tagged w/ Civil Liberties
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Once again, the united states is starting to feel more and more like a police state. Power hungry tyrants raising the stakes again and again. What happens when the battle has been lost to tyranny, yet no one will except it as being an actuality. It seems like if a bunch of crazy tea baggers can organize, then why can't the rest of the population. We are fed the food of excess so that we are fat and lazy, we are educated with television and corporate media so that we are stupid and misinformed.
When is the general public going to wake up and see that society which they are a part of has nothing to do with reality, its a few very powerful people cramming ideology and McDonald's French fries down our gullets. A cloak has been pulled over our eyes; we are no longer an action but simply reactions of ideology stumbling around in the darkness that has become this country. The reliance on anything but yourself has made us short sided to an extent not palpable by our ancestors.
I don't know if it has ever been different, this country was founded on lies and more crazy than it knows what to do with. These forefathers that we seem to look up to and quote when defending freedom almost all had slaves. A few of our forefathers even refused to free them after the declaration of independence was written, and didn't. A document that declared all men created equal, a document that did not successfully ratify the abolition of slavery until almost 100 years after its writing.
But if you don't maintain some kind of hope and futuristic incite, life seems pretty trivial. So, what is it going to be America? Are we going to wake up and see what’s happening in the real world? Or are we going to fall prey to advertising and psychological conditioning forced onto us from our government and corporations. Like religions in the past that have hindered the progress of society, market shares and big business are our modern day Spanish Inquisition.
***CONTINUED****Once again, the united states is starting to feel more and more like a police state.... more
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Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days of the country's civil war to see how one of the world's most powerful insurgencies, the Tamil Tigers, was finally defeated. While some security experts are hailing Sri Lanka as a case study in how to defeat an insurgency, Mariana finds that it comes at a steep price.
***Vanguard is Current TV's original documentary series. Led by correspondents Laura Ling, Mariana van Zeller, Christof Putzel, Adam Yamaguchi and Kaj Larsen, Vanguard features enterprising reports from around the globe. It airs every Wednesday at 10pm on Current TV. And you can view all Vanguard stories by visiting current.com/vanguard.***
Channel guide:
In the U.S.
DIRECTV 358
Comcast Nationwide 107
Dish Network 196
Time Warner: NY 103
Time Warner: LA 142
Time Warner: Other Cities: check local listings
AT&T U-verse Nationwide 189
Verizon FIOS 130
In the U.K.
Sky 183
Virgin Media 155
In Italy
Sky Italia 130Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Sri Lanka during the final days... more
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NO...Your Moving Backwards
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Muslim women would be banned from wearing tight pants in a devoutly Islamic district of Indonesia's Aceh province under proposed regulations to take effect Jan. 1, an official said Wednesday.
It is the latest effort to promote strict moral values in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, where most of the roughly 200 million Muslims practice a moderate form of the faith.
Any Muslim caught violating the dress code, which also prohibits shorts for men, will be told to put on government-issued full-length skirts or loose pants, said Ramli Mansur, head of West Aceh District.
Patrolling Shariah, or Islamic police, will determine if clothing violates the dress code, he said.
"Wearing tight jeans exposes their bodies, which is strictly banned under Islam," said Mansur, who appealed to civil servants to go beyond the rules and refuse government services to women wearing the banned clothing.
Islamic law is not enforced across the vast island nation. But bans on drinking alcohol, gambling and kissing in public, among other activities, have been enforced by some more conservative local governments in recent years.
Opinion polls show that a majority of Indonesians oppose the restrictions on dress and behavior that are being pushed by a small fringe of hardliners in the secular democracy.
Aceh, a semiautonomous region, made news last month when its provincial parliament passed a Shariah law making adultery punishable by stoning to death. It also imposed prison sentences and public lashings against homosexuals and pedophiles.
Rights groups say the law violates international treaties and the Indonesian constitution.
-----------------------------NO...Your Moving Backwards
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Muslim women would be banned... more
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SEE is a short documentary that presents the growing phenomenon of surveillance through the performance art of Raul Gschrey, a young German artist who is aware of the increasing number of CCTV cameras in his hometown Frankfurt.
The film takes a look at Frankfurt’s streets and public spaces, which are under intensive surveillance, as Raul artistically attempts to communicate with the people who operate the cameras through monitoring systems. He engages in question-and-answer antics to investigate the cameras’ use. Is there anyone watching? Do CCTV cameras provide a feeling of security or are they perceived as an uninvited, intrusive observer?
For Raul, the CCTV camera offers a stage on which people can change roles: from passive observed persons to self-empowered individuals who take active part in an interaction with them. He successfully manages to raise people’s awareness of surveillance, visual monitoring and encourages the public to behave actively and self-consciously using his techniques.
SEE echoes the Orwellian alarm of a despotic regime that continuously monitors its citizens and tries to exercise thought control. This is the nightmare view of the delightfully dastardly tomorrow that, according to many sociologists, has already started.
Produced and Directed by Apostolos Gaitanis
Editing by Chris Tsatsanis
Music by DATURAH
Many thanks to Bernd Metz, Jesse Karjalainen and Miguel Samothrakis
Copyright Apostolos Gaitanis 2009SEE is a short documentary that presents the growing phenomenon of surveillance... more
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The Center for Constitutional Rights has a great new legal guide for activists called “If An Agent Knocks.”
From CCR:
Federal law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have a dark history of targeting radical and progressive movements. Some of the dirty tricks they use against these movements include: the infiltration of organizations to discredit and disrupt their operations; campaigns of misinformation and false stories in the media; forgery of correspondence; fabrication of evidence; and the use of grand jury subpoenas to intimidate activists. Today’s activist must know and understand the threat posed by federal law enforcement agents and their tactics as well as several key security practices that offer the best protection.
Federal agents have many tools at their disposal to target activists. While it is important to know and understand these tools and tactics, it is of critical importance that you resist any paranoia of government surveillance or fear of infiltration, which will only serve to paralyze you or your organization in your quest for social change. If fear of government repression prevents you from organizing, the agents of repression will have won without even trying.
I think it is worth noting that in the recent appellate ruling in the SHAC 7 case, the court argued that educational materials on the SHAC website were relevant to the “terrorism” charges against them. Specifically, the court noted that the SHAC website had “a series of links dedicated to educating activists on how to evade investigators. These links were entitled, ‘Ears and Eyes Everywhere,’ ‘Dealing with Interrogation,’ ‘When an Agent Knocks,’ and ‘Illegal Activity.’”
Clearly, knowing your rights is perceived as a dangerous, dangerous thing. So get to it.
Thanks to Matthew for the link, and the excellent work on this publication.The Center for Constitutional Rights has a great new legal guide for activists called... more
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The conviction of the SHAC 7–animal rights activists hit with “terrorism” charges for publishing a website and vocally, unapologetically supporting direct action–has been upheld by a U.S. appellate court. It is a landmark free speech ruling that lowers the threshold of what types of conduct are protected by the First Amendment, and upholds a law that is so broad that it targets civil disobedience as “terrorism.”
As a brief introduction: The “SHAC 7” of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty ran an effective campaign that had the sole purpose of putting Huntingdon Life Sciences, a notorious animal testing company, out of business. The campaign pressured corporations to sever ties with the lab. The SHAC 7 were never accused of breaking windows or releasing animals from labs, but they supported those who did. They published a website which posted news of both legal and illegal tactics, and supported all of it. The website had also posted names and addresses of individuals connected to the corporations targeted.
The ruling was issued today and, although there are many aspects that deserve attention, I want to walk through what I think are by far the most dangerous and troubling implications of this ruling–those related to the First Amendment:
[PDF of the SHAC appeal ruling]
Supporting and facilitating non-violent civil disobedience is not protected speech.
As part of their campaign, SHAC supporters were emailed about “electronic civil disobedience.” The email and message board posts included instructions on how electronically “sit in” on corporate web sites through emails, faxes and phone calls.
Now, one of the benchmarks in First Amendment law is what is called the Brandenburg standard. It holds that even the most controversial and inflammatory speech is protected as long as it not likely to incite “imminent and lawless action.” That is a very high threshold. In this court ruling—which, to the best of my knowledge and the attorneys I have spoken with is the first of its kind—the written word can be construed as promoting, or resulting in, imminent and lawless action.
To put it more plainly: Vocally supporting civil disobedience, explaining what it involves, and encouraging/facilitating people to take part is not protected speech.
This is so important let me say it again, another way: People who write about civil disobedience and encourage people to take part can be found convicted of a crime even if they do not take part in the civil disobedience.
This has dangerous implications far beyond this case. For instance, I wrote about the recent call by mainstream environmental groups for massive non-violent civil disobedience in defense of the environment. Under this reasoning, organizers of that event who published a website aren’t protected by the First Amendment.
[UPDATE: One person had this question, so others might as well: I am not at all saying that simply endorsing civil disobedience is now not protected speech. However, doing so and also facilitating civil disobedience is what the court ruled is not protected. So in the example above, the organizers promoted civil disobedience, encouraged it, set up a website telling people where to go and when, and there were people involved to specifically support those arrested. I think there is a very real danger of that type of conduct being affected by the reasoning presented in this ruling. That is what I had meant by the headline and preceding points.]
Fiery rhetoric is a “true threat” when illegal conduct has taken place in the same campaign.
Another measurement of whether speech is protected by the First Amendment is whether it is a true threat. Throughout the appellate court ruling, the court argued that SHAC’s speech did, in fact, constitute a true threat.... full article at link........The conviction of the SHAC 7–animal rights activists hit with “terrorism”... more
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The following is a letter just released by one of the lawyers defending the AETA 4, Bob Bloom. The letter captures both the absurdity of the charges, and the significance of the case for the animals and all of us. For a blunt and succinct explanation of how far the FBI is willing to go to crush the more effective tactics employed by the animal liberation movement, read on.
-Peter Young
A new client of mine, a young man named Joseph Buddenberg, is one of four principled, dedicated, and non-violent animal rights activists who have been indicted in federal court in San Jose, California under a new federal statute that was intended by Congress to target unlawful and violent conduct.
The statute, effective as of 2008, is known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), and each of the four defendants is facing five years or more in federal prison because they are alleged to have engaged in, literally, picketing at the homes of researchers they believe cause laboratory animals to be subjected to inhumane experimentation that causes suffering, pain, and death.
Congress was cautioned that the statute would be subject to overreaching by the FBI and by prosecutors. Predictably, this case that targets non-violent and non-criminal speech is the very first prosecution the government has chosen to initiate under this new statute. (The statute can be found by Googling 18 U.S.C. 43).
I do not understate or attempt to mis-state the allegations against the defendants. One of the documents I enclose is an affidavit sworn to by the FBI agent in charge of this case. The affidavit sets forth the worst of what the FBI claims the defendants did (in fact, the affidavit mis-states the facts as to one event). As you will see from reading the affidavit, the defendants are accused of identifying and locating animal researchers and then loudly picketing on the sidewalks in front of their homes. The intent was, and is, to stop the torture and other mistreatment of animals by speaking out in a non-violent manner to shame the researchers by exposing them and their conduct to their neighbors.
This kind of activity, speaking out to expose wrongdoers, is the very essence of the First Amendment. But the offending research laboratory, the University of California, is politically very powerful, and it has apparently lobbied federal law enforcement officials to bring this prosecution. The right of non-violent activists working to protect animals is under threat, and the First Amendment rights of all of us are threatened by this prosecution as well, as the animals suffer and die painful deaths every day.
The defendants are all good people, and courageous people. I have come to know Joe, and I can tell you that he cares deeply about protecting innocent creatures and putting an end to the mistreatment and the suffering. He is not a violent person, and he is not a criminal. And he certainly is not a terrorist.
Many animal lovers and civil libertarians believe that this is an extremely important case for a number of reasons. I have been engaged in civil rights law for more than forty years, and I am truly offended by, and worried by, this prosecution. Needless to say, it impacts the four defendants, but it also imperils the rights of all of us, as well as the lab animals who are being subjected to horrific mistreatment.
The case is complex and labor-intensive. It involves a maze of legal questions regarding the constitutionality of the statute, the validity of search warrants, potential issues regarding wiretapping, and other challenging issues, including the intricacies of the law of conspiracy (one of the two counts in the indictment). The facts of the case are also complicated, encompassing some fourteen incidents in at least three counties, and there are literally dozens of witnesses for whom we must prepare............The following is a letter just released by one of the lawyers defending the AETA 4,... more
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An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for a Special Counsel to be appointed to investigate the allegations of FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. John M. Cole, who now works as an intelligence contractor for the Air Force, made his comments during an audio interview released late last week with radio journalist Peter B. Collins.
He also offered a detailed insider's look at the concerns among high-level officials inside the Bureau as Edmonds' disturbing allegations began coming to light back in 2002, before they would be quashed for seven long years by the Bush Administration's unprecedented use of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege" to gag her.
Earlier last week, following the publication of a remarkable American Conservative magazine cover story interview with Edmonds --- detailing a broad bribery, blackmail, and espionage conspiracy said to have been carried out between current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials and covert operatives from Turkey and Israel, resulting in the theft and sale of nuclear weapons technology on the foreign black market --- Cole had been quoted by the magazine confirming one of Edmonds' key allegations.
"I am fully aware of the FBI's decade-long investigation of" Marc Grossman, he said in response to the AmCon article/interview. Grossman had served as the third-highest ranking official in the Bush State Department and was alleged by Edmonds in the interview, and in a sworn, video-taped deposition a month earlier, to have been the U.S. ringleader for a massive Turkish espionage scandal reaching through the halls of power and into top-secret nuclear facilities around the country to the benefit of allies and enemies alike. Cole said that the FBI's counterintelligence probe "ultimately was buried and covered up," and that he believes it is "long past time" for an investigation of the case to "bring about accountability."
In his subsequent interview with Collins last week (audio and text excerpts posted below) Cole elaborated on those comments in much greater detail, noting that Edmonds has been "one hundred percent right on the money, on the mark" and confirming the existence of an "ongoing and detailed effort by Turkey to develop influence in the United States" through various illegal activities.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Cole told Collins, "That's true."
The FBI veteran executive also offered an insider's account of the panic that ensued inside the highest echelons of the bureau following Edmonds' first disclosure of information in 2002, recounting how an executive assistant director admitted to him at the time, just after the story first broke, "Well, all I know is that everything that Sibel is stating is true. I read her file. Everything she stated is, in fact, accurate."
Cole further describes how the concerns about Edmonds ultimately led to the Bush Administration's two-time use of the Draconian "State Secrets Privilege" in hopes of keeping her extraordinary information from becoming public. "Everybody at headquarters level at the bureau knew that what she was saying was extremely accurate."
"I know they didn't want her to go out and speak about it at all," Cole revealed, "and I know they were trying to figure out ways of keeping this whole thing quiet, because they didn't want Sibel to come out."
He also offered information which directly counters one of the criticisms of Edmonds' allegations as frequently offered by skeptics. Namely, that as a short time FBI contract translator --- even though she was tasked to review some seven years of counterintelligence wiretaps made from 1996 to 2002 --- she couldn't have had enough understanding of the full scope of the investigations to understand what was really going on.
More...An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for... more
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"It appears Twitter is playing an important role at a crucial time…"
— P.J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
We believe that now is a "crucial time".
We believe that resistance is important.
We believe that new communications modes can have an "important role" to play.
And we believe that this applies as much in the rest of the world as in Iran.
Elliot Madison appeared to believe many of the same things. And the FBI believed that he should be stopped.
You turned your twitter avatar green to show solidarity with the people of Iran.
Now turn it red and black to show solidarity with the resistance movement in the USA.
__________
For more on the case of Elliot Madison and the complete violation of his humanity buy the FBI and state, go here:
Twitter Crackdown: Activist Arrested for Using Networking Site during G-20 Protest in Pittsburgh
http://current.com/items/91112142_twitter-crackdown-activist-arrested-for-using-networking-site-during-g-20-protest-in-pittsburgh.htm"It appears Twitter is playing an important role at a crucial time…"
— P.J.... more
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The Senate Judiciary Committee just passed a bill to renew all of the PATRIOT powers that were set to expire at the end of the year, with only a handful of the original reforms that were first proposed by Senators Feingold and Durbin's JUSTICE Act and Committee Chairman Leahy's original PATRIOT renewal bill.
Instead of adding more protections to the bill, as EFF and the Times have been urging (along with many other Americans who have been organizing Facebook and Twitter activism around PATRIOT reform), the Committee this morning voted to accept seven Republican amendments to the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act to remove the few civil liberties protections left in the bill after it was already watered down at last Thursday's Committee meeting. Surprisingly and disappointingly, most of those amendments were recommended to their Republican sponsors by the Obama Administration.
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Oh, by the way, THANKS for going door to door for Obama. That really helped.The Senate Judiciary Committee just passed a bill to renew all of the PATRIOT powers... more
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Elliot Madison was arrested last month during the G-20 protests in Pittsburgh when police raided his hotel room. Police say Madison and a co-defendant used computers and a radio scanner to track police movements and then passed on that information to protesters using cell phones and the social networking site Twitter. Madison is being charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility, and possession of instruments of crime. Exactly one week later, Madison’s New York home was raided by FBI agents, who conducted a sixteen-hour search. We speak to Elliot Madison and his attorney, Martin Stolar. [includes rush transcript]
Video at link, current would not let me embed.Elliot Madison was arrested last month during the G-20 protests in Pittsburgh when... more
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TERRORIST - SHAC 7 chronicles the journey of a group of grass-roots activists up to and through their trial for Domestic Terrorism. Dark truths about The Patriot Act, the First Amendment, questionable science and political activism all come to light as we live, laugh and fear with the defendants, attorneys, witnesses and law enforcement professionals involved in this precedent setting case. Produced in partnership with Finngate Pictures.
http://shac7.com / http://shac.net
http://zaxisproductions.comTERRORIST - SHAC 7 chronicles the journey of a group of grass-roots activists up to... more
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In this day and age, most large companies monitor your tweets, email, IM and voip messages, sent from their network, for insurance and HR reasons. This surveillance typically includes employee information on public profiles and social networks. This is legal in most states and rarely mentioned in employee manuals or other company documentation.
And now, this cell phone application monitors photos of the workplace, keystroke events, when workers are checking in and out, latest work memos and their billing status (profitability).
I know, few people have anything to hide, however... I think this is an issue about privacy and how new technology used by corporations is affecting it.
By the way, the company who made this application is backed by Benchmark Capital to the tune of $29 million. They also back Twitter, AOL, Linden Lab, Yelp, Ebay, Art.com & Mint, Among others.In this day and age, most large companies monitor your tweets, email, IM and voip... more
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If you haven't called your representatives about opposing the Patriot Act renewal, do it now.If you haven't called your representatives about opposing the Patriot Act renewal, do... more
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Bill Quigley, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of Storms Still Raging: Katrina, New Orleans and Social Justice on the new tactics used to disperse and combat protesters in Pittsburgh.Bill Quigley, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of... more
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The coup-installed president of Honduras backed down Monday from an escalating standoff with protesters and suggested he would restore civil liberties and reopen dissident television and radio stations by the end of the week.The coup-installed president of Honduras backed down Monday from an escalating... more
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Everything I read about Fusion Centers makes them seem less and less of a good idea.
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The de facto government that's in power in Honduras closed down television and radio stations Monday morning that are aligned with ousted President Manuel Zelaya.
Zelaya condemned the action in a brief statement and called on foreign governments to show their displeasure.
"The government is nervous," Carlos Montoya, formerly a senior member of Zelaya's government, said in an interview. "We don't want violence. We're asking for dialogue."
The moves by interim President Roberto Micheletti came hours after the government announced a decree suspending constitutional civil liberties, an attempt to keep supporters of Zelaya off the streets Monday.
Zelaya, who's been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy for the past seven days with about 70 supporters and journalists after his clandestine return to Honduras, had called on his supporters to launch "a final offensive" Monday.
It's not clear whether Zelaya meant this as a show of support or an effort to cause the Micheletti government to buckle and allow him to return to power.
Either way, the moves signal a hardening line by the Micheletti government and seem likely to provoke a strong reaction from leaders throughout the world who deem him to be holding power illegally after he took office June 28.
More @ LinkThe de facto government that's in power in Honduras closed down television and radio... more
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The administration has asked lawmakers to extend powers allowing the government to collect a wide range of financial and personal records, as well as monitor suspects with roving wiretaps. The methods were authorized under the USA PATRIOT Act and are set to expire at year’s end. The call for renewing the PATRIOT Act provisions comes as Democratic lawmakers and civil liberties groups want to revisit its broader powers. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin has proposed a new bill that would overhaul the PATRIOT Act and other surveillance laws to include more privacy safeguardsThe administration has asked lawmakers to extend powers allowing the government to... more
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LINK TO FULL ARTICLE: http://amconmag.com/article/2009/nov/01/00006/
Who’s Afraid of Sibel Edmonds?
GIRALDI: And Grossman received money as a result. In one case, you said that a State Department colleague went to pick up a bag of money…
EDMONDS: $14,000
GIRALDI: What kind of information was Grossman giving to foreign countries? Did he give assistance to foreign individuals penetrating U.S. government labs and defense installations as has been reported? It’s also been reported that he was the conduit to a group of congressmen who become, in a sense, the targets to be recruited as “agents of influence.”
EDMONDS: Yes, that’s correct. Grossman assisted his Turkish and Israeli contacts directly, and he also facilitated access to members of Congress who might be inclined to help for reasons of their own or could be bribed into cooperation. The top person obtaining classified information was Congressman Tom Lantos. A Lantos associate, Alan Makovsky worked very closely with Dr. Sabri Sayari in Georgetown University, who is widely believed to be a Turkish spy. Lantos would give Makovsky highly classified policy-related documents obtained during defense briefings for passage to Israel because Makovsky was also working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
GIRALDI: Makovsky is now working for the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, a pro-Israeli think tank.
EDMONDS: Yes. Lantos was at the time probably the most outspoken supporter of Israel in Congress. AIPAC would take out the information from Lantos that was relevant to Israel, and they would give the rest of it to their Turkish associates. The Turks would go through the leftovers, take what they wanted, and then try to sell the rest. If there were something relevant to Pakistan, they would contact the ISI officer at the embassy and say, “We’ve got this and this, let’s sit down and talk.” And then they would sell it to the Pakistanis.
GIRALDI: ISI—Pakistani intelligence—has been linked to the Pakistani nuclear proliferation program as well as to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.LINK TO FULL ARTICLE: http://amconmag.com/article/2009/nov/01/00006/
Who’s... more
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