Neocon Spy Scandal Gone Down Memory Hole

Sounded like it ought to be big. Prominent neocon, closely connnected to other even more prominent neocons, all of them crucial players in planning the war on Iraq and then jobbing and pressuring and fudging the intelligence to "justify" the war, and one of the turns out to have been spying for Isreal all the time.

Sounded like it would be a big deal. Some of us hoped the media would pick it up, that it would last more than a day.

But nope, today there is nothing. Nothing in the media. Its gone.

Its even gone from DU. I guess discussing it just isn't very "helpful," as Rumsfeld would say.

:shrug:

and the "Ten commandments statue tour" are such hot topics. They are all perfect sensation distractions from what is really going on in this country.

I think the mainstream TV and Cable media have taken the Terri Schiavo circus as an inspiration to completely give up on covering any sort of news, so that now all we get is Runaway Bride and Paula Abdul's love life in gory detail.

They're not even trying anymore.

Yesterday we got #3 on al Qaeda's all time "hit list". (He only had minor freezer burn.)

Also...Paula Abdul has SEX!

Also...Runaway bride is back and she's MAD AS HELL!

Also...NBA Playoffs!

Also...Kirk Kerkorian boosts GM stake! All is well!

Also...Bush loves horses!

Also...Tom DeLay is just a misunderstood MAN OF GOD! (courtesy CNN).

Also...Iran wants Nukes to kill your children!

Also...Syria is BAD!

Also...All is forgiven, Tony Blair in a landslide!

Also...John Bolton is just a misunderstood MAN OF GOD!

Also...Pat Robertson says judges are worse than al Qaeda!

Also...The Yankees are on a losing streak!

On the lighter side...Armadillos have sex in front of Dave Letterman!

Details at 11...Stay tuned for secret Abdul sex practices involving Simon Cowell and a sock puppet that looks like Michael Jackson!

© Orwell Bizzaro News Service

nt

the neocon spy story would be front page news.

:eyes:

Get with the program.

on LBN. People were adding a lot of interesting insight, and there were some good questions.

I think it is one of the most important current events. While various democrats might hold slightly different views about it, I think it is important that we keep it fresh.

Thank you for posting this!

The moderator noted that the discussion was not "productive." I am not criticizing the moderator, just passing on the information as to what happened to the thread. Criticizing the moderators is against the rules on DU, and will get you banned, so I advise strongly against it.

Cloak and Swagger
The Larry Franklin spy probe reveals an escalating fight over control of Iran policy.

By Laura Rozen and Jason Vest
Issue Date: 11.02.04
--
At the time the CBS report aired in late August -- incidentally, on the Friday evening before the opening of the Republican national convention -- custody of the Franklin investigation was being transferred from the head of the FBI counterintelligence unit, David Szady, to U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty, a Bush appointee, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the case moved to the grand-jury phase.

And then, in mid-September, news of the Franklin investigation went dark.

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8764

---

Disinfopedia-
Larry Franklin
From Disinfopedia


Lawrence (Larry) Franklin is an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency who works in the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. He reports directly to Feith's deputy, William Luti and specializes in Iranian policy issues. <1>

Allegations of Espionage

On August 29th 2004, it was reported that Franklin is under investigation for allegedly spying for the state of Israel <4> (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040828_1405.html) <5> (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093674510956) <6> (http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040828-020807-9421r.htm). According to an article in Haaretz, Franklin is not Jewish himself <7> (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/470390.html).

Franklin allegedley offered highly classified draft documents regarding the United States policy towards Iran to two members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The two AIPAC Iran analysts, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, have retained a well known criminal defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, for counsel.<8> (http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2004/09/02&ID=Ar01300)

Attorney General John Ashcroft assigned highly partisan Republican U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty to the espionage case. Charges of espionage were expected to be downgraded to charges of mishandling classified information.

Franklin's security clearance was revoked in June 2004.


Secret Meetings with Iran-Contra Arms Dealers

Beginning in 2001, Franklin and Harold Rhode (Feith's top specialist on the Middle East) held secret meetings in Rome with Iran-Contra arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar. These meetings were arranged by longtime Republican operative Michael Ledeen.

The Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0410.marshallrozen.html) claimed the intent of these meetings was clear: "regime change" in Iran:

"The DoD-Ghorbanifar meetings suggest the possibility that a rogue faction at the Pentagon was trying to work outside normal US foreign policy channels to advance a "regime change" agenda not approved by the president's foreign policy principals or even the president himself."

"According to U.S. government sources, both the State Department and the CIA eventually brought the matter to the attention of the White House -- specifically, to Condoleezza Rice's chief deputy on the National Security Council, Stephen J. Hadley...Hadley sent word to the officials in Feith's office and to Ledeen to cease all such activities.

An anonymous senior administration official quoted by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service (http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=94701) said that the immediate objective of the Pentagon hawks appeared to be to "antagonise Iran so that they get frustrated and then by their reactions harden U.S. policy against them."
http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Larry_Franklin
---
FBI Probes Pentagon Spy Case
(CBS) CBS News has learned that the FBI has a full-fledged espionage investigation under way and is about to -- in FBI terminology -- "roll up" someone agents believe has been spying not for an enemy, but for Israel from within the office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.

60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports the FBI believes it has "solid" evidence that the suspected mole supplied Israel with classified materials that include secret White House policy deliberations on Iran.

At the heart of the investigation are two people who work at The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/27/eveningnews/main639143.shtml

----

Analysis: More Being Learned About Larry Franklin, Suspected Spy For Israel
Morning Edition: September 3, 2004

Chalabi Linked to Pentagon Leak Probe
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Now in this country, we're learning more about a suspected spy for Israel at the Pentagon. Since word leaked out about him, we've learned the man's name, Larry Franklin, and a bit more about his work as a mid-level analyst on the Pentagon's Iran desk. Now there are growing indications that the FBI probe is actually much wider than just Franklin and that it's been going on for at least two years. NPR's Mary Louis Kelly is following all this and has an update on the investigation.

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/transcripts/2004/sep/040903.kelly.html

the neocon spy scandal, the Niger forgeries, and the Plame scandal are the three leaves on the clover that DUers should be studying. Kind of a tribute to St. Patrick, we could chase a few snakes out of Washington, DC.

Link: http://dailykos.com/story/2005/5/5/1506/67090

Who would think that someone could get fired from government work on suspicion of passing secret documents to Israel, and wind up getting hired by the Bush administration and put to work by Rumsfeld heading the little "fake intelligence about what a threat saddam is" operation in the pentagon. That would be Doug Feith.

The Iran-Contra scandal(s) connection is a key to understanding this.

What are you? Some kind of Nazi?