On Monday (Jan. 21) Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame wrote about the lack of US coverage in an op-ed at Brad Blog and hosted at Huffington Post on Tuesday. Another strong diary at Daily Kos appeared Tuesday, UK media slams US media on Sibel Edmonds case.

[Ellsberg] For the second time in two weeks, the entire US press has let itself be scooped by Rupert Murdoch’s London Sunday Times on a dynamite story of criminal activities by corrupt US officials promoting nuclear proliferation. But there is a worse journalistic sin than being scooped, and that is participating in a cover-up of information that demands urgent attention from the public, the US Congress and the courts.

Ellsberg notes that some American journalists have reportedly received calls from “intelligence sources” hinting that what Edmonds happened upon is not a ‘real’ spy ring, but a very sensitive covert operation with highest authorization. Yet if her allegations are true, we have this insane operation to thank for the Pakistani bomb and A.Q. Khan selling nuclear technology to places like Syria, Libya, Iran and North Korea!

[Ellsberg] …if there is any truth to that, we clearly have another prize candidate …in the category of “worst covert operation in US history,” rivaling such contenders as the Bay of Pigs, Iran-Contra, and the secret CIA torture camps abroad.

Knowledge of the charges, the backup, the evidence and the players is widespread in D.C. on both sides of the aisle. Complicity in the cover-up is just as widespread and includes the US mainstream media. But the cat’s out of the bag now – the whole world knows about it, except Americans who get their news from newspapers and television. There’s no good reason why the American people should be the last to know about the traitorous deeds of their government.

Links:

US National Security for Sale

US journalists ignore Sunday Times scoop

FBI denies file exposing nuclear secrets theft

Daniel Ellsberg: Covering Up the Coverage

UK media slams US media on Sibel Edmonds case

FBI translator Sibel Edmonds

Britain’s Sunday Times published an article on January 6 entitled For Sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets, detailing the extraordinary claims of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds about how corrupt US government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to ’steal’ nuclear weapons secrets. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a real “bombshell” that ties together many years’ worth of nefarious dealings in the Middle East by officials charged specifically with the task of protecting those nuclear weapons secrets from theft by the very people who were allowed to ’steal’ them!

Edmonds, a Turkish language translator before turning whistleblower, listened to hundreds of sensitive communications intercepted by the FBI while she was stationed at the FBI’s D.C. field office, described to the Sunday Times how foreign intelligence agents enlisted the support of US officials to establish a network of ‘moles’ inside sensitive US military and nuclear installations. The officials involved included one well-known senior official in the US State Department, whom Edmonds says was being paid by Turkish agents in D.C. Those Turks then sold the information to black market buyers, including Pakistan.

The Times did not reveal the name of that State Department official, but did contact him about Edmonds’ allegations which he denied strongly. Yet according to Edmonds, who is currently forbidden from speaking about her knowledge in the US by judicial gag order…

“He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department but also from the Pentagon, in exchange for money, position and political objectives.”

Edmonds further claims that the FBI was gathering evidence against senior Pentagon officials – including some well-known to the public – who were also aiding foreign agents. Her revelations illustrate just how much US officials aided countries such as Pakistan to acquire nuclear weapons technology. In turn, Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan sold nuclear weapons technology to rogue states like Libya, Iran and North Korea – violating every sense of nuclear non-proliferation treaties and protections. US-backed military dictator Pervez Musharraf (lately implicated in the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto) pardoned Khan, who is seen as a national hero in Pakistan for his contributions to their nuclear weapons program.

For those who have not been following Edmonds’ case, she has given testimony and evidence in closed sessions of Congress and to the 9-11 commission, with key testimony remaining secret. She is now divulging some of that information in defiance of the gag order after becoming disillusioned with US authorities’ failure to act.

Political blogger Chris Floyd writes a fine overview of how Edmonds’ latest revelations ties in with the notorious activities of BCCI [Bank of Credit and Commercial International], which a US Senate investigation called “one of the largest criminal enterprises in history.” BCCI was a prime vehicle for clandestine nuclear proliferation (among other things), while also being used by the CIA and the Reagan and Bush-I White House as cover and financier for covert operations including military and financial support for Saddam Hussein back when he was our ally instead of our worst enemy. On a side note, BCCI also once gave G.W. Bush $25 million to bail him out of one of his many business catastrophes.

Floyd’s article, The Bomb in the Shadows: Proliferation, Corruption and the Way of the World is a worthy read for background and historical information linked to the revelations of ongoing US involvement in nuclear proliferation from Edmonds.

The ties are myriad and twisted, the implications very serious. The full report of the Senate’s 1992 investigation of BCCI (which left several big boulders unturned) is available in full from the Federation of American Scientists. If you’re fond of spy skullduggery, plot twists ala Ludlum (where it’s never a good idea to trust anybody) and shady characters that just won’t stay dead, click on some of these informative links and let your head start spinning. Caution: Be careful not to let your spinning head explode. This has been known to occur…

[UPDATE] Investigative reporter Dave Lindorff’s take on this story echoes my concerns related to those very strangely “missing” nukes from late August that were flown from Minot to Barksdale, a forward deployment station for Iraq/Afghanistan. Check out his post A Real 9/11 Cover-Up? Sibel Edmonds, Turkey and The Bomb.

Links:

For Sale: West’s deadly nuclear secrets

The Bomb in the Shadows: Proliferation, Corruption and the Way of the World

The Atlantic: The Wrath of Khan

No Quarter: Check Out Sibel Edmonds

Those Very Strangely “Missing” Nukes

Way back in early September I posted about a strange incident at Minot AFB in North Dakota, where 5 (now increased to 6) stockpiled nuclear warheads were taken out of storage, armed, attached to supposedly decommissioned Advanced Cruise Missiles, loaded onto the pilons of a B-52 strategic bomber, and flown to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana – a forward staging base for deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

My analysis at that time was that the whistleblowers who reported the incident to The Army Times – which then broke the story – were just doing their job, which had to do with some rather obvious “Saber-Rattling” by the Bush administration against Iran. In that post I noted that ex-CIA analyst Larry Johnson agreed with my analysis on his blog.

On Halloween investigative reporter Dave Lindorff posted a diary on DKos based on his article for The American Conservative [October 22 issue online]. He titled his diary The Air Force Cover-Up of that Minot-Barksdale Nuclear Missile Flight and it’s full of little tidbits of information from the Air Force’s investigation report on the incident.

There is also some excellent information in an article by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya entitled Missing Nukes: Treason of the Highest Order.

Not only must service members who handle nuclear weapons or warheads follow a very strict chain of command (with lots of backup paperwork), they must be specifically certified for that task. The weapons, particularly those in storage or scheduled for decommissioning, are marked, they are sealed (seals must be broken). they carry tracking ‘tags’ and can be found anywhere on the planet by military GPS, and direct written orders from senior military officials as well as the base commander is required before the weapons could be loaded on a plane or flown off the base.

Thus it is clear that in the case of these particular ‘missing’ nukes, highest-level orders were given, procedures double-checked and triple-checked, flight permission was granted. This is not just standard procedure, it’s REQUIRED procedure no single person can get around.

According to a number of military experts, intelligence analysts and ex-military members of high rank, there are way too many large holes in the story for it to be anything but a whitewash coverup of a deliberate act authorized by the office of the President and the entire nuclear chain of command, in clear violation of US law and international treaty.

But it gets much worse. Nazemroaya reports that there have been a number of mysterious deaths of USAF personnel shortly before and shortly after the incident…

Airman 1st Class Todd Blue. Attached to the 5th Security Forces Squadron at Minot AFB, specifically the Weapons System Security section responsible for the security of all “priority ressources” – including all the nukes. Went home on leave immediately after the incident and died on September 10th at the age of 20.

USAF Captain John Frueh. Attached to the USAF Special Operations Command. Last seen with a GPS device, camera and camcorder in a backpack. Found dead on September 8 in Washington State, last call from his cell at 12:28 p.m. on August 30, the day of the Minot incident. The Air Force refused to allow Washington state police to investigate his disappearance as a missing person case until they had completed a military investigation. Did they know he was dead?

Clint and Linda Huff. Clint Huff was attached to the 26th Operational Weather Squadron at Barksdale AFB. He and his wife were killed on their motorcycle September 15th after an SUV they were passing turned hard left into them.

First Lieutenant Weston Kissel. B-52H Stratofortress Bomber pilot. Also died in a motorcycle accident on July 17, less than two months before the Minot incident.

Adam Barrs and Stephen Garrett. Attached to the 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, responsible for loading and unloading weaponry on the B-52H Stratofortresses at Minot. They were killed in a single vehicle accident on July 3.

The Huffs, Kissel, Barrs and Garrett died before the incident. But if there was advanced planning – and any significant operation takes advanced planning – they might have been involved.

But wait! There’s more…

Charles D. Reichers, USAF, Retired. Previous member of the Senior Executive Service of the AF, Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and Management. Also a master navigator and electronic warfare specialist. Found dead of apparent suicide on October 14.

However, Russian Intelligence analysts reported in Pravda (The Russian news service) that the ruling of suicide was a coverup, that Reichers was murdered because of his involvement in the Minot affair. According to the Pravda article, the incident was linked to an operation to smuggle nuclear weapons away from the US military in connection to launching a war against Iran. A principal in that operation was said to be Daniel Richard DeVos, Who runs the Commonwealth Research Institute, a non-profit organization working for the Pentagon.

Anybody remember Iran-Contra?

General Russell Elliot Dougherty. Former commander of Strategic Air Command and director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff. Reported dead of suicide on September 7.

In June of this year the command staff at Minot was rotated. Incoming officers were…

Colonel Robert D. Critchlow, transferred from the Pentagon to become commanding officer for the 91st Operations Group at Minot.

Colonel Myron L. Freeman, transferred from Japan to Minot to take over as commander of the 91st Security Forces Group, responsible for securing Minot’s nuclear arsenal.

Colonel Gregory S. Tims, appointed deputy commander of the 91st Space Wing.

Colonel Bruce Emig, transferred from Ellsworth in South Dakota to Minot to become the base commander.

Colonel Cynthia M. Lundell, transferred from NATO in Western Europe to command the 5th Maintenance Group (responsible for loading weaponry on the B-52s). Now assigned elsewhere.

Read the article for other juicy tidbits that may start putting the belligerent threats, September’s “Vigilant Shield 2008″ war games on US soil and Russia’s war games response, and all this talk of World War III into some perspective. I have doubts that Bush will allow elections in 2008, as he does not plan to leave power. I do believe he’s psychotic, thus extremely dangerous to the US and the world.

I no longer think the Minot “oops” was clever saber rattling. I think they were really trying to start a nuclear war.

[cross-posted at Randall's Blog]

The buzz on the left has been insistent for a couple of weeks now about what the Bush administration is planning to do about Iran’s apparently insane Shi’ite political leader and his nuclear ambitions. The carrier fleet and their escorts have been deployed to the Gulf, the rhetoric has kicked up a few notches about how accessible Iran’s nuclear facilities are to air and sea strikes, there’s even been some talk of a draft. Because Iran’s got a heck of an army and they could march it into Iraq if it felt the need.

There are of course many reasons to doubt that our current war-loving band of chicken-hawk miscreants in Washington are really dumb enough to attack Iran, particularly since Israel issued a statement on Wednesday that they’d be willing to live with a nuclear Iran. So long as it’s just power, of course, as opposed to weapons.

Thus it was with a wry smile and a roll of the eyes that I saw the several news reports about 5 ACMs – Advanced Cruise Missiles – mounted with 5-150 kiloton nuclear warheads (these qualify as tactical nukes as opposed to strategic ones on ICBMs that boast multiple megaton warheads) that were ‘accidentally’ flown from Minot AFB in North Dakota to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana on August 30. Oops.

The ACMs were reported to be among a stockpile of 400 destined to be decommissioned, so the warheads were supposed to have been removed at Minot before the cruise missile bodies were transported to Barksdale. According to The Army Times story, the Air Force insists that they had total control of the warheads at all times, even though they didn’t exactly know where they were for the duration of the 3 1/2 hour flight.

It’s all okay. They were “safely mounted to the B-52’s wing pylons,” right where they should be if the Air Force were planning to launch them from high altitude against a target. We have to figure these 400 tactical ACMs are part of that redundant overkill portion of our national stockpile, as both the Navy and Air Force have plenty of tacticals (and their delivery missiles) in or near the current theaters of operation. So it’s not like we should suspect a bombing attack on Iran doesn’t already have all the bombs it needs.

Yet having had a little contact and familiarity with military nuclear programs over the years, I’ve just gotta say this whole comedy of errors strikes me more as deliberate saber-rattling than as a legitimate oops. You just don’t oops these things. The fail safes are too stringent, the procedures too tight, the sign-offs at all levels of command and oversight too foolproof. You just can’t ‘lose’ these things. Maybe in some god-foresaken corner of old Soviet colonialism, but not right here in the heartland.

I figure Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has plenty of underlings doing nothing but following the debates in the U.S. press and cable news about whether or not we’ll be attacking Iran to prevent its completion of nuclear ambitions. I also figure they won’t be predisposed to believe this was a complete oops, any more than I am. There is certainly a threatening undercurrent to the fact that advanced, tactical nuclear-tipped cruise missiles (can be launched from sea or air) are being shuffled around from the deep northern midwest to active forward deployment stations such as Barksdale in Louisiana.

Perhaps it will work. It might just scare Ahmadinejad enough to settle his overactive dog and pony act, as well as serve to keep his troops within his own borders instead of marching into Iraq to wreak havoc on our troops there. In which case this intriguing episode of fine-tuned disinformation will have served its purpose well.

But in the meantime, shouldn’t we do a little investigating to find out if lax procedures and a cavalier attitude at our nuclear stockpiles might make them into targets for terrorist designs? I mean, if they won’t miss a warhead when it’s gone, we’ve something to worry about. Rattling sabers at ‘the enemy’ is one thing. Rattling them at We the People is something else entirely.

UPDATE: Looks like ex-spy Larry Johnson had the same take as I did, just a few hours (and inside contacts) later. Check it out at Staging Nukes for Iran?

Links:

B-52 mistakenly flies with nukes aboard

Air Force official rapped after nuclear flyover

B-52 bomber mistakenly carried nuclear warheads on domestic flyover

Nuclear warheads flown over US