Posted on 03/30/2004 5:04:53 AM PST by nuconvert
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:42:12 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
Cripes, at one time in my life I was in awe of the government braintrust, now I trust that the same government lacked brains as well as balls.
They were Saudi Hezbollah [opponents of the Sauds] who were provided with passports by the Iranian embassy in Damascus Syria
More details on the Clinton spin...http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3345672/posts
Wow, this is an 11 year old thread you’ve resurrected.
I would think that the Iranians would be very grateful for this information, so they can know which of their operatives are compromised and get some insight into how they came to the attention of the US. I wonder how much they had to pay Bubba to learn what we know about them?
Interesting.
So that goes all the way back to the Clinton administration.
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A second major policy directive that Raphel advocated and developed during her tenure was engagement and cooperation with the Taliban.[16] Her positions raised equal measure of praise and scorn.[18] U.S. energy policies in the mid-1990s sought to develop alternative supply routes to counter increasing tensions in the Middle East. The Clinton administration supported oil and gas pipelines to transport Turkmenistan's rich energy reserves through Afghanistan to an exit at Pakistan's Indian Ocean seaport of Gwadar.[19]:165 Raphel openly spoke in favor of a proposed pipeline project by Unocal Corporation, an American oil company, on trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in April and August 1996. Overt Clinton administration support for the Unocal project, and the subsequent taking of Kabul in September 1996 by the Taliban, raised concerns in Russia and Iran that U.S. intelligence assets were behind the rise of Taliban control in Afghanistan to advance U.S. energy interests in the region.[19]:165
Raphel was instrumental in coordinating the State Department's establishment of diplomatic relations with the Taliban shortly after its takeover of Kabul.[20]:300 A senior Unocal executive commented that the pipeline project would be far easier to implement with the Taliban in control, in reference to the need for central control in Afghanistan to undertake a project of the size, complexity and cost the Texas-based oil giant was considering.[19]:166 Unocal's consortium also included Saudi Arabia's Delta Oil, Pakistan's Crescent Group and Gazprom of Russia. The project involved building an 890-kilometer gas pipeline that would carry 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas to Pakistan each day.[21]:95 Unocal held detailed discussions with Taliban representatives in Houston in December 1997, striking a deal[22] that would later collapse under the weight of rising U.S. and Afghan domestic political pressures against the Taliban's record on human rights, education and treatment of women.[19]:171–174
In pursuing the Clinton administration's energy objectives through construction of the $4.5 billion Afghanistan Oil Pipeline, Raphel created ill will with Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, then under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud.[21]:95 Massoud-controlled militias blocked the pipeline's northern access route due to the longstanding civil war with Taliban forces. After Massoud was killed September 9, 2001 in a Taliban bombing, Raphel's critics accused her of collaborating with the Taliban to advance American commercial interests even as the group gave refuge to Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other senior al-Qaeda leaders in the time leading up to the September 11 attacks.[20]. . .
After her retirement in 2005 Raphel worked for Cassidy & Associates,[33] a Washington-based lobbying firm, through which she represented the government of Pakistan among others.[34] She returned in 2009 to the State Department under Hillary Clinton as senior adviser on Pakistan for the office of the special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan. On November 7, 2014 several media organizations reported that Raphel was under federal investigation as part of a counterintelligence probe possibly linked to espionage.[34][35][36] The FBI searched Raphel's home in October 2014. Her State Department office was also examined and sealed. She was placed on administrative leave and her contract with the State Department was allowed to expire on November 2, 2014.[37] Her security clearances were also withdrawn in October 2014.[34] It was later reported that an intercepted conversation of a Pakistani official had led to the investigation.[38] In March 2016, the Justice Department formally closed the investigation and decided to not file any charges.[39]
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Holbrooke was Clinton's lead foreign policy advisor in her campaign for president and was believed to be her preferred choice for Secretary of State. When Obama defeated Clinton and selected her as Secretary of State, Holbrooke was her preferred option for Deputy Secretary of State, but was vetoed by Obama.[1] Special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009–2010). In January 2009, Holbrooke was appointed by President Obama as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. . .
BUMP
Is that from wikipedia?
I wonder if there is a connection between her and the House IT guys Awan brothers’ and their families back in Pakistan. The FBI dropped the investigation before Trump was elected.
Rep. ROHRABACHER (1999) -- How the Clinton Administration brought the Taliban to power 9/28/2001, 10:01:18 PM · by Nita Nupress · 43 replies · 2,520+ views Senate testimony | April 14, 1999 | Rep. Dana Rohrabacher April 14, 1999, Wednesday COMMITTEE HEARING SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS: SUBCOMMITTEE ON NEAR EASTERN AND SOUTH U.S. SENATOR SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS) HOLDS HEARING...
It was from Wikipedia at the time I quoted it, before Wikipedia’s editors suppressed the information:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170409155826/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Raphel
Another version is here:
https://peoplepill.com/people/robin-raphel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Raphel
After retirement, Raphel was hired to head the global affairs and trade group of Cassidy & Associates, a DC lobbying firm. She returned to the State Department in 2009 as a senior adviser on Pakistan under Richard Holbrooke, during the tenure of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Until November 2, 2014, she served as coordinator for non-military assistance to Pakistan.
. . .
Post-retirement lobbyist
In 2005, soon after her retirement, Raphel began working for Cassidy & Associates, a Washington-based lobbying firm, where she headed the global affairs and trade group.[32] Shortly after hiring Raphel as a senior vice president, Cassidy signed a $1.2 million contract to lobby for the government of Pakistan. Raphel was assigned to lead the contract.[33] One month later, however, Cassidy canceled the Pakistan lobbying contract after Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule.[34][32][35]
Raphel continued her role at Cassidy, lobbying for other international clients who included Bangladeshi politician Anwar Hossain Manju and the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, according The Hill.[34] On July 14, 2009, Cassidy signed a new one-year contract with the Pakistani Embassy, to “engage in efforts to improve Pakistan-U.S. relations and promote the development of U.S. policy beneficial to Pakistan and its interests.”[34]
Cassidy & Associates is a government-relations firm based in Washington, D.C. In 2018, the company received $14,170,000 in income from various companies for lobbying of the United States government.[1] According to The Washington Post its founder, Gerald Cassidy, was once worth $125 million, possibly the richest Washington lobbyist.[2] In 1999 and 2000, Cassidy & Associates was led all lobbying firms in reported income.[3]
History
Beginning in 2004, the firm represented Equatorial Guinean president Teodoro Obiang, “one of Africa’s most notorious dictators”.[4] According to the United States Department of Justice the president paid Cassidy & Associates at least $120,000 per month.[4] Mother Jones has described the agency as almost “a shadow foreign ministry” for the country.[4]
In 2007, The Washington Post reported, “Cassidy helped invent the new Washington,” and was “creator and proprietor of the most lucrative lobbying firm in Washington.”[2]
Kai Anderson, former Deputy Chief of Staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, serves as the firm’s CEO, and Barry Rhoads, former Deputy General Counsel to the 1991 Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), serves as its chairman.[5]
In 2015, the firm’s founder and namesake, Gerald S. J. Cassidy, stepped down after 38 years of leading the firm.[6]
The firm reported earning $12.85 million in 2015, according to records filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate and Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.[citation needed]
In 2017, the Associated Press reported that the firm had been hired by the Egyptian intelligence services.[citation needed] In late February, the U.S. State Department cataloged human rights abuses in Egypt in its annual report. The Egyptian government hired Cassidy & Associates and its parent company Weber Shandwick to improve Egypt’s image in the United States.
In June 2017, Cassidy announced a management buyout from The Interpublic Group (IPG), returning it to an independent firm.[7]
So Harry Reid was getting a cut.
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