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August 30, 2005
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@ Uncle $cam: On yesterday’s Philadelphia Experiment thread you called attention to
the link to Scotland on Sunday detailing the revelations of an ex-police chief in the Lockerbie area
with regard to CIA manufacturing of the crucial evidence
in the murder case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi
for his purported role in the Lockerbie massacre.
Dare I say that this should be shocking, or are we all too blasè and by now well-accustomed to such conspiracies? Googling around this
web page or this one might be enough to produce a name and picture for the “mystery witness”, who presumably served as Chief
Constable in the Dumfries and Galloway region around Lockerbie, but to me the more interesting question is the identity of the “turncoat” CIA agent who spilled the beans some years back. Does anyone have a name or indeed any information about that spook? Presumably the testimony of a Scot police chief carries considerable weight, such functionaries not being known for creative flights of fancy, but a detailed account from the vantage point of the American perpetrators of the falsification would undoubtedly attract more attention on the U.S. side of the pond.
Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Aug 30 2005 14:46 utc | 1
On Golden Time – Three Rays of Fading Light
My son and I were picking berries last night
on the outskirts of town, right where the
streetlights and sidewalks fade away, and the
brambles fill the fencerows and empty lots.
A young boy came out of his ramshackle house,
walking down the road towards us, barefoot.
He had a large chicken grasped firmly in his
hands, just the spitting image of Huck Finn.
I crouched down and said, “Hi … what have
you got there?” You could see the pride and
frustration in his face. “It’s my chicken.”
I tried to guess, “Is that a Rhode Island
Red?” His frustration increased, “No, it’s
a Orpington.” He looked at us, “What are
you doing, picking berries?”
I couldn’t tell if he was making fun of us
or not, in a sense, city dudes to him. So
I tried once more, “Does your chicken like
berries?” The chicken did, nearly taking
off my index finger. “She liked that! Do
you feed your chicken corn meal?”
He looked at me like an 80-year old share-
cropper and smirked, “No, potato peelings.”
Then he turned and padded on back to his
dirt patch rope swing stump farm front yard
on his little feet. I finished his thought,
“Yup, potato peels. Corn meal’s for people.
If you had a lick of sense, you’d know that.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
When we got home and washed and put up the
berries in the freezer, and started a pie,
I went out to make the rounds of the yard
before it got dark. We keep jugs of water
inverted over potting saucers, a simple
self-waterer for the critters who are all
desparate for water this dry time of year.
The bees and wasps were piled up at the
rim of these miniature ponds, drinking and
ferrying the water back to their nests in
a convoy. If you stood there between them
and their nests, they’d fly by so close
you could feel their wings buzzing past.
I started to turn away, toward the pond,
to check on our fish, and saw a leaf move
in the watering jug. Hmm, that’s odd, I
thought, that a leaf would move in still
water. So I went back over there, and to
my big shock, a frog had got up in there,
stuck in the siphon, unable to figure his
way out between the jug and the saucer.
The poor thing must have been treading
water all day long, breathing in a partial
vacuum, diving, hitting his head, and then
coming back up for that pale air, staler
and staler, desparate like a yo-yo. He lay
in my hand, gasping, his skin blanched to
a uniform buff, pale, near lifeless limp.
I tossed him in the pond, and after a bit
he recovered, frog-kicked over to a lily
pad, and sat there, looking back at me.
A dragonfly buzzed him to check vitals.
Never let go. Hang on…. Hang on….
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
This morning, waiting for the bus, there
was an old Chinese woman I’d never seen
before with her walker, pushing it slowly
and patiently along the busy boulevard.
She work a brocade jacket and brown
slacks, flats, and an old red stone ring.
She neither looked left, nor right, nor
acknowledged when I said, good morning.
At the corner, an elderly Chinese man
rode up on an old Raleigh girl’s frame.
He wore simple dark levi’s, a pale green
quilted jacked liner, and pull-on dingo’s.
He looked both ways, and then fastened his
eyes on the woman. She neither nodded nor
waved, but just kept walking slowly towards
him. The commute traffic kept rumbling by.
Finally the two were together. They neither
smiled nor touched. They talked, shook their
heads, stopped and looked away, talked again.
Finally, she turned her walker around and
sat down in it. Their conversation was over.
He looked at her for a bit, then at me,
then the traffic, and picking an opening,
crossed the street and rode off in the
opposite direction, pedaling slowly away.
As he rode off, he bent his left arm
around behind his back and waved at her.
After a bit, she stood up, and shuffled
past me without noticing my existence.
In a few moments … minutes … hours?
they were both completely lost from view.
Posted by: tante aime | Aug 30 2005 15:52 utc | 2
HKO, here are a couple of links that might be of interest:
The Israeli Deception That Led to the Bombing of Pan American Flight 103 Over Lockerbie, Scotland
and
Hardie quit over Lockerbie trial shambles
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. –Voltaire
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 30 2005 15:52 utc | 3
Interesting account of the international police academy in Jordan that trains new Iraqi police:
LINK
Posted by: Groucho | Aug 30 2005 15:56 utc | 4
FBI refuses to release secret Lockerbie report
Now why would that be?
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 30 2005 16:02 utc | 5
@ Uncle $cam:
Thanks for the links. A bit of Googling makes me
think that the intelligence agent is Lester Coleman (who claim DIA affiliation, not CIA). He seems to be a perfect front man, since his credibility problems are notorious.
As usual, I can’t resist mentioning
Richard Chichakli’s site for a “different” conspiracy. Chichakli denies any close relation to Viktor Bout, and seems to be passing from a safely conservative Texas Republican to
a “dangerous radical”. The site is updated frequently and seems to be getting better and better as Chichakli becomes more and more bitter. I think he is the classic small fish who is being tossed to the sharks, but don’t claim to know all the facts in his case.
Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Aug 30 2005 16:23 utc | 6
The Independent/UK knows where the real journalists in the USofA reside Iraqi Activist Taken Up by Bush Recants Her Views
‘ Ms Souhail, whose actions during Mr Bush’s February address were noted by Billmon.Org, a political website, added: “This will lead to creating religious courts. But we should be giving priority to the law.” ‘
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Aug 31 2005 1:06 utc | 7
Invasion of the Isolationists OpEd by “Clash of Civilizations” author FRANCIS FUKUYAMA
The Bush administration asked for no sacrifices from the average American, but after the quick fall of the Taliban it rolled the dice in a big way by moving to solve a longstanding problem only tangentially related to the threat from Al Qaeda – Iraq. In the process, it squandered the overwhelming public mandate it had received after Sept. 11. At the same time, it alienated most of its close allies, many of whom have since engaged in “soft balancing” against American influence, and stirred up anti-Americanism in the Middle East.
The Bush administration could instead have chosen to create a true alliance of democracies to fight the illiberal currents coming out of the Middle East. It could also have tightened economic sanctions and secured the return of arms inspectors to Iraq without going to war. It could have made a go at a new international regime to battle proliferation. All of these paths would have been in keeping with American foreign policy traditions. But Mr. Bush and his administration freely chose to do otherwise.
…
This war coalition is fragile, however, and vulnerable to mishap. If Jacksonians begin to perceive the war as unwinnable or a failure, there will be little future support for an expansive foreign policy that focuses on promoting democracy. That in turn could drive the 2008 Republican presidential primaries in ways likely to affect the future of American foreign policy as a whole.
…
We do not know what outcome we will face in Iraq. We do know that four years after 9/11, our whole foreign policy seems destined to rise or fall on the outcome of a war only marginally related to the source of what befell us on that day. There was nothing inevitable about this. There is everything to be regretted about it.
637 confirm dead in Baghdad, according to Interior Ministry sources, following a stampede caused by rumors of a suicide bomber among a crowd of Shia pilgrims crossing a bridge over the Tigris. The stampede followed an earlier, real series of mortar attacks that killed a number of pilgrims (3, 5 or 7 according to different accounts), and injured dozens. A dark day for Baghdad, and for all of Iraq.
Posted by: Nugget | Aug 31 2005 10:00 utc | 10
This WaPo editorial on the German election is just dumb:
Germany’s Crucial Vote
FOR THE SECOND time in four years, Germany’s August has been enlivened by a hotly contested election campaign, and once again Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has sought to help himself with anti-American demagoguery. “Let’s take the military option off the table. We have seen it doesn’t work,” he bellowed at one rally, referring to President Bush’s refusal to rule out force in the case of Iran.
Can someone explain to me how not wanting to attack Iran is anti-American demagoguery???
US Army auditor who attacked Halliburton deal is fired and much more…
This is my surprised face.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 31 2005 10:32 utc | 12
Thanks for the FUKUYAMA link b, does this mean FRANCIS is no longer in the pnac club and has to turn in his decoder ring? Next Sammual P. Huntington will join Cindy Sheehan in crawford…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 31 2005 10:41 utc | 13
400 Pages of Still-Classified CIA and State Dept Documents Seized From the US Embassy in Tehran .*
“Documents From the US Espionage Den”
“Documents From the US Espionage Den” is a legendary series of Iranian books containing classified US documents that were found in the American Embassy in Tehran when it was taken over by revolutionaries. These books are very hard to come by in the US, and until now there has been no concerted effort to post them.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 31 2005 11:41 utc | 14
A new wrinkle in the Plame affair?
Published: August 30 2005 03:00 | Last updated: August 30 2005 03:00
Financial Times
An intriguing new theory has emerged in the case of Valerie Plame, the outed CIA operative.
The mainstream media has focused on Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political guru, as the source of the original story identifying Plame. The alleged motive was revenge against former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Plame’s husband, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war.
Observer now hears a new angle on the story is circulating inside the Justice Department.
It involves Judith Miller, the veteran New York Times reporter currently languishing in a Virginia jail for refusing to reveal her source(s) in the Plame affair.
Many have assumed that Miller – who never actually wrote a story identifying Plame as an operative – is protecting Rove and/or other administration officials. But the missing link is that Miller is not a political reporter, but rather an investigative journalist who co-wrote a book on America’s secret war against biological weapons and later published controversial articles on Iraq’s effort to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Now here’s the twist: Plame herself is a CIA operative who also specialised in weapons of mass destruction and bio-terrorism. So did Miller get to know Plame while she was writing her book or even use her as a source for other WMD stories? Despite 56 days’ imprisonment and a vociferous campaign to release her – Miller is staying mum.
But at some point, surely, the truth will come out.
news.ft.com/cms/s/0494cc7…511c8.html
Correct me if I’m wrong (I don’t doubt it!), but Miller’s infamous meeting was on or about 8 July 2003.
I always say, it’s in the timing.
What else was going on at the time?
Have we all forgotten Dr David Kelly so soon?
The poor man was “done” (Operation Mason in the TVP logbook) on 17 July 2003, having dominated the news for most of that month.
Any connections between Miller and Kelly? Too bloody right. It was to Miller that Kelly sent one of his last e-mails. In it was the quote about “Dark actors playing games”. Kelly was the primary source for Miller’s book.
Any other connections?
Does anybody remember what Wilson’s op-ed was about? It was about challenging “those sixteen words” in the SOTU.
Does anybody remember what those sixteen words were?
“The BRITISH GOVERNMENT has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa”
The BRITISH GOVERNMENT
It’s pretty clear why she’s keeping her mouth shut. I’ve been warning you Americans for years about what the British Crown is doing to your government and your country. About how they are using the Treason Felony Act to take you over. About how Cheney, the top Freemason, is Her top agent.
Posted by: john | Aug 31 2005 12:31 utc | 15
SOUTHERN VOICE:
Boss : Likud what we have hearha…
Luke: O’dats nothing boss, this here is da real deal
Boss: But lookie hear luke, this here is the smoking gun son, now finish busting them rocks, and I might take them thar chains off before the
sun goes down.
Luke: “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.”
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 31 2005 13:05 utc | 16
A letter to the editors of The Crisis Papers
From Roxanne Jekot:
I was at a private house party on August 2nd in Georgia with Senators Reid, Schumer and Pryor.
And the grand DLC plan is simple for 2006 – no DEM primaries. They plan to choose the DLC candidate and force all others out of the race. Just like they did in PA with Casey.
The exact Schumer (DSCC Chair) quote is:
“We are no longer letting Democrats get in a circle and shoot each other. We are going to intervene if any one Democrat attacks another. We are doing that in states where there are primaries. ……this always happens in the primaries, people throw up the cards and see where they land. No more. We’re finding the best candidates in every one of the seats where republicans are vunerable. ”
So, bye bye primaries, folks. The good DLC will be choosing our candidates from here on out.
The quote in this email begins at 12:57 of the audio file.
I’ve included a link to a MP3 audio tape of his speech at the house party, but please don’t post a link to the audio. My bandwidth can’t afford all your visitors.
Roxanne (8/16)
Not only are our national elections imperiled by the Republicrats, the DLC Demoplicans are going to try to steamroll any opposition in their own primaries. Shumer probably thought he was safe speaking out like this in Georgia.
Clinton in 2006, Biden in 2008, Schumer in 2010.
And every Representative who won’t pledge NOT ONE MORE DIME for war in the Middle East in 2006.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Aug 31 2005 13:17 utc | 17
Uncle $cam,
I think this is the link you want. (the original didn’t work for me)
http://www.thememoryhole.org/espionage_den/
Posted by: dk | Aug 31 2005 13:40 utc | 18
Thanks for the link to the real deal, $cam.
Posted by: John Francis Lee | Aug 31 2005 14:22 utc | 20
Well folks, here it is, George W(hat now?) Bush is rolling out the latest reason for the Iraq debacle.
It }}}} IS {{{{{ about the oil, after all.
Posted by: anna missed | Aug 31 2005 17:44 utc | 21
As anna nmissed pointed out:
“If Zarqawi and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist attacks,” Bush said. “They’d seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United States and our coalition.”
The New Orleans flooding seems to have washed out virtually all
mention in the U.S. media of the roughly 1000 Baghdadi Shiites who died in a stampede yesterday. The victims, engaged in a religious pilgrimage, were among thousands massed on a bridge. The panic was set off by mortar shells aimed at a nearby mosque and/or a rumor that there was a suicide bomber on the bridge. Al Qaeda (Zarqawi) subsequently claimed, unbelievably, responsibility for the mortar attack.
It might have just been a tragic accident, or it might have
been yet another pre-meditated act aimed at producing
civil war in Iraq, and an effective partition of the country into mini-states.
Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Sep 1 2005 7:11 utc | 24