Turks Are Troubled By Harut Sassounian

[Gavur]

Turks Are Troubled by Probable Next
Speaker's Pledge on Genocide Bill

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier

Just when Turkish officials are grappling with the devastating blow
of the French Parliament's adoption of bill criminalizing the denial
of the Armenian Genocide, it appears likely that they will be
receiving a second blow shortly from the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is expected
to be the next Speaker of the House, should Democrats win the
majority in the House, issued an exclusive statement to this writer
last week pledging to support the passage of the Armenian Genocide
resolution in the next Congress.
She said: "I have supported legislation, including H.Res.316, that
would properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. It is imperative
that the United States recognize this atrocity and move to renew our
commitment to eliminate genocide whenever and wherever it exists.
This effort enjoys strong bipartisan support in the House, and I will
continue to support these efforts in the 110th Congress."
If the Democrats control the House after the November 7 elections,
Cong. Pelosi is slated to become House Speaker. As such, she would
control which bills come to the floor for a vote. Based on her
20-year record of staunch support for the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide by the House of Representatives, there is a high probability
that the Armenian Genocide resolution would finally get scheduled for
a vote in the House.
In contrast, the current Speaker, Dennis Hastert (R-IL), has
repeatedly blocked this resolution from coming to the floor since
October 2000. In July of 2004, following the adoption by the House of
an amendment recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Speaker Hastert
issued a blunt statement vowing to block any future consideration of
the Armenian Genocide Resolution by the full House. For his denialist
efforts, Speaker Hastert has received an "F" rating from the ANCA,
while Cong. Pelosi has consistently received an "A."
Two weeks before Cong. Pelosi made her pledge to the
Armenian-American community, the Turkish Daily News had already
published an article headlined: "A Democratic victory in the US
congressional elections next month will mean more 'Armenian Genocide'
trouble for Ankara."
The Turkish article stated: "A Democratic triumph in the House, or
the Senate, will mean major problems for Turkey in its efforts to
stop genocide recognition. In the outgoing House, the International
Relations Committee in September 2005 approved a resolution for
genocide recognition, But House Speaker Dennis Hastert, a close Bush
ally, has never allowed a full floor vote. But if the Democrats win
in November, it will be Nancy Pelosi, a staunch supporter of Armenian
causes, who most probably will become the new speaker. In the event
of a Democratic victory in the House, pro-Armenian lawmakers will
definitely force a new legislation for genocide recognition shortly
after the new Congress takes office in January.
"Tom Lantos, presently the ranking Democratic member on the House
International Relations Committee, is most likely to lead the
committee. His position is not predictable. Lantos, a Holocaust
survivor, backed Turkey in 2000 but voted for the Armenian side last
year, voicing deep disappointment over what he saw as anti-American
Turkish policies in the Middle East. In any case, a strongly
supported genocide recognition resolution would easily pass the
International Relations Committee hurdles, and reach the full House
controlled by the pro-Armenian Pelosi, who in turn normally would be
expected to favor a quick floor vote. Analysts warn that Turkey is
doomed to lose any vote on any platform, so the key would be to avoid
voting. Would Bush, like Clinton did in 2000, intervene personally at
the last minute again to avoid a floor vote? Or would the Democrats
who hate Bush turn it into a major domestic policy showdown? The
answers are not clear at this point. The only certain thing is that
Turkey will have a major headache on Armenian-related matters in the
event of a Democratic victory in Congress," the Turkish Daily News
wrote.
After Cong. Pelosi's pledge, the Turkish Daily News published a
second article on Oct. 29, headlined: "Turkey's 'Democratic' woes:
Ankara fears fallout from likely Democratic victory in U.S.
congressional elections on genocide." The newspaper quoted an
anonymous Turkish diplomat in Washington (probably the Turkish
Ambassador in Washington), as saying: "I would never think that I
would be wishing a Republican win in the November 7 congressional
elections, but it's ironic to see that a Democratic victory likely
will be even worse for Turkey." The Turkish reporter then wrote that
after his earlier report of two weeks ago, Cong. Pelosi made a pledge
on the Armenian Genocide resolution to "a prominent U.S. Armenian
publisher" (yours truly). This confirmed the Turkish reporter's worst
fears about the likely passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution in
the next Congress.
Another major Turkish publication, Hurriyet, featured a lengthy
analytical article on the same subject on Oct. 27, stating that the
election of a Democratic majority in the House on Nov. 7, would
likely create new storms in U.S.-Turkish relations due to the
Armenian issue. Hurriyet also referred to the statement released by
Cong. Pelosi to this writer, as evidence that things would be much
different (meaning worse) in the next Congress for Turkey.
Several other Turkish newspapers and websites also referred to Cong.
Pelosi's statement with ominous predictions for Turkey. The Fresno
Bee published a more skeptical analysis. Referring to Cong. Pelosi's
statement to this writer. The Bee wrote: "Armenian Americans are
accustomed to hearing election-year promises. Now they have another
one to mull over." The article concluded by raising the prospect that
Cong. Pelosi "may be more willing than Hastert to embarrass the White
House on this issue."
Let us hope that the Democrats would win the majority in the House on
Nov. 7, thus realizing the Turks' worst nightmare! Nothing would be
more satisfying to most Armenian Americans than seeing Hastert lose
his "speakership" and become once again the lowly Congressman that he
used be. He would no longer be able to play sleazy political games
with the sacred memory of genocide victims.

[Gavur]

One More Reason To Win - Let Sibel Edmonds Speak

by W. David Jenkins III

OpEdNews, PA
Oct 29 2006

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing."

- Edmund Burke

Sibel Edmonds once told me to "put aside 9/11" and instead concentrate
on the workings of the Defense Department, amongst other government
establishments, because what she had been trying to warn people about
was considered by those involved as nothing more than "business as
usual." That was the real danger. What she had discovered during
her short time with the FBI was so threatening to those doing such
"business" that former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, couldn't
slap a gag order on her (and Congress) fast enough. But a lot of us
already know that.

Truth be known, Dennis Hastert has a hell of a lot more to worry about
than the Mark Foley scandal. In fact, he may be seeing the writing
on the wall regarding his soon departure from Congress as a welcome
relief. However, that result is not only contingent upon a Democratic
win in November, but a Democratic majority willing to dig through
the tangled mess that is Turkish and American "business relations."

Now, one must understand why Turkey is a big player, albeit a
clandestine one, on the world stage; that would be the desperate
need for security and acceptance. Turkey shares with Israel common
enemies such as Syria, Iran and Iraq and maintains relations in the
U.S. in order to secure financial aid and military technology. These
relations are enhanced by corporations, lobbyists and conservative
think tanks who share a mutual interest in geo-political advantage
in the Middle East as well as making some big money.

These relations are connected between former and present Defense
Dept. members, The Project for a New American Century members, AIPAC,
MIC Inc., Jack Abramoff, The Livingston Group and others. In other
words, the more you dig the bigger the headache you may succumb to,
yet you'll get an idea of how intertwined all the players are. Would
you like to go for a little ride? Let's start with Hastert.

The House Speaker has received contributions from Turkish sources
to the tune of at least $500,000 and Edmonds knows that there are
tapes from wiretaps that will back up this claim. One of the groups
who bragged on those tapes about these illegal contributions was the
American Turkish Council (ATC) but Hastert denies any ties to this or
other Turkish groups. Yet between 1996 and 2002, Hastert made multiple
trips to Turkey and would return home with so many "gifts" that his
support staff was surprised that the "plane even got off the ground."

In turn, Hastert has been very helpful to Turkey by using his authority
to pull Congressional backing for a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide. Hastert, of course has denied this.

On June 3, 2003, Hastert's political action committee held a $1500
a plate fundraiser at Jack Abramoff's restaurant where he received
large donations from, among others, one Duane R. Gibson. Gibson is a
consultant with the Livingston Group who has been lobbying on behalf of
Turkey for about six years at the cost of $1.2 million a year. The only
problem is that the money is not coming from the Turkish government
and of course the FBI wants to know exactly who is shelling out all
the dough. This is what Edmonds refers to as "business as usual" and
what is behind the facade in all of this is obviously so threatening,
that the government felt it necessary to implement an extraordinary
gag order on Sibel and threaten members of her family.

Admittedly, the American - Turkish "connection" doesn't make for
glamorous news when put up against Iraq, Iran or North Korea but many
of the players in those headlines are also involved with Turkey. And if
there was an active, inquisitive and motivated Congress in DeeCeeVille
right now then people might recognize the threat that so far remains
under the radar.

Sibel stated many times that when certain intelligence regarding
illegal activities (drug or illegal arms trafficking etc.) which
benefited alleged terrorist sponsors and that same intelligence
also implicated "certain allies or business interests" then that
intelligence was not passed on to counter-terrorism agents in the
field. Turkish front groups under surveillance by the FBI (ATC
and ATAA) were making large payments to officials high up in the
government as well as lobbyists with connections to some of these same
officials. These same groups were also nuzzling up to groups like
AIPAC who had a mutual desire to embrace certain business interests
that could enhance their pursuit of intelligence, influence and aid
against common enemies.

With the rise to power of the neo-conservatives years ago and their
drive to secure dominance in the Middle East, these front groups found
new opportunities now that the American government was infiltrated
with many of their "business partners." Douglass Feith and Richard
Perle (PNAC), infamous for their push into Iraq, were also recipients
of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish interests prior to
joining the Bush Gang.

Other groups with long ties to Turkey as well as upper offices in the
government consist of the aforementioned Livingston Group, Solarz &
Associates, and The Cohen Group. All three are top members of the
American Turkish Council with Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group,
Joseph Ralston, sitting on their board of advisors. Getting pretty
tangled up, huh?

One other firm I want to point out is the neo-con group, M.I.C.
Industries Inc. who boast of some "Ultimate Building Machine" on their
web site (it was worth a $60 million contract with Russia back in
'97). Their board consists of amongst others, William Cohen (Cohen
Group/ATC) and Richard Armitage (PNAC/Valerie Plame outing) and is
headed up by one Michael Ansari who once teamed up with Alexander Haig
in a corporation called US-CIS Venture Inc. which was established to
assist in "developments" in Central Asia as well as establishing oil
and gas pipeline projects through the region. M.I.C.

Inc. is also one of the Livingston Group's top clients.

These are some of the "business interests" I believe Edmonds' was
speaking of and here's why.

Enormous amounts of money are being funneled to top government
officials and certain businesses whose members consist of former
Defense Dept. officials, State Dept. officials and conservative think
tanks that have a common interest in Turkey and Israel (in this case)
and other countries that play a strategic part in a geo-political
"business" plan. However, this money is not coming from those
particular governments in question.

Currently, according to former CIA agent Philip Giraldi, there is an
investigation into Israel's illegal sale of U.S. military technology
to countries like China and India. The companies mentioned in this
article also have ties to the defense industry through their members'
history in government service - who also share close ties with Turkish
front groups (as well as an alliance with AIPAC and JINSA) currently
under investigation by the FBI. That these Turkish groups would be
involved in the same illegal sales with the aid of the aforementioned
businesses is not that difficult of a dot to connect as it definitely
reflects the "can of worms" that Edmonds' superiors at the FBI did
not want opened. It's also worth mentioning that Turkey is a large
hub in the drugs coming out of Afghanistan and Edmonds has alluded
to the drug trade in her past statements.

Yet, fellow FBI translator Malek Can xxxxerson, who had encouraged
Sibel to join the ATC, was suppressing intelligence Edmonds was
uncovering regarding these front groups and their relationship to
"certain allies and American business interests" in deference to the
very organizations that the FBI had under investigation.

One can look back at the names mentioned in this criminal activity and
notice that many of the players were involved in the more glamorous
stories in the news over the past years. Armitage (MIC Inc./PNAC)
leaking the name of a CIA operative who was investigating arms
trafficking to Iran and Feith and Perle (IA Inc./PNAC) who were
instrumental in the invasion of Iraq and who are pushing for an attack
on Iran are just three of the most notorious examples.

One other thing I want to point out is the sorry state of affairs
when it comes to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit
database which is maintained by the Dept. of Justice. This database
contains the "who and how much" when it comes to "foreign investment"
in exchange for representation in DeeCeeVille.

Luke Ryland (wotisitgood4.blogspot.com), who has done some remarkable
and detailed work on the Edmonds story, pointed out on his blog
that the "huge database that serves as the public's lone window on
lobbying activities by foreign governments has been allowed to decay
to a point they cannot even make a copy of its contents" according
to a report by the Center for Public Integrity in June of '04. Even
worse, as far as we know, that system is still operating on Windows
95. So much for investing in technology to fight the "war on terror."

Sibel stated in an interview back in late '05 that "You can start
from the AIPAC angle. You can start from the Plame case. You can
start from my case. They all end up going to the same place, and they
revolve around the same nucleus of people. There may be a lot of them,
but it is one group. And they are very dangerous for all of us."

I can't think of a better reason to take back the Congress.

https://www.wdavidjenkins3.com

W.David Jenkins III is a writer/activist living in upstate N.Y. His
work has appeared in "Big Bush Lies" (Riverwood Books) and "The Girl
with Yellow Flowers in Her Hair" (Pitchfork Publishers). He also has
a regular column at oldamericancentury.org.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_w__david_061028_one_more_reason_to_w.htm

[Joseph]

by W. David Jenkins III

OpEdNews, PA
Oct 29 2006

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing."

- Edmund Burke

Sibel Edmonds once told me to "put aside 9/11" and instead concentrate
on the workings of the Defense Department, amongst other government
establishments, because what she had been trying to warn people about
was considered by those involved as nothing more than "business as
usual." That was the real danger. What she had discovered during
her short time with the FBI was so threatening to those doing such
"business" that former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, couldn't
slap a gag order on her (and Congress) fast enough. But a lot of us
already know that.

Truth be known, Dennis Hastert has a hell of a lot more to worry about
than the Mark Foley scandal. In fact, he may be seeing the writing
on the wall regarding his soon departure from Congress as a welcome
relief. However, that result is not only contingent upon a Democratic
win in November, but a Democratic majority willing to dig through
the tangled mess that is Turkish and American "business relations."

Now, one must understand why Turkey is a big player, albeit a
clandestine one, on the world stage; that would be the desperate
need for security and acceptance. Turkey shares with Israel common
enemies such as Syria, Iran and Iraq and maintains relations in the
U.S. in order to secure financial aid and military technology. These
relations are enhanced by corporations, lobbyists and conservative
think tanks who share a mutual interest in geo-political advantage
in the Middle East as well as making some big money.

These relations are connected between former and present Defense
Dept. members, The Project for a New American Century members, AIPAC,
MIC Inc., Jack Abramoff, The Livingston Group and others. In other
words, the more you dig the bigger the headache you may succumb to,
yet you'll get an idea of how intertwined all the players are. Would
you like to go for a little ride? Let's start with Hastert.

The House Speaker has received contributions from Turkish sources
to the tune of at least $500,000 and Edmonds knows that there are
tapes from wiretaps that will back up this claim. One of the groups
who bragged on those tapes about these illegal contributions was the
American Turkish Council (ATC) but Hastert denies any ties to this or
other Turkish groups. Yet between 1996 and 2002, Hastert made multiple
trips to Turkey and would return home with so many "gifts" that his
support staff was surprised that the "plane even got off the ground."

In turn, Hastert has been very helpful to Turkey by using his authority
to pull Congressional backing for a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide. Hastert, of course has denied this.

On June 3, 2003, Hastert's political action committee held a $1500
a plate fundraiser at Jack Abramoff's restaurant where he received
large donations from, among others, one Duane R. Gibson. Gibson is a
consultant with the Livingston Group who has been lobbying on behalf of
Turkey for about six years at the cost of $1.2 million a year. The only
problem is that the money is not coming from the Turkish government
and of course the FBI wants to know exactly who is shelling out all
the dough. This is what Edmonds refers to as "business as usual" and
what is behind the facade in all of this is obviously so threatening,
that the government felt it necessary to implement an extraordinary
gag order on Sibel and threaten members of her family.

Admittedly, the American - Turkish "connection" doesn't make for
glamorous news when put up against Iraq, Iran or North Korea but many
of the players in those headlines are also involved with Turkey. And if
there was an active, inquisitive and motivated Congress in DeeCeeVille
right now then people might recognize the threat that so far remains
under the radar.

Sibel stated many times that when certain intelligence regarding
illegal activities (drug or illegal arms trafficking etc.) which
benefited alleged terrorist sponsors and that same intelligence
also implicated "certain allies or business interests" then that
intelligence was not passed on to counter-terrorism agents in the
field. Turkish front groups under surveillance by the FBI (ATC
and ATAA) were making large payments to officials high up in the
government as well as lobbyists with connections to some of these same
officials. These same groups were also nuzzling up to groups like
AIPAC who had a mutual desire to embrace certain business interests
that could enhance their pursuit of intelligence, influence and aid
against common enemies.

With the rise to power of the neo-conservatives years ago and their
drive to secure dominance in the Middle East, these front groups found
new opportunities now that the American government was infiltrated
with many of their "business partners." Douglass Feith and Richard
Perle (PNAC), infamous for their push into Iraq, were also recipients
of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish interests prior to
joining the Bush Gang.

Other groups with long ties to Turkey as well as upper offices in the
government consist of the aforementioned Livingston Group, Solarz &
Associates, and The Cohen Group. All three are top members of the
American Turkish Council with Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group,
Joseph Ralston, sitting on their board of advisors. Getting pretty
tangled up, huh?

One other firm I want to point out is the neo-con group, M.I.C.
Industries Inc. who boast of some "Ultimate Building Machine" on their
web site (it was worth a $60 million contract with Russia back in
'97). Their board consists of amongst others, William Cohen (Cohen
Group/ATC) and Richard Armitage (PNAC/Valerie Plame outing) and is
headed up by one Michael Ansari who once teamed up with Alexander Haig
in a corporation called US-CIS Venture Inc. which was established to
assist in "developments" in Central Asia as well as establishing oil
and gas pipeline projects through the region. M.I.C.

Inc. is also one of the Livingston Group's top clients.

These are some of the "business interests" I believe Edmonds' was
speaking of and here's why.

Enormous amounts of money are being funneled to top government
officials and certain businesses whose members consist of former
Defense Dept. officials, State Dept. officials and conservative think
tanks that have a common interest in Turkey and Israel (in this case)
and other countries that play a strategic part in a geo-political
"business" plan. However, this money is not coming from those
particular governments in question.

Currently, according to former CIA agent Philip Giraldi, there is an
investigation into Israel's illegal sale of U.S. military technology
to countries like China and India. The companies mentioned in this
article also have ties to the defense industry through their members'
history in government service - who also share close ties with Turkish
front groups (as well as an alliance with AIPAC and JINSA) currently
under investigation by the FBI. That these Turkish groups would be
involved in the same illegal sales with the aid of the aforementioned
businesses is not that difficult of a dot to connect as it definitely
reflects the "can of worms" that Edmonds' superiors at the FBI did
not want opened. It's also worth mentioning that Turkey is a large
hub in the drugs coming out of Afghanistan and Edmonds has alluded
to the drug trade in her past statements.

Yet, fellow FBI translator Malek Can xxxxerson, who had encouraged
Sibel to join the ATC, was suppressing intelligence Edmonds was
uncovering regarding these front groups and their relationship to
"certain allies and American business interests" in deference to the
very organizations that the FBI had under investigation.

One can look back at the names mentioned in this criminal activity and
notice that many of the players were involved in the more glamorous
stories in the news over the past years. Armitage (MIC Inc./PNAC)
leaking the name of a CIA operative who was investigating arms
trafficking to Iran and Feith and Perle (IA Inc./PNAC) who were
instrumental in the invasion of Iraq and who are pushing for an attack
on Iran are just three of the most notorious examples.

One other thing I want to point out is the sorry state of affairs
when it comes to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit
database which is maintained by the Dept. of Justice. This database
contains the "who and how much" when it comes to "foreign investment"
in exchange for representation in DeeCeeVille.

Luke Ryland (wotisitgood4.blogspot.com), who has done some remarkable
and detailed work on the Edmonds story, pointed out on his blog
that the "huge database that serves as the public's lone window on
lobbying activities by foreign governments has been allowed to decay
to a point they cannot even make a copy of its contents" according
to a report by the Center for Public Integrity in June of '04. Even
worse, as far as we know, that system is still operating on Windows
95. So much for investing in technology to fight the "war on terror."

Sibel stated in an interview back in late '05 that "You can start
from the AIPAC angle. You can start from the Plame case. You can
start from my case. They all end up going to the same place, and they
revolve around the same nucleus of people. There may be a lot of them,
but it is one group. And they are very dangerous for all of us."

I can't think of a better reason to take back the Congress.

https://www.wdavidjenkins3.com

W.David Jenkins III is a writer/activist living in upstate N.Y. His
work has appeared in "Big Bush Lies" (Riverwood Books) and "The Girl
with Yellow Flowers in Her Hair" (Pitchfork Publishers). He also has
a regular column at oldamericancentury.org.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/ope...eason_to_w.htm

Gavur, thanks for this article.