Posted on 07/20/2005 7:17:44 PM PDT by Doctor Raoul
Came across an article by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, "ACTIVISM UPDATE: New York Times Reports on Embassy Bombing Investigation" dated April 28, 2000.
On April 17, the New York Times published the results of its investigation into the May 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The article, which reveals many new details about the bombing, should be viewed by media activists as a welcome development in the effort to shed journalistic light on the incident. According to the Times' account, although the CIA has its own targeting unit, it was instead the agency's Counter-Proliferation Division (CPD), "a small office whose focus [is] the spread of missiles and nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons," that proposed the embassy target. The CPD has no experience or expertise in targeting or in the Balkans. It nominated the target on its own initiative, apparently without being solicited by NATO or the Pentagon. Although the Times does not mention it, the CPD is a covert operations unit, located within the CIA's Directorate of Operations rather than its Directorate of Intelligence. In a 1997 report to Congress, CIA counter-proliferation analysts singled out China as "the most significant supplier of weapons of mass destruction-related goods and technology to foreign countries." Counter-proliferation officials have been embroiled for years in a fight with the Clinton administration over its policy of "engagement" with China. The Times' sources say that the CPD's intended target, located near the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, was the Yugoslav Federal Directorate of Supply and Procurement (FDSP). The targeting was done by a CPD analyst using an unclassified 1997 map of Belgrade provided by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). The map, which was not intended to be used for aerial targeting, did not identify street address numbers. The Times' sources claim that the analyst misidentified the embassy as the FDSP when he attempted to pinpoint the FDSP's address on the map by extrapolating from addresses on parallel streets. "To target based on that is incomprehensible," an official told the Times. While the Times' sources say the aerial photographs of the site provided by a NIMA official-- which showed the Chinese embassy-- raised no questions at the CIA, a senior intelligence official told the Times that "it should have been apparent to any imagery expert that the building shown did not look remotely like a warehouse or any Serbian government building." On his own initiative, the analyst then downloaded a targeting form from a secure Pentagon computer, filled it out and sent it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff "appearing to be a more advanced proposal than it was," according to Myers. The Joint Chiefs never conducted a thorough review of the target; "the reasons are not clear," Myers writes. All of the Joint Chiefs refused interviews with Myers, who is the Times' Pentagon correspondent. Eight days before the embassy was struck, another CIA analyst tried to prevent the bombing from taking place. He had no authority to review targets-- "or even to know what they were"-- but he called the NIMA official, telling him he had "heard informally" that the FDSP's actual location was 1,000 yards south of the targeted embassy building. The NIMA official tried unsuccessfully to arrange a meeting between the two officers. A few days later, NIMA provided the skeptical CIA officer with six additional images of the building, which confirmed to him that the building was not the FDSP. At that point, The CIA officer raised his concerns with military officials in Naples. According to those officers, he "did not make his questions...sound grave enough to remove the target from the list." In the end, despite its supposed value as a target, the FDSP was never bombed. Is "Joe Izusu" her second recommendation resulting in blowback for the Agency?
Lo and behold, the cause of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy during Clinton's Bosnia adventurism was the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division (CPD), the home away from home for Valerie Plame.
FAIR, and who's fairer than Jeff Cohen, states that CPD had no targeting expertise to offer, displaced the CIA's designated targeting unit, "recommended" the target to NATO and Pentagon without being asked, used maps unsuitable for targeting, used methodology unsuited for the task, downloaded a forms from a secure Pentagon computer, filled out the forms and submitted them to Joint Staff (despite the imagery not resembling a warehouse or government building).
All while CPD analysts warned that China was "the most significant supplier of weapons of mass destruction-related goods and technology to foreign countries" and fighting with the Clinton White House over "engagement" with China.
Sounds like CPD conducts, better yet, acts out it's own foreign policy, no make that goes to war on it's own "recommendation" when it disagrees with the President of the United States.
Here are some relevant paragraphs from the FAIR article:
What role did she play in this earlier rogue adventure against a President with whom CPD had a "disagreement"?
Double agent? They sure have a lot of money to flash around!!!
I've always been of that opinon!
In March of 1999 The New York Times had ChinaGate coverage of Win Ho Lee and the Cox committee was studying Chinese espionage (a report came out May 25th). In April Clinton had hosted the Chinese premier in agala state dinner. Loral. Technology transfers. Chinese campaign funds. All in all Clinton was catching a lot of flack about China.
On May 8th, The Embassy was bombed, the chinese populace demonstrated and Clinton's soft on China image disappeared!
Is this why the CIA's Counter-Proliferation Division was put into action? to run a special OP?
What did Clinton know and when did he know?
Mary Madalin today on TV said something very interesting. The White House didn't even know who Joe Wilson was, why he went to Africa, who sent him, and why he was reporting an "investigation" when he got back.
It appears the CIA feels it has the authority to go over the head of the president?
Remember, the U.N,. France and Germany have control over the uranium mines in Niger. That's why I'm thinking double agent. He may have been talking CIA info to them rather than seeking Yellow cake info.
I think they've been working on it for the last 2+ years. It doesn't take 2+ years to find a leaker who leaked nothing illegal. I think Rove has agreed to be a distraction. That's just my opinion. The "leaks" about the case trickle out when necessary.
Rove makes the best rabbit figure. The wolves in the press would jump at the chance to eat him alive. He runs, they follow. The real investigation goes on without even being noticed.
Please don't say that kind of stuff .. the DUers pick it up as FACT when we know it's only a joke. Remember - about 10,000 people are looking at what you type.
CPD sounds more like the office of Central Plausible Deniability. The US has "accidentally" bombed embassies only a few times in history. This article reeks of disinformation.
I have my doubts that the stike on the embassy was an accident. At first, I thought it must be an accident. But that such a blunder could be made is just too unbelievable. Any taxi driver could have told them where the embassy was. A flag was flying on the building.
Either way, this was a very sad day when this happened. Up until this event, the average Chinese person very much liked Americans, China was one of the places in the world where Americans could go and feel very welcome.
After, sentiment towards Americans took an overnight turn for the worse.
I'm inclined to think they did hit it on purpose. I can find no other explanation. That it was a blunder is just too hard to believe.
Remember, Clark tried to get the British solders to start WWIII with Russia because he wanted to take an airport! The Clinton administration was a national disaster.
Being a mom of twins. That's being more busy (and responsible) than staying covert.
What links Plame to this event other than CPD. Was she ever named in anything at the time ?
The New York Times
April 17, 2000
FATEFUL CHOICE
Chinese Embassy Bombing: A Wide Net of Blame
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a38fba3960370.htm
"Central Intelligence Agency announced it had fixed the blame on a senior officer, whom it discharged, and six other staffers, who were issued warnings and letters of reprimand that froze them at their current pay and job levels. They were not identified."
CIA Punishes 7 in China Embassy Attack
NewsMax.com
April 10, 2000
I remember that story .. I also remember there was a rumor that the French were giving out our info during the war
Joe said in an interview that it was illogical to think Val would have wanted him to leave the country to check about yellowcake.
Joe said Val needed him at home to help with the twins.
I wonder who watched the twins while Joe was doing his campaigning for Kerry, his panel-discussions, and his book tours?
Who was watching the twins while Val and Joe were doing their photo-op?
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