Lie to Congress, Pay No Price
Yet again another anti-terrorism success story debunked. Yet again another loyal Bushie lied to Congress. Yet again, we can expect Congress to do nothing about it.
_________
Spy Master Admits Error
By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek
Intel czar Mike McConnell told Congress a new law helped bring down a terror plot. The facts say otherwise.
In a new embarrassment for the Bush administration top spymaster, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is withdrawing an assertion he made to Congress this week that a recently passed electronic-surveillance law helped U.S. authorities foil a major terror plot in Germany.
The temporary measure, signed into law by President Bush on Aug. 5, gave the U.S. intelligence community broad new powers to eavesdrop on telephone and e-mail communications overseas without seeking warrants from the surveillance court. The law expires in six months and is expected to be the subject of intense debate in the months ahead. On Monday, McConnell - questioned by Sen. Joe Lieberman - claimed the law, intended to remedy what the White House said was an intelligence gap, had helped to "facilitate" the arrest of three suspects believed to be planning massive car bombings against American targets in Germany. Other U.S. intelligence-community officials questioned the accuracy of McConnell's testimony and urged his office to correct it. Four intelligence-community officials, who asked for anonymity discussing sensitive material, said the new law, dubbed the "Protect America Act," played little if any role in the unraveling of the German plot. The U.S. military initially provided information that helped the Germans uncover the plot. But that exchange of information took place months before the new "Protect America" law was passed.
After questions about his testimony were raised, McConnell called Lieberman to clarify his statements to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, an official said. (A spokeswoman for Lieberman confirmed that McConnell called the senator Tuesday but could not immediately confirm what they spoke about.) Late Wednesday afternoon, McConnell issued a statement acknowleding that "information contributing to the recent arrests [in Germany] was not collected under authorities provided by the 'Protect America Act'."
The developments were cited by Democratic critics on Capitol Hill as the latest example of the Bush administration's exaggerated claims - and contradictory statements - about ultrasecret surveillance activities. In the face of such complaints, the administration has consistently resisted any public disclosure about the details of the surveillance activities - even thought McConnell himself has openly talked about some aspects of them.
The Justice Department, for example, just two weeks ago filed a brief opposing the public release of secret legal opinions about the program - even in redacted form - on the grounds that any disclosure beyond a one-sentence comment earlier this year by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would "cause serious damage to the national security of the United States." (The existence of one of those rulings was first disclosed by NEWSWEEK this summer and publicly confirmed by McConnell in an interview with the El Paso Times in August. The ACLU last month filed an unprecedented motion with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking public release of its rulings about the surveillance program.)
The flap over McConnell's latest statements is especially sensitive because many Democrats have said they felt the White House and the director of national intelligence stampeded them into passing the new surveillance law - claiming it was needed on an "emergency" basis to protect the country against a future terror attack. Speaking Wednesday at a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Rep. Jane Harman, who was ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee until she was bumped from the committee earlier this year, charged that McConnell had politicized negotiations over the bill. He "appeared to be taking orders from the White House, negotiating for the White House," said Harman. The role he played, "whether he intended it or not, appeared to be political," she said. "Hey - Jane to Mike," she said. "Don't become a political actor."
McConnell's testimony that the new law helped in the German case was especially striking - since it seemed to contradict public statements by American and German officials about how the plot was exposed. About 10 months ago - long before the new law was put into effect - guards at a U.S. military base near Frankfurt noted a suspicious individual conducting surveillance outside the facility. U.S. military officials tipped off German authorities, who quickly identified the individual and several accomplices as militants affiliated with the Islamic Jihad Union, a violent Al Qaeda-linked group. The Germans kept the group under surveillance for months and discovered evidence that the militants - some of whom had been to an Islamic Jihad Union training camp in Pakistan - were assembling chemicals for bombing attacks on American military installations in Germany. (The U.S. Embassy in Berlin issued a public warning last April that it had received intelligence reporting about threats against U.S. personnel in that country.) One U.S. intelligence official described the law-enforcement operation as a case of "good old-fashioned police work."
Yet when McConnell testified before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he cited the German case as an example of how the new Protect America Act was working. The law, he started to say, "allowed us to see and understand all the connections with ..." At that point, Lieberman, the committee chair, interrupted McConnell. Lieberman expressed surprise that the law might have contributed to the German counterterror operation. "The newly adopted law facilitated that during August?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, it did," McConnell responded. "The connections to Al Qaeda, the connections specifically to what's referred to as IJU, the Islamic Jihad Union, an affiliate of Al Qaeda. Because we could understand it, we could help our partners through a long process of monitoring and observation ... And so at the right time, when Americans and German facilities were being targeted, the German authorities decided to move."
Counterterrorism officials familiar with the background of McConnell's testimony said they did not believe the intel czar made inaccurate statements intentionally as part of any strategy by the administration to goad Congress into making the new eavesdropping law permanent. Officials said they believed McConnell gave the wrong answer because he was overwhelmed with information and merely mixed up his facts. Nonetheless, some officials said, as news of McConnell's misstatements spread, it would be in the intelligence director's best interests to correct his testimony - advice he is now heeding.
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Proof of Fascism in the Promotion of Liars
Kieth Olbermann did a decent summary of the Promoted Liars of the Bush Administration since 9/11/01 on his 9/11/07 Countdown:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/09/12/keith-olbermanns-top-911-story-...
He did not go far enough in that this Pattern extends across ALL agencies and major government contractors.
When any administration is caught over and over again Rewarding Treason, Promoting Official Lies, Destroying Evidence, Abusing Power, Politicizing Justice, and Intimidating Ideological Opposition and the American People it is inescapable that it represents anything other than a Fascist Coup.
The soundness of our Constitution is being held hostage by LIES of FEAR and their Complicit LIARS in Congress, the Main Stream Media, and the Executive Office, even worse, We the People, bound together by this Constitution have been Hijacked From Within as President Eisenhower Warned in '61.
This from alternet today in comments (this is a partial of the entire comment, it is strongly advised to read the entire comment at the link):
"Then last Wednesday, Congressman Paul Gillmor (R-OH) was found dead in
his home. This was reported as a heart attack, until word leaked out
that he had blunt trauma to the head and neck.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20649320/ Now we're being told he fell down
the stairs. Gillmor was investigating a series of option trades that are
suspicious- someone is betting billions of dollars that the market will
fall 50% by September 21st. Even with the housing crisis, it would take
a major catastrophe, like a "terrorist" attack, to precipitate such a
plunge. As part of his job on the House Finance Committee, Gillmor was
investigating this deal. Was he murdered because he was about to reveal
something?
Would this death, on top of the deaths of Senators Wellstone and
Carnahan, and the anthraxing of Senators Daschle and Leahy, have a
chilling effect on people in Congress? Maybe that's why they're
"spineless"."
http://www.alternet.org/rights/62407/?comments=view&cID=729624#c729624
This and the 911 Inside Job are more than a "Theory" anymore, question is whether the American People are too late to stop it...
ixoxi
Gee, I Hope This Doesn't Affect The Good Admiral's Stock Options
Gee, I certainly hope this doesn't affect the good Admiral's stock options in "Booz, Allen, Hamiliton" kidz . . .;-)
(clipped from widipedia bio)
"Before his nomination as DNI, McConnell had served as a Senior Vice President with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, focusing on the Intelligence and National Security areas. He was also chairman of the board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, the private intelligence industry's industry association and de facto lobbying group."
(full article)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_McConnell
I know good ol' Admiral Michael "Total Information Awareness" McConnell has a LOT riding on justifying to WE THE PEOPLE the ILLEGAL DOMESTIC ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE that his buddy General Michael "4th Amendment" Hayden authorized the NSA to carry out. .. .
. . . AGAINST WE THE PEOPLE . ..
After all, guess who WROTE all that software for those big ol' Cray Computers over there at the NSA, kidz . . .
. . . you would THINK that this would be seen as an act of TREASON and SEDITION on the part of BOOZ, ALLEN, HAMILTON . . . and all those "twenty something" programmers "just following orders" for that big ol' corporate paycheck with LOTS of benefits and "perks" . ..;-)
Sorta like those folks that use their computer/engineering skills to rig elections . . .This pissed off enough folks that somebody wrote a song about it . . .;-)
"SOS by Eliza Jane"
http://www.blip.tv/file/356087
I love this song .. makes this ol' Country Boy Fool from North Cackilacki want to TURN IT UP LOUD!!! . . . .(WAY past "11")
. . .JUMP OUT . . .and . . . .DANCE IN THE STREETS!!!. . .;-)
But remember kidz, NOBODY could dance like Studebaker Hawk, and NOBODY knows the U.S. Constitution BETTER than good ol' General Michael "4th Amendment" Hayden . . .;-)
"Michael Hayden: 'probable cause' is not in the 4th Amendment"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGhcECnWRGM
I just hope poor ol' Booz, Allen Hamilton don't face that "market crash" of their stock over this like our dear friends over there at "Veri-chip" . . .
(clipped headline and article)
"VeriChip shares plunge Shares of VeriChip Corp. plunged as much as 14 per cent today following a report linking implanted microchips to CANCER in lab rats."
(full story)
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/september2007/100907_b_VeriChip.htm
Of course, I am SURE that there is NO relationship at all between "Booz, Allen, Hamilton", "Verichip", The NSA, Hadyen, McConnell, BushCo, 9/11, North American Occupation General, . . . I mean "Homeland Security" Director Michael "Mr. Talmud" Chertoff . . .or any of the REST of Sith Lord Rothschild's minions . ..
. . . that's just "moronic" crazy Conspiracy Theory talk, right there . . ;-)
. .. AND that "Broken Arrow" Missing Nuke that General MAJOR GENERAL HENRY C. "HANK" MORROW is NOT looking for . . (positioning???) has absolutely NOTHING to do with any of this . . .
.. .. This high brass US Air Commander is simply doing a regular old search and rescue mission for a lost "Eagle Scout" . . .Steve "Action Man" Fossett . . .;-)
. . .and from one "Eagle Scout" to another . . . Mr. "Action Man" if you are caught up in ANY of this BushCo PNAC/AIPAC coup d'etat . .. you obviously have been lost for quite some time, my brother . . ;-)
Some folks CLAIM they've "seen the arrow" . . . but some folks lie, kidz . .. ;-)
"SOS!!! This country's in a mess
And I think I know why
Who'd thought one little skunk
Would cause so many to die
He's a manipulator and a deficit creator
And you know we didn't vote him in
So SOS!! Let's get rid of the president
And we can be happy again"
- SOS!!! by Eliza Jane
peace.
McConnell is a liar, a treasonous, filthy liar, should RESIGN
just like the 'asskissing chickenshit' Betraeus, this son of a bitch needs to turn in his military I.D. and face a court's martial for failure to uphold his 'Oath of Office' he took a long time ago.
just like Betraeus, McConnell is just a parrot for the corrupt, scummy, filthy, illegitimate bastard and dicatator in the Whore House.
time to end this shit. time to make all of them accountable for their treason and their lies and their mass murder!
National(?) Security Grounds?
"The Justice Department, for example, just two weeks ago filed a brief opposing the public release of secret legal opinions about the program - even in redacted form - on the grounds that any disclosure beyond a one-sentence comment earlier this year by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would "cause serious damage to the national security of the United States."
This snippet from the above post fits quite perfectly with the premise of the latest John Perkins' book about American Empire. All the secrecy comes into clear focus when you read this book after having read his CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN.
Perkins hits the nail on the head when he discusses how the US derailed itself after WWII. As a "boomer" born in 1952, my entire life has been lived through the decline of America's greatness.
To have leaders initially stick their feet into the dark waters of fascism as far back as the 50's and then dive into the shallow parts of it in the 70's follwed by the headlong dive into these waters in the new millenium makes for an amazing experience right out of fiction. Unfortunately, fiction it is not! It is far too real and frightening for those of us who want to believe in Constitutional government.
No, "national security" is not at stake but the security of the corporatists and their ties to the government officials in every branch who ease their paths to ill-gotten profits are why so much is kept under the wraps and veils of secrecy.
Americans need to become cognizant of the "sales pitch" which is numbing them from realizing what is happening before their very eyes. The power elite embodied in the corporatist culture plays us all for fools by using our collective trust in our leaders agsinst our interests. We all need to ask ourselves how and why we have fell to this current level of national discord. Why is the gap between the haves, have mores and the poor become so wide?
The blatant use of this pitch by McConnell to promote yet another law which peels away our civil liberties in the name of "national security" is just a continuation of this administration's total disregard and disrespect for WE THE PEOPLE. WE THE PEOPLE only matter to them when it comes time to shop and once every 4 years vote for the candidates of choice of those haves and have mores.
I hope and pray for the day when someone in this country has the balls and courage of the Hugo Chavez' and Evo Morales' of the world and thumbs their noses at the power/wealthy elite of this country. May that day come soon.