Clinton Signs Iraq Liberation Act

Iraq News, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1998

By Laurie Mylroie

The central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .

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I. CLINTON SIGNS IRAQ LIBERATION ACT, WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT, OCT 31
II. '99 APPROPRIATIONS BILL, IRAQ OPPOSITION, SIGNED BY CLINTON OCT 21
III. INC WELCOMES IRAQ LIBERATION ACT, PRESS STATEMENT, OCT 31

Today is the 89th day without weapons inspections in Iraq and the first day without UNSCOM monitoring.

"Iraq News" is preparing an issue on Iraq's decision to suspend UNSCOM monitoring. Meanwhile, this issue deals with the developments regarding the policy promoted by Congress to deal with the Iraqi threat, namely to overthrow Saddam.

On Oct 30, Radio Free Iraq began broadcasting. In an Oct 30 press statement, David Newton, head of RFI, explained "that in addition to local news about Iraq, programs will focus on democracy, free speech and human rights. 'Under the dictatorship of President Saddam Hussein, people in Iraq never a chance to hear about these issues,' said Newton, a former US ambassador to Iraq. He says broadcasts to Iraq will
eventually expand to six hours a day, airing in the Arabic as well as Kurdish languages." Transcripts and RealAudio of the broadcasts will be available at http://www.rferl.org

Yesterday, Clinton signed into law HR 4655, the "Iraq Liberation Act
of 1998." In a presidential statement, issued by the White House,
Clinton said, "This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress
that the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi
opposition that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the
bitter reality of internal repression and external aggression that the
current regime in Baghdad now offers. . . . On October 21, 1998, I
signed into law the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act, 1999, which made $8 million available for assistance
to the Iraqi democratic opposition. . . My Administration, as required
by that statue, has also begun to implement a program to compile
information regarding allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity,
and war crimes by Iraq's current leaders as a step towards bringing to
justice those directly responsible for such acts."
Indeed, Sec 590 of the omnibus appropriations bill stated that "not
less than $8,000,000 shall be made available for assistance to the Iraqi
democratic opposition. Of this amount, not less than $3,000,000 should
be made available as a grant for the Iraq National Congress. The
conferees also direct the Administration to provide not less than
$3,000,000 as a grant to the Iraqi Campaign to Indict Iraqi War
Criminals to be used to compile information to support the indictment of
Iraqi officials for war crimes. The conferees direct the Administration
to provide not less than $2,000,000 for the conduct of activities by the
Iraqi democratic opposition inside Iraq."
The president of the INC's Executive Council welcomed Clinton's
signature of the Iraq Liberation Act, in an Oct 31 statement that began
by condemning Saddam's suspension of UNSCOM monitoring, while hailing
the president's signing of the legislation and thanking the US Congress.
The statement concluded, "Saddam is the problem and he cannot be part of
any solution in Iraq. Therefore, President Clinton's action today is
the most appropriate response to Saddam. Let him know that Iraqis will
rise up to liberate themselves from his totalitarian dictatorship and
that the US is ready to help their democratic forces with arms to do so.
Only then will the trail of tragedy in Iraq end. Only then will Iraq be
free of weapons of mass destruction."

I. CLINTON SIGNS IRAQ LIBERATION ACT
October 31, 1998
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 31, 1998
Statement by thePpresident
Today I am signing into law H.R. 4655, the "Iraq Liberation Act of
1998." This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that
the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition
that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality
of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime
in Baghdad now offers.
Let me be clear on what the U.S. objectives are:
The United States wants Iraq to rejoin the family of nations as a
freedom-loving and law-abiding member. This is in our interest and that
of our allies within the region.
The United States favors an Iraq that offers its people freedom
at home. I categorically reject arguments that this is unattainable
due to Iraq's history or its ethnic or sectarian make-up. Iraqis
deserve and desire freedom like everyone else.
The United States looks forward to a democratically supported
regime that would permit us to enter into a dialogue leading to the
reintegration of Iraq into normal international life.
My Administration has pursued, and will continue to pursue, these
objectives through active application of all relevant United Nations
Security Council resolutions. The evidence is overwhelming that such
changes will not happen under the current Iraq leadership.
In the meantime, while the United States continues to look to the
Security Council's efforts to keep the current regime's behavior in
check, we look forward to new leadership in Iraq that has the support of
the Iraqi people. The United States is providing support to opposition
groups from all sectors of the Iraqi community that could lead to a
popularly supported government.
On October 21, 1998, I signed into law the Omnibus Consolidated
and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, which made $8
million available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition.
This assistance is intended to help the democratic opposition unify,
work together more effectively, and articulate the aspirations of the
Iraqi people for a pluralistic, participatory political system that will
include all of Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious groups. As required
by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY 1998 (Public Law
105-174), the Department of State submitted a report to the Congress on
plans to establish a program to support the democratic opposition. My
Administration, as required by that statute, has also begun to implement
a program to compile information regarding allegations of genocide,
crimes against humanity, and war crimes by Iraq's current leaders as a
step towards bringing to justice those directly responsible for such
acts.
The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 provides additional,
discretionary authorities under which my Administration can act to
further the objectives I outlined above. There are, of course, other
important elements of U.S. policy. These include the maintenance of
U.N. Security Council support [for] efforts to eliminate Iraq's
prohibited weapons and missile programs and economic sanctions that
continue to deny the regime the means to reconstitute those threats to
international peace and security. United States support for the Iraqi
opposition will be carried out consistent with those policy objectives
as well.
Similarly, U.S. support must be attuned to what the opposition can
effectively make use of as it develops over time. With those
observations, I sign H.R. 4655 into law.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 31, 1998

II. '99 APPROPRIATIONS BILL, IRAQ OPPOSITION
Sec. 590. Iraq Opposition
The conference agreement includes a provision proposed by the Senate
that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the funds made
available in this Act and any prior Acts making appropriations for
foreign operations, not less than $8,000,000 shall be made available for
assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition. Of this amount, not less
than $3,000,000 should be made available as a grant for the Iraqi
National Congress. The conferees also direct the Administration to
provide not less than $3,000,000 as a grant to the Iraqi Campaign to
Indict Iraqi War Criminals to be used to compile information to support
the indictment of Iraqi officials for war crimes. The conferees direct
the Administration to provide not less than $2,000,000 for the conduct
of activities by the Iraqi democratic opposition inside Iraq. The
conferees also direct the Secretary of State to submit a detailed report
to the Committees on Appropriations thirty days after the enactment of
this Act on the implementation of these activities.

III. INC WELCOMES IRAQ LIBERATION ACT
INC Welcomes President Clinton's Signature of the Iraq Liberation Act
London (October 31, 1998)
Following is a statement by Ahmad Chalabi, President of the Executive
Council of the Iraqi National Congress.
Saddam has shown once again that he is irredeemable. His defiance of
the United Nations Security Council and his rejection of all reasonable
attempts to resolve the impasse, which he made, demonstrate that he has
no concern for the well being of the Iraqi people. He puts his power
megalomania above the life and happiness of the Iraqi people.
The Iraqi people are the first to suffer from the expulsion of UNSCOM
and the cessation of all its activities. They have repeatedly been the
victims of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. They call for the
elimination of weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.
Saddam has pushed further the day when sanctions on Iraq would be
lifted. He has challenged the combined will of the international
community and thus he has opened the door for UN action against Iraq
under Chapter VII resolutions. He is responsible.
Today, October 31, 1998 is a great day for the Iraqi people. Today
President Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. The
American people have given their support for the end of dictatorship and
for democracy in Iraq. The INC welcomes this courageous and historic
action by President Clinton and thanks him for it.
I will begin immediate consultations with leaders in the INC and
others to work for a united response on how best to take advantage of
the provisions of the Iraq Liberation Act. We will present a united
front to maximize the chances of success. We look to President Clinton
to support and work with a united INC to achieve our common goals.
The INC has worked long and hard to energize the conscience of world
to the decades long suffering of the Iraqi people. We have worked hard
to persuade the US Congress for action to help the Iraqi people to
liberate themselves. We thank with gratitude the US Congress for their
support of democracy in Iraq. They have created a strong bond between
the people of the US and the people of Iraq in the pursuit of liberty.
Saddam is the problem and he cannot be part of any solution in Iraq.
Therefore, President Clinton's action today is the most appropriate
response to Saddam. Let him know that Iraqis will rise up to liberate
themselves from his totalitarian dictatorship and that the US is ready
to help their democratic forces with arms to do so. Only then will the
trail of tragedy in Iraq end. Only then will Iraq be free of weapons of
mass destruction.

Historical lesson of the day: who started the War in Irak

Clinton Signs Iraq Liberation Act

Iraq News, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1998

By Laurie Mylroie

The central focus of Iraq News is the tension between the considerable, proscribed WMD capabilities that Iraq is holding on to and its increasing stridency that it has complied with UNSCR 687 and it is time to lift sanctions. If you wish to receive Iraq News by email, a service which includes full-text of news reports not archived here, send your request to Laurie Mylroie .

---

I. CLINTON SIGNS IRAQ LIBERATION ACT, WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT, OCT 31
II. '99 APPROPRIATIONS BILL, IRAQ OPPOSITION, SIGNED BY CLINTON OCT 21
III. INC WELCOMES IRAQ LIBERATION ACT, PRESS STATEMENT, OCT 31

Today is the 89th day without weapons inspections in Iraq and the first day without UNSCOM monitoring.

"Iraq News" is preparing an issue on Iraq's decision to suspend UNSCOM monitoring. Meanwhile, this issue deals with the developments regarding the policy promoted by Congress to deal with the Iraqi threat, namely to overthrow Saddam.

On Oct 30, Radio Free Iraq began broadcasting. In an Oct 30 press statement, David Newton, head of RFI, explained "that in addition to local news about Iraq, programs will focus on democracy, free speech and human rights. 'Under the dictatorship of President Saddam Hussein, people in Iraq never a chance to hear about these issues,' said Newton, a former US ambassador to Iraq. He says broadcasts to Iraq will eventually expand to six hours a day, airing in the Arabic as well as Kurdish languages." Transcripts and RealAudio of the broadcasts will be available at http://www.rferl.org

Yesterday, Clinton signed into law HR 4655, the "Iraq Liberation Act of 1998." In a presidential statement, issued by the White House, Clinton said, "This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime in Baghdad now offers. . . . On October 21, 1998, I signed into law the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, which made $8 million available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition. . . My Administration, as required by that statue, has also begun to implement a program to compile information regarding allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by Iraq's current leaders as a step towards bringing to justice those directly responsible for such acts."

Indeed, Sec 590 of the omnibus appropriations bill stated that "not less than $8,000,000 shall be made available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition. Of this amount, not less than $3,000,000 should be made available as a grant for the Iraq National Congress. The conferees also direct the Administration to provide not less than $3,000,000 as a grant to the Iraqi Campaign to Indict Iraqi War Criminals to be used to compile information to support the indictment of Iraqi officials for war crimes. The conferees direct the Administration to provide not less than $2,000,000 for the conduct of activities by the Iraqi democratic opposition inside Iraq."

The president of the INC's Executive Council welcomed Clinton's signature of the Iraq Liberation Act, in an Oct 31 statement that began by condemning Saddam's suspension of UNSCOM monitoring, while hailing the president's signing of the legislation and thanking the US Congress.

The statement concluded, "Saddam is the problem and he cannot be part of any solution in Iraq. Therefore, President Clinton's action today is the most appropriate response to Saddam. Let him know that Iraqis will rise up to liberate themselves from his totalitarian dictatorship and that the US is ready to help their democratic forces with arms to do so.

Only then will the trail of tragedy in Iraq end. Only then will Iraq be free of weapons of mass destruction."

I. CLINTON SIGNS IRAQ LIBERATION ACT
October 31, 1998
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 31, 1998

Statement by the President
Today I am signing into law H.R. 4655, the "Iraq Liberation Act of 1998." This Act makes clear that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should support those elements of the Iraqi opposition that advocate a very different future for Iraq than the bitter reality of internal repression and external aggression that the current regime in Baghdad now offers.

Let me be clear on what the U.S. objectives are:
The United States wants Iraq to rejoin the family of nations as a freedom-loving and law-abiding member. This is in our interest and that of our allies within the region.
The United States favors an Iraq that offers its people freedom at home. I categorically reject arguments that this is unattainable due to Iraq's history or its ethnic or sectarian make-up. Iraqis deserve and desire freedom like everyone else.
The United States looks forward to a democratically supported regime that would permit us to enter into a dialogue leading to the reintegration of Iraq into normal international life.
My Administration has pursued, and will continue to pursue, these objectives through active application of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. The evidence is overwhelming that such changes will not happen under the current Iraq leadership.
In the meantime, while the United States continues to look to the Security Council's efforts to keep the current regime's behavior in check, we look forward to new leadership in Iraq that has the support of the Iraqi people. The United States is providing support to opposition groups from all sectors of the Iraqi community that could lead to a popularly supported government.
On October 21, 1998, I signed into law the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, which made $8 million available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition.
This assistance is intended to help the democratic opposition unify, work together more effectively, and articulate the aspirations of the Iraqi people for a pluralistic, participatory political system that will include all of Iraq's diverse ethnic and religious groups. As required by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY 1998 (Public Law 105-174), the Department of State submitted a report to the Congress on plans to establish a program to support the democratic opposition. My Administration, as required by that statute, has also begun to implement a program to compile information regarding allegations of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes by Iraq's current leaders as a step towards bringing to justice those directly responsible for such acts.
The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 provides additional, discretionary authorities under which my Administration can act to further the objectives I outlined above. There are, of course, other important elements of U.S. policy. These include the maintenance of U.N. Security Council support [for] efforts to eliminate Iraq's prohibited weapons and missile programs and economic sanctions that continue to deny the regime the means to reconstitute those threats to international peace and security. United States support for the Iraqi opposition will be carried out consistent with those policy objectives as well.
Similarly, U.S. support must be attuned to what the opposition can effectively make use of as it develops over time. With those observations, I sign H.R. 4655 into law.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
THE WHITE HOUSE,
October 31, 1998

II. '99 APPROPRIATIONS BILL, IRAQ OPPOSITION
Sec. 590. Iraq Opposition
The conference agreement includes a provision proposed by the Senate that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the funds made available in this Act and any prior Acts making appropriations for foreign operations, not less than $8,000,000 shall be made available for assistance to the Iraqi democratic opposition. Of this amount, not less than $3,000,000 should be made available as a grant for the Iraqi National Congress. The conferees also direct the Administration to provid e not less than $3,000,000 as a grant to the Iraqi Campaign to Indict Iraqi War Criminals to be used to compile information to support the indictment of Iraqi officials for war crimes. The conferees direct the Administration to provide not less than $2,000,000 for the conduct of activities by the Iraqi democratic opposition inside Iraq. The conferees also direct the Secretary of State to submit a detailed report to the Committees on Appropriations thirty days after the enactment of this Act on the implementation of these activities.

III. INC WELCOMES IRAQ LIBERATION ACT
INC Welcomes President Clinton's Signature of the Iraq Liberation Act London (October 31, 1998)
Following is a statement by Ahmad Chalabi, President of the Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress.
Saddam has shown once again that he is irredeemable. His defiance of the United Nations Security Council and his rejection of all reasonable attempts to resolve the impasse, which he made, demonstrate that he has no concern for the well being of the Iraqi people. He puts his power megalomania above the life and happiness of the Iraqi people.
The Iraqi people are the first to suffer from the expulsion of UNSCOM and the cessation of all its activities. They have repeatedly been the victims of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. They call for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction from Iraq.
Saddam has pushed further the day when sanctions on Iraq would be lifted. He has challenged the combined will of the international community and thus he has opened the door for UN action against Iraq under Chapter VII resolutions. He is responsible.
Today, October 31, 1998 is a great day for the Iraqi people. Today President Clinton signed into law the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. The American people have given their support for the end of dictatorship and for democracy in Iraq. The INC welcomes this courageous and historic action by President Clinton and thanks him for it.
I will begin immediate consultations with leaders in the INC and others to work for a united response on how best to take advantage of the provisions of the Iraq Liberation Act. We will present a united front to maximize the chances of success. We look to President Clinton to support and work with a united INC to achieve our common goals.
The INC has worked long and hard to energize the conscience of world to the decades long suffering of the Iraqi people. We have worked hard to persuade the US Congress for action to help the Iraqi people to liberate themselves. We thank with gratitude the US Congress for their support of democracy in Iraq. They have created a strong bond between the people of the US and the people of Iraq in the pursuit of liberty.
Saddam is the problem and he cannot be part of any solution in Iraq. Therefore, President Clinton's action today is the most appropriate response to Saddam. Let him know that Iraqis will rise up to liberate themselves from his totalitarian dictatorship and that the US is ready to help their democratic forces with arms to do so. Only then will the trail of tragedy in Iraq end. Only then will Iraq be free of weapons of mass destruction.

What Really Happened: The Isreali Spy Ring including Checkpoint Systems

The Israeli Spy Ring

ALL LINKS TO CARL CAMERON'S FOX NEWS STORY ON THE ISRAELI SPY RING HAVE BEEN REMOVED AT THE EXPRESS REQUEST OF FOX NEWS. However, you can still view them HERE

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"Israel does not spy on the United States of America." -- Mark Regev, a spokesman at the Israeli embassy in Washington

Prior to 9/11, the FBI had discovered the presence of a massive spy ring inside the United States run by the government of Israel. This seems a harsh gratitude from a nation which obtains 10% of its annual budget from the American taxpayer, $3+ billion a year. Over the years, American taxpayers have been required to send Israel more than four times what the US spent to go to the moon.

What Israel has done in return was to set up government subsidized telecommunications companies which operate here in the United States. One of these companies is Amdocs, which provides billing and directory assistance for 90% of the phone companies in the USA. Amdocs' main computer center for billing is actually in Israel and allows those with access to do what intelligence agencies call "traffic analysis"; a picture of someone's activities based on a pattern of who they are calling and when. Another Israeli telecom company is Comverse Infosys, which subcontracts the installation of the automatic tapping equipment now built into every phone system in America. Comverse maintains its own connections to all this phone tapping equipment, insisting that it is for maintenance purposes only. However, Converse has been named as the most likely source for leaked information regarding telephone calls by law enforcement that derailed several investigations into not only espionage, but drug running as well. Yet another Israeli telecom company is Odigo, which provides the core message passing system for all the "Instant Message" services. Two hours before the attacks on the World Trade Towers, Odigo employees received a warning. Odigo has an office 2 blocks from the former location of the World Trade Towers.

"I think there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing -- although that was part of it -- by a sovereign foreign government... It will become public at some point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now." -- Senator Graham as quoted in Senator: At Least One Foreign Country Assisted the 9/11 Terrorists

Let us be clear here. There is nothing benign about Israel spying on the United States. When Jonathan Pollard stole our nuclear secrets (which your taxes paid to develop) and sent them to Israel, Israel did not hesitate to trade those secrets to the USSR in exchange for increased emigration quotas. The implication of these facts is that the billions of our tax dollars sent to Israel (while women and children sleep in America's alleys and eat out of trash bins) have bought and paid for a monstrous phone tracking and phone tapping system that can eavesdrop on almost any phone call in America. Even the White House phones were open to such tapping by listening in on the other end outside the White House itself. This actually happened. The Ken Starr report on Whitewater describes how Bill Clinton informed Monica Lewinsky that their phone sex conversations had been recorded. At the same time, Clinton ordered the FBI to cease the hunt for an Israeli mole known to be operating inside the White House itself! So here we have a foreign nation able to listen in on most phones at will, using taps that cannot be found because they are built into the phone system itself, and willing to use the information gleaned from those calls to blackmail Americans into any desired course of action. This may well be what Ariel Sharon meant when he stated that the Jewish people control America. That the information gleaned from these phone taps is being used to coerce the behavior of key individuals in the US Government and media is illustrated by the manner in which the government and the media have handled this scandal of the largest spy ring ever uncovered inside the United States, and of phone taps on all of our phones. They are downplaying it. Actually, burying it is a better word.

Fox News, alone of all the media, actually ran the story as a four part broadcast, and put the story up on its web site. Then, without explanation, Fox News erased the story from their web site and have never mentioned it again. CNN followed by "Orwellizing" their report of the two hour advance warning of the WTC attacks sent to Odigo employees. But far more telling is the admission made by a US Official in part one of the Fox News report that hard evidence existed linking the events of 9/11 not to Arab Muslims, but to some of the more than 200 Israeli spies arrested both before and after 9/11, but that this evidence had been CLASSIFIED.

"Investigators within the DEA, INS and FBI have all told Fox News that to pursue or even suggest Israeli spying ... is considered career suicide." -- Carl Cameron, as quoted in The Spies Who Came In From The Art Sale

Since then, any and all mention of the Israeli spy ring and phone tapping scandal has resulted in a barrage of shrill screams of "hate" and "anti-Semite", two well worn and frankly over used devices to try to silence discussion on any topic unfavorable to the nation which owns the spy ring in question. The story of the uncovering of the largest spy ring ever discovered inside the United States should be the story of the century, if indeed the US media is looking out for the best interests of the American people. That this spy ring helped drug smugglers evade investigators should be a major scandal, if indeed the US media is looking out for the best interests of the American people. That the spy ring includes companies able to track and tap into any phone in America, including the White House, should be a cause celebre', if indeed the US media is looking out for the best interests of the American people.

But they are not. The media is trying to bury this story. They are spiking it, erasing it from their web sites in a chilling real-life Orwellian rewriting of history. The actions of the US media are those of people trying to protect this spy ring and those that the spy ring worked for.

"While I agree with you, if I say anything about US geopolitical interests with Israel, I might as well clean off my desk." -- Unnamed reporter as quoted in American Media Censorship and Israel

The actions of the US media are those of traitors to the American people.

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WHY IS THE US GOVERNMENT COVERING UP THE LATEST ISRAELI SPY RING? WHAT WAS THE ISRAELI SPY RING DOING THAT IS SUCH A THREAT TO THE US GOVERNMENT THAT THEY WOULD RATHER HAVE OVER A HUNDRED SPIES ESCAPE THAN RISK A PUBLIC TRIAL? "Evidence linking these Israelis to 9/11 is classified. I cannot tell you about evidence that has been gathered. It's classified information." -- US official quoted in Carl Cameron's Fox News report on the Israeli spy ring and its connections to 9-11.

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Hundreds of Mossad Agents Caught Running Wild in America!

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More holes in US electronic security The story on Israeli spying inside the focused on three companies, Amdocs, which provides billing and directory assistance for most American phone companies, Comverse Infosys, which installs and mainstains telephone tapping equipment for US law enforcement, and Odigo, which provides services for the various "Instant Message" systems on your computer. All three companies are owned by Israel and have strong ties to the Israeli Defense Force. Both Amdocs and Comverse Infosys were implicated in the sale of telephone data which compromised US investigations into drug running, and Comverse Infosys phone taps are suspected of being the means by which Bill Clinton's phone sex sessions were recorded, as reported in the Ken Starr Report. Odigo, which had offices near the World Trade Towers, is the company which received a two hour advance warning of the attacks of 9-11. Now, in a chilling real life version of the plotline from "The Net", it turns out that the majority of the firewalls on US corporate and government computer systems are provided by just one company, Checkpoint Systems, which like Amdocs, Comverse Infosys, and Odigo, is headquartered in Israel.

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Israelis trapped in terror roundups cause worry at home, anger at U.S	Nearly 100 Israelis arrested in U.S. since September 11 attacks
Arrest of Jewish Defense League Officers	Israeli's Arrested As Spies in America
The art of spying on your "friends"	Evidence of six hijacking teams
US to Deport the Mysterious 5 Israelis?	Dancing Israelis at George Washington bridge?

Publish Post

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See also:

Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History
The Complete Collection of Articles About the Israeli Spy Ring Scandal
Israel and 9/11 - Index of What Really Happened

The Bush Occupation of America - Media Urged to Expose Crime Family

The Bush Occupation of America - Media Urged to Expose Crime Family

An excellent article...


Summary Of The Bush Crime Family History

For any civilized endeavor to maintain its civility, there must be enforceable laws and/or rules; without which, there is anarchy. So, before we find ourselves struggling to regain our lost freedoms, like those tragic heros in Burma/Myanmar, perhaps we should take a strategic review of how we arrived at this alarming state, honestly apprise our current status, and as we approach another major election, cast about for viable options for now as well as the foreseeable future.
Any objective observer with the barest awareness of contemporary history should be able to readily trace the rise of this powerful movement that has taken control of the reins of power in the United States. The most blatant initial historical record is when Grandpa Prescott Bush and some of his cronies tried to entice General Smedley Butler to muster enough World War I veterans to take over the Presidency of The United States in 1933. Then again, in 1942 (a year after World War II was declared), Prescott Bush and this same cabal -- in their drive toward fascism -- were finally forced by the "Trading With the Enemy Act" to terminate their extensive business dealings with Hitler.
After WWII, this American branch of the Nazis didn't lose the war, they just transformed the battleground. They expanded their "connections" with Hitler's intelligence networks from The War into the formation of our own CIA. It is also this same group that President Eisenhower opaquely identified as the "Military Industrial Complex," in his dark farewell speech to us. Later, it was Poppy George H.W. Bush who sat on a boat (named Barbara) off-shore and directed the Cuban Bay Of Pigs fiasco. As a direct consequence of that largely unsolicited action, John Kennedy banished him and his CIA brothers from his administration, albeit only temporarily, as George H.W. Bush, then an active CIA agent, was later photographed in Dealey Plaza that sunny November day in 1963.


(Some Iraqi "insurgents", just two of the million + slaughtered in Iraq, never mentioned in the
American "free press." )

...article contines..

From FDR to today, the Bush Crime Family and their fixated core of corporate fascists have been tightening their grip on the throats of the American political, legal, economic and media systems -- as the following excerpt from the Democratic Underground so well outlines:

"A Pocket History of the Bush Organized Crime Family Crime Line

Hitler's "Angel" -- Prescott Bush and his Wall Street cronies helped finance and arm the Third Reich.* Some continued trading with the enemy even after Germany declared war on America.
Bay of Pigs -- Bush the Oilman and his Cuban and Mafia friends raise hell in Miami, New Orleans and Houston. Nice fellahs. LBJ called their organization "A regular Murder Inc in the Caribbean."

November 1963, Dallas* -- George DeMohrenschildt the "White Russian geologist" is friends with both Lee Harvey Oswald and George Herbert Walker Bush. Small world, as the coincidences get bigger. Almost 40 years later, FBI memos surface that detail how George Herbert Walker Bush fingered a young conservative the day of the assassination and "Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency" cleared the anti-Castro Cubans in Miami days later.

Vietnam -- OK for poor kids to fight an illegal war started over the phony Gulf of Tonkin Incident, just as long as "W," the drunken coke-whore dim son, "destined" to become preznit some day, or the rest of his rich frat brothers don't have to go. Meanwhile Poppy's rich friends became very, very, very rich.

Watergate -- Nixon was willing to throw anyone and everyone to the wolves -- except George Herbert Walker Bush and "The Texans" because "They'll do anything for our side." Gee. Would "murder" qualify as "anything." Think so, especially seeing how Nixon got the ziggy and Bush ended up in the clear.

October Surprise -- Carter probably would've beat Reagan, but Bush and his buddies in INTEL and the military-industrial complex cut a deal with the Ayatollah to hold the hostages clear through the election. On inauguration day, they got to leave Tehran. A couple of weeks later, Israel starts sending US-supplied weapons. It proves so "profitable," that Ollie North cuts out the Israelis and decides to sell them US-direct.

Reagan survives assassination attempt --Just a couple of months after Reagan is sworn in, Reagan is ALMOST taken out and Bush stood ready to take charge. His son Neil was ready to have dinner that night with John Hinckley's brother, Scott. Odd how these "One Degree of Separation" coincidences always happen to Poppy.
INSLAW/Promis -- The turd Ed Meese and cronies stole software that enabled the Justice Department to track criminal prosecutions, had their INTEL buddies add a trap door, and then sold it around the world, making it possible to track what every BFEE-connected dictator or friend from Saddam to d'Aubission is up to -- in Freedom's name.

Iraq-gate / Banca Nazionale del Lavoro arms -- Just how do you think Iraq managed to run its war against Iran for all those years? Saddam had to be getting juice from somebody, so they found a low-level banker in Miami to take the fall. US taxpayers floated Saddam $5 billion in loans. Meanwhile the Iran-Iraq war is prolonged by years and several hundreds of thousands of lives are lost.
BCCI International Money Laundering for Terrorists & Intelligence Community -- The terrorists' favorite bank, used by among others Abu Nidhal, Osama bin Laden, Ollie North, CIA, SIS and KGB. The Reagan and Bush administrations and friends on both sides of the aisle in Congress did all they could to keep it open. John Kerry got it shut down. \

Savings & Loan Scandal -- Legalized robbery in the form of "loans" made to the politically connected, Mafia and INTEL-huggers

Odd how even Neil Bush, who made millions while Silverado, the S&L he helped direct, lost billions in bad loans to Bush cronies, never spent a day in jail. Kid from Detroit steals a pair of shoes from the mall and it's OK to shoot him dead. Meanwhile, after the bailout "fixes" everything, Poppy's very, very, very rich friends become ultra-rich.

Iran-Contra -- Neo-con Michael Ledeen, Munacher Ghorbanifar and Adnan Khashoggi bend over backward to sell arms the Ayatollah and use the profits to arm the terrorist Contras. Most of the players should be in prison, but, thanks to Poppy's pardon, remain free to roam the streets, let alone corridors of power, and continue the terror.

Arbusto, HARKEN, Spectrum-7, Aloha -- Every company the crazy monkey's ever touched, he's run into the ground. Yet Poppy's family and friends, including James R Bath, the bin Mahfouz and bin Ladens, always help him out. No wonder the dim bulb went off thinking of ENRON, Kenny Boy and all the possibilities.

Gulf War I -- Poppy Bush gives April Glaspie the signal to greenlight Saddam's "border dispute" and push into Kuwait. No wonder Saddam felt betrayed when Cheney ordered the extermination of tens of thousands of fleeing Iraqi conscripts heading north on the "Highway of Death." Meanwhile, Poppy's ultra-rich friends become ultra-ultra-ultra rich.

Selection 2000 Shreds US Constitution -- After fixing things up so that 70,000 likely Democratic votes and voters are turned away or disenfranchised, the 2000 Florida Presidential "election" results in a "tie." Associate Justice Antonin Scalia gets the idea that maybe the GOP-packed Supreme Court should grant petitioner George W Bush's request for taking the Oval Office, anyway. Someone on DU wrote: "You don't steal elections to do good things." Prophetic words, those.

ENRON Energy Policy -- Sneering Dick Cheney meets with Kenny Boy Lay to discuss ways of helping ENRON rip-off California and the rest of America. There were others there, like Chevron and EXXON, because they need oil, too. Besides, the ultra-, ultra-, ultra-rich can never have enough.

9-11 -- After ignoring the warnings of outgoing President Bill Clinton, former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, anti-Terror Chief Richard Clarke, and Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, George W Bush ignores a report titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S." A month later, 3,000 innocent people are murdered. Two ways of looking at this one:

1.) Criminal Negligence, at best;

2.) Treason, most likely.

Gulf War II -- George W Bush, Sneer, and most of "the bureaucracy" make a case for going to war in Iraq, stating there are clear-cut connections between 9-11* and Saddam Hussein, who planned to use his arsenal of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons on America. (So far, the only bioweapon used on America was Anthrax that came from a US Army lab grown from a batch of the University of Iowa Strain.) Anwyay, it's not really odd to see how attacking Iraq was the Administration's number 1 priority, according to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and anti-Terror Chief Richard Clarke, from January 2001. The reason? There's money to be made there and power to be gained at home."(end of excerpt); * links added
--
So much for a historical perspective; where do we currently stand? Well, our political, legal, governmental, military and medical systems as well as our unions have all been thoroughly compromised. Financially, since we are deeply in debt (mostly to Japan and China) "they" are selling off our corporate and country assets, our tax system and the Federal Reserve Banking system are beyond any controls, the demoralized and frightened middle class is being rapidly dissolved, our worldwide reputation is sullied more than at any time in our history and the value of the dollar continues to fall. Our infrastructure and environment are deteriorating while corporate and political corruption are rampant, bigotry and racism abound, our traditional news sources have become cheering profit centers for the administration and our voting processes are, at best, unreliable. Not the healthy picture of progress and hope that used to be the norm, prior to the sixties -- before someone started killing off the Kennedy brothers and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
--
This may sound like a broken record, but the next election is truly going to be critical to the survival of our democratic way of life -- and thus the world. Perhaps we should begin to think of these individuals that support this administration as bloated, self-absorbed and out-of-control addicts, in need of intervention. Now, in an intervention, the first thing that has to happen is that the addict must be subjected to the facts of reality until their wall of denial is first exposed and then accepted. The initial indication that that has occurred is when the addict admits that there is a problem and then becomes actively motivated to do something about it. It appears that the 2006 midterm elections demonstrated that a growing majority of Americans think things are broken and want a change. Now, is the time to educate and motivate our fellow citizens to seek out and regain their lost sense of morality.

Article in its entirety is at: http://www.sonic.net/~taryfast/destruction.html

The article is by Tarry Faster, and most appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to express your views complete with links to historical sources.

posted by Stealth Lesbian

Another reminder to FREE Leonard Peltier (me too !)

Hey--check out this powerful prayer for Leonard from the daily meditation sent out by my good friend Chi at chioceansuns@peoplepc.com . It seems to me the Christian community in this country, and ALL of us, following Chi's example, might successfully appeal to President Bush for Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier as a sacred political act, symbolically taking Leonard down from his Cross.

Leonard has an official parole hearing in December 2008--last month of Pres. Bush's presidency. His next such hearing, should this one fail, will not be until 2017--when Leonard will be 73 years old (he's been in prison since he was 31). It's time for all of us--and EACH of us--to ACT NOW-TODAY! to free our Brother.

I fondly imagine the nationwide Christian community gently imploring the President to free this martyr of his People. This can be done by simply FWDing this email prayer to president@whitehouse.gov with a KINDLY personal request from YOU that he release Leonard, followed by this short and wondrous prayer by Chi. If the lawyers and judges can't free Leonard, I believe this prayer by millions of us in unison could and would. If your heart tells you to take this simple prayerful act of FWDing this email to the President, please CC me at harveyarden@starpower.net so I can keep vague track of what's happening. Please CC or FWD this message to friends and family and whomever you know with a good heart.

Become part of One Great Universal Prayer for Leonard!

Your brother & Leonard's,

/Harvey Arden

<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*<+>*

ZZZ

And Lord, comfort our brother Leonard this morning.
Hold Him in Your Loving Arms and grant him peace.
And then free our brother Father.
Free him and send him home to his family and to his people.

Oh Lord Jesus, You alone know the heart of a man. You alone see the tears of each human being held in bondage, each prisoner unjustly and unfairly accused.
Ease all their burdens this morning, Oh Great Lover of a Wounded Heart.
Ease not only their hurts this morning, but heal the hurts and wounds of their loved ones.

Today we feel freed by the Loving and Comforting Prayers of Christ Jesus.

Walk in peace today family,

~~Chi'

Free Leonard Peltier!

http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/

HiLIARy updates for today (!!!!)

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli and NBC's Mark Murray
At the Jewish Community Center in Pittsburgh this morning, Bill Clinton took questions from local press after shaking a lot of hands. NBC/NJ asked him about the WHYY radio interview in which he said the Obama camp was playing the race card.



Below is full transcript of the back-and-forth:

NBC/NJ: “Sir, what did you mean yesterday when you said that the Obama campaign was playing the race card on you?”

CLINTON: “When did I say that, and to whom did I say that?”

NBC/NJ: “On WHYY radio yesterday”

CLINTON: “No, no, no. That’s not what I said. You always follow me around and play these little games, and I’m not going to play your games today. This is a day about election day. Go back and see what the question was, and what my answer was. You have mischaracterized it to get another cheap story to divert the American people from the real urgent issues before us, and I choose not to play your game today. Have a nice day.”

NBC/NJ: “Respectfully sir, though, you did say …”

CLINTON: “Have a nice day.” [continues shaking hands with supporters]. I said what I said, you can go and look at the interview. And if you’ll be real honest, you’ll also report what the question was and what the answer was.”

NBC/NJ: “They asked you if you regretted your comparing Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama on the day after the South Carolina primary.”

CLINTON: “And I pointed out that I did not do that, and that I complimented them both. And that Jesse Jackson took no offense. And I called him myself, I said, ‘Did you find that offensive?’ And he said no.

Again, here is what Clinton told WHYY.

INTERVIEWER (RE: Jackson comment): “Do you think that was a mistake, and would you do that again?"

CLINTON: "No. I think that they played the race card on me. And we now know, from memos from the campaign and everything, that they planned to do it along.

If you need comic relief or TRUTH today, read the COMMENTS:
http://mparent7777-1.blogspot.com/2008/04/bill-clinton-being-himself-bald-faced.html

Hillary Strangelove

Hillary Strangelove...

"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when ... " - M. R.

Cheney Takes Aim At... Endangered Whales

Cheney Takes Aim At... Endangered Whales...

Whales forced to apologize. - M. R.

Sen. Mikulski's Warmongering Exposed by Peace Activist

Here is the plain truth: Sen. Mikulski supports the Military-Industrial Complex, which is a one-trillion-dollar a year drain on our treasury. (2) She doesn't give a good hoot about the troops, who are dying and suffering in Iraq. Her votes for war-funding puts the troops in harm's way, in a conflict which was launched by the Bush-Cheney Gang based on 935 certifiable lies. (3) When the Democrats took control of the Congress in January, 2007, Sen. Mikulski had an opportunity to stop funding this war and to bring the troops home safely. She failed! As a result, 1,055 troops have died since that date and thousands more have been wounded.

Halliburton Bribe Case Haunts Cheney

Dick Cheney's tenure at Halliburton ended eight years ago, but a federal investigation of alleged bribes from a company subsidiary to Nigerian officials lingers from the Cheney era, raising questions about what the Vice President knew or should have known.

--> Did the US Supreme Court just elect John McCain?

The US Supreme Court has just dealt a serious blow to voters' rights that could help put John McCain in the White House by eliminating tens of thousands of voters who generally vote Democratic.

Clinton Criticizing Closure of Indiana Factory That Clinton Helped Close

Clinton is airing this advertisement in Indiana, bemoaning the closure of a defense contractor Magnequench's manufacturing plant in Valparaiso (she is also echoing this line in her stump speeches). Looking at the camera, she tells us she's upset that the 200 jobs that were sent to China, and that "now America's defense relies on Chinese spare parts." And then comes the kicker: She tells viewers that "George Bush could have stopped it, but he didn't."

Clinton is certainly right that it is a tragedy that 200 American jobs were killed in a corporate deal that also exported sensitive military technology to China. But she forgets to mention that it wasn't George Bush who was in the key position to stop it -- it was Bill Clinton.

Proud of Obama: Go Sit Down Rev.Wright!

It saddens me to see how Rev.Wright has taken this whole thing and turned it into a ongoing spectacle and opportunity for his own glory and fame. I am the first to agree with many things that he has said in his sermons and lectures of here lately but I disagree with his timing. Let us get Obama into the whitehouse and then we can look at the truths of this nation and how to repair it.

Meanwhile ...

If guilt by association is your cup of tea, then read on, because I have a couple doozies to share with you!

PHOTOGRAPH OF COCAINE SMUGGLER JORGE CABRERA WITH HILLARY CLINTON.

Click for full size picture.(56.4K)

Jorge Cabrera is a convicted drug dealer and friend of Fidel Castro.

Some News Coverage

MIAMI  --  Jorge Cabrera, a drug smuggler who has emerged as
one of the most notorious supporters of President Clinton's
re-election campaign, was asked for a campaign contribution in
the unlikely locale of a hotel in Havana by a prominent Democratic
fund-raiser, congressional investigators have learned.

[...]

On his return to the United States several days after that
meeting, in November 1995, Cabrera wrote a check for $20,000 to
the Democratic National Committee from an account that included
the proceeds from smuggling cocaine from Colombia to the
United States, said the investigators, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

[...]

In early January 1996, three weeks after having attended the
Christmas reception at the White House, Cabrera was arrested
and charged with importing 6,000 pounds of cocaine into the
United States on boats through the Florida Keys. Late last year, he
pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 19 years in
federal prison and fined $1.5 million.

-----
Drug Smuggler Made Clinton Donation in Cuba, Investigators Say
By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
New York Times
April 4, 1997

MIAMI  --  Jorge Cabrera, a drug smuggler who has emerged as
one of the most notorious supporters of President Clinton's
re-election campaign, was asked for a campaign contribution in
the unlikely locale of a hotel in Havana by a prominent Democratic
fund-raiser, congressional investigators have learned.

The investigators said the fund-raiser, whom they identified as
Vivian Mannerud, a Cuban-American businesswoman from Miami,
told Cabrera at a meeting at the Copacabana Hotel in Havana that
in exchange for a contribution he would be invited to a
fund-raising dinner in honor of Vice President Al Gore in an
exclusive enclave near Miami.

Ms. Mannerud owns Airline Brokers Co., an airline charter
service that operates among Havana, the Bahamas and Mexico.

On his return to the United States several days after that
meeting, in November 1995, Cabrera wrote a check for $20,000 to
the Democratic National Committee from an account that included
the proceeds from smuggling cocaine from Colombia to the
United States, said the investigators, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.

Within two weeks of the contribution, Cabrera met Gore at the
dinner in Miami. Ten days later, Cabrera attended a Christmas
reception at the White House hosted by Hillary Rodham Clinton. At
the events, Gore and Mrs. Clinton posed for photographs with
Cabrera, who has two felony convictions dating from the 1980s

and is now in a prison here on a drug-smuggling conviction.

I want to mention this as this is my FUNDRAISING DAY --
David Sirotta, Dan Van Natta, AND MIchael Rivera use this blog as source material.

In the Michale Rivera case (and Chris Floyd, too) - they tell people to STAY AWAY
for this blog. Sure, then they can make money off my work, cherry picking the
work I do.

They never even say thank you. They don't give me a dime. Where do you think
That Sirota got that Carlos Slim picture?  Have a guess.

So give me a dime. Do it today, or they don't get to cherry pick me
because there won't be anything left to cherry pick; this blog will be
GONE.

A sorry loss for everyone, in my honest opinion.

Virginia
The coffeecup is right down there.
contribute, please.
I want to stay alive so that my story can be told!!
I need your help!!

See peterfpaul.com
My story is even worse since I don't have a family to bail me out.
These little notifications will be on every blog item I post until I get 
enough money to stay afloat.
Don't let SEXISM carry the day anymore.
I am a GREAT investigative journalist, I deserve a break,
I really do.

I'd like to get my shot at writing a book too.
I have a long list of great books I COULD be writing.
And they might ACTUALLY help humanity instead of feeding
Bashers who haven't been out in the streets and on
the TRUTH circuit for forty years like I have.

The US Navy has shown an interest in this Glen Davis story .. Hmmmm.

Some VERY interesting names appear in this article from Vancouver's The Republic.

Can anyone spell

F-r-a-n-k G-i-u-s-t-r-a W-i-l-l-i-a-m C-l-i-n-t-o-n G-e-o-r-g-e HW B-u-s-h

Again I ask when do we get REAL North American coverage of deep investigative stories.

How much does Patrick Fitzgerald REALLY know?

All this is NOT Unrelated to the BAE scandal either, that I know.

HMMm mmmm ..

The late Glen Davis was no ordinary philanthropist

The murdered environmentalist inherited his wealth through connections that run from Conrad Black to Prince Philip

by Kevin Potvin

Glen W Davis, the reclusive environmental philanthropist found mysteriously shot to death in a Toronto parking garage May 18, was no ordinary businessman.

His wealth was inherited from his father, Nelson M Davis, who died of a heart attack in 1979 at the age of 72, when he was one of the richest men in Canada, and every bit the recluse his son turned out to be.

Nelson Davis was chair and president of NM Davis Corporation, his own secretive energy and mining investment company. More interestingly, Nelson Davis was also chair of Argus Corporation.

The Conrad connection

Argus was also originally a Canadian mining company founded in 1945 before it fell into the hands of one Conrad Black, who purchased a controlling interest in the company from the widow of the late Bud MacDonald, president of Argus till he died, in 1978. Black parlayed his gain into a purchase of Hollinger Mines, founded in 1909 and at one time the largest gold mining company in the Western Hemisphere. Black placed Hollinger under the control of his Nelson Davis-run Argus Corp, and placed Argus under his wholly owned parent company, Ravelston (named, bizarrely enough, after a minor character in a 1936 George Orwell novel who publishes a radical left-wing newspaper called The Antichrist in the basement of a derelict building).

Glen Davis’ father is not only described as Conrad Black’s early mentor, but he also sat at the nexus between the 34-year-old Black’s growing web of private companies and the public companies he was rapidly becoming invested in. Nelson Davis was not only Black’s senior by 42 years, he was by far the wealthier of the two men.

With Nelson Davis in charge of Hollinger through his chairman-ship of Argus, Black enticed to the board of Hollinger such right-wing luminaries as Henry Kissinger and Richard Perle. Perle also was hired by Black as president of Hollinger Digital, a subsidiary of Hollinger Inc. Black has been closely associated with many other men besides these who were also intimately involved in the criminal presidency of Richard Nixon, about whom Black has recently released a sympathetic biography. He also rose to a seat on the steering committee of the notorious Bilderberg Group.

Dad’s business

Glen Davis picked up where his father left off in 1979, after he died of a poolside heart attack in Arizona. He maintained much the same business interests as his father, as well as the connections. In the early 1980s, he struck up a relationship with Monte Hummel, then the president of World Wildlife Fund Canada, and now honoured as president-emeritus. Glen Davis went on to donate millions of dollars to plenty of causes in the years since, but none so much as what he donated to Hummel’s WWF.

The head office of the worldwide Prince Philip-launched WWF organization is strategically located in the secret banking enclave of Switzerland. WWF reported revenues in 2005 of US$121 million. Sitting on the current board of the Canadian branch of WWF are R B Matthews, president of Manitou Investments, which is deeply invested in mining concerns; Patricia Koval, a partner in powerful global law firm Torys LLP (alongside former Ontario Conservative Premier William Davis, no known relation to Glen); Bryce Hunter, chair of Huntro Investments, also involved in mining; and other top executives from AGF Management, Catalyst Paper Corp, J P Morgan, Morgan Stanley Canada, and Deloitte & Touche, as well as top executives from other leading banking and resource extraction companies. In a 2000 speech to members of the Davis Family Trust, Hummel offered that his first love, in the field of conservation, is the Canadian Barrens—the vast area between Hudson’s Bay and the MacKenzie River rich in minerals, including gold—containing perhaps the largest reserves of gold in the world according to analysts, though much of it remains inaccessible for now.

After meeting Hummel, Glen Davis, recent inheritor of what has been described as one of the largest personal fortunes in Canada (built up by his father through close association with Conrad Black, Henry Kissinger, and Richard Perle, through companies originally involved in resource extraction), also acquired a love for conservation and in particular for the Barrens area of Canada—the rich, largely untapped sea of resources first introduced to him by Hummel. He thereafter became a significant donor to Hummel’s WWF Canada fund, on whose board of directors sit the top executives of some of Canada’s—and the world’s—biggest resource extraction and banking companies, and began taking trips alone into the Barrens and becoming something of a world expert, with Hummel, on the region.

A secretive man

Davis was shot in the basement garage of the building housing WWF Canada, immediately after a meeting in WWF offices. The man who called Davis’ father his mentor, Conrad Black, is currently on trial in Chicago on embezzlement charges arising from the intricate financial relationship between Hollinger, Argus, and Ravelston that Black set up with Glen Davis’ father as his guide and mentor 30 years ago.

Police say they have no leads in the murder of Glen Davis, and no motive. He has been honoured by leading environmental organiza-tions for his largesse, but was said to be a very secretive man.

Clinton and buck$, I missed this out before!!

In Charity and Politics, Clinton Donors Overlap

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

The Clintons at the dedication of his library in late 2004.

By DON VAN NATTA Jr., JO BECKER and MIKE McINTIRE

Published: December 20, 2007

This article is by Don Van Natta Jr., Jo Becker and Mike McIntire.

Skip to next paragraph

Multimedia

Graphic

Donations to the Clinton Foundation

Related

Times Topics: Hillary Rodham Clinton

Blogrunner: Reactions From Around the Web

Top, Evelyn Hockstein for The New York Times; middle, Jean-Philippe Defaut for The New York Times; bottom, Bill Cunningham/The New York Times

Frank Giustra, top, runs a group that gave $31 million to the Clinton Foundation; Sir Tom Hunter began donating $10 million a year in 2006; and Bernard L. Schwartz has pledged $1 million.

Over the last decade, former President Bill Clinton has raised more than $500 million for his foundation, allowing him to build a glass-and-steel presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., and burnish his image as an impresario of global philanthropy. The foundation has closely guarded the identities of its donors — including one who gave $31.3 million last year.

Now, the secrecy surrounding the William J. Clinton Foundation has become a campaign issue as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks the Democratic presidential nomination with her husband as a prime source of strategy and star power. Some of her rivals argue that donors could use presidential foundations to circumvent campaign finance laws intended to limit political influence.

Mr. Clinton himself echoed those concerns this fall when he pledged to make public future donors if Mrs. Clinton was elected president. While disclosure is not legally required, failure to do so, Mr. Clinton said, would raise “all these questions about whether people would try to win favor with her by giving money to me.”

Even so, past donors should remain private, he insisted, “unless there is some conflict of which I am aware, and there is not.”

But an examination of the foundation demonstrates how its fund-raising has at times fostered the potential for conflict.

The New York Times has compiled the first comprehensive list of 97 donors who gave or pledged a total of $69 million for the Clinton presidential library in the final years of the Clinton administration. The examination found that while some $1 million contributors were longtime Clinton friends, others were seeking policy changes from the administration. Two pledged $1 million each while they or their companies were under investigation by the Justice Department.

Other donations came from supporters who had been ensnared in campaign finance scandals surrounding Mr. Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign.

In raising record sums for her campaign, Mrs. Clinton has tapped many of the foundation’s donors. At least two dozen have become “Hillraisers,” each bundling $100,000 or more for her presidential bid. The early library donors, combined with their families and political action committees, have contributed at least $784,000 to Mrs. Clinton’s Senate and presidential coffers.

The foundation and Mrs. Clinton’s political campaigns have been intertwined in other ways. Terry McAuliffe, who led the foundation’s fund-raising and sits on its board, is now Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman and chief fund-raiser. Cheryl Mills plays a similar dual role, sitting on the foundation board and serving as the general counsel to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign. And Jay Carson recently traded a communications position at the foundation for a job as her campaign’s press secretary.

As the scope of the foundation expanded from the Clinton library into issues like treating AIDS in the developing world and addressing global poverty and climate change, and Mrs. Clinton moved closer to announcing her candidacy, the pace of giving quickened. Last year, contributions reached $135 million, a 70 percent increase over the previous year. Two-thirds came from just 11 donors.

The $31.3 million donation, which was previously undisclosed, came from the Radcliffe Foundation run by Frank Giustra, a Canadian who has made millions financing mining deals around the world. Mr. Giustra has become a member of Mr. Clinton’s inner circle, joining him on global trips and lending him the use of his private MD-87 jet.

For weeks, Clinton Foundation officials had suggested that the $31.3 million contribution listed on its tax return did not come from a single donor. They then said it came from a single source, but declined to identify it. Wednesday afternoon, a representative of Mr. Giustra contacted The Times and acknowledged the Radcliffe contribution.

This year, Mr. Giustra announced separate plans to give the Clinton Foundation $100 million, plus half of his future earnings from natural resource business ventures, for a joint project to spur economic growth in poor Latin American mining communities. Taken together, the contributions make Mr. Giustra one of the foundation’s largest benefactors, if not the single largest.

The Times’s findings are based on tax documents filed by the Clinton Foundation and by groups that contributed to it, interviews with donors and people with direct knowledge of the foundation’s activities, as well as federal government records and an analysis of campaign finance data.

In a statement, the foundation said, “Donors did not seek, nor did President Clinton give, favors from the federal government,” adding that most of the contributions came after Mr. Clinton left office. “President Clinton is grateful for the support the foundation has received from more than 100,000 donors,” which helped provide AIDS medication for 750,000 people, fight climate change, combat childhood obesity and build heath systems around the world, the statement said.

In a separate written response from Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, a spokesman, Phil Singer, said, “Senator Clinton is not involved in the fund-raising or operations of the Clinton Foundation.” Mr. Singer noted that President Clinton’s promise to disclose future donors should his wife become president went beyond what the law required.

To limit the influence of any single donor, federal election law prohibits foreign donations to presidential campaigns and limits Americans to $2,300 per election. But presidential foundations are free to accept unlimited and anonymous contributions, even from foreigners and foreign governments. Indeed, the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates, and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar have made contributions of unknown amounts to the Clinton Foundation.

“The vast scale of these secret fund-raising operations presents enormous opportunities for abuse,” said Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, who introduced a bill to force disclosure of presidential foundation donors. The bill passed the House, 390-34, in March but stalled in the Senate.

Building a Foundation

In June 1999, as the Clinton administration wound down, Mrs. Clinton told friends gathered in the White House solarium that wealthy donors had offered to establish a foundation for her. But she was set on running for the Senate in New York. That same month, Mr. Clinton and his chief fund-raiser met for dinner with 40 executives at La Grenouille, a French restaurant in Manhattan. The president had a vision for a charitable foundation that would tackle problems domestic and foreign, several former aides who helped establish the foundation said.

But first, Mr. Clinton had to raise money for his presidential library, which would ultimately cost $165 million. He found a ready pool of library donors in people and companies with matters before the government, many of them loyal Democratic contributors.

On October 6, 1999, the charitable arm of the Anheuser-Busch Companies gave $200,000, the first of five payments over five years totaling $1 million, according to records filed by the company’s foundation. Less than a month earlier, the company, the country’s leading beer maker, had scored a major victory when the Clinton administration’s Federal Trade Commission dropped a bid to regulate beer, wine and liquor advertising that critics said was aimed at under-age drinkers.

Francine I. Katz, a company spokeswoman, said the donation was unrelated to any government action and that its foundation had contributed more than $360 million to a wide array of organizations, including the Bush, Truman and Johnson presidential libraries.

William A. Brandt Jr., a bankruptcy lawyer in Chicago and prolific Democratic fund-raiser, pledged $1 million in May 1999. At the time, the Justice Department was investigating Mr. Brandt’s testimony to Congress about a $10,000 per couple fund-raiser he had held for the president’s 1996 re-election campaign. At issue was whether he had lied when he denied promoting it as an explicit opportunity to lobby a top bankruptcy official at the event.

In August 1999, the Justice Department determined that “prosecution is not warranted.” Mr. Brandt, who is now a Hillraiser, did not respond to several phone and e-mail messages.

Bernard L. Schwartz, another major Democratic contributor who was then chief executive of Loral Space and Communications, gave $250,000 and pledged $750,000 more in 2000. At the time, investigators were trying to determine if Loral had improperly provided satellite technology to China. Under the Bush administration, Loral agreed to pay a civil fine of $14 million to settle the case. Mr. Schwartz, who is now also a Hillraiser, said that his donations were unconnected to Loral’s troubles and added that he had contributed to other presidential libraries.

Familiar Donors

Toward the end of the Clinton administration, Dr. Richard Machado Gonzalez and his lawyer, Miguel D. Lausell, both major Democratic donors in the 1996 presidential election, were pushing the president to increase Medicare reimbursements to hospitals in Puerto Rico, like the one owned by Dr. Machado. Mr. Lausell pledged $1 million to the library in 1999, eight months before Mr. Clinton proposed increasing Medicare payments to Puerto Rico for the second time in his administration. Dr. Machado gave the foundation $100,000 about six months later.

In the interim, the president appointed Mr. Lausell to the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which helps American companies with foreign projects.

Jeffrey Farrow, who coordinated issues involving Puerto Rico for the president, said the administration felt Medicare unfairly penalized Puerto Rico by paying a lower rate there than in the 50 states. Although Congress rejected the proposed increase, Mr. Farrow said “they didn’t have to contribute the way they did in order to get our attention.”

Both men are supporters of Mrs. Clinton, and Mr. Lausell serves as a senior adviser on Latino affairs. Dr. Machado did not return calls seeking comment, and efforts to reach Mr. Lausell through the campaign were not successful.

A fledgling telecommunications company, NextWave Wireless, was battling the Federal Communications Commission when library fund-raisers tapped its chief executive and a major investor. NextWave had promised to pay $4.74 billion for cellphone licenses, but when it declared bankruptcy before completing its payments, the F.C.C. threatened to put the licenses up for public auction, which would have ruined NextWave.

Over three consecutive days in December 1999, with a decision imminent, the library logged a $100,000 pledge from NextWave’s chief executive, Allen Salmasi, and a $100,000 contribution plus a $1 million pledge from Bay Harbour Management, a major investor in NextWave.

The agency ultimately repossessed NextWave’s licenses, prompting a court battle that the company won. Bay Harbour’s co-owner, Douglas Teitelbaum, who declined to comment, never fulfilled his promise to contribute the additional $1 million. Mr. Salmasi did not respond to an e-mail message or to calls to a company spokesman.

Mr. Clinton also found support for his library among some people who figured in the Democratic fund-raising controversies dating to the 1996 elections that involved White House sleepovers, coffees for big donors and money funneled from the Chinese government.

Among them was Farhad Azima, an Iranian-born aviation executive whose involvement in the Iran-contra scandal — one of his companies flew military equipment to Iran in the 1980s — prompted the Democratic National Committee to return a $143,000 donation in 1997. The party later accepted the money. Mr. Azima pledged $1 million to the library.

Another $1 million pledge came from Eric and Patricia Hotung. Mr. Hotung is a Hong Kong businessman who in 1997 was granted a meeting with Mr. Clinton’s national security adviser after Mr. Hotung’s wife, Patricia, an American, offered $100,000 to the Democrats.

Nine of the original library donors received presidential appointments to organizations like the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. In his final days in office, Mr. Clinton appointed two of the donors, the businessmen Mark S. Weiner and Vinod Gupta, to the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

A Joint Effort

At a Democratic debate in September, when Mrs. Clinton was asked whether the foundation would disclose its donors, she indicated that the decision was not hers. “Well, you’ll have to ask them,” she replied, referring to the former president and his staff.

But Mrs. Clinton’s effort to distance herself understates the extent to which the foundation was a joint enterprise from the start.

Shortly after the Clintons left the White House, close advisers convened meetings at the couple’s Washington home to map out Mr. Clinton’s future as a philanthropist.

Mrs. Clinton played an important role in shaping both the foundation’s organization and the scope of its work, said Karen A. Tramontano, a senior adviser in the Clinton White House and the foundation’s first chief of staff.

Advisers also were acutely aware that the foundation’s operations — and any perception of a conflict — could harm Mrs. Clinton politically. “She and I would speak frequently,” Ms. Tramontano said. “She had a lot of ideas. All the papers that went to him went to her.”

Early on, donations to the library caused perception problems. The day after he left office, Mr. Clinton was embroiled in a scandal over his 11th-hour pardon of the financier Marc Rich, who fled the United States in 1983 to avoid tax evasion and other charges. A Congressional hearing later revealed that the pardon came after Mr. Rich’s former wife, Denise Rich, contributed $450,000 to Mr. Clinton’s library.

That spring, Mrs. Clinton co-sponsored legislation to publicly identify donors to foundations of future sitting presidents. She referred to that legislation in the debate three months ago, although the bill had died in committee.

Beyond the revelation of the Rich donation, the names of some other donors emerged after the library opened in November 2004, when a New York Sun reporter found a partial contributor list displayed on a public computer there. The list, with neither amounts nor dates, disclosed donations from the Saudi royal family and other foreign sources. After the Sun story, the computer plug was pulled.

As the foundation has evolved into global philanthropy, it has attracted more large donors. Among them are Tom Golisano, an iconoclastic billionaire from upstate New York, who gives the foundation $3 million to $5 million a year, according to Mr. Golisano’s confidants; Stephen Bing, a Hollywood producer and a Hillraiser, who contributed stock worth $10,028,614 in 2005; Sir Tom Hunter, a Scottish businessman who began donating $10 million a year in 2006 for economic development in Africa; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which said it had given or pledged $23,145,677 since 2005, mostly to support AIDS work and an effort to reduce the costs of malaria drugs.

Throughout, Mrs. Clinton has offered “good, specific ideas” to the foundation when Mr. Clinton asks her to attend planning sessions, said Ira Magaziner, a top foundation executive and longtime Clinton adviser.

As the presidential campaign got under way, foundation officials began working to ensure that none of their enterprises would have political repercussions for Mrs. Clinton. Brian Byrd, who once worked for the Rockefeller Foundation and is now a lobbyist for arts groups, said that this year he interviewed for a job created to help review attendees to Mr. Clinton’s annual conference and make sure charitable pledges were met.

“Part of it was that Hillary was running for president, and they wanted to be sure everything was on the up and up — that was said to me,” said Mr. Byrd, who added that he decided he did not want and was not offered the position. “They wanted to get all their ducks in a row.”

Alain Delaquérière and Aron Pilhofer contributed reporting.