planes, some of the people were already in the country and the attacks would happen in a few months.