@@ Revealed: Turkish espionage in America @@
Arash
October 17, 2005
The Sibel Deniz Edmonds Saga
Pitting Elite Interests against the Rule of Law
By Christian Nicholson
chrisvnicholson[AT]gmail.com
If people know of Sibel Deniz Edmonds (http://www.antiwar.com/edmonds) at all, they
know her as an FBI whistleblower. Since mid-2002, her face has graced newspapers
across America; she's testified before numerous Senators and had her deposition
subpoenaed by family members of 9/11 victims; as late as August 2005, Vanity Fair
magazine devoted 11 pages to her. Yet almost no one can tell you what she has to say.
Like a star in a silent movie, Sibel Deniz Edmonds has been cast as the heroine in a
legal drama whose details are obscure.
That's because Sibel Deniz Edmonds is the most gagged person in the history of the
United States, at least according to her ACLU lawyers. If gag orders were nickels,
she'd be rich. Since her dismissal from the FBI in March 2002, Edmonds has borne the
burden of state censorship with relative aplomb, working constantly within the law to
make her story heard.
After she gave a brief spate of interviews, John Ashcroft
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/ashcroft/ashcroft.php) invoked the “state
secrets” privilege, silencing her before the press and denying Sibel Deniz Edmonds
her day in court. Apparently, her lawsuit involves secrets so secret that not even
Edmonds' lawyers are allowed to know the reasons why her case cannot be tried. Aside
from an independent investigator, the Supreme Court is her only remaining option, and
the Court will decide whether or not to hear her case in mid-October.
After the FBI fired her, Sibel Deniz Edmonds sued the bureau for negligent
endangerment, negligent investigation, conversion of property, and infliction of
emotional distress, among other things. During her six-month stint as a translator in
the FBI's Washington, DC unit, she had stumbled upon what she alleges were serial
acts of espionage on the part of one of her colleagues, Melek Can Dickerson, who
worked with Edmonds evaluating all sorts of missives and communications, and
translating into English those communications pertinent to ongoing FBI
investigations.
Melek Can Dickerson, it turns out, was a former employee of the American-Turkish
Council, ATC (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/2874), a Turkish organization
under investigation for espionage and bribing public officials, and she considered
most of her former colleagues' communications to have no pertinence whatsoever. Sibel
Deniz Edmonds thought otherwise and reported her colleague. Getting no response,
Edmonds reported her again and again, moving up the chain of command until Edmonds
herself was finally fired. Shortly thereafter, Melek Can Dickerson and her husband
fled the country.
Setting aside the gross injustice of it all, why would Ashcroft bother gagging a
contract linguist with no more than six months under her belt? Why would he go so far
as to forbid her from naming the languages she speaks, or ban all mention of her
place of birth? Citing “sensitive diplomatic relations” and their importance to
America's national security, the Justice Department preferred the shameful
embarrassment of muzzling a witness in the 9/11 case to the outright scandal that
would likely erupt were Edmonds' story known.
Some of Edmonds' story, however, can be reconstructed from the public record, which
includes interviews she gave prior to the slew of gag orders, as well as an Inspector
General's report, the declassified version of which was released in January 2005,
largely corroborating Edmonds' charges and pointing out that the FBI botched the
subsequent investigation. This, of course, is why whistleblowers are fired: they make
incompetent people look bad. But is it enough to get whistleblowers gagged?
In the Edmonds' case, it's not just “sensitive foreign relations” that are on the
line, it's the Americans who are doing the sensitive relating. Indeed, a glance at
the big wigs involved in the American-Turkish Council reveals a panoply of hawks,
former ambassadors and generals, and numerous lights of the three Bush
administrations: the ATC Board of Directors Chair is Brent Scowcroft
(http://www.nndb.com/people/664/000024592), erstwhile national security adviser to
Bush père; Dick Cheney (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/cheney_r/cheney_r.php)
himself is a former member, and many of his former colleagues at Halliburton remain
on board, as do higher-ups at Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Northrop Grumman
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/corp/northrop.php), Boeing, and Eli Lily.
David Rose of Vanity Fair, on the authority of congressional staffers who were
present for Edmonds' classified testimony before Senators Grassley and Leahy of the
Senate Judicial Committee, relates how American-Turkish Council (ATC) employees
allegedly spoke of senior politicians maintaining covert relations with—and
benefiting from the clandestine financial support of—the ATC.
http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/printables/050919roco03?print=true
One of the notables that purportedly figured in Edmonds' testimony was House Speaker
Dennis Hastert (http://www.nndb.com/people/150/000026072). Sibel Deniz Edmonds has
also supposedly testified about a State Department staffer and a Pentagon official
trafficking in information—that is, exchanging secrets for money
(http://www.americanturkishcouncil.org/data/pdf/052109scowcroftlettertohastert.pdf).
Sibel Deniz Edmonds herself claims, inasmuch as she can claim anything at all on
camera, that events hidden from the American public are much bigger than the simple
case of an upright translator done wrong, and bigger even than high-placed elected
officials taking bribes. She evokes widespread criminal activity involving nationals
from several countries, linked by transnational criminal networks and engaged in
clandestine contraband of all sorts—including drugs, weapons, and sensitive
information. Some of that criminal activity, she claims, is relevant to the events
leading up to 9/11. It seems appropriate to ask, then, what sensitive foreign
relations could outweigh a national security complex compromised on multiple fronts?
And if Edmonds's claims are mere bunk, then what's the harm in allowing them to be
refuted publicly?
On the other hand, maybe what Sibel Deniz Edmonds has to say cuts a little too close
to the interests of influential neoconservatives and hawks. Consider Turkey.
Crossroads of Europe and Asia, it has long held a privileged place in America's
geopolitical ambitions. Turkey has hosted National Security Agency's listening
stations “elephant cages”, spying on the chit-chat of then Soviet subs cruising
through the Sea of Marmara, for decades. It played a crucial role in containment
during the Cold War, and it plays a crucial role now, serving as a gateway into the
New Eurasia and a welcome, non-Arab ally for Israel in the Middle East.
Turkey figures large in neoconservative strategies for “democratizing” the Caucasus
hinterlands and destabilizing recalcitrant states like Iran.
When Richard Perle (http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/perle/perle.php) et al drafted
“A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm”
(http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1438.htm) for the Israeli think
tank, "Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies"
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/iasps.php) in 1996, they highlighted Turkey's
usefulness for "Israel" as Jerusalem sought to encircle Damascus and emerge from its
isolation in the region.
Interestingly, Turkey seems to be engaged in more than just joint military exercises
with Israel—America's two quasi-allies are also both embroiled in espionage scandals,
having spied in much the same manner. While American-Turkish Council (ATC) employees
discussed corrupting civil servants and political appointees in Washington and
Chicago, American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/aipac.php) staffers were sitting down with
Lawrence Franklin, the Defense Department anti-Iran analyst who was recently indicted
for disclosing classified information about U.S. forces in Iraq, to glean sensitive
information that they allegedly passed on to Israel.
Clearly, in Sibel Deniz Edmonds versus Department of Justice there's a great deal
more involved than a wrongful dismissal. Also at stake are the ideological and
material interests of the American right, from the neoconservative intellectuals in
the service of the military-industrial complex, to the erstwhile Cold Warriors still
bent on denying Russia that warm-water port it's sought for much of the twentieth
century.
These projects depend on a stable relationship with Turkey, a country whose loyalties
were shaken before, during, and after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which wrought
enormous damage to the Turkish economy. Turkey, and the archipelago of Turkic and
Muslim states that span Eurasia, are instrumental to U.S. foreign policy and are
major clients for American arms.
And so, with the same tired rhetoric that justified the excesses of America's
authoritarian allies throughout the Cold War, Washington apparently would rather turn
a blind eye to the ways in which these states (and America's own politicians) prosper
in order to keep them appeased. If it costs the liberties of one former FBI
translator—or the security of a few thousand everyday citizens—well, that's America:
love it or leave it.
* Christian Nicholson is a freelance writer based in Paris, France.
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/2876
For More Information:
Profile of American-Turkish Council: http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/2874
American-Turkish Council website: http://www.americanturkishcouncil.org
September 9, 2005, letter from Brent Scowcroft to Denny Hastert criticizing proposed
"Armenian genocide" resolution
http://www.americanturkishcouncil.org/data/pdf/052109scowcroftlettertohastert.pdf
Official website of Sibel Deniz Edmonds
http://www.justacitizen.com
Sibel Deniz Edmonds interviews on AntiWar:
http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=2917
http://www.antiwar.com/deliso/?articleid=6934
David Rose, “An Inconvenient Patriot”, Vanity Fair, September 2005
http://www.vanityfair.com/commentary/content/articles/050919roco03
Sibel Deniz Edmonds, Plaintiff–Appellant, versus Department of Justice
January 12, 2005
http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=17300&c=24
Appendix for Sibel Deniz Edmonds Petition - August 4, 2005
http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=18872&c=24
ACLU Petition on behalf of Sibel Edmonds - August 4, 2005
http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=18870&c=24
Sibel Deniz Edmonds versus Department of Justice - September 22, 2005
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=19136&c=317
Sibel Deniz Edmonds: A Patriot Silenced, Fighting to Keep America Safe
September 26, 2005
http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=19163&c=317
ECHELON: NSA's Global Electronic Interception
"Elephant Cage" are the circular arrays called a CDAA or CDDA array (Circularly
Diposed Antenna Array) and it is a common array used by the various intelligence
agency for large scale, high bandwidth DF'ing (Direction Finding) where a particular
signal is coming from. The array is often called an "Elephant Cage" or "Dinosaur
Cage" array. The site actually has six full arrays and you can see them if you look
real close. These six arrays would make up three complete systems, although one of
them appears inactive. The antenna's are normally operated in multiple groups spread
out over a wide distance. For example this station could be networked to similar ones
in Australia or Turkey so that each station can compare their readings with that
received by the other stations.
http://duncan.gn.apc.org/echelon-dc.htm
http://cryptome.org/moyock-eyeball.htm
Turkey, Israel and the U.S.
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/4315a88c84ef1278?hl=en
Cracking the Case: An Interview With Sibel Deniz Edmonds
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/2be6e6c47468af9a?hl=en
Why U.S. is hiding Turkish involvement with 9/11, drug-running, nuclear program, &
espionage
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/6cc510c51ad35b8f?hl=en
Turkish-Israeli involvement in 9-11 attack
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/e283a449f9f2589a?hl=en
Turkish global drug-runnings & terrorism
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/10/1346254
House of Satan gets turkish bribe to silence Armenian genocide
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/0b429d20a1a60985?hl=en
Turks bought Speaker of the House & Pentagon official
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/0d56cd8747f5be31?hl=en
Turks paid Americans to deny Armenian genocide
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/1c2177d6fa7c344c?hl=en
FBI spy reveals Turkish-Jewish involvement in 9/11 attack
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/ee96df7a9d75d725?hl=en
FBI abandons spy's secrets claim
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/af37cbcbb9da7833?hl=en
Sibel Deniz Edmonds before Subcommittee on National Security
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/94d319537571a315?hl=en
╠☼╣Ǚ∑§â€Ð_ID_SBR_X|||DI©*J*Ω∏؟♫1ﷲ☻∞= 8☺╣☼╠?
Such a "machine"!?
I am hoping that Hurricain Wilma, would soon go to prove to Americans;
that "Talk about Destructive Re_Construction"......was that not a "neo
con" aim...
Well, now the "machine" can go back home and prepare for the next
"hurricain season".
Economically speaking; the "machine" can be "diverted"....and yet
continue to grow in it's new function....fuck "democracy" in the Middle
East......lets save "OUR"ass back in Miami and back in texas.
just food for thought.
mash_ghasem
Hezbullahi jAkesh madar ghahbe rozeh xoon, stop dancing on people's
grave dayous! What the fuck the earthqake that took 80,000 muslim
life proves to you aldang. zan jendeh.