quote:

---

From The Sunday Times
January 6, 2008
For sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets

Following 9/11, a number of the foreign operatives were taken in for questioning by the FBI on suspicion that they knew about or somehow aided the attacks.

Edmonds said the State Department official once again proved useful. “A primary target would call the official and point to names on the list and say, ‘We need to get them out of the US because we can’t afford for them to spill the beans’,” she said. “The official said that he would ‘take care of it’.”

The four suspects on the list were released from interrogation and extradited.

---

The Times pulls its punches, and doesn't name names. But you can find those at the BradBlog which has been following Sibel for a while and covers this breakthrough interview:

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5518

Larisa over at Huffington Post gives some fiery blogging on this giving us names and more detail:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/sibel-edmonds-speaks_b_80077.html

Luke Ryland, a blogger at Daily KOS has been following and reporting on this longer than most and provides good background and names on this important story that is finally seeing the light of day:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/6/112413/4231/854/431373

Basically, Sibel tells us a story from an insider whistleblower's perspective, of an apparently pervasive criminal enterprise that spans countries and ethnicities and has people in all levels of many countries elected and unelected offices. Its a polyglot, multinational high level mafia. There are world class criminals in high places in the US, Israeli, Turkish (and other) governments and verified allegations of their mis-deeds have not only gone unpunished, but unpublished, not investigated, and covered up by every corner of the US government.

What she has to say sheds light on how a conspiracy to carry out 9/11 may have been covered up and who might have helped to make it happen.

[ 06 January 2008: Message edited by: CanadianAlien ]

As far as I can tell, the story is about one person, a translator, claiming that she heard all sorts of amazing things on tapes she listened to.

quote:

---

Originally posted by jeff house:
Well,I am not sure about the "credible" part.

As far as I can tell, the story is about one person, a translator, claiming that she heard all sorts of amazing things on tapes she listened to.

So far, there is no confirmation of any of it, is there?

---

Not true.
There has been many who have corroborated her story, including from the FBI:
"John M. Cole
From Wikileaks
Revealing negligence and security risks and supporting Sibel Edmonds at the FBI.
A veteran FBI counterintelligence agent, one of his tasks at FBI headquarters was to conduct risk assessment for FBI foreign-born translators and analyst applicants. Beginning in 1999, he discovered and began reporting serious issues of mismanagement, gross negligence, security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking of intelligence that had national security implications. After he reported these acts to FBI management, he was retaliated against. He also came to the rescue of Sibel Edmonds, arguing how he had “talked to people who had read her file, who had read the investigative report, and they were telling me a totally different story” than FBI officials, who had only perfunctorily investigated her allegations. “They were telling me that Sibel Edmonds was a 100 percent accurate, that management knew that she was correct.” In 2004, after months of harassment for his defense of Edmonds, Cole resigned. A year later, the Justice Department’s Inspector General concluded: “the evidence clearly corroborated Edmonds’ allegations.”

Two videos to watch:

She was dismissed from her job as a translator, and it may well be that the dismissal was improper.

But I don't see any evidence of a big conspiracy, other than her say-so.

I'm not sure it's really so likely that all the vast crimes she claims to know about, were all exposed on tapes she happened to translate.

She looks more to me like a conspiracy-monger, finding DEEPLY-hidden facts of ENORMOUS consequence, which only she can interpret correctly.

I could be wrong, but using the usual standards for accepting evidence, she falls short. so maybe there are some deep dark secrets which are being suppressed. But maybe not.

The Senators who wrote to the FBI about her allegations, requesting that the allegations be declassified, refer to "personnel shortages, security issues, translation inaccuracies and other problems that have plagued the translator programme for years".

quote:

---

Originally posted by jeff house:
I am unconvinced....

---

2)"ENORMOUS consequence"---yes, she believes the available information is very consequential as, obviously, do others in the government who have gone to extreme measures to gag her and keep it from the light of day.

3)"which only she can interpret"--what could be more absurd to than to suggest someone who wants, above all, official investigative scrutiny of the evidence, as having "unique" interpretive faculties that no-one else can arrive at?

Your wish to isolate the case as one of (perhaps) wrongful dismissal and "translation issues" of a solipsistic nutbar, is not born out the Cole confirmation of her allegations, and his verification through other FBI agents, (posted above and also featured in the first video).
Additionally, fom the ACLU site:
"JANUARY 2005: The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General releases an unclassified summary of its investigation into Edmonds' termination. The report concludes that Edmonds was fired for reporting serious security breaches and misconduct in the agency's translation program, and that many of her allegations were supported."

Here is more of the ACLU timeline:
The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) sued the Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft in June 2004 claiming the retroactive classification of Edmond's testimony was a violation of the First Amendment. That lawsuit is still pending, although Ashcroft and the Justice Department have moved to dismiss the suit.

The remarkable act of retroactive classification exemplifies a dangerous abuse of secrecy by the government regarding Edmonds' case. At least two Senators, Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), publicly support Edmonds and have pushed the Justice Department to declassify at least some of its investigation into her dismissal.

On January 14, 2004 , the Justice Department's Office unclassified summary of the Justice Department's Inspector General's report on Edmonds found that many of her claims "were supported, that the FBI did not take them seriously enough, and that her allegations were, in fact, the most significant factor in the FBI's decision to terminate her services."

A Timeline of Secrecy

SEPT. 11, 2001: Terrorists attack the U.S., killing 3,000 in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

FALL 2001: Sibel Edmonds is hired by the FBI as a contract translator.

FALL 2001 - MARCH 2002: Edmonds discovers and reports several problems inside the FBI, including shoddy translation work, a large backlog of untranslated documents and employees with questionable alliances.

MARCH 2002: Edmonds is fired from the FBI.

JUNE 2002: The FBI acknowledges the truth of some of Edmonds' allegations.

JUNE 2002: Senators Grassley and Leahy write the Justice Department Inspector General a letter asking specific questions about Edmonds' allegations and write that the FBI has confirmed many of her allegations in unclassified briefings. This letter is later retroactively classified in May 2004.

JULY 2002: Edmonds files a lawsuit to challenge the FBI's retaliatory actions.

AUGUST 2002: Senator Leahy writes Attorney General John Ashcroft a letter asking for a speedy and thorough investigation of Edmonds' case. This letter is later retroactively classified in May 2004. The investigation is not completed for another two years, and then is classified.

FEBRUARY 2004: Edmonds testifies to the 9-11 Commission about problems at the FBI.

MAY 2004: The Justice Department retroactively classifies Edmonds' briefings to Senators Grassley and Leahy in 2002, as well as FBI briefings regarding her allegations.

JUNE 2004: The Project On Government Oversight files suit against the Justice Department and Attorney General Ashcroft, saying the retroactive classification violates the organization's First Amendment rights.

JULY 2004: A Justice Department investigation into Edmonds' dismissal is completed but is entirely classified. The report finds that Edmonds' allegations of corruption within the FBI ""were at least a contributing factor" in her dismissal.

JULY 2004: Judge Reggie Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismisses Edmonds' lawsuit, relying on the government's states secrets privilege.

JANUARY 2005: ACLU files brief urging the D.C. Court of Appeals to reinstate the Edmonds' case, saying that the government is abusing the ""state secrets privilege"" to silence employees who expose national security blunders. Oral argument is scheduled for April 21, 2005.

JANUARY 2005: The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General releases an unclassified summary of its investigation into Edmonds' termination. The report concludes that Edmonds was fired for reporting serious security breaches and misconduct in the agency's translation program, and that many of her allegations were supported."

ACLU:Sibel Edmonds: A Patriot Silenced
Edited to add:
It's clear from the video that Cole (in a clip in the 1st video) fears for Edmonds' life--this not the sort of response expected if all she has knowledge of is some sloppy translations.

[ 07 January 2008: Message edited by: contrarianna ]

The fact that something is "retroactively classified" meanss absolutely nothing.

I don't think her friend, the ex-police officer, does much to convince me, either.

"She may be in danger". Or not.

The rest is pretty flimsy, too. You can slip around in it for hours and not figure out exactly WHAT she is claiming.

This is typical for paranoid people. I'd say there is a 50% chance that she actually suffers from paranoia.

I note that, while trying to get her legal case heard, she alleged that, because the assigned judge didn't disclose his finances, he should be removed from the case for bias.

That is a good example of her assuming a conspiracy/bias based upon absence of any evidence.

And she also claimed that somehow, a conspiracy had caused her case to go to that judge, which she claimed was "highly unusual".

quote:

---

"That is highly unusual," David Colapinto, Edmonds' attorney at the time, told United Press International. Not everyone agrees. "I've seen them bounce around like that before," said one lawyer who appears before the court frequently.

---

Aside from a host of rather mundane, though serious problems in the FBI unit she worked for, Edmonds alleges that while working for FBI translating documents, emails and phone calls that

- she saw material that implicates US and foreign politicians, bureaucrats and well-connected political players in a variety of crimes and that she was redirected from this material;

- other translators were covering this material up with support and assistance of superiors; and

- she was threatened by these people and then fired by the FBI for raising these issues.

Unfortunately, because of the very comprehensive gag order she has been under, she has had to talk out of the side of her mouth to avoid contravening the gag orders. But she has managed to have several previous interviews where third parties help to fill in the gaps where she isn't able to do so (see her 2005 Vanity Fair interview). She just hasn't been able to come and make her allegations in public .. until now that is .. she is taking the extraordinary risk of contravening the legal restrictions placed on her.

However, she was able to testify to the 9/11 Commission, and to legislators. As is noted above, her allegations were found confirmed by a Senior Republican Senator, Charles Grassley, and a Senior Democrat Senator, Patrick Leahy. The 9/11 Commission Report gave her allegations about FBI translation problems a footnote (a dubious and probably by now, moot point, given the 9/11 Commission Report's continued diminishing credibility).

Further, FBI officials have confirmed all her allegations about translation problems, and denied none, during an unclassified meetings with the Senate Judiciary staff.

The ACLU has taken up her cause of wrongful dismissal and retribution for whistle blowing. She has even started working with others to start a whistle blowers organization.

It is undeniable that Edmonds has credibility on the rather mundane issues of "personnel shortages, security issues, translation inaccuracies and other problems that have plagued the translator programme for years", and that she was fired for being a whistle blower. The gag order in and of itself lends her credibility, because clearly what she would otherwise say is deemed important to US national security.

Her other much more serious and criminal allegations deserve at least to be investigated in public, but to dismiss them outright is simply unsupportable.

[ 08 January 2008: Message edited by: CanadianAlien ]

quote:

---

Her other much more serious and criminal allegations deserve at least to be investigated in public, but to dismiss them outright is simply unsupportable.

---

I think most of her allegations remain unconfirmed. A few of the less-serious ones, ie. translation problems, etc, etc, were found to be credible by the Senators.

With respect to the "much more serious" and "criminal" allegations, I don't dismiss them outright. But I do say they remain largely unconfirmed.

My initial post was in response to someone claiming that "there is no story more important" than her allegations. That would be true ONLY with respect to the allegations which remain unconfirmed, mostly issuing from Ms. Emonds herself.

She claims that the US has been "hijacked" by foreign governments, whose "tentacles" are "entrenched" in almost all decision-making bodies.

She bases her idea on "Senator Graham's revelation" which seems to be that "“Our investigators found a CIA memo dated August 2, 2002, whose author concluded that there is incontrovertible evidence that there is support for these terrorists within the Saudi government."

So, someone in the Saudi government (at what level?) "supports" terrorists who committed 9-11.
Is their support merely ideological, ie, they were pleased with 9-11? Or did they actually DO something to advance the attack?

To be clear, Sibel Edmonds bases these allegations on her first person observations while a translator at FBI.

As she has pursued vindication, and relief from censure, and a proper investigation, she has learned more, and rightly or wrongly, speculated. However, this speculation doesn't negate the fact that she has alleged to be a witness to evidence of criminal activity.

"[Edmonds] says the FBI was investigating a Turkish and Israeli-run network that paid high-ranking American officials to steal nuclear weapons secrets. These were then sold on the international black market to countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

One of the documents relating to the case was marked 203A-WF-210023. Last week, however, the FBI responded to a freedom of information request for a file of exactly the same number by claiming that it did not exist.
But The Sunday Times has obtained a document signed by an FBI official showing the existence of the file...."
......

Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame (who knows his way around real conspiracies) commented:

In the first two of those, the American press gullibly responded to official warnings of "sensitivity" and sat on information they should have reported (as did the New York Times, for a year, on the illegal NSA surveillance program). If the Washington Post had heeded such warnings and demands with respect to the covert torture camps, they would have missed a well-earned Pulitzer Prize and the camps would still be torturing.

Many, if not most, covert operations deserve to be disclosed by a free press. They are often covert not only because they are illegal but because they are wildly ill-conceived and reckless. "Sensitive" and "covert" are often synonyms for "half-assed" or "idiotic," as well as for "criminal," as the pattern of activities revealed by Edmonds would appear to be if it were truly presidentially authorized. These activities persist, covertly, to the point of national disaster because the press neglects what our First Amendment was precisely intended to protect and encourage it to do: expose wrongdoing by officials."

- - -

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01...gin&oref=sloginHillary

Clinton partially addresses the question of Nuclear Terrorism at the NH Debates.

http://www.latimes.com/news/na...ry?coll=la-home-nation

/\ one part of the government sniffs for signs of nuclear weapons, and talks about getting tough on them terrorists,

\/ while another works to do the Devil knows What.

more commentary of Sibel's interview at Alternet
http://www.alternet.org/story/72851/

ore and more non-main-stream media outlets picking
up on it.

it involves #3 at the US State Department, Marc Grossman, and #2 at the Department of Defense, Gordon England.

"The Sunday Times reports that Edmonds, whose whistleblowing efforts have been studiously ignored by what passes for the news media in American news media, approached the Rupert Murdoch-owned British paper a month ago after reading a report there that an Al-Qaeda leader had been training some of the 9-11 hijackers at a base in Turkey, a US NATO alley, under the noses of the Turkish military."

from
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff01072008.html

that doesn't mean that the report about 9-11 hijackers training in Turkey is true, just that it alarmed her and gave her an indication that the Times might allow her to speak out.

[ 22 January 2008: Message edited by: Abdul_Maria ]

"From The Sunday Times
January 27, 2008
Tip-off thwarted nuclear spy ring probe
Insight: Chris Gourlay, Jonathan Calvert, Joe Lauria in Washington

AN investigation into the illicit sale of American nuclear secrets was compromised by a senior official in the State Department, a former FBI employee has claimed.
The official is said to have tipped off a foreign contact about a bogus CIA company used to investigate the sale of nuclear secrets.
The firm, Brewster Jennings & Associates, was a front for Valerie Plame, the former CIA agent. Her public outing two years later in 2003 by White House officials became a cause célèbre.
The claims that a State Department official blew the investigation into a nuclear smuggling ring have been made by Sibel Edmonds, 38, a former Turkish language translator in the FBI’s Washington field office.
.........
The creation of this nuclear ring had been assisted, Edmonds says, by the senior official in the State Department who she heard in one conversation arranging to pick up a $15,000 bribe.

One group of Turkish agents who had come to America on the pretext of researching alternative energy sources was introduced to Brewster Jennings through the Washington-based American Turkish Council (ATC), a lobby group that aids commercial ties between the countries. Edmonds says the Turks believed Brewster Jennings to be energy consultants and were planning to hire them.

But she said: “He [the State Department official] found out about the arrangement . . . and he contacted one of the foreign targets and said . . . you need to stay away from Brewster Jennings because they are a cover for the government.

“The target . . . immediately followed up by calling several people to warn them about Brewster Jennings.
...................
Phillip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, said: “It’s pretty clear Plame was targeting the Turks. If indeed that [State Department] official was working with the Turks to violate US law on nuclear exports, it would have been in his interest to alert them to the fact that this woman’s company was affiliated to the CIA. I don’t know if that’s treason legally but many people would consider it to be.”

The FBI denied the existence of a specific case file about any outing of Brewster Jennings by the State Department official, in a response to a freedom of information request. However, last week The Sunday Times obtained a document, signed by an FBI official, showing that the file did exist in 2002...."
Sunday Times
bradblog

And, another recently observed coincidence:
Missing White House Emails Match Plame Time Frames

[ 27 January 2008: Message edited by: contrarianna ]

It now encompasses the Valerie Plame story.

She was chasing the same nuclear proliferation network that Sibel Edmonds discovered people in the FBI & State Department protecting.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3257725.ece

"One group of Turkish agents who had come to America on the pretext of researching alternative energy sources was introduced to Brewster Jennings through the Washington-based American Turkish Council (ATC), a lobby group that aids commercial ties between the countries. Edmonds says the Turks believed Brewster Jennings to be energy consultants and were planning to hire them.

But she said: “He [the State Department official] found out about the arrangement . . . and he contacted one of the foreign targets and said . . . you need to stay away from Brewster Jennings because they are a cover for the government. "

Brewster Jennings was Valerie Plame's official employer, i.e. her cover as a CIA officer investigating nuclear proliferation.

So Valerie Plame counter-proliferation work was undermined by a person or persons at the State Department, and by a person or persons in the Vice President's office. (involving Scooter Libby)

I have a friend that says Scooter Libby was Scooter Leibowitz and was previously employed by the Israeli government. I don't have a reference to provide for that, yet.

[ 27 January 2008: Message edited by: SwimmingLee ]

According to FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, there is a vast black market for nukes, and certain U.S. officials have been supplying sensitive nuclear technology information to Turkish and Israeli interests through its conduits. It's a scathing allegation which was first published by the London Times two weeks ago, and Edmonds' charge seems to be on the verge of vindication.

In likely reaction to the London Times report, the Bush Administration quietly announced on January 22 that the president would like Congress to approve the sale of nuclear secrets to Turkey. As with most stories of this magnitude, the U.S. media has put on blinders, opting to not report either Edmonds' story or Bush's recent announcement.

The White House Press Release claims that President Clinton signed off on the Turkey deal way back in 2000:

"However, immediately after signature, U.S. agencies received information that called into question the conclusions that had been drawn in the required NPAS (Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement) and the original classified annex, specifically, information implicating Turkish private entities in certain activities directly relating to nuclear proliferation. Consequently, the Agreement was not submitted to the Congress and the executive branch undertook a review of the NPAS evaluation … My Administration has completed the NPAS review as well as an evaluation of actions taken by the Turkish government to address the proliferation activities of certain Turkish entities (once officials of the U.S. Government brought them to the Turkish government's attention)."