@@ AIPAC can place you by the elbow of the President @@
Arash
June 23, 2005
AIPAC Can Place You by the Elbow of the President
By Ahmed Amr
Early next September, the U.S. District court in Alexandria, Virginia will be the scene of
a very interesting trial. One Lawrence Franklin will stand before a judge to defend
himself against a six-count indictment accusing him of conspiring to disclose national
defense and classified information to senior AIPAC officials -- who then passed it on to
Israeli intelligence operatives.
AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee is not an organization to be trifled
with. Everybody in Washington understands that this Likudnik lobby can make and break
politicians. Not only do they have a $30 million annual budget, but they have some very
well placed fellow travelers in the mass media. Come election season, they can be counted
on to stuff campaign war chests with funds from “independent” AIPACs that subscribe to
their Israel First agenda. Their greatest strength is their ability to leverage their
media muscle to defame and ridicule any politician who stands up to their pro-Israeli
policies.
Aside from Lawrence Franklin, at least two senior members of AIPAC are involved in this
conspiracy -- Steven Rosen (http://www.jta.org/storage/articleimages/15423.jpg), AIPAC’s
chief of research and Keith Weissman
(http://www.richardsilverstein.com/photos/uncategorized/weissman.jpg), the deputy
director of foreign policy issues. An unidentified Israeli official -- who was the
ultimate recipient of the classified information -- played a central role in the affair.
The case involves the usual “spy thriller” elements -- smuggling secret Pentagon documents
and faxing them to the private numbers of AIPAC officials -- meetings at Union Station --
moving from one restaurant to another to avoid detection -- a “retired” Israeli
intelligence officer who for some reason has access to the Pentagon cafeteria. Several of
the encounters took place at the Pentagon athletic club. Why do AIPAC officials have such
ready access to the Pentagon cafeteria and athletic club?
Unless this show is canceled by the powers that be -- we should be in for some authentic
drama. One of the most intriguing aspects of the case is that Franklin was apparently
motivated by upward mobility. Ambitious men are a dime a dozen in Washington -- no news
there. But Franklin thought that AIPAC could “put in a good word” for him. Steven Rosen
discussed Franklin's chances of getting a job on the staff of the National Security
Council. According to the indictment, Rosen told Franklin that he could land him a
position that would place him “by the elbow of the president.”
Now, why would Franklin believe that Steven Rosen and AIPAC had the clout to actually move
him up the food chain so he could graze by the elbow of George Bush? Here we have an
ambitious senior Pentagon analyst, an Air Force Reserve colonel, who once worked for
Douglas Feith (http://www.antiwar.com/orig/barry.php?articleid=3545), the neo-con hawk
who played a major role in fabricating the intelligence that led to the war in Iraq. Which
means he already had access to the third ranking senior official at the Pentagon. Franklin
is a seasoned fifty-eight years old Pentagon insider --no spring chicken. And yet he has
reason to believe that a “private” citizen working for AIPAC had the clout to place him on
the National Security staff.
It seems obvious that Franklin assumed -- perhaps correctly -- that Rosen and AIPAC had
connections and influence that went above Douglas Feith
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/feith/feith.php) who abruptly resigned after the FBI
probe became public. So, who exactly was the AIPAC connection at the National Security
Council? I am guessing it was Elliot Abrams
(http://rightweb.irc-online.org/ind/abrams/abrams.php).
AIPAC is already flexing its muscle to diminish the impact of the Franklin case. Steven
Rosen and Keith Weissman were taken off the payroll. The New York Times and The Washington
Post have made an executive decision that this espionage trial is unworthy of their
attention. If you expect any bulletins on this story from CNN or FOX, don’t hold your
breath. Most Americans don’t have a clue that another Pollard has been caught in the act
of passing classified information to Israeli spies. In all, it is a very impressive
display of AIPAC’s media clout.
There are only so many jobs next to the president’s anatomy. Access is everything. If
Franklin hadn’t been caught, it is entirely plausible that he would now be serving “by the
elbow of the president.” One has to assume that if AIPAC can land you that close to the
president, they can place you as an ambassador or get you a senior job in Homeland
Security or the Department of Agriculture. If you want to be a professional lobbyist for a
foreign nation, they have an excellent trainee program. Want to be an over paid resident
scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) or the Brookings Institute? Contact
your AIPAC executive search consultant and send him a resume detailing your Likudnik
credentials. For good measure, fax him a few classified Pentagon documents.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/June05/Amr0623.htm
http://www.jta.org/storage/articleimages/15373.jpg
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/images/franklin_1.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/05/05/national/05spy.184.jpg
http://story.news.yahoo.com/photo/050504/480/vakw10105042216/print
Lawrence (larry) Franklin
Part time lecturer of modern World
Department of History
Shepherd College
Shepherdstown, West Virginia
Office: White Hall, room 316
email: lfrankli AT shepherd.edu
Tel: 1-304-876-5329
Indictment against Larry Franklin for espionage
This is a PDF file (400kb)
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/ArchivePress/JunePDFArchive/05/20050613franklinI.pdf
Pentagon Analyst Accused of Creating Web of Deception
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/baac73014d5bbade?hl=en
Jews promised Larry Franklin promotion at National Security Council
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/557855e1f126f1df?hl=en
JEWPAC the unstoppable
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/a64eed2014e8f0b6?hl=en
Larry Franklin wanted to sway policy, not just spill intel
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/dfd7b12218741c7c?hl=en
Why Did Douglas Feith Resign?
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/98008e4100d94d47?hl=en
Israel can do no wrong
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/da2e6463affa4d20?hl=en
What's 'American' about AIPAC?
http://groups.google.ca/group/soc.culture.iranian/msg/29450cf06a957810?hl=en