Yes, there are many patriot professionals in
Beltwayistan, working in the intelligence, law
enforcement and DoD communities, who are DISGUSTED and
ENRAGED by the Bush abomination's numerous national
security blunders, debacles and betrayals...And they
are fighting back, by enforcing long-standing laws of
the US federal government and upholding oaths sworn to
the US Constitution...
Knight-Ridder: An FBI investigation into the handling
of highly classified material by Pentagon civilians is
broader than previously reported and goes well beyond
allegations that a single analyst gave a top-secret
Iran policy document to Israel, three sources familiar
with the investigation said yesterday.
The investigation, which has been going on for more
than two years, also has focused on other civilians in
the secretary of defense’s office, said the sources,
who spoke on condition they not be identified but who
have first-hand knowledge of the subject.
In addition, one said, FBI investigators in recent
weeks have conducted interviews to determine whether
Pentagon officials gave classified U.S. intelligence
to a leading Iraqi exile group, the Iraqi National
Congress, which might in turn have passed it on to
Iran. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied his group
was involved in any wrongdoing.
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http://www.columbiatribune.com/2004/Aug/20040829News021.asp
Pentagon spy investigation goes beyond Israeli connection
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Published Sunday, August 29, 2004
WASHINGTON - An FBI investigation into the handling of
highly classified material by Pentagon civilians is
broader than previously reported and goes well beyond
allegations that a single analyst gave a top-secret
Iran policy document to Israel, three sources familiar
with the investigation said yesterday.
The investigation, which has been going on for more
than two years, also has focused on other civilians in
the secretary of defense’s office, said the sources,
who spoke on condition they not be identified but who
have first-hand knowledge of the subject.
In addition, one said, FBI investigators in recent
weeks have conducted interviews to determine whether
Pentagon officials gave classified U.S. intelligence
to a leading Iraqi exile group, the Iraqi National
Congress, which might in turn have passed it on to
Iran. INC leader Ahmed Chalabi has denied his group
was involved in any wrongdoing.
The link, if any, between the two leak investigations
remains unclear.
But they both center on the office of Undersecretary
of Defense Douglas Feith, the Pentagon’s No. 3
official.
Feith’s office has been the source of numerous
controversies over the last three years. His office
had close ties to Chalabi and was responsible for
post-war Iraq planning that the administration has now
acknowledged was inadequate. Before the war, Feith and
his aides pushed the now-discredited theory that
former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was in league with
al-Qaida.
No one is known to have been charged with any
wrongdoing in the investigation.
The Israeli government yesterday strenuously denied it
had spied on the United States. The American Israel
Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel
lobby that top officials said is suspected of serving
as a conduit to Israel for the analyst, also has
denied any wrongdoing.
That analyst, Larry Franklin, works for Feith’s
deputy, William Luti, and served as an important
advisor on Iran issues to Feith and Deputy Secretary
of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
Franklin, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst
who lives in West Virginia, could not be reached for
comment yesterday.
Two sources disclosed yesterday that the information
believed to have been passed to Israel was the draft
of a top-secret presidential order on Iran policy.
Because of disagreements over Iran policy among
President George W. Bush’s advisors, the document is
not believed to have ever been completed.
Having a draft of the document - which some Pentagon
officials might have believed was insufficiently tough
toward Iran - would have allowed Israel to influence
U.S. policy while it was still being made. Iran is
among Israel’s main security concerns.
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