Re the linked story -Using and encouraging a mole inside the deepest levels of the Pentagon is pretty serious stuff, isn’t there some substantive price to be paid for doing this? The last spy for Israel (that was caught), Jonathan Pollard, has the highest levels of the Israeli government(s) boldly petitioning for commutation of his sentence and his release, and I didn’t really hear anything about serious consequences for Israel in that situation, diplomatic or otherwise.
What should happen is that all defense aid should be suspsended, pronto. What will happen is probably something lame, like diplomatic notes being exchanged or something. I too would like to know why they away with it.
Well, we did set up the perfect nest for their agent in the pentagon’s Office of Special Plans, didn’t we? It would’ve been impolite for them to have refused the invitation.
disclaimer:
CBS hasn’t told us that the agent was at the OSP yet, but they have named Feith and Woflowitz as being involved in the cased. That makes connecting the dots pretty simple.
Dan Rather also implied on the news tonight that he knew who the spy was.
I wonder who leaked this? Surely it wasn’t supposed to come out until after the election?
Man, I was just about to post this. But I couldn’t think of anything to say besides “What in the sweet fucking name of fucking holy fuck?!!?!?!” Can we fire someone now, or do we have to wait for the Dominican Republic to infiltrate us and lead us into a war with Haiti? Is there anyone in the Middle East who doesn’t have more say in our regional policy than we do?
Hell, yeah!
What the fuck have foreign aid coming out of our taxes if we don’t use it as leverage when it suits our interests?
James Baker did it once and got quick compliance.
It seems, at least to me, that it’s a complicated situation.
Our international interests would not be advanced were Israel to be destroyed tomorrow, and cutting off aid to them would only help assure that possibility.
Surely there is a diplomatic solution that doesn’t shoot us in the foot?
This is par for the course. Team Bush selected someone who had been caught passing classified national security information to agents of a foreign country (Israel coincidentally enough) to be one of his foreign policy advisors - to help him “find Kosovo on a map”- one of the Vulcans.
This same fellow recently tried to broker a bid for a private company using his contacts and influence in the Pentagon. It would’ve been illegal had he only showed to two or three more days of work on the Defense Policy Advisory Board. Even more interesting is that the contract he was trying to broker was opposed by the FBI and the Pentagon because the company that he was working for was owned by a man who runs companies that are known fronts for the Chinese military and intelligence services. What happened over this? He was asked to step down from his position as chairman of the President’s Defense Policy Advisory Board, becoming just another lowly member of the President’s Defense Policy Advisory Board. He has since been forced to resign as the result of further conflict of interest scandals.
He runs an investment firm that specializes in security related businesses. He is reported to do business with international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.
This is the sort of fellow that GWB chose to help him devise America’s foreign policy.
Character counts, so what kind of shit do you expect to happen?
Anyway, SteveG1 these things are all matter of very, very public record and the Bush Team took to him anyway, so I don’t think that background checks would make much of a difference.
Hogwash and fiddlesticks. At best they have figured out to play our system better than the avrage American has. Israel’s not the only one. There’re any number of lobbying groups that take advantage of our rational ignorance.
Btw, take a look at what the Moonies of of all freakin people are getting away with in the halls of our federal government. The line between real and surreal thins a little everyday.
Why end realtions? Why not just let repercussions be felt by witholding aid packages for serial offenders? I mean why put up with it?
That possibility is hardly assured. Even a full fuckton of help with the assurance wouldn’t bring Israel close to destruction tomorrow.
Yeah, we put out foot down. Then Israel can lump it or leave it. Sometimes, that is diplomacy shoud go.
If Israel is so goldurned dependent on US aid, then they should calculate a bit differently how they conduct their business.
That’s what foreign aid is good for. It’s so much more handy than violence.
Anyway, SteveG1 these things are all matter of very, very public record and the Bush Team keeps him anyway, so I don’t think that background checks would make much of a difference.
What is that, some kind of joke? What cite do you reasonably expect from asking for one on an opinion?
Somewhere I bet there is a list of how many spies we have caught from allied nations. What makes me think that it is a rather short list, and that one particular nation is probably far in the lead?
“Israel owns us” is not an opinion.
It is a statement that either has a factual basis, or does not.
It’s an accusation with very serious consequences and it requires proof.
You can’t make a charge like that and then retreat behind the position that it’s only an opinion.
Same as if someone said “Group X controls the media.”
Give proof or retract.
I don’t know what makes you think that, but you may even be right.
Even if you are, I’d still advise Israel to try to find out as much as they can about their single greatest ally, and spying is in general the only way to get at the secret bits that the newspapers don’t report.
“The FBI is investigating whether an analyst for the Pentagon’s No. 3 official…
…an arrest in the case could come as early as next week.
There are slightly more than a handful of people in Feith’s office who specifically work on Iranian issues.
…Senate Intelligence Committee…is generally briefed on espionage cases.” http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040827_2132.html
“The investigation involves a single individual at the Department of Defense at the desk officer level who was not in a position to have significant influence over U.S. policy,” the papers quoted the statement as saying.
“Nor could a foreign power be in a position to influence U.S. policy through this individual. To the best of the Department of Defense’s knowledge, the investigation does not target any other DOD individuals.”
…assigned to a unit within the defense department tasked with helping to develop Iraq policy."
