By Sibel Edmonds
Tragedy & Hope presents a debate between Stefan Molyneux and Tom Wilcutts on the question, “Is government by its very nature immoral?” The debate is hosted by James Corbett of The Corbett Report.
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BY: Sibel Edmonds is the Publisher & Editor of Boiling Frogs Post
Exposed Government Criminals- Where They Are Today
For the last several years former CIA officer Philip Giraldi has been fearlessly reporting and writing on two no-no topics for the US government and its extension- the US media: Espionage and Illegal Arms Trafficking by Israel and Turkey, facilitated by a group of treasonous US officials. Despite Giraldi’s credentials as a former CIA operative, his extensive first-hand knowledge and experience, and no matter the amount of documentation and numerous well-established cases he presents, these alarming facts and trends always go ignored or intentionally blacked-out by the mainstream and pseudo alternative media alike.
On August 1, 2013, Giraldi published another damning article in his long-running series involving espionage and arms trafficking by the two major US allies, facilitated by their extensions within the US government:
Ten years ago, FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds revealed that the defense ministries of several major recipients of United States military hardware were being scrutinized because they had been falsifying end-user certificates, claiming that the equipment was intended for their own use while at the same time arranging to sell it to other militaries that were blocked from receiving the sensitive technology. In May 2006, I described in a Deep Background column for TAC how the two countries most heavily engaged in the practice—Israel and Turkey—also benefited from their connections with leading neoconservatives in Washington. Richard Perle and Doug Feith in particular benefited financially from their ties to defense industries in Israel while also serving as richly rewarded “consultants” for Turkish interests. Feith’s International Advisors Inc., a registered agent for Turkey in 1989-1994, was paid $600,000 a year by Turkish sources, while Richard Perle received $48,000 annually as a consultant. Feith has also long been associated with Northrop Grumman sales in the Middle East. While at the Pentagon in 1983, Perle was criticized for endorsing the U.S. Army’s purchase of an armaments system from an Israeli company that had paid him $50,000 in consulting fees one year before.
Here is an excerpt from Giraldi’s 2006 article mentioned above:
Someone has to be in the middle to keep the happy affair going, so enter the neocons, intent on securing Israel against all comers and also keen to turn a dollar. In fact the neocons seem to have a deep and abiding interest in Turkey, which, under other circumstances, might be difficult to explain.
That’s right: “Someone” has to be in the middle and facilitate these criminal activities. Someone(s) with access, power, and influence. Someone(s) in a position as a US government official-whether appointed or elected. Giraldi specifically mentions the following names directly connected to the high-level US players involved in these nefarious foreign lobbies and their related espionage and illegal arms trafficking: Douglas Feith, Richard Perle, Marc Grossman, Eric Edelman, Paul Wolfowitz, and Stephen Solarz.
And here is my infamous State Secrets Gallery released in 2005-2006 depicting the high-level US officials involved in my State Secrets Privilege case: Click Here . Do you recognize the pictures and names from Giraldi’s exposés?
You can read the entire article by Giraldi here. It has been over 10 years since these revelations – by me, Philip Giraldi, Sunday Times series, Vanity Fair exposé …, and yet the involved criminal fat cats are still in operation-one way or another, and have been getting fatter and fatter. Let me give you a few more examples from my States Secrets Gallery: Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is now officially a Registered Foreign Agent with Turkey:
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is now officially a Registered Foreign Agent with Turkey:
Former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, is now lobbying for the Republic of Turkey, according to papers filed last week with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit. … Mr. Hastert and others at Dickstein Shapiro share a $35,000-per-month subcontract with the Gephardt Group, led by former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., Turkey’s principal lobbyist since last year, according to The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based publication that first reported Mr. Hastert’s involvement.
So what if he was exposed by the Vanity Fair article?! The magazine’s readers in the millions were busy reading the parallel article on Jennifer Aniston. They couldn’t give a hoot about the scandals involving the United States Speaker of the House.
How about another figure from the treason circle: Richard Armitage? Do you know where he is since he left his position only to indirectly continue his operations? Well, check it out:
Now it is official. Former U.S. Secretary of State Richard Armitage is on his way to take over the Chairmanship of the American Turkish Council from Brent Scowcroft.
Not only that. As with the Perle and Feith marriage, other high-level criminal players also get together and form illicit marriages:
Last month Washington Post’s Style section ran an article on a few well-known government whistleblowers-profiling where they are today – years after blowing the whistle, court and congressional battles, persecution and prosecutions. Basically, the gist of the piece was “Where are they today?”
The media must similarly investigate and publish similar articles and profiles on those government criminals who were exposed and reported by government whistleblowers. They should. They must. Otherwise the picture will never be complete. Because the complete picture, the real story in-full, would clearly show that the exposed US government criminals, whether NSA heads engaged in illegal wiretapping of all Americans and blackmailing US politicians, whether those responsible for torture and renditions, whether those operating as foreign spies or in illegal weapons or drug trafficking, always end up keeping their positions or actually getting promoted to higher levels, or, they operate from the outside – influencing those inside while filling their pockets with millions of illicit dollars channeled to them through intentional loopholes.
That is right. We have US public officials engaged in treason, espionage, torture, blackmail, kidnapping and rendition, illegal weapons trafficking and intelligence dealings-those who choose to betray the people and prostitute the people’s trust and their public positions. And, they stay in power and keep getting fatter and fatter.
Then of course we have the prosecution of Bradley Manning, the hunt for Edward Snowden, the imprisonment of John Kiriakou and … Those who chose to expose rather than betray- They chose integrity over treason. And, they are being made to pay. So what is all this? Good O’l American government, politics and Justice? Systemic American ignorance and apathy? A morally and intellectually corrupt nation descending rapidly? What say you? What do all these realities and facts tell us? What kind of nation are we? What does all this make us, the people of the United States?
Sibel Edmonds is the Publisher & Editor of Boiling Frogs Post and the author of the Memoir Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story. She is the recipient of the 2006 PEN Newman’s Own First Amendment Award for her “commitment to preserving the free flow of information in the United States in a time of growing international isolation and increasing government secrecy” Ms. Edmonds has a MA in Public Policy and International Commerce from George Mason University, a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology from George Washington University.
A Turkish court has handed down several life sentences in the ‘Ergenekon’ trial of nearly 300 alleged coup plotters, including for ex-army chief Ilker Basbug and several other ex-top brass, along with leftist party leaders and a journalist.
Only 21 defendants have been acquitted so far.
Turkish security forces were braced for large protests from the opposition at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, where the verdicts were announced.
Despite bans for rallies being issued prior to the verdict delivery, demonstrators started arriving to the courthouse since early in the morning. Critics of Erdogan’s government, including the main opposition party, have described the trial as a “political witch hunt” aimed at cracking down on the country’s strong secularist traditions.
RT’s Irina Galushko, reporting from outside the prison complex, said local media estimated the number of security personnel at 10,000, with 13 water cannons having been spotted at the site.
Erdogan, an Islamist ran for office in Turkey as the West were so proud of that perish country as SECULAR country. The West did not make any noise whatsoever?
Actually, Erdogan is part of the underground cabal called the Muslim Brotherhood, which was formed by malcontent Egyptian in 1928, and was supported by the British and the American secret services.
T oday, the MB are out of power in Egypt, yet they occupy a small neighborhood in Cairo with trucks full of arms and ammunitions, torturing and killing people daily. They found money to feed 100,000 people daily? Who is paying?
An İstanbul Police Department Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Unit investigation conducted prior to the operation had identified a large number of suspected drug dealers and individuals believed to be in contact with the dealers, including the targets of Tuesday’s operation. Teams from narcotics units in İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Muğla provinces raided 60 locations, detaining 25 famous people.
The suspects were taken to a police station for interrogation after undergoing a medical examination.
Police say the number of those detained may increase as the investigation progresses.
Other celebrities who were detained in the sting include Engin Günaydın, Engin Altan Düzyatan, Orunç Koray Candemir and Murat Etken. The four were vacationing in Çeşme, İzmir province. They were brought to İstanbul for questioning.
Turkey is a leading country in the fight against illegal drug trafficking.
Others get prison terms after 5-year trial of nearly 300 accused in trying to overthrow government
A court in Turkey has sentenced retired military chief of staff Ilker Basbug to life in prison, and dozens of others including opposition members of parliament have received long prison terms, following a divisive trial of nearly 300 accused of seeking to overthrow the government.
At least 16 other defendants were sentenced Monday to life in prison, including 10 retired military officers, while 60 other defendants received sentences ranging from a year to 47 years, after being found guilty in the so-called Ergenekon conspiracy to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, according to state-run TRT television news.
Those getting prison terms, of between 12 and 35 years, include three serving opposition MPs from the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
At least 21 people were acquitted.
Earlier, security forces fired tear gas in fields around the courthouse in the Silivri jail complex, west of Istanbul, as defendants’ supporters gathered to protest against the five-year trial, a landmark case in the decade-long battle between Erdogan and the secularist establishment.
Prosecutors say an alleged network of secular arch-nationalists, code-named Ergenekon, pursued extra-judicial killings and bombings to trigger a military coup, an example of the anti-democratic forces which Erdogan says his Islamist-rooted AK Party has fought to stamp out.
Ever since Erdogan’s ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002, tensions have been high with the army, which sees itself as a guardian of the secular state.
The prosecutions have helped Erdogan’s government reshape Turkey’s military and assert civilian control in a country that had seen three military coups since 1960.
Initially, the trial enjoyed broad popular support. It was seen as a way to end the military’s meddling in politics. But concerns over the five years that the case took to be heard have steadily grown as the number of defendants, well-known critics of the government, increased.
There were also claims that much of the evidence was fabricated and that defendants were denied basic legal rights.
The government denies such charges and claims the case ushers in a new era of democracy. But critics point out that the case symbolizes the transfer of one authoritarian rule for another.
With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
The 9th Pan-Homenetmen games, which had brought together 650 athletes from 17 countries, concluded on August 3, with Homenetmen of Lebanon winning the overall title, The Armenian Weekly reported.
Homenetmen Lebanon secured the overall title by winning the chess, Ping Pong, and track and field competitions; securing second place in the girls’ basketball tournament; and winning third place in soccer, boys’ basketball, and women’s basketball.
Lebanon’s team of 95 athletes received their trophy from the secretary of Armenia’s Olympic Committee Hrach Rustamyan.
A few hours after the closing ceremony, a victory dinner-banquet was held in Abovyan, with the participation of 1,200 athletes, trainers, and supporters. Among the guests were ARF Bureau chairperson Hrant Markarian, ARF Surpeme Council representative Armen Rustamyan, Surpeme Council member Aghvan Vartanian, and Homenetmen donors.
“The relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Armenia have always been friendly, close and based on mutual interests, and definitely in the future, Tehran’s efforts will focus on deepening relations and improving cooperation in all sectors,” Rohani said in a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Tehran on Monday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always expanded interaction with Armenia based on cultural and civilizational commonalities…,” the Iranian president said.
Rohani noted Armenia’s friendly positions adopted vis-à-vis Iran in the international scene.
For his part, Sargsyan underscored two decades of effective and constructive cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan.
Iran has bartered more than 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas with Armenia’s electricity over the past six years.
National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said recently that around 1.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas has been traded with Armenian electricity during the 2007-2012 period.
Last year, the Islamic Republic exchanged some 481 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas with the neighboring country’s electricity, the largest amount of bartering between Iran and Armenia in six years.
August 05, 2013 | 17:08
ISTANBUL. – The final court hearing into the scandalous Ergenekon case was convened Monday at an Istanbul court.
The court announced the sentences of the defendants in the case that lasted for about five years, informs Aksam daily of Turkey.
As a result, sixteen defendants were released from the courtroom. Among them was Mehmet Perincek, who has close links with the Azerbaijani authorities and is known for his fight against the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and his books containing inaccurate information.
To note, Mehmet Perincek is the son of sworn anti-Armenian personality Dogu Perincek who heads the Talat Pasha organization, which actively fights against the Armenian Genocide’s recognition in Europe.
As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, Dogu Perincek, was sentenced to 117 years, strongly anti-Armenian retired general Veli Kucuk was sentenced to life in prison, and writer Yalcin Kucuk was sentenced to 86 years.
The trial is in progress.
To note, organizing the assassinations of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and the head of the Sivas Armenians was among the plans of Ergenekon, which is an alleged clandestine terrorist organization in Turkey.
Alleged conversations among Lithuanian diplomats leaked to youtube.com are provocation aimed against Lithuania and its presidency over the European Union (EU) Council, President Dalia Grybauskaitė said, according to 15min.lt.
“My opinion of the situation is dual. First of all, I view it as provocation in the sense that conversations that were not intended for public access went public. It is indeed a provocative act against Lithuania and its EU presidency, which is holding the Eastern Partnership summit, and the event will involve one of the countries that was discussed,” the president told journalists in Telšiai, western Lithuania, on Sunday, Aug 4.
Grybauskaitė said that the content of the leaked conversations was highly unprofessional.
“On the other hand, I see the conversations as highly unprofessional and a sign of immaturity of the diplomatic service. If there was no such content to begin with, provocations would not be possible. I think it will serve as a good lesson for the entire service to enhance its performance,” she added.
On Friday, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it received a resignation request from Lithuania’s ambassador to Azerbaijan Artūras Žurauskas. Ambassador to Hungary Renatas Juška has also been summoned to Vilnius in the framework of the probe into the incident.
On July 8, recordings of three phone conversations (4 parts of the records in total) were published on youtube.com. The conversations allegedly involve Lithuanian diplomats Zenonas Kumetaitis, deputy director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Eastern Neighborhood Policy Department, Lithuania’s Ambassador to Hungary Renatas Juška, Lithuania’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Artūras Žurauskas, and Gediminas Kasputis, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In one of the records, Žurauskas is said to be talking to a Lithuanian businessman identified as Kęstutis.
All records feature English subtitles.
In one of the published recordings, Juška is said to informally share remarks with another diplomat of the Foreign Ministry about relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, his personal insights on the conflict, increased activity of Azerbaijani and Armenian diplomats in the Lithuanian institution’s efforts to solve related issues, as well as establishment of the Lithuanian parliamentary friendship group with Nagorno Karabakh.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said “crushing terrorists must come before any political solution” to end the crisis in his country, dimming hopes of an international peace conference any time soon, Reuters reported.
Speaking in Damascus, Assad praised recent gains by his military forces across the country and said Syria can finish off the insurgency “within months” if people fight with the army through a “popular war”.
“How can we put an end to this battle and turn the table on others and restore security and stability? … It is through this way (popular war) … unity between the army and people to terminate terrorism.”
“Terrorism and politics are complete opposites,” Assad said.
“There cannot be political action and progress on the political track while terrorism hits everywhere,” Assad told prominent members of Syria’s clergy, business and arts community on Sunday evening at an “iftar”, or meal to break the fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
“No solution can be reached with terror except by striking it with an iron fist,” he added.