Posted on 04/07/2004 8:09:30 AM PDT by Fedora
Today I noticed that Condoleezza Rice was being criticized by Leslie Gelb:
Friends, Foes Say Rice Has Spirit, Toughness She'll Need for Sept. 11 Testimony
At the same time, Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has known Rice for two decades, says he has seen a stiffening in her philosophical approach over the years.
Gelb's name rang a bell, and upon searching I discovered Gelb was responsible for hiring Richard Clarke to the State Department:
Clarke Known As Abrasive but Efficient
Leslie Gelb, who hired Clarke for his first State Department job in 1979
Now Gelb has also been involved in several major national security leaks, including the Pentagon Papers:
The Pentagon Papers and Their Continuing Significance
Amid his own growing doubts about the war he had encouraged, McNamara quietly left the government in early 1968. Before doing so, however, he ordered a small staff in the Department of Defense to undertake a secret study of U.S. decision-making about Vietnam since the end of the Second World War. The study was directed by Leslie Gelb.
About nine months into the [Pentagon Papers] project, Daniel Ellsberg of the Rand Corporation climbed aboard. Even though Ellsberg behaved erratically throughout and failed to meet deadlines, Gelb and [Paul C.] Warnke agreed to give him "personal access to the entire study."
Powell, 53:
On May 16, while testifying before the United States Senate, Ellsberg, before taking the oath, stated that Warnke, Halperin and Gelb were not involved in his theft of the Papers. No one had asked him that question. . .but later, after Sen. Strom Thurmond insisted that he be put under oath, he did not discuss this matter.
Powell, 90:
On February 14, 1985, Leslie Gelb broke a front-page story in the New York Times titled "U.S. tries to Fight Allied Resistance to Nuclear Arms." In it, Gelb revealed that the United States had drawn up plans to deploy nuclear depth charges in Canada, Iceland, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Azores, the Philippines, Spain, and Diego Garcia in time of war. Gelb's source for this classified information? The Institute for Policy Studies. . .These stories struck a raw nerve in the alliance. . .and subsequently led to the demise of the ANZUS alliance.
Powell, 103:
. . .Leslie Gelb, of the New York Times, described the institute [the Institute for Policy Studies] as "one of the premiere centers for foreign policy perspectives."
Further searching reveals that Gelb began his political career working for antiwar Senator Jacob Javits, whom was considered for invitation by event organizers to the VVAW's Dewey Canyon III rally:
Director of Policy Planning and Arms Control for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense (1967-69); Executive Assistant, U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits (1966-67)
During the 1970s, one of Javits' major concerns was the question of who has the power to make war. He was the first member of Congress to propose legislation reestablishing congressional (rather than presidential) responsibility to commit U.S. armed forces abroad in the absence of a formal declaration of war. This War Powers Resolution passed the Senate in April 1972 and again in July 1973. It became law over President Nixon's veto on November 7, 1973.
This week in history 25 years ago--February 21, 1971: Stalinists push "People's Peace Treaty"
Both the Stalinists and the ex-Trotskyists of the Socialist Workers Party proposed that big business politicians such as Democratic Senator George McGovern and Republican Senator Jacob Javits should be invited to speak at the antiwar demonstration set for April 24 in Washington, DC.
Douglas Brinkley, Tour of Duty : John Kerry and the Vietnam War, 361
Just as the VVAW members were arriving in the capital, New York Senator Jacob Javits held a private dinner at his home where Secretary of State Melvin Laird was the guest of honor. It was a carefully staged event. Javits had eight other Republican members of the House and the Senate also stop by. AFter dinner. . .Pennsylvania Senator Hugh Scott dropped the gauntlet. "You don't see any hawks around here," he told Laird in a non-nonsense fashion. "The hawks are all ex-hawks. There's a feeling that the Senate ought to tell the President to get the hell out of the War."
So Richard Clarke was hired by Leslie Gelb, an individual involved in the Penagon Papers leak, who in turn started his political career working for Jacob Javits, an ally of the VVAW. Interesting, no?
Thanks; I'd noticed Gelb's name pop up in various sources on the Vietnam/Watergate period and it just made me do a double-take to see him mentioned in this context.
I just checked and his wife's name is Suzanne ("After a nod to his wife, Suzanne Berger (class of '68 and back for her 35th reunion). . .": Sandy Berger follows a hard line in his view of a changing world). BTW, until you raised that question just now I'd always assumed "Sandy Berger" was a woman's name and never thought to check--I guess in this case it's like "Sandy Koufax" (although I hate to put Mr. Koufax's name in that context--no offense to Mr. Koufax or Dodger fans intended!). Incidentally, here's Mr. Berger's bio facts which are interesting:
Sandy Berger has been the National Security Advisor for the White House since 1996. During President Clinton's first term, Berger served as Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Clinton and Berger became friends in 1972 when they were both working in Texas for Senator George McGovern's presidential campaign. Fifteen years later, Berger urged his friend to run for president.
Prior to working with the Clinton Administration, Berger's career focused on international trade and on politics. He practiced law with the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson with clients such as Japan and Poland, foreign steel producers and even Poland's Solidarity trade union.
Berger was also deputy director of policy planning for the State Department during the Carter administration. He served as Special Assistant to former New York City Mayor John Lindsay; Legislative Assistant to former U.S. Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa; and New York Congressman Joseph Resnick.
Sandy Berger received his B.A. degree from Cornell University and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School. He is also the author of Dollar Harvest, a book about American rural politics.
Was it related to this?
Bodine recall signals major Iraq shake-up
The United States's de facto governor of Baghdad, Barbara Bodine, was recalled home yesterday after only three weeks in office as the Bush administration moved to shake up its stuttering operation in Iraq.
The spider web gets bigger:
Morton H. Halperin - Director Open Society Institute DC Open Society Institute (OSI) Soros
Morton H. Halperin - Institute for Policy Studies and more Institute for Policy Studies
Morton H. Halperin - Biographical Information
NOMINATION OF DR. MORTON H. HALPERIN (Senate - July 01,1993)
The Case Against the Halperin Nomination [Second Edition]
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