Friday, November 18, 2005

Neo-con global conspiracy under increased assault from US Attorney

November 18, 2005 -- Neo-con global conspiracy under increased assault from US Attorney for Northern Illinois and Special Prosecutor in CIA "leakgate" Patrick Fitzgerald.

Yesterday, Patrick Fitzgerald indicted former Hollinger International chairman (Lord) Conrad Black on 11 counts of fraud and issued an international warrant was issued for his arrest. Hollinger owned several neo-con newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times (Robert Novak's syndicator, which it still owns), Jerusalem Post, London Daily Telegraph, New York Sun, and several Canadian newspapers. In his indictment, Fitzgerald said of Black and his co-conspirators, "All in all, what has happened here has been the grossest abuse by officers or directors and insiders."

Lord Conrad Black: another neo con cabalist indicted

In addition to Black, Fitzgerald charged Jack Boultbee and Peter Atkinson, Hollinger's former executive vice president, and Mark Kipnis, former corporate counsel. Chicago Sun-Times former publisher F. David Radler was indicted by the same Chicago grand jury that indicted Black and the other Hollinger executives. Radler pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate against his former Hollinger colleagues. Radler may be sharing information on suspected Hollinger money laundering, carried out by two off-shore Barbados-based entities called Moffat Management, Inc. and Black-Amiel Management Inc.

Hollinger's board includes Richard Perle, 911 Commission member and former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, and Henry Kissinger. Incoming Deputy Attorney General and US Attorney for Eastern Virginia Paul McNulty has probed deals involving the Pentagon, Boeing, Perle's Trireme Partners (a joint Perle-Kissinger investment firm), and Hollinger. Perle as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board recommended the Air Force's use of Boeing planes for replacement fuel tankers over Airbus. His Trireme Partners had received an influx of Boeing capital. Air Force procurement official Darleen Druyun and Boeing executives were prosecuted by McNulty and found guilty of contract fraud.

Black's wife, Barbara Amiel Black, also served on Hollinger's board and was Vice President for Editorials. Mrs. Black is an ardent supporter of the Israeli Likud Party who once proffered the assassination of Yasser Arafat: "One can never predict the consequences of an assassination, but I think it is too late to kill Arafat. Had Arafat been eliminated 20 years ago, the situation might be different." (Daily Telegraph, Sept. 15, 2003).

McNulty is also the prosecutor who is investigating the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the leak of classified material involving former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer Larry Franklin. Franklin and two former AIPAC officials have been indicted in that case, which is ongoing. Franklin pleaded guilty in return for his cooperation against the AIPAC officials -- Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman -- and as yet unnamed Israeli intelligence agents and other U.S. interlocutors, including a senior fellow who is an Iran expert at a "Washington think tank."

Black renounced his Canadian citizenship when he became a member of the British House of Lords as "Lord Black of Crossharbour." The arrest warrant for Black has resulted in the issuance of an INTERPOL red notice to apprehend the fugitive since it is believed he is residing in Canada with a British passport. U.S. fugitive Marc Rich, the Zug, Switzerland-based "silent partner" of the neo-con global criminal cartel and Scooter Libby's former client, was also subject to an INTERPOL red notice prior to his being pardoned by President Clinton.

In 2003, financial discussions were held between The Carlyle Group and Hollinger. A Carlyle source told The Observer, "Ideally, we would look to take a 25-40 per cent stake [in Hollinger]. That would allow us to put people on the board."

Hollinger directors and principals continue to face an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

There is another interesting nexus between Fitzgerald's probe of the White House CIA leak and McNulty's probe of the AIPAC espionage. It turns out that Fitzgerald has questioned Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler (as well as Walter Pincus) about the leak. While all attention is focused on Woodward, it is also important to focus on Kessler because he is also mentioned in the AIPAC probe in a report by the Jewish Telegraph Agency:

"The FBI apparently taped the July 21, 2004, conversation that Weissman and Rosen had with Kessler, the Washington Post reporter, according to sources. Rosen and Weissman got in touch with the White House and Kessler because they wanted to get the information out as soon as possible, sources said. Franklin told the AIPAC staffers that he was giving them the information because they had better connections than he did.

In the exchange, Rosen, Weissman and Kessler joked about "not getting in trouble" over the information, according to sources . . . Kessler, who did not publish a story with the leaked information, declined to comment on his news gathering."


Well now. Two Washington Post reporters -- Woodward and Kessler -- failing to report on serious Bush administration leaks and involved with officials who are now facing criminal prosecution for those leaks. Folks, that is the current state of journalism in Washington, DC. Again, thanks to WMR's supporters for supporting this modest effort to return journalism in this town to its roots.