I also don’t buy the “Sharon has placed opertives in the the US government in order to influence US policy” bit as DSeid puts it. Nor am I of the opinion that “Sharon recruited or helped place in office” anybody.
I think whatever collaboration has occurred has been the result of like-minded individuals agreeing to cooperate. That said, I don’t think that there’s been enough evidence to include or exclude Sharon from the group of like-minded individuals.
Brian, show me one mainstream Western source other than The Nation that is alleging that the FBI’s working hypothesis is that Sharon has placed people in positions to influence US policy or that neocons are explicitly Sharon’s sock puppets. Sure, they may use each other for their own purposes but it is much more likely that Cheney and company is pulling the strings, than the other way around. With the only “evidence” of that allegation being the FBI’s working theory being a statement by The Nation of some unidentified source, I stand by my assessment. There is no evidence, only wild speculation by a rag known to have a bias against the current Israeli government at the least.
**Leading Republican lambasts Bush**
By Daniel Dombey
Last updated: October 13 2004 23:28
© The Financial Times Ltd 2004
A leading Republican says President George W. Bush is “mesmerised” by Ariel Sharon, Israel’s prime minister, and that the Bush administration’s recent co-operation with the United Nations and Nato in Afghanistan and Iraq is a desperate move to “rescue a failing venture”.
“Sharon just has him wrapped around his little finger,” Mr Scowcroft said. “I think the president is mesmerised.”
“When there is a suicide attack [followed by a reprisal] Sharon calls the president and says, ‘I’m on the front line of terrorism’, and the president says, 'Yes, you are. . . ’ He [Mr Sharon] has been nothing but trouble.”
OK, but that’s an ordinary criticism of the president’s political judgment. It has nothing to do with any suspicion that some of Bush’s people might actually be spying for the Israelis or worse.
He is though calling out Bush for having israeli interests supercede America’s own in regards to foreign policy.
And here I thought that november’s election mandate would quash the investigation. It is possible to become overly cynical.
I was just coming here to resurrect this thread.
Here’s a link to a thread at The Agonist with all sorts of juicy links and news tidbits on the AIPAC/Franklin affair.
Two responses:
Why’d you think this didn’t happen until after the election?
I suspect you will be able to count on one hand the number of major news outlets that feature this as a leading story, as opposed to burying it on page 28 (or not mentioning it at all).
Lawrence Franklin…Steve Rosen, and Keith Weissman? Them boys seem to be in a heap of trouble.
Oh yeah, can hear the prison doors a slammin’
Good. 30 (or 40) years should be enough.
The thing that bothers me and I suspect others is that the U.S. does seem to treat “misbehavior” by Israel or its agents in a very “tsk tsk” fashion, so the investigations and repercussions end up seeming strangely muted. I think this is because both parties have internalized the meme so successfully pushed by the Israel lobby that “Israel’s interests are the same as America’s,” and that the “alliance” is a permanent, bilateral marriage and complete community of interest. Well, not even the Israelis view it that way; they are, as we see, willing to take the great amount of political, intelligence, and material assistance that the U.S. willingly offers, while not having much to give in return except for supporting “opposition to terror” (which they’d be doing anyhow for self-preservation), but are not too respectful at all of boundaries as to that residum which Washington isn’t prepared to give them. Is this how diplomacy/intelligence always works? Is the U.K. or any other close ally also this active in pushing beyond the limits of what the U.S. wants to give them, and do allies always spy on each other? I don’t know.
Nonetheless, the approach of the U.S. govt. towards Israel is very much that of an indulgent parent to a wayward child. I’m sure some fairly sharp words are exchanged behind the scenes, in the equivalent of a stern knuckle-rapping, when Israel periodically gets caught pushing to boundaries or abusing the U.S.'s indulgence – but the U.S. seems determined to keep such dirty laundry very much an internal affair. It’s really not all that different from the ill-advised way the Catholic Church used to react to sexual misconduct by the clergy – dismay, coupled with a stern talking-to, a promise from the offender that it was an isolated incident and that he’d mend his ways – and a joint agreement by the parties that (because it was an isolated, intra-familial matter) they shouldn’t talk about such scandalous things in public. Well, that approach didn’t work out to well(mainly because it turned out that the incidents weren’t really isolated and the miscreants weren’t really well-meaning folk who planned to mend their ways).
I know Justin Raimondo isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but his reporting on the Israeli “art student” imbroglio alleged that during that investigation, strong pressure was brought to bear from within the government against those who advocated a broader, more transparent and publicized, investigation of whatever chicanery was going on there. I also don’t suspect that anyone in this Administration has been encouraging a highly transparent, far-reaching, and public inquiry into the ramifications of L’Affaire Franklin (you’ll note in fact that the leisurely pace of the investigation allowed the Israeli “diplomat” ample opportunity to make himself scarce before any inconvenient government investigators came knocking).
Update: Larry Franklin has pled guilty to passing secrets to AIPAC lobbyists. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is denying any involvement: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4318526.stm
As I see it, there are governments ‘on our side’ and ‘not on our side’. If a man was discovered spying for England, while he personally should feel the full weight of the law… our relationship with England wouldn’t be harmed much. On the other hand, if it were the 80s, and he was spying for the Soviet Union, hell would, and did, ensue.
Israel is viewed as an ally. Therefore, relations hardly suffer. Oh, sure, some points one way or another, but not like they were an enemy. I’m sure we… I know we spy on allies. (Body of Secrets, an interesting book, covers some of this) so… well, it’s not so serious.
Larry Franklin gets 12 years. He may get a reduction for his cooperation against former officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Good. I hope he stays there for all twelve of them.
I hope, rather, that he makes a deal and flips on his co-conspirators.
When will we learn about all the Agents of Influence and Fellow Travelers promised in The Nation article?
Maybe Pat Buchanan and Lyndon Larouche have the answers. :dubious:
Keep holding your breath…and minute now…
-XT
Here’s a start, at least: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?bid=3&pid=11020
Also http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050801/rozen.
And http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050606/rozen.
Indicating that, while the DOJ might not actually nail any particular Agents of Influence or Fellow Travelers, this matter does seem to involve a few more people than just Larry Franklin and Douglas Feith.