Art Pottery, Politics and Food
Monday, October 10, 2005
 

An article in Sunday�s edition of the British paper The Independent identifies a man heavily involved in the forging of the Niger yellowcake documents, documents that became the impetus for George Bush�s pre-emptive war against Iraq.
That man, Michael Ledeen:

Ledeen is an intriguing and enduring presence in the murkier parts of US foreign policy. He is an American specialist on Italy with a long-standing commitment to Israel. According to The New York Times, in December 2001, a few months after the CIA first heard the Niger claims, Ledeen flew to Rome with Manucher Ghorbanifar, a former Iranian arms dealer, and two officials from OSP [Douglas Feith�s non-CIA intelligence group at the Pentagon, the Office of Special Plans], one of whom was Larry Franklin. In Rome they met the head of Sismi.

Jim DiEugenio, writing for FromTheWilderness.com, further thumbnails Mr. Ledeen:

Astute observers know that Karl Rove is sometimes referred to as �Bush�s Brain�. But fewer know that, as far as foreign policy goes, Rove�s brain is Michael Ledeen�the two appear to have met after Bush�s disputed election/appointment in 2000�Ledeen is considered radical even by some neocons. He first came to national attention by initiating, along with his arms dealer friend Manucher Ghorbanifar, the reported basis of the Iran/Contra scandal � the idea of trading arms for hostages�In the seventies, he was Rome correspondent for The New Republic. At that time he apparently developed some rightwing connections to Italian intelligence (SISMI), and para-intelligence, the notorious Propaganda Due Masonic Lodge.

As indictments in the Plame matter loom, may I suggest some very interesting reading?
Jim DiEugenio�s, lengthy but fascinating, RoveGate Part 1 and Part 2, a 2003 Newsweek article by Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas and a translation of a July 16, 2003 article concerning the Niger break-in published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Image: CNN, New York Times, Reuters
- posted by Sean @ 8:13 PM 0 comments
Sunday, October 09, 2005
 

From the paid subscriber section of the New York Times and Frank Rich:

The most distressing aspect of Mr. Bush's press conference last week was less his lies and half-truths than the abundant evidence that he is as out of touch as Custer was on the way to Little Bighorn.

Click picture for a larger image.

Modified Image: Reuters
- posted by Sean @ 6:06 AM 0 comments

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