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?
I sure wish he would have! But then of course he'd have been hit with a zillion lawsuits by federal employees claming their "rights" had been violated--just like they complained when the administration tried to introduce minimal vetting rules at Homeland Security. What a mess to clean up!
Didn't Jerry Zeifman write a book about Watergate?
Yes, a very good one which draws connections between the prosecution team, former members of the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Department, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton, and I believe also has some info on Pete Rodino's mob ties. I should review that one and see what comes up--I was actually trying to remember the name of the author last night and couldn't think of it, thanks for reminding me!
Peripheral Mob figures Nathan Landow, Richard Ben-Veniste, and their associates Terry Lenzner and Paul Begala became part of the secret police that would keep Clinton in office despite multiple revelations of criminal offenses. Ironically, the only member of the Clinton enforcement team who has threatened the use of Mafia methods in public is James Carville. He said on television that Kenneth Starr was just one mistake away from not having any kneecaps. "Kneecapping" is a Mafia specialty. Yet the only link between Carville and the Mafia that we have been able to find so far is his partnership with Paul Begala, who admitted in a recent deposition for the Filegate trial that he was in close and frequent contact with his friend Richard Ben-Veniste, a Mob lawyer and friend of Mobster Alvin Malnik [2]. Richard Ben- Veniste has defended several drug traffickers and money launderers for the Mafia and for the DNC. Ben-Veniste also defended Bill Clinton on the Senate Whitewater panel in 1995. ........."
Ven-Beniste is also mentioned here.
You know, I only read half that book, too--LOL! I checked it out once, thought it was great as far as I got, started taking notes, but ended up having to return it before I was done. This time I will try to finish it, LOL!
At the same time Wally Hilliard's Venice flight school was training dozens of terrorists to fly—including both pilots crashing into the World Trade Center—the owner of Huffman Aviation in Venice Florida was also involved in a murky aviation transaction with a multi-millionaire Texas oil-man who played a prominent role in the Whitewater Scandal.
Truman Arnold, chief fund-raiser for the Democratic Party in 1995 when the scandal broke, was investigated for a variety of dubious money-raising schemes ranging from renting out the White House's Lincoln Bedroom to selling tickets on Air Force One. He was also fingered for procuring cash (read hush money) for convicted Clinton friend Web Hubbell.
In another bizarre twist, Truman Arnold’s lawyer during the Whitewater Investigation turns out to have been Democratic power-broker Richard Ben-Veniste, just nominated to serve on the 9/11 probe. If Ben-Veniste client Truman Arnold's business dealings with terror flight school owner Wally Hilliard come under scrutiny in the 9/11 probe, the slick Washington lawyer may find himself involved in a major national scandal from two different sides.
Can we say CONFLICT OF INTEREST, boys and girls?
See Wash. Post, January 26, 1978: DC Gambling Kingpin is Linked to Prominent Investors' Casino Deal, January 26, 1978:
Two prominent Washington investors [Nathan Landow and Smith Bagley] with connections to the Carter administration were involved in a proposal to build a hotel and gambling casino in Atlantic City, with Washington gambling kingpin Joe Nesline as a consultant. Nesline's involvement with the casino venture became known Jan 14 when federal and local police raided Nesline's Bethesda apartment... FBI agents seized a file containing and memoranda spelling out a proposed $85 million deal involving Bagley and Landow... [It] was not the only gambling venture in which Nesline had been involved with Landow... Involved in the St. Marten venture were Landow and Edward Cellini, a brother of Dino Cellini, a former associate of organized crime figure Meyer Lansky...
These socialist/VVAW connections keep sprouting up all around Kerry and against GW Bush. Are Clarke and Kerry's wife both connected to "People for the American Way" or "Tides"?
Yep, that sounds like a conflict of interest to me. Also wonder if that Florida connection involves friends of Janet Reno and Bob Graham.
Good question.
These socialist/VVAW connections keep sprouting up all around Kerry and against GW Bush. Are Clarke and Kerry's wife both connected to "People for the American Way" or "Tides"?
I know Kerry's wife is. Haven't seen if Clarke is, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Tides is also linked to the Bronfman family, which donated to a VVAW fundraiser in 1971 and continues to donate to Kerry to this day.
Unknown to most, UNOCAL's partner in the Cent-Gas trans-Afghan pipeline consortium, the Saudi Company Delta Oil is owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans which allegedly have ties to bin Laden’s Al Qaeda.
According to a 1998 Senate testimony of former CIA director James Woolsey, powerful financier Khalid bin Mahfouz’ younger sister is married to Osama bin Laden,. (US Senate, Senate Judiciary Committee, Federal News Service, 3 Sept. 1998, See also Wayne Madsen, Questionable Ties, In These Times,12 Nov. 2001 )
Bin Mahfouz is suspected to have funnelled millions of dollars to the Al Qaeda network.(See Tom Flocco, Scoop.co.nz 28 Aug. 2002)
Now, "by sheer coincidence", former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean, the man chosen by President Bush to lead the 9/11 commission also has business ties with bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi.
Thomas Kean is a director (and shareholder) of Amerada Hess Corporation , which is involved in the Hess-Delta joint venture with Delta Oil of Saudi Arabia (owned by the bin Mahfouz and Al-Amoudi clans).
Delta-Hess "was established in 1998 for the development and exploration of oil fields in the Caspian region...In Azerbaijan Delta Hess is involved in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli PSA (2.72%) and the Garabaghli-Kursangi PSA (20%). It is also an equity holder in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline":
"An air of mystery hangs over Delta- Hess, which... is registered in the Cayman Islands. Hess is in no hurry to reveal the terms of the alliance, which it says are subject to confidentiality clauses. 'There's no reason why this should be public information,' a Hess spokesman says." (Energy Compass, 15 Nov. 2002)
Coincidentally, the former Governor of New Jersey is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, together with another prominent member of the board of directors of Amerada Hess, former Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady.
In other words, Delta Oil Ltd. of Saudi Arabia --which is a partner in the Hess-Delta Alliance--is in part controlled by Khalid bin Mafhouz, Osama's brother in law.
And former Governor Thomas Kean not only sits on the board of directors of a company which has business dealings with Khalid bin Mahfouz, he also heads the 9/11 Commission, which has a mandate to investigate Khalid's brother in law, Osama bin Laden.
When I get a chance, what I may try is cross-referencing a list of Mayer, etc.'s major clients with Landow's known business partners/companies. I believe Landow's people invest a lot in real estate, among other things--they had some real estate connections involved in the S&L scandal, if I remember right.
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