| Johnson: FBI Furious at Leak
Juan Cole
08/30/04:
Many thanks to Ken
Henderson for the following:
' In a later broadcast on MSNBC, former CIA officer and NBC
analyst Larry Johnson
reported that for months he had been aware of an investigation
that had led to tonight's revelation, one that had originally
focused on the source of a forged document indicating that
Iraq had sought uranium from Niger, presumably for making
nuclear weapons. Johnson speculated that Israel may have been
behind the forgery which was used by the administration to
bolster its case for invasion. If so, he said, the espionage
case could tie to an ongoing Justice Department criminal
investigation into the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA
operative by right-wing columnist Robert Novak. Johnson also
said the FBI was furious that news of the espionage
investigation had leaked. Johnson opined that the
investigation could lead from DOD to the National Security
Council, and that the timing of the leak just before the start
of the Republican convention was not coincidental. In a post
on the dailykos weblog, one contributor noted that "when
Tom Clancy and [Gen.] Zinni were running around flogging their
book, they were on Deborah Norville. [During the show,
Norville] asked Clancy of his impression of Wolfowitz. 'Is he
working for our side?' [Clancy] replied."
It appears to be the case that someone in the Pentagon got
wind that Larry Franklin had been flipped, and was terrified
that the investigation might go on up the ladder at the
Pentagon, in AIPAC, and with the Israelis. So they leaked news
of the investigation to make sure that everybody clammed up and
shredded everything.
The NYT piece today reflects continued efforts at the Pentagon
to paint Franklin as a low-level desk grunt with little access
to Paul Wolfowitz. This last is just a lie. In a conversation
with me, Franklin indicated that he was in very close contact
with Wolfowitz, and he offered to get me an audience. I said,
"You don't read my web log, do you?"
CNN reports that AIPAC, which passed confidential Pentagon
documents and information from Franklin to the Israelis, holds
2000 meetings a year with US Senators and Congressmen, leading
to the passage of an average of 100 pro-Israel pieces of
legislation every year!
Some readers have suggested that I have exaggerated AIPAC's hold
on the US Congress. But I have direct knowledge of senators and
congressmen being afraid to speak out on Israeli issues because
of AIPAC's reputation for targetting representatives for
un-election if they dare do so. And, it is easy to check. Look
in the Congressional record. Is there ever any speech
given on the floor critical of Israeli policy, given by a
senator or representative who goes on to win the next election?
And look at the debates in every other parliament in the world;
there are such criticisms elsewhere. The US Congress is being
held hostage by a single-issue lobbying organization that often
puts Israeli interests above US interests, as the spying
scandal, and the attempts to thwart the prisoner exchange by
Iran of high al-Qaeda operatives for Mujahedin-e Khalq
terrorists demonstrate.
Indeed, you would expect the revelation of the FBI case to
provoke congressional investigations of AIPAC. There won't be
any, for obvious reasons.
Again, I underline that the American Jewish community does not
support most AIPAC positions (a majority are much closer to
Americans for Peace Now), and that this issue has to do with a
small fanatical leadership of a specific lobbying organization,
nothing more.
Also, the
Uggabugga blog has put up a diagram of the Franklin spying
affair as far as it is known so far.
Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan.
www.juancole.com
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