Spying for Israel

Gettin' bigger, folks.

The name of "one of the [State] department's rising stars" has reportedly turned up in an indictment in the AIPAC case, as "the first higher-ranking government official to be caught up in the criminal inquiry."

  Source: Cursor

D'oh!

The indictment does not accuse USGO-2 of any wrongdoing, nor does it indicate whether he might have been authorized to talk with the lobbyist. Mr. Satterfield is not believed to be the subject of a continuing investigation. He is the first higher-ranking government official to be caught up in the criminal inquiry.

Mr. Satterfield's role in the inquiry has been known within a small circle at the State Department. Before he was sent to Baghdad, officials at the State Department asked the Justice Department whether the investigation posed any impediment to his assignment in Iraq, someone who has been officially briefed said. Officials at the State Department were advised that he could take the job.

[...]

Current and former colleagues praised Mr. Satterfield as a seasoned and careful diplomat. "I've known David Satterfield for 20 years, and he is thoroughly professional, and takes his responsibilities very seriously," said Dennis Ross, the former chief Middle East negotiator for the United States and a longtime State Department official. "He has always acted solely in American interests." Martin Indyk, Mr. Satterfield's former boss in the Clinton administration, both at the National Security Council at the White House and at the State Department, said the idea that Mr. Satterfield leaked classified information is "absurd."

  NY Times article

In which case, he might be the perfect scapegoat.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005; Posted: 2:41 p.m. EDT (18:41 GMT)

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and a Pentagon analyst pleaded not guilty in federal court Tuesday on charges of unauthorized communication of national defense information and conspiracy involving such information.

The former AIPAC officials, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, and Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin entered their pleas before U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Virginia.

Rosen, Weissman and Franklin will remain free until trial on personal recognizance bonds of $100,000 each. As part of the arrangement they also are required to surrender travel documents and they cannot leave the Washington metropolitan area without permission from the court. Rosen and Weissman were fired by AIPAC in April.

  CNN article

For doing nothing wrong.

A criminal complaint returned this month alleged Franklin, who once worked on the Iran desk at the Pentagon, disclosed classified information to officials from AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group. Court documents also alleged Franklin conspired to communicate classified information to the representative of a foreign government, whom sources have identified as Israel.

But wait! There's more.

Why AIPAC Indictment Is Bad News for Rove

Remember the disinformation peddled by NBC news -- the story that Iran has supplied the Iraq insurgents with sophisticated new bombs? I registered my skepticism yesterday. That skepticism has been authoritatively confirmed by Juan Cole in his latest column.

Do you notice how there are 250,000 tons of missing munitions in Iraq, such that it is not necessary for the Baath military intelligence to import very many from elsewhere?

Damn straight. I should have made that point myself.

Jerome a Paris on Daily Kos has a fine run-down on the administration's attempts to foment a new war with Iran.

So far, we're missing one key element: The personal touch. The right-wing propaganda machine has yet to direct a great deal of personal invective toward the Iranian president -- the (ulp!) elected president -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Conservatives love to demonize. When the Murdochian hordes tell us the Ahmadinejad eats babies, when the tabloids "reveal" that he wears a dress, then you'll know that war is nigh.

  Joseph Cannon post: Iran, Ledeen, Rove, AIPAC, and more

Karl Rove's only full-time foreign-policy advisor is Michael Ledeen, a rabid anti-Arab, pro-Israel activist. The FBI is investigating Ledeen for procuring forged documents (shown here) on nonexistent WMD, which George Bush used to justify his war on Iraq. When Joseph Wilson exposed the farce, Rove helped "out" Wilson's CIA wife. Did Ledeen procure the documents for Rove, and how might he have done that? The story includes multinational stool pigeon Rocco Martino, Italian spy Francesco Pazienza, wanted CIA spy Robert Seldon Lady, and Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who's under charges of giving US secrets to Israel.

  Bellaciao article

Here it is:

KARL ROVE, MICHAEL LEDEEN SPIES PROCURED FORGED NIGER DOCUMENTS

I'm almost sorry I'll be gone by the time this can of worms spills all over the White House.

Or maybe that's why Georgie is on his vacation. Gettin' a little hot in the White House kitchen.