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Now
Auctioning Off Former Statesmen and Dime-a-Dozen
Generals
The
High-Jacking of a Nation
By SIBEL EDMONDS
"The real rulers in Washington
are invisible and exercise power from behind the scenes."
---Justice Felix Frankfurter
It used to be the three branches--congress,
the executive, and the courts--that we considered the make-up
of our nation's federal government. And some would point to the
press as a possible fourth branch, due to the virtue of its influence
in shaping our policies. Today, more and more people have come
to view corporate and foreign lobby firms, with their preponderant
clout and enormous power, as the official fourth branch of our
nation's government. Not only do I agree with them, I would even
take it a step further and give it a higher status it certainly
deserves.
Operating invisibly under the
radar of media and public scrutiny, lobby groups and foreign
agents have become the 'epicenter' of our government, where former
statesmen and 'dime a dozen generals' cash in on their connections
and peddle their enormous influence to the highest bidders turned
clients. These groups' activities shape our nation's policies
and determine the direction of the flow of its taxpayer driven
wealth, while to them the interests of the majority are considered
irrelevant, and the security of the nation is perceived as inconsequential.
In Part1 of this series I used
Saudi influence via its lobby and foreign agents by default as
a case to illustrate how certain foreign interests, combined
with their U.S. agents and benefactors, override the interests
and security of the entire nation. This illustrative model case
involved three major elements: the purchasing of a few 'dime
a dozen generals,' bidding high in the auctioning of 'former
statesmen,' and buying one or two ex-congressmen turned lobbyists.
In addition, the piece emphasized the importance of the "Military
Industrial Complex (MIC)," which became a de facto 'foreign
agent' by the universally recognized principle of 'mutual benefit.'
This article will attempt to
illustrate the functioning of the above model in the case of
another country, the Republic of Turkey, and its set of agents
and operators in the U.S. In doing so, I want to emphasize the
importance of separating the populace of example nations--Saudi
Arabia, Israel, Turkey, Pakistan--from their regimes and select
key participating actors. As is the case with our nation, they
too suffer the consequences of their regime's self-serving policies
and conduct. Not only that, they also have to endure what they
consider 'U.S. imposed policies' that further the interests of
only a few. Think of it this way, the majority of us in the States
do not see the infamous and powerful neocon cabal as the chosen
and accepted representatives of our nation's values and objectives.
We do not want to be perceived and judged based on the actions
of a few at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. The same is valid for these
nations' citizenry; so let not their corrupt and criminal regimes
be the basis of our judgment of them.
Moreover, as we all know, those
subject to criticism in these articles have mastered the art
of spinning when it comes to the media and propaganda. The Israeli
lobby is quick to stamp all factually backed criticism as 'anti-Semitic'
and attack it as such. The Turkish lobby, in this regard, as
with everything else, follows its Israeli mentors; they label
all dissent and criticism as anti-Turkey, or, Kurdish or Armenian
propaganda; while the Saudi lobby goes around kicking and screaming
'anti-Muslim propaganda.' I am not known to be 'politically correct'
and am often criticized for it. I readily accept that and all
responsibilities associated with it. I am not seeking a position
as a diplomat, neither am I serving any business, organization,
or media channel furthering a particular ideology. This is me,
saying it as I see it; no more, no less. By the end of this series
it should be obvious, at least for many, that the selection of
the nations encompasses varied sides and affiliations. Moreover,
the main purpose, and the target of these commentaries, goes
to the heart of our own government and its epicenter; lobbyists
and the MIC.
*
* * *
Many Americans, due to the
effective propaganda and spin machine of Turkey's agents in the
U.S., and relentless efforts by high-level officials and lobbying
groups on Turkish networks' payroll, do not know much about Turkey;
its position and importance in the areas of terrorism, money
laundering, illegal arms sales, industrial and military espionage,
and the nuclear black-market. Not many people in the States would
name Turkey among those nations that threaten global security,
the fight against terrorism, nuclear proliferation, or the war
on drugs. For the purpose of this article it is necessary to
have at least a rudimentary knowledge of Turkey, its strategic
location within global criminal networks, its various networks
and entities operating behind seemingly legitimate fronts, and
its connection to the military and political machine in the U.S.
For many Americans Turkey is
one of the closest allies of the United States; a most important
member of NATO; a candidate for EU membership; and the only Middle-Eastern
close ally and partner of Israel. Some acknowledge Turkey's highly
prized status in the United States due to its location as the
artery connecting Europe to Asia, its cross borders with Iran,
Iraq and Syria to its East and South, with the Balkan states
to its west, and with the Central Asian nations to its north
and northeast. Others may recognize the country as one of the
top U.S. customers for military technology and weapons.
Interestingly enough, these
same qualities and characteristics which make Turkey an important
ally and strategic partner for the nation states, make it extremely
crucial and attractive to global criminal networks active in
transferring illegal arms and nuclear technology to rogue states;
in transporting Eastern Narcotics, mainly from Afghanistan through
the Central Asian states into Turkey, where it is processed,
and then through the Balkan states into Western Europe and the
U.S.; and in laundering the proceeds of these illegal operations
via its banks and those on the neighboring island of Cyprus.
The Real
Lords of the Poppy Fields
It is a known fact that there
often is a nexus between terrorism and organized crime. Terrorists
use Narco-traficking and international crime to support their
activities. Frequently, the same criminal gangs involved in narcotics
smuggling have links to other criminal activities, such as illegal
arms sales, and to terrorist groups. The Taliban's link to the
drug trade is irrefutable. In 2001, a report by the U.N. Committee
of Experts on Resolution 1333 for sanctions against the Taliban
stated that "funds raised from the production and trade
of opium and heroin are used by the Taliban to buy arms and war
materials and to finance the training of terrorists and support
the operation of extremists in neighboring countries and beyond."
Afghanistan supplies almost
90% of the world's heroin, which is the country's main cash crop,
contributing over $3 billion a year in illegal revenues to the
Afghan economy, which equals 50% of the gross national product.
In 2004, according to the U.S. state department, 206,000 hectares
were cultivated, a half a million acres, producing 4,000 tons
of opium. "It is not only the largest heroin producer in
the world, 206,000 hectares is the largest amount of heroin or
of any drug that I think has ever been produced by any one country
in any given year," says Robert Charles, former assistant
secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement,
overseeing anti-drug operations in Afghanistan.
Heroin trafficking is also
the main source of funding for the al-Qaeda terrorists. A Time
Magazine article in August 2004 reported that al-Qaeda has established
a smuggling network that is peddling Afghan heroin to buyers
across the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, and in turn is using
the drug revenues to purchase weapons and explosives. The article
states: "al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies are increasingly
financing operations with opium sales. Anti-drug officials in
Afghanistan have no hard figures on how much al-Qaeda and the
Taliban are earning from drugs, but conservative estimates run
into tens of millions of dollars." Anti-drug officials say
the only way to cut off al-Qaeda's pipeline is to attack it at
the source: by destroying the poppy farms themselves. This year,
Afghanistan's opium harvest is expected to exceed 3,600 tons-enough
to produce street heroin worth $36 billion.
Key congressional leaders have
been pressing the Pentagon to crack down on the major drug traffickers
in Afghanistan upon learning that Al Qaeda is relying more than
ever on illicit proceeds from the heroin trade. Congressional
investigators who returned from the region in 2004 found that
traffickers are providing Osama bin Laden and other terrorists
with heroin as funds from Saudi Arabia and other sources dry
up. "We now know Al Qaeda's dominant source of funding is
the illegal sale of narcotics," said Rep. Kirk-IL, a member
of the House Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee,
as reported by Washington Times. Rep. Kirk added that Bin Laden's
Al Qaeda terror organization is reaping $28 million a year in
illicit heroin sales.
It is puzzling to observe that
in reporting this major artery of terrorists' funding, the U.S.
mainstream media and political machine do not dare to go beyond
the poppy fields of Afghanistan and the fairly insignificant
low level Afghan warlords overseeing the crops. Think about it;
we are talking about nearly $40 billion worth of products in
the final stage. Do you believe that those primitive Afghan warlords,
clad in shalvars, sporting long ragged beards, and walking with
long sticks handle transportation, lab processing, more transportation,
distribution, and sophisticated laundering of the proceeds? If
yes, then think again. This multi billion-dollar industry requires
highly sophisticated networks and people. So, who are the real
lords of Afghanistan's poppy fields?
For Al Qaeda's network Turkey
is a haven for its sources of funding. Turkish networks, along
with Russians', are the main players in these fields; they purchase
the opium from Afghanistan and transport it through several Turkic
speaking Central Asian states into Turkey, where the raw opium
is processed into popular byproducts; then the network transports
the final product into Western European and American markets
via their partner networks in Albania. The networks' banking
arrangements in Turkey, Cyprus and Dubai are used to launder
and recycle the proceeds, and various Turkish companies in Turkey
and Central Asia are used to make this possible and seem legitimate.
The Al Qaeda network also uses Turkey to obtain and transfer
arms to its Central Asian bases, including Chechnya.
Since the 1950s Turkey has
played a key role in channeling into Europe and the U.S. heroin
produced in the "Golden Triangle" comprised of Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Iran. These operations are run by mafia groups closely
controlled by the MIT (Turkish Intelligence Agency) and the military.
According to statistics compiled in 1998, Turkey's heroin trafficking
brought in $25 billion in 1995 and $37.5 billion in 1996. That
amount makes up nearly a quarter of Turkey's GDP. Only criminal
networks working in close cooperation with the police and the
army could possibly organize trafficking on such a scale. The
Turkish government, MIT and the Turkish military, not only sanctions,
but also actively participates in and oversees the narcotics
activities and networks.
In July 1998, Le Monde Diplomatique
reported that in an explosive document made public at a press
conference in Istanbul, the MIT, Turkish Intelligence Agency,
accused Turkey's national police, of having "provided police
identity cards and diplomatic passports to members of a group
which, in the guise of anti-terrorist activities, traveled to
Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary and Azerbaijan to
engage in drug trafficking". MIT provided a list of names
of some of the traffickers operating under the protection of
the police. The Turkish police returned the compliment and handed
over a list of named drug traffickers employed by the MIT!
In January 1997, Tom Sackville,
minister of state at the British Home Office, stated that 80%
of the heroin seized in Britain came from Turkey, and that his
government was concerned by reports that members of the Turkish
police, and even of the Turkish government, were involved in
drug trafficking.
In an article published in
Drug Link Magazine, Adrian Gatton cites the case of Huseyin Baybasin,
the famous Turkish heroin kingpin now in jail in Holland. Baybasin
explains: "I handled the drugs which came through the channel
of the Turkish Consulate in England," and he adds: "I
was with the Mafia but I was carrying this out with the same
Mafia group in which the rulers of Turkey were part." The
article also cites a witness statement given to a UK immigration
case involving Baybasin's clan, and states that Huseyin Baybasin
had agreed to provide investigators with information about what
he knew of the role of Turkish politicians and officials in the
heroin trade. The article quotes Mark Galeotti, a former UK intelligence
officer and expert on the Turkish mafia, "Since the 1970s,
Turkey has accounted for between 75 and 90 per cent of all heroin
in the UK. The key traffickers are Turks or criminals who operate
along that route using Turkish contacts." In 2001, Chris
Harrison, a senior UK Customs officer in Manchester, told veteran
crime reporter Martin Short that Customs could not get at the
Turkish kingpins because they are "protected" at a
high level.
In 1998, the highly official
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) of the
U.S. State Department, revealed that "about 75% of the heroin
seized in Europe is either produced in, or derives from, Turkey",
that "4 to 6 tons of heroin arrive from there every month,
heading for Western Europe" and that "a number of laboratories
for the purification of the opium used in transforming the basic
morphine into heroin are located on Turkish soil". The report
stresses that Turkey is one of the countries most affected by
money-laundering, which takes place particularly via the countries
of the ex-Soviet Union, such as Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan,
through the medium of casinos, the construction industry, and
tourism. INCSR's 2006 report cites Turkey as a major transshipment
point and base of operations for international narcotics traffickers
and associates trafficking in opium, morphine base, heroin, precursor
chemicals and other drugs.
We know that Al Qaeda and Taliban's
main source of funding is the illegal sale of narcotics. Based
on all the reports, facts, and expert statements, we know that
Turkey is a major, if not the top, player in the transportation,
processing, and distribution of all the narcotics derived from
the Afghan poppies, and as a result, it is the major contributing
country to Al Qaeda. Yet, to date, more than five years into
our over exhaustive 'war on terror propaganda', have we heard
any mentioning of, any tough message to, any sanction against,
or any threat that was issued and targeted at Turkey?
We all know of our president's
'selective evilization' of countries that have been 'chosen'
to be on our hit list. But how many of us know of our government's
'selective go free cards' that have been issued to those 'ally
countries' that directly fund and support the terrorist networks?
In fact, our government would rather move heaven and earth, gag
'whistleblowers' with direct knowledge of these facts, classify
congressional and other investigative reports, create a media
black-out on these 'allies' terrorist supporting activities,
than do the right thing; do what it really takes to counter terrorism.
and the WMDs we actually
located & have known about
In his 2002 State of the Union
address, President Bush declared he would keep "the world's
most destructive weapons" from Al Qaeda and its allies by
keeping those weapons from evil governments. Later he told a
campaign audience in Pennsylvania, "We had to take a hard
look at every place where terrorists might get those weapons
and one regime stood out: the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein."
Well, the Iraqi WMD that never was!
Here is what CIA Director Porter
Goss said bluntly before the Senate Intelligence Committee in
February 2004, "It may be only a matter of time before Al
Qaeda or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological,
or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that." And we know
that he knows; has known for the longest time!
Seymour Hersh in his March
2003 article quotes Robert Gallucci, a former United Nations
weapons inspector who is now dean of the Georgetown University
School of Foreign Service, "Bad as it is with Iran, North
Korea, and Libya having nuclear-weapons material, the worst part
is that they could transfer it to a non-state group. That's the
biggest concern, and the scariest thing about all this. There's
nothing more important than stopping terrorist groups from getting
nuclear weapons."
Although numerous prestigious
reports by agencies and organizations such as IAEA, and news
articles in the European media, have clearly established Turkey,
and various international networks operating in and out of Turkey,
as major players within the global nuclear black-market and illegal
arms sales, the relevant agencies and main media in the U.S.
have maintained a completely silent and hands off position.
Nuclear black-market related
activities depend on Turkey for manufacturing nuclear components,
and on its strategic location as a transit point to move goods
and technology to nations such as Iran, Pakistan, and others.
Not only that, Turkey's status and close relationship with the
U.S. enables it to obtain (steal) technology and information
from the U.S.
Lying at the crossroads not
only between Europe and Asia, but also between the former Soviet
Union and the Middle East, Turkey is already a well-established
transit zone for illicit goods, including nuclear material and
illegal weapons sales. According to a report by Turkish Atomic
Energy Authority (TAEA), at least 104 nuclear smuggling incidents
had occurred in the past eight years in Turkey. For instance,
in September 1999, 5 Kilograms of Uranium enriched to 4.6 percent
were confiscated from an international smuggling ring in Turkey,
which included four Turkish, one Azerbaijani, and three Kazakhstani
citizens. The report cites over one hundred incidents like this,
and these are only cases that have been intercepted and reported.
Turkey played a major role
in Pakistan and Libya's illicit activities in obtaining nuclear
technologies. In June 2004, Stephen Fidler, a reporter for Financial
Times reported that in 2003, Turkish centrifuge motors and converters
destined for Libya's nuclear weapons program turned up in Tripoli
aboard a ship that had sailed from Dubai. One of those detained
individuals in this incident, a 'respected and successful' Turkish
Businessman, Selim Alguadis, was cited in a public report from
the Malaysian inspector-general of police into the Malaysian
end of a Pakistani-led clandestine network that supplied Libya,
Iran and North Korea with nuclear weapons technologies, designs
and expertise. According to the report, "he supplied these
materials to Libya." Mr. Alguadis also confessed that he
had on several occasions met A Q Khan, the disgraced Pakistani
scientist who has admitted transmitting nuclear expertise to
the three countries. Selim Alguadis remains a successful businessman
in Turkey with companies in several other countries. He was released
immediately after being turned over to Turkish authorities. His
partner, another well-known and internationally recognized wealthy
businessman, Gunes Cire, also actively participated in transferring
nuclear technology and parts to Iran, Pakistan and North Korea.
Although under investigation by several international communities,
Alguadis and his partners continued to roam free in Turkey and
conduct their illegitimate operations via their 'legit international
business' front companies.
David Albright and Corey Hinderstein
of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS)
identify Turkey's major role in the nuclear black-market. According
to their report, workshops in Turkey made the centrifuge motor
and frequency converters used to drive the motor and spin the
rotor to high speeds. These workshops imported subcomponents
from Europe, and they assembled these centrifuge items in Turkey.
Under false end-user certificates, these components were shipped
from Turkey to Dubai for repackaging and shipment to Libya.
Turkey's illegal arms smuggling
activities are not limited to Europe and the Middle East; many
of these activities reach U.S. soil. According to a report published
by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, in April
2004 the Italian police searched a container destined for the
port of New York onboard a Turkish ship at the port of Tauro
during a routine customs inspection, sparked by discrepancies
between the various customs declarations. Inside the container
more than 8,000 AK47 assault rifles, 11 submachine guns, and
magazines worth over seven million dollars were discovered.
Our tough talking president
works very hard to sound convincing when he says 'we have to
take a hard look at every place where terrorists might get those
weapons;' in fact, he has succeeded in fooling many into believing
those words. However, while he was determined to move heaven
and earth to get our nation into a war and a quagmire with a
country that did NOT possess 'those weapons,' he refused and
continues to refuse to look at his own 'allies-packed backyard'
where he would find a few that not only do possess 'those weapons,'
but also distribute and sell them to the highest bidders no matter
what their affiliation.
*
* * *
Curiously enough, despite these
highly publicized reports and acknowledgements of Turkey's role
in these activities, Turkey continues to receive billions of
dollars of aid and assistance annually from the United States.
With its highly placed co-conspirators and connections within
the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. Congress, Turkey never
has to fear potential sanctions or meaningful scrutiny; just
like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The criminal Turkish networks
continue their global criminal activities right under the nose
of their protector, the United States, and neither the catastrophe
falling upon the U.S. on September Eleven, nor their direct and
indirect role and ties to this terrorist attack, diminish their
role and participation in the shady worlds of narcotics, money
laundering and illegal arms transfer.
The 'respectable' Turkish companies
established and operate bases in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and other
similar former soviet states. Many of these front companies,
disguised under construction and tourism entities, have received
millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. government, allocated
to them by the U.S. congress, to establish and operate criminal
networks throughout the region; among their networking partners
are Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Albanian Mafia. While the
U.S. government painted Islamic charity organizations as the
main financial source for Al Qaeda terrorists, it was hard at
work trying to cover up the terrorists' main financial source:
narcotics and illegal arms sales. Why?
For years and years, information
and evidence being collected by the counterintelligence operations
of certain U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies has
been prevented from being transferred to criminal and narcotics
divisions, and from being shared with the Drug Enforcement Agency
and others with prosecutorial power. Those with direct knowledge
have been prevented from making this information available and
public by various gag orders and invocation of the State Secrets
Privilege. Why?
Is this due to the fact that
the existence and survival of many U.S. allies; Turkey, almost
all Central Asian nations, and after the September Eleven attack,
Afghanistan; greatly depend on cultivating, processing, transporting,
and distributing these illegal substances? Is it caused by the
fact that a major source of income for those who procure U.S.
weapons and technology, our military industrial complex's bread
and butter, is being generated from this illegal production and
illegal dealings? Or, is it the fear of exposing our own financial
institutions, lobbying firms, and certain elected and appointed
officials, as beneficiaries?
When it comes to criminal and
shady global networks most people envision either Mafiosi like
entities who keep to themselves and are separated from society,
or, street level gangster-like criminals. Contrary to these expectations,
the top tier Turkish criminal networks consist mainly of respectable
looking businessmen, some of whom are among the top international
businessmen, diplomats, politicians, and scholarly individuals.
Their U.S. counterparts are equally respected and recognizable;
some of whom are high-level appointed bureaucrats within the
State Department and the Pentagon; some are elected officials,
and others consist of the combination of the two who have now
set up their own companies and lobbying groups.
The
American Turkish Council (ATC)
Operating tax-free and under
the radar is one of the most powerful "non-profit"
associations in the U.S., the American Turkish Council (ATC).
Some who are familiar with its operations and players describe
it as 'Mini AIPAC;' this description aces it. ATC followed the
AIPAC model; with the direct help of AIPAC & JINSA, it created
a base out of which to stretch its tentacles, reaching the highest
echelons of our government. While the ATC is an association in
name and in charter, the reality is that it and other affiliated
associations arethe U.S. government, lobbyists, foreign
agents, and MIC. Investigative journalist, John Stanton, correctly
describes the ATC as an extraordinary group of elite and interconnected
Republicans, Democrats and corporate and military heavyweights
who are spearheading one of the most ambitious strategic gambits
in U.S. history.
Included in ATC's management,
board of directors, and advisors; in addition to Turkish individuals
of 'interest;' is a dizzying array of U.S. individuals. The ATC
is led by Ret. General Brent Scowcroft, who serves as Chairman
of the Board; George Perlman of Lockheed Martin, the Executive
Vice President; other board members include: Former National
Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Ret. General Elmer Pendleton,
Ret. General Joseph Ralston, Ret. Col. Preston Hughes, Alan Colegrove
of Northrop Grumman, Frank Carlucci of Carlyle Group, Christine
Vick of Cohen Group, Representative Robert Wexler, Former Rep.
Ed WhitfieldBasically many formers; statesmen, 'dime a dozen
generals,' and representatives.
On the members--paying clients
side; their list includes all the MIC's who's who, such
as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman; the Washington
Lobby scene's who's who; The Cohen Group, The Livingston Group,
Washington Group International
Of course, there are also many
Turkish companies that are members of the ATC. Most of these
companies have branches and operations in Libya, Dubai, Azerbaijan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Although
the official listings of their businesses are cited as 'construction,'
'real estate', 'manufacturing,' and 'tourism'; the main activities
of these businesses are known to be related to global illegal
arms sales and narcotic processing and trafficking. These companies
provide necessary fronts and channels to launder proceeds. Curiously
enough, hundreds of millions of dollars have been granted by
the United States government, approved by the congress, to these
Turkish companies under the guise of various 'U.S. Central Asian
development programs;' and 'Iraq & Afghanistan reconstruction
programs.'
Stanton notes: 'ATC is joined
in the creation of the New EuroAsia by the American Azerbaijan
Chamber of Commerce (AACC). AACC's Honorary Council of Advisors
just happens to have General Scowcroft and the following persons
of significance: Henry Kissinger and James Baker III. Former
Council members include Dick Cheney and Richard Armitage, and
Board of Trustee members include media-overkill subject Richard
Perle of AEI, and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas.'
The MIC
Factor
In part 1 we discussed the
MIC as 'agents by default;' marriages and loyalties based on
'mutual benefit;' our previous example was Saudi Arabia, top
customer of U.S. weaponry. Well, Turkey only trails the Saudis
slightly in that category; between 1992 and 1996, Turkey was
the second largest importer of weaponry, spending more than $7
billion in four years. A report by the World Policy Institute
shows that Turkey is the third largest recipient of U.S. military
aid, behind Israel and Egypt. Between 1994 and 2003, Turkey took
delivery of more than $6.8 billion in U.S. weaponry and services.
In fiscal year 1989, U.S. aid
to Turkey was $563,500,000. According to a Multi National Monitor
Report, in 1991, Turkey received more than $800 million in U.S.
aid, "an exceptional return" on its $3.8 million investment
in Washington lobbyists. At the time, International Advisors,
INC. (Douglas Feith & Richard Perle lobbying firm as registered
agents for Turkey) was paid more than $1 million for representing
Turkey in the U.S. for the purpose of securing these types of
deals. In 2003, Turkey received a $1 billion aid package. During
this period their registered and known lobbyists were the Livingston
Group, headed by the former Speaker of the House Bob Livingston,
and Solarz Associates, headed by a formerly powerful Representative,
Stephen Solarz. Turkey, from 2000 to 2004, for only four years,
paid Livingston $9 million for his lobbying services. What did
the Republic of Turkey get for its $2 million per year investment
in Ex-Congressman Livingston's services?
A Joint Report by the Federation
of American Scientists and the World Policy Institute found that
the vast majority of U.S. arms transfers to Turkey were subsidized
by U.S. taxpayers. In many cases, these taxpayer funds are supporting
military production and employment in Turkey, not in the United
States. Of the $10.5 billion in U.S. weaponry delivered to Turkey
since 1984, $8 billion in all has been directly or indirectly
financed by grants and subsidized loans provided by the U.S.
government. Many of the largest deals--such as Lockheed Martin's
sale of 240 F-16s to the Turkish air force and the FMC Corporation's
provision of 1,698 armored vehicles to the Turkish army--involve
co-production and offset provisions which steer investments,
jobs, and production to Turkey as a condition of the sale. For
example, Turkey's F-16 assembly plant in Ankara--a joint venture
of Lockheed Martin and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)--employs
2,000 production workers, almost entirely paid for with U.S.
tax dollars.
Let's recap the above data:
Not only does our government, actually, our taxpayers, subsidize
$8 billion of Turkey's $10 billion weapons purchases; the production
of this weaponry and the associated employment occurs not in
the U.S., but overseas, in Turkey. We, the taxpayers, are subsidizing
these purchases; our nation readily transfers its technology
to a country that ranks high in global narcotics, terrorist and
WMD related activities; while a select few MIC related firms
such as Lockheed and the pimping middlemen, the lobbyists, get
fatter and richer.
One Stop
Shop: The Cohen Group
Like many other former statesmen,
William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense, dived into the business
of lobbying and consulting, and created his own Washington firm,
The Cohen Group, which works for some of the largest companies
in the defense industry, such as Lockheed Martin, and serves
numerous foreign players. The Cohen Group is one of the primary
and most active members of the American Turkish Council (ATC).
Cohen's client, Lockheed Martin, happens to be on the board of
ATC, in addition to being listed as ATC's top paying client.
The group claims on its Website
that its principals have "a century and a half of combined
experience in the Congress, the Defense Department, the State
Department, the White House, and state and local governments"
and that they "have developed extensive expertise and relationships
with key international political, economic, and business leaders
and acquired invaluable experiences with the individuals and
institutions that affect our clients' success abroad." Abroad
indeed. With a few 'dime a dozen generals' and former statesmen,
the firm owes its phenomenal speedy success to interests 'abroad'
and of course, the MIC! Let's look, with great amazement, I hope,
at how this ingenious lobby venture serves as foreign agent for
several influences without having to register as such; with complete
immunity against any scrutiny.
According to Intelligence Online,
in its March 27, 2006 issue, Cohen accompanied Bush on his trip
to India and Pakistan in March 2006. The Cohen Group is very
active in India; Joseph Ralston, Cohen's Vice Chairman, led two
delegations of U.S. Defense Chiefs to India the previous year.
The trips were organized in conjunction with the U.S. India Business
Council; among the participants were Lockheed Martin, Northrop
Grumman, and Boeing.
On June 9, 2006, Intelligence
Online reports 'already operating in India, the Cohen Group headed
by William Cohen, has just opened an office in Beijing... Since
2003 the Cohen Group has equally been employing Christine Vick.
She is a former Vice President of Kissinger Associates; the consultancy
founded by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and had
been in charge of the firm's Chinese business.'
Prior to the October 2005 release
of Paul Volcker's report on violations of the United Nations'
Iraq oil-for-food program, the Australian wheat exporter AWB
Limited hired Cohen's firm. AWB paid approximately $A300 million
in trucking fees on its wheat contracts to a Jordanian company,
Alia, which owns no trucks! The funds were funnelled to Saddam's
regime. AWB hired Cohen Group as part of its 'strategy, ' code-named
'Project Rose', to deal with the UN inquiry headed by Paul Volcker
and corruption allegations made against it by U.S. wheat farmers
and 'hostile US politicians.' Cohen Group is not a law firm;
what kind of services and representation is it providing for
this criminal case?
So who are the key players
at Cohen's lobby firm, giving it its value? Well of course, a
handful of powerful formers; in addition to Cohen as the top
principal we have former Undersecretary of State Mark Grossman,
and two formerly high-level 'dime a dozen generals:' General
Joseph Ralston and General Paul Kern; let's briefly look at them;
shall we?
Ret. General Paul Kern
Cohen Group senior counselor
is retired general Paul J. Kern, a former head of the Army Materiel
Command, who recently served on a panel convened by the Defense
Department to recommend improvements in how it acquires weapons
systems; of course, a topic of great interest to Cohen clients.
Pentagon's Defense Acquisition
Performance Assessment Panel , DAPAP, was created to recommend
changes in the awarding of military contracts. Over half of this
panel is executives of large defense corporations. Among the
Committee's six members are Frank Cappuccio, VP of Lockheed Martin,
and retired General Kern, who is the Senior Counselor of the
Cohen Group!
When the Pentagon is informed
of wasteful practices, it commonly ignores them. Congressman
Walter Jones, (R-N.C.) is quoted as understating, "We've
got an agency that is not doing its job of being a watchdog for
the taxpayers." Retired Army Reserve officer Paul Fellencer
Sr. complained to the Pentagon's fraud hot line last year about
$200-million worth of outrageous overpayments for ordinary supplies.
Pentagon investigators never bothered to call him and dismissed
his tip as "unsubstantiated," the news service said.
One wonders how many American
citizens are aware of the fact that a 'dime a dozen general'
such as Kern, who happens to be a Senior Counsel of a lobby firm
with foreign interests and MIC representation, who happens to
sit on the board of Lockheed Martin, gets to sit on a panel that
monitors and advises on awarding military contracts to the private
MIC companies by the Pentagon. Would it take an absolute genius
to figure out that this is 'putting a fox in charge of the hen
house'? If not, then how could this get past the decision makers
at the Pentagon? How come our lawmakers, those in charge of ensuring
the checks and balances in our government, those we consider
our representatives, sit there either unaware or unbothered by
this red flag visible from a hundred miles away? What happened
to 'investigative journalists with good noses;' were they all
inflicted by congested sinuses at the same time?
Fmr. Gen. Joseph Ralston
General Joseph Ralston, one
of Cohen Group's Vice Chairmen, is on the board of Lockheed Martin,
which paid the Cohen Group $550,000 in 2005, according to a Lockheed
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ralston is
also a member of the 2006 Advisory Board of the American Turkish
Council (ATC), and one of Turkey's top advocates. If you think
this 'dime a dozen general' ended one career and removed himself
from the U.S. government by becoming 'the foreign agent man,'
think again after reading the following.
On August 28, 2006, the U.S.
State Department appointed the former U.S. Air Force General,
current Vice Chairman of the Cohen Group, board member of American
Turkish Council, registered lobbyist for Lockheed Martin, Joseph
Ralston, as a "Special Envoy" for countering the Kurdistan
Worker's Party (PKK)! Lo and behold, Ralston's appointment came
as Turkey was finalizing the purchase of 30 new Lockheed Martin
F-16 aircraft valued at $3 billion, and as Turkey was due to
make its decision on the $10 billion purchase of the new Lockheed
Martin F-35 JSF aircraft. Coincidentally, the U.S. Congress approved
the sale of the F-16s to Turkey in October 2006, shortly after
Ralston's return from Turkey.
While the implications of Ralston's
appointment caused a major stir within the Kurdish community
and organizations, mainly pointing to Ralston's position with
the Turkish lobby in the U.S. (he is on the board of ATC), and
within Turkey's own communities, pointing to Ralston's position
with Lockheed Martin (he is on the board of Lockheed Martin),
our own media, watchdog organizations, and congress let this
gargantuan conflict of interest pass under the radar.
Our government sent this man,
Ralston, as a special envoy to help resolve the highly critical
Northern Iraq situation with possible dire consequences in the
near future. Considering Ralston's livelihood and his loyalties,
as a member of the board of the directors of Lockheed Martin,
as the vice chairman of a lobbying firm with foreign interests,
as an advisor and board member for the most powerful Turkish
Lobby group, ATC, who did this man represent while in Turkey
as the special envoy? What interests did he really represent;
Iraq's situation, Lockheed's livelihood, which depends on further
conflicts and bloodshed; the corrupt and criminal government
of Turkey and its representation via ATC; or, the furthering
of the Cohen Group's future pimping opportunities?
Why in the world did no one
within the U.S. mainstream media give even the slightest coverage
of this conflict of interest? Why did no one, Democrat or Republican,
in our congress make a peep? Why haven't we heard anyone asking
Ralston the most important question, in dire need of an answer:
'Who's your daddy Ralston; boy?' Ralston's position is no different
than what is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as: "A
person conceived and born out of wedlock." With the possibility
of any one of four daddies, and without the benefit of a DNA
test, how do we go about determining Ralston's real daddy?
Fmr. Undersecretary Marc
Grossman
The second Vice Chairman of
Cohen's firm is Marc Grossman, who was the U.S. Undersecretary
for Political Affairs in the State Department from 2001 until
2005. From November 1994 to June 1997, he served as U.S. Ambassador
to Turkey. In January 2005 Grossman resigned from his position
and joined the Cohen Group. In late December 2005, Grossman joined
Ihlas Holding, a large and alleged shady Turkish company which
is also active in several Central Asian countries. Grossman is
reported to receive $100,000 per month for his advisory position
with Ihlas.' Most and foremost, Grossman is known for his extraordinarily
cozy relationship with Turkey and Israel; followed by Pakistan.
Here is Grossman as the key
speaker at an ATC conference in March 2002; while Undersecretary
of State; and here it is followed by Grossman's visit to Turkey
in December 2002, to approve the $3 billion U.S. aid to Turkey
for the Iraq Cooperation deal. There he goes again, Grossman
back to Turkey in December 2003 re: approval of Turkey's eligibility
to participate in tenders for Iraq's reconstruction! Here is
Grossman as the key speaker at an ATC Conference held at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel in December 2004, while Undersecretary. Here
is Grossman as the guest of honor and key speaker at the American
Turkish Society dinner in New York in February 2005, while Undersecretary.
Here he is again, at the lavish Turkish Ottoman Dinner Gala in
November 2005. Here is Grossman at the award dinner gala by the
Turkish lobby group, the Assembly of American Turkish Association
(ATAA), in Chicago, receiving his award in November 2005. Here
is Grossman as the key speaker at the ATC annual conference in
March 2006, and later, in June 2006, at the MERIA Conference
to discuss Turkey's importance to the U.S. & Israel. This
list can go on for pages and pages; but I believe you all get
it; right?
Here is a comment by Wolfowitz
during his visit to Turkey:"I'm delighted to be back in
Turkey and so is my colleague Marc Grossman, who feels like Turkey
is a second home." Second home indeed, Mr. Grossman!
Please do not make the grave
and naive mistake of assuming that Grossman found and obtained
his highly lucrative and questionable positions after his resignation
in January 2005. Within two months after his confident resignation,
this boy got the vice chairmanship of the Cohen Group. Only six
months later, Grossman ended up securing a 'special advisory'
position for a foreign company that reported his monthly fee
at $100,000 a month. The industrious Grossman seems to be juggling
so many balls simultaneously: numerous foreign sponsored dinner
speeches, the demanding pimping activities of Cohen's firm, the
very 'special advising' of a shady foreign company
We all have a pretty good idea
how long and how much work it takes to secure that level of income
and those positions. Did Grossman beat the odds and get lucky
as soon as he got out of the State Department? Did he hit the
jackpot? Or, did he diligently and industriously work at it,
while in his position as the ambassador to Turkey and as Deputy
Secretary of State? Did he sell his soul while under his oath
of office? Did he sell our government's soul? Did he sell our
nation and its interests? If so; for what and how much?
*
* * *
Long gone are the days when
generals were content to retire and go back home where they held
their heads high as honorable patriots and heroes who had served
their nation; where they marched in their towns' parades as proud
distinguished men and women who had fulfilled their duty to the
people. Today, as we clearly see, they perceive themselves and
their authority as a commodity; they go about marketing their
worth (nationally and internationally; foreign and domestic)
long before they leave their positions as public servants.
The same goes for many of our
statesmen. While in office, Grossman and others like him appear
to have one objective in mind and in action: to make sure that
their future employer who is waiting for them on the other side
of the revolving door will receive special and lucrative arrangements
so that they can be compensated handsomely later.
In Part1, we briefly described
the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), established to insure
that the American public and its lawmakers know the source of
propaganda intended to sway public opinion, policy, and laws;
and the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of 1995, which was passed
to make the regulation and disclosure of lobbying the federal
government more effective. The article emphasized that both of
these cosmetic laws are filled with exemptions and loopholes
that allow minimization of, and in some cases complete escape
from, warranted scrutiny, and have serious loopholes and limitations.
The Cohen Group is an excellent
case, illustrating the futility of FARA, since the firm does
not have to be registered. They can claim that Turkey is not
their 'direct' client; they can argue that they are not getting
paid 'directly' by the government of Turkey or any other foreign
entity or government. They certainly can; no matter that Grossman
receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from a dubious Turkish
company. Does Cohen discount Grossman's Vice Chairmanship salary
accordingly? No matter that half a million dollars per year from
their client Lockheed Martin is mainly for services provided
to Turkey, and having the group's second chairman serve on Lockheed's
board is another way to get around all restrictions. The incestuous
relationship twists and turns: The Cohen Group on the board of
ATC, The Cohen Group a paying member client of ATC, The Cohen
Group as Lockheed's lobbyist, Cohen's men on the board of Lockheed,
Lockheed on the board of ATC, Lockheed also a paying client of
ATCHow is your head; spinning yet?
We are proud of the large turnout
at the ballot box for the midterm elections a few weeks ago;
a sign of participatory citizenship. Perhaps we'll be repeating
this phenomenon, if not increasing it, for the presidential elections
in two years; another means to demonstrate our 'democratic government
process in action' for badly needed change. But who really runs
our country? Who really shapes our public policies and determines
the flow of our hard-earned tax money entrusted to our government?
If you had the patience to go through this article, which sheds
light on only a fragment of what really takes place behind our
backs, within the halls of our government, in all three branches,
you would start questioning your significance as a voter and
taxpayer, and you would begin wondering whether you are governed
by who you think you are.
The foreign influence, the
lobbyists, the current highly positioned civil servants who are
determined future 'wanna be' lobbyists, and the fat cats of the
Military Industrial Complex, operate successfully under the radar,
with unlimited reach and power, with no scrutiny, while selling
your interests, benefiting from your tax money, and serving the
highest bidders regardless of what or who they may be. This deep
state seems to operate at all levels of our government; from
the President's office to Congress, from the military quarters
to the civil servants' offices. Let's let Marcus Cicero's timeless
warning from over two thousand years ago put the finishing touch
on this article:
"A nation can survive
its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason
from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he
is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves
amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling
through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government
itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents
familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments,
he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all
men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown
in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects
the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murder[er]
is less to fear."
Sibel Edmonds is the founder and director of National
Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
Ms. Edmonds worked as a language specialist for the FBI. During
her work with the bureau, she discovered and reported serious
acts of security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking
of intelligence that had national security implications. After
she reported these acts to FBI management, she was retaliated
against by the FBI and ultimately fired in March 2002. Since
that time, court proceedings on her case have been blocked by
the assertion of "State Secret Privilege"; the Congress
of the United States has been gagged and prevented from any discussion
of her case through retroactive re-classification by the Department
of Justice. Ms. Edmonds is fluent in Turkish, Farsi and Azerbaijani;
and has a MA in Public Policy and International Commerce from
George Mason University, and a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology
from George Washington University. PEN American Center awarded
Ms. Edmonds the 2006 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.
She can be reached at: sedmonds@nswbc.org
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