Jan 06 2006
Rep Cunningham Wore A Wire?
Wow, this is some seriously interesting news via Wizbang
Washington’s power players have always bragged about being well-wired, but for disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham, “wired” wasn’t just a figure of speech. In a week when legislators are focused on the question of who else might be brought down by ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s cooperation with prosecutors as he seeks lenient sentencing over his two federal guilty pleas this week, sources tell TIME that in a separate investigation, ex-Rep. Cunningham wore a wire to help investigators gather evidence against others just before copping his own plea.
We will possibly need a lot of new Senators and Representatives in the near future.
Yikes.
Wish it could just be the Dead Wood.
Will the public ever learn the names of the Democrats?
You might recall when Ray Reggie, Dem fundraiser and Kennedy brother in law wore a wire as part of the Hillary/Rosen fundraising scandal.
http://mikesamerica.blogspot.com/2005/04/quick-reads.html
I believe they tossed out the wire info in the trial at which Rosen was aquitted.
What you bet that every word from Duke’s wire get’s both leaked and introduced as evidence?
P.S. Glad I finally got a registration for your site that worked. The Mike’s America username seemed to get messed!
The day the news broke about a Chicago First Ward scandal, that ‘fixer’ Robert Cooley (author of “When Corruption was King”) had been wearing a wire, I ran into a neighbor, an elderly Italian gentleman with an unknown source of income, who repeatedly wiped a handerchief over his face and neck. He was (figuratively) sweating bullets.
Concerned, I asked him if he was sick with the flu or something.
“No, no,” he replied,” I was at a meeting last night with Bob Cooley.”
Not yet having read the Trib, I had no idea what he meant so just smiled and nodded. The image of his visible fear, though, was not something easily forgotten.
I have a hunch there are a lot of similar images in the House and Senate cloakrooms.
From to the Point News Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Friday, 02 December 2005
One liberating silver lining to Republican Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s pleading guilty to bribery charges is that being a Vietnam war hero is no longer a lifetime exemption from moral criticism. When Jean Schmidt (R-OH) last Friday (Nov. 25) denounced John Murtha’s (D-PA) call for retreat from Iraq on the floor of Congress by reading a letter from a Marine asking her to “ ‘send Congressman Murtha a message: That cowards cut and run, Marines never do’,” she caused a riot that came close to being a fistfight between elephant and jackass Congresscritters. Murtha, you see, is somehow invulnerable to criticism because he served 37 years in the Marines and won a number of medals in Vietnam. Howard Dean wasted no time in announcing that a billboard would be erected by Democrats in Portsmouth, Ohio (her disctrict headquarters), declaring: “Shame on You, Jean Schmidt: Stop Attacking Veterans.” So why, then, are there no Republican billboards in San Diego, California denouncing shameless attacks on war hero veterans like Randy Cunningham? One reason is that Republicans like Cunningham have a sense of shame and tearfully apologize for their misdeeds, while the Dems have no sense of shame whatever. Randy Cunningham is a legitimate war hero – unlike John Kerry. He was America’s first ace pilot in Vietnam. After two previous kills, on May 10, 1972, flying his Phantom F-4J, he shot down three enemy MiG fighters in a single dogfight. Then his plane was hit by a SAM missile; he ejected and ditched into the South China Sea where he was helo-rescued. He was awarded the Navy Cross. I’ve known him ever since he became a Congressman in 1990, and always thought he was an admirable guy. And he was, a real hero. Yet his being a hero did not prevent him from becoming a crook. John Murtha is a legitimate war hero – unlike John Kerry. He won two real Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star in combat in Vietnam. He deserves our admiration and respect for his heroism just as much as does Randy Cunningham. Yet his being a hero did not prevent him from becoming a moral coward – and a crook — in Congress. The Los Angeles Times revealed on June 14, 2005 that Murtha, as the top Democrat on House Defense Appropriations, has been funneling tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into KSA Consulting, the lobbying company of his brother, Kit Murtha, and KSA clients. Last year, Murtha strongarmed the Navy into transferring the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, which had a contract with a company called Lennar, Inc. to “redevelop” the 500-acre site bringing millions in profits to Lennar. The Senior Vice-President of Lennar is Laurence Pelosi, Democrat House Leader Nancy Pelosi’s stepson. This year, Murtha inserted several “earmarks” (specifically designated appropriations) into various defence bills giving millions of federal research dollars to companies owned by the children of Democrat Congressman Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania’s 11th district adjoining Murtha’s 12th. Crooked enough for you? Welcome to Washington. This is the way “business” is conducted here. There are – trust me on this – a significant number of Congressmen and Senators of both parties who have integrity and don’t sell their votes for personal gain to themselves, family, or friends. But they are – trust me on this as well – not in the majority. The corruption on Capitol Hill is so rampant that exposure of it is odd – and indeed, there are some exceedingly odd aspects to the bribery of Randy Cunningham. Let’s start with this: the company that bribed Cunningham, MZM, Inc., is a CIA front company. Until the Pentagon canceled its contract with MZM as the bribery charges surfaced, MZM was doing hundreds of millions of dollars of private intelligence work for the Pentagon and the CIA. It even had a contract to buy $140,000 worth of office furniture for the Bush White House. Cunningham was on the defense intelligence committee, so could steer lucrative contracts to MZM. In return, MZM Chairman Mitchell Wade bribed Randy with over $2 million worth of real estate, cars, and luxury stuff. MZM execs made a big public deal of making large contributions to Randy’s election campaigns – and those of several other Repubicans such as Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Katherine Harris (R-FL). No Democrats. Only donations to Republicans. Hidden from public view was MZM’s donations to a liberal activist group called Summit PAC which raises money exclusively for Democrats and the Democrat National Committee. In other words, MZM was setting up Republicans with public donations and secretly laundering donations to Democrats. The question immediately arises: Was nailing Randy Cunningham a CIA sting operation? The answer is no – it was a CIA Rogue Weasel sting. Under George Tenet, the CIA waged a covert war against the Bush Presidency. Under Porter Goss, it is not. Porter has been weeding out the “Rogue Weasels” ever since he took over Langley in September of last year. MZM was set up by and is riddled with RWs. I first told you about the Rogue Weasels a year ago in The CIA in Deep Qaaqaa. Before then, I explained how the CIA is a left-wing agency in Porter At The Pass. Here’s an excerpt: “Most folks think the CIA is a right-wing outfit. It is not. The CIA has been dominated by incompetent left-wing hyper-liberals for years. The worst mistake of George Bush’s presidency was not replacing Clinton holdover George Tenet as CIA Director. This is a guy responsible for the single greatest intelligence failure in US history (being unaware of 9-11), who sweet talked his way into Bush’s confidence and was able to keep his job because he named the CIA Headquarters after his father. “The CIA doesn’t simply live in a pre-September 11 world where terrorism is only a “nuisance” – it is that the CIA lives in a left-wing world, the same left-wing world as the State Department. Both worship at the Shrine of Accommodation, Appeasement, and Compromise. Both Langley and Foggy Bottom bureaucrats hate George Bush for alienating the Euroweenies and taking the fight to the Moslem terrorists. Both are working overtime to do what they can to secure Bush’s defeat.” This is the key to understanding the “Plamegate” CIA leak scandal, the leak of the CIA “secret prisons,” the Randy Cunningham sting, and so much else. Left-wing CIA Rogue Weasels are continuing their covert war on George Bush – and now Porter Goss’s CIA. This in no way excuses Cunningham. To get stung you must be willing to be stung. Randy’s a crook and he’s going to do time. But will John Murtha? Will MZM Chairman Mitchell Wade? Yes, we have a grand monumental conspiracy conducted by CIA RWs, the Democrat leadership, and the BNM (Bad News Media) left-wing media cabal, all working in concert to create scandals demonizing Bush in particular and Republicans in general. The goal is clear: for the Democrats to seize control of the House and Senate in 2006, the White House in 2008, at which time the RWs will all be back running the CIA. The conspiracy is being pulled off right under the American public’s nose – and so far, it’s working. Ps: In case you’re wondering about the MZM White House furniture contract. The CIA makes very special furniture, like chairs that record the biometrics (heart rate, etc.) of the person sitting in it. Obviously now, one wonders if the info recorded wasn’t being channeled to RWs. Also, MZM had extensive contracts for translation services in Iraq. Just think of the mischief RWs could cause with that. Pss: You might consider contacting the office of Congresswoman Jean Schmidt to thank her for demonstrating more moral courage on the floor of Congress than Crooked John “Cut and Run” Murtha: 238 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-3502 (202) 225-3164
Last Updated ( Friday, 02 December 2005 )
SBD
SBD
Great info which makes some of the comments on cable news last
night make very good sense.
The consensus was that Cunningham would not have been recording in the House’s cloakroom or on the floor – but that he
would be recording the defense contractors.
If the “defense contactors” recorded are those rouge weasles
of MZM – then Bush/Goss/Gonzales “got em good!”
Wonder if MacsMind will have further connections within this
to his VIPS?
FYI – Last nights’s Hardball had both Time and Newsweek reporters
plus a WaPo, in addition to Bucannan (I surf and was also watching
CNN’s “Day Room” and John Gibson on Fox – so cannot confidently
identify who offered the target of the wire.
Sorry,
I will write ROGUE 100 times and turn in to Sister Assumpta before
dismissal.
Kerry running weapons to the Khymer Rouge and Turban Durbin’s
Pol Pot references still dance in my head.
I know there is an R in contractor – sorry.
LARWYN–
You wrote:
“If the “defense contactors†recorded are those rouge weasles
of MZM – then Bush/Goss/Gonzales “got em good!—
Why do you think this Abramoff scandal is connected to Plame?
That’s a big “if.”
I will drink my coffee, but this seems a leap. I read the Jack Wheeler article, but that seems pretty complicated.
Larwyn–
Sorry for the stupid question. I am getting my scandals hopelessly entangled. I don’t usually try and figure out these scandals because I can’t.
Drink more coffee, I guess.
This Wheeler claims that the Republicans are getting publically exposed but that money is going to the Democrats in a more secret way. He seems to suggest that this was to “set up” the Republicans.
But the person who owned this company–Wade– is in trouble, too.
Wheeler’s explanation doesn’t add up.
The media seems to discuss Abramoff and Cunningham in the same articles always saying “in a separate/unrelated investigation.”
I missed that and confabulated the two scandals.
Confabulated–I have always wanted to use that word!
Hi SNAPPLE,
Maybe this will help clear things up. One #1 conspirator in the Cunningham scandal, goes by the name Wilkes. Wade of MZM, Inc was a former employee of Wilkes and MZM shares the same address as Wilkes company ADCS. Both are in the same business of Archiving Documents. MZM was a new company, but immediately received huge multi-billion dollar contracts for the CIA. You would think that the reason for this is because of the bribes to Cunningham right? It makes sense, a no name company gets huge contracts because a congressman pushes his weight around and in return the congressman gets lavish kickbacks. Where the story falls apart is the connection between Wilkes and the person at CIA who awards the contracts. It just so happens that Wilkes and the Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, currently third-in-command at the Central Intelligence Agency were football teammates and beat friends at SDSU.
Now why would Wilkes, through MZM, have to bribe Cunningham to get contracts from his best friend???
San Diego Union Tribune December 4, 2005
Contractor ‘knew how to grease the wheels’
Wilkes has not been charged with a crime in the Cunningham case. The former Rancho Santa Fe congressman announced his resignation Monday after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion and conspiracy. Three other men – Washington defense contractor Mitchell Wade, businessman Thomas Kontogiannis and financier John T. Michael, both of New York – also have been identified as co-conspirators.
Wilkes’ story shows how gifts, favors and campaign contributions can be used to gain lucrative business from the government.
Over the past 20 years, Wilkes has devoted much of his career to developing political contacts in Washington. He and his associates have spent at least $600,000 on political contributions and $1.1 million on lobbying beyond the gifts mentioned in the Cunningham plea agreement, as they cultivated such politicians as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis.
And since 1996, he has received at least $95 million in government contracts for the small family of firms based in his $11 million headquarters in Poway, including ADCS Inc. and Group W.
Brent Wilkes, founder of ADCS Inc., is identified by officials as “co-conspirator No. 1” in the Randy “Duke” Cunningham bribery case.
Those who know Wilkes describe him as gregarious and ambitious, a person who can make friends easily and toss them aside just as quickly.
Born in San Diego County in 1954, Wilkes graduated from Hilltop High School in 1972, along with his football teammate and best friend Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, currently third-in-command at the Central Intelligence Agency. Wilkes and Foggo were roommates at San Diego State University, were best men at each other’s weddings and named their sons after each other.
Wilkes’ career in political relations dates to the early 1980s, shortly after Foggo joined the CIA. Foggo was sent to Honduras to work with the Contra rebels who were trying to topple the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, according to sources within the CIA.
Making connections
Wilkes had moved to Washington, D.C., and opened a business named World Finance Corp. about three blocks away from the White House. One of his chief activities, sources say, was to accompany congressmen – including then-Rep. Bill Lowery of San Diego, whom Wilkes met during his participation in the SDSU Young Republicans organization – to Central America to meet with Foggo and Contra leaders.
A number of sources who have had business dealings with Wilkes say he hinted at that time and afterward that he was affiliated with the CIA. CIA sources say he was never employed by the agency.
SBD
Sorry, the above first paragraph should have said multi-million not multi billion.
SBD
AJ and SBD–
Maybe AJ will want a new thread about this; it’s interesting.
I was getting mixed up between the Cunningham scandal and the Abramoff scandal the other day, and felt stupid. Well, maybe I wasn’t so stupid after all.
Today I happened to see an article that claims there is a connection!
Actually, I don’t think that the scandals are connected, but once Cunningham was wearing a wire, they had him talk to people about Abramoff, too.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/1/6/194223.shtml?s=et
“Top Republicans in the House are buzzing – and scrambling – at news alleging that Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a former San Diego congressman who’s pled guilty to bribery and other illegal activities, was wearing a wire for the FBI during the summer and early fall of 2005.
The undercover operation, according to senior Justice and federal law enforcement, is part of a broadening investigation into the Jack Abramoff bribes-for-favors scandal now roiling Washington.”
(see the rest of the article at the link)
SBD–
Thanks for your long and informative post.
Contributed by Dagny D’Anconia
Friday, 30 December 2005
[Dagny D’Anconia, author of the TTP Political Nasdaq column, is conducting astonishing research uncovering a left-wing Clinton-blessed shadow government that continues to operate uninvestigated, even though it was caught red-handed bribing a United States Congressman. It is a true scandal of immense proportions, and thanks to Dagny, it is being exposed exclusively in To The Point. —JW] As we discussed two weeks ago in The War of the Weasels, MZM, Inc. is the left-wing private intelligence company with hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts that was publicly exposed as the source of bribes paid to Congressman Randy Cunningham. We learned that the scandal didn’t hurt MZM a bit, after which it immediately got back to business. When the scandal broke last June, the GSA announced it was terminating its “blanket” contract for MZM services. Yet only a month later, in July, the GSA offered MZM a spot on one of its large contracts. (See Sources: Back) Thus MZM was back in business even before they had new management. The same Gen. James King had been moved up to the CEO spot, as Mitchell Wade, the old CEO who took the fall for the bribes, left. However, they had a problem. MZM had in essence, blown its cover. Its image was tarnished. It needed an new cover, or at least some new packaging. Thus it embarked on repackaging – but with virtually the same people and the same contracts. The first step was have the CEO step down, which occurred around June 17th. The second step was for the employees to publicly distance themselves and the company from the CEO which they did on June 22nd. (See Sidestep) The third step was to rename and sell the company: The San Diego Union Tribune reported on August 21 that a local defense biotech company, Diversa Corp., had agreed to buy MZM. However, less than a week later, on August 17th, Veritas Capital bought most of MZM. (See Purchase) Veritas announced: “The transaction included, but was not limited to, all of the existing contracts, relationships and employees, and included the assumption of only specific liabilities associated with the ongoing operations of those assets, which were acquired through a newly created subsidiary, Athena Innovative Solutions, Inc. “Under the leadership and control of Veritas, Athena will continue to provide a broad array of services to the national security community. Veritas and Athena will retain MZM Inc.’s employees, underscoring their commitment to the high level of service its clients have come to expect. James C. King will serve as the President and Chief Executive Officer for Athena.” Most of the shift of assets was to be done by the end of September. Thus the company shed not only affiliation with the newly infamous Mitchell Wade, but also some of the other liabilities. Valuable assets, contracts and personnel were sequestered into Athena. When Mitchell Wade stepped down, first Frank Bragg and then General James King took on the CEO position. James King is still in charge of Athena today, overseeing those select assets. The website for MZM had been taken down, but now a new website arose: http://www.athenaisinc.com/Home.aspx. At the top of each page it shows the bold words “INTEGRITY, COMMITMENT, EXCELLENCE, LOYALTY”. Normally a company does not have to make a major point of “LOYALTY”. Nevertheless, Athena/MZM makes a major point of unmistakably saying they now have INTEGRITY and LOYALTY. MZM was originally packaged as an intelligence services company seeking clients in both private industry and domestic and foreign governments. Now their website stresses loyalty and integrity. So, who is in charge of those assets and contracts now? General James King is still the CEO. The contracts and most of the employees are the same. What has changed is the new owners: Veritas Capital. Veritas Capital was founded in 1992 to engage in investment and acquisitions of defense and aerospace related companies. (See Veritas Capital) Their current suite of 7 companies include some very interesting ones: Veritas owns DynCorp International. DynCorp International works directly with the State Department and Defense Department to provide services. For example, they are “retiring” the personnel of the military of Liberia and creating a new military there. They actually say that on their website: “DI is helping the US Government demobilize and retire members of Liberia’s armed forces, and to train a new modern army to serve Liberia’s future interests.” They are training police forces all over the world. They offer personal protection services to diplomats and government leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other hot spots. They are involved in the nitty gritty violence of nation building. Their website states: “We provide major support to protect American diplomats and diplomatic facilities as well as key allied leaders in high-threat countries. We provide services to eradicate illicit narcotics crops and support drug-interdiction efforts in South America and Afghanistan. We are engaged in the removal and destruction of landmines and light weapons in Afghanistan. We have vast international experience and operate on all continents except Antarctica. Our business office in Dubai serves the Middle East region, where we’ve operated for some 30 years. “Since 1994, (Dyncorp International) has recruited, trained, and deployed more than 5,000 highly-qualified civilian peacekeepers and police trainers to 11 countries, including Haiti, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, for the Department of State. … Today we have 14,000 employees in 35 countries. … We recently increased our business activity with commercial clients…” (See DynCorp) DynCorp even has its own air force of sorts: “scores of different aircraft – rotary and fixed wing”. They are in essence the hired muscle for political and diplomatic activity all over the world. When the State Department needs something in a police action, it apparently does not have to go to the Defense Department, or the intelligence agencies. It has access to its own “peace keepers” etc. at DynCorp. Another interesting company owned by Veritas Capital is McNeil Technologies. (See McNeil) They provide intelligence services, language translation services, classified document analysis, and operational security analysis services. Their Intelligence and Security Programs are headed up by Senior Vice President James “Spider” Marks. Among other things they do screening of baggage at airports etc. Most of what they do seems to be supplying translation services to Departments of Defense, Justice and Energy. The other five companies Veritas owns are of use to the defense industry, but in more conventional ways, such as providing radio transmitters, MRE’s and radar systems. The President of Veritas Capital, Robert B. McKeon has kept a relatively low profile. However Veritas has added a very high profile team to their organization. Their “Aerospace and Defense Advisory Council” (ADAC) is to provide “guidance” to Athena/MZM. (See Veritas) This Council is made up of 7 individuals. They are all prominent figures who served in the Clinton Administration. Some have even been major critics of the Bush Administration in the media. They are: Gen. Anthony Zinni – General Zinni was the Commander in Chief of the US Central Command from 1997 to 2000 (during the Clinton Administration). He co-wrote a book “Battle Ready” with Tom Clancy, which was a scathing critique of the Iraq War. He appeared on 60 Minutes back in May of 2004, which was just months before the 2004 election. He had harsh criticism for many in the Bush Administration, and said that “Iraq was the wrong war at the wrong time – with the wrong strategy,” thus echoing a version of the old John Kerry refrain. (See Zinni) Richard Armitage – In September 2004 (while Colin Powell was still Secretary of State, and Armitage was his deputy), Jack Wheeler wrote about him in A Reagan Doctrine for Iran: “The main obstacle in implementing a Reagan Doctrine for Iran is the same we had with implementing a Reagan Doctrine for the Soviets: Squishes in the White House and the State Department. “In the 1980s they were Michael Deaver, Dick Darman, Jim Baker, and George Shultz. Today they are Robert Blackwill, Richard Armitage, and the entire Near East Bureau at State.” “Thus to implement a policy of regime change in Iran, there must be a strategy of regime change in the National Security Council and the State Department, with the main targets being Blackwill and Armitage (as I assume along with everyone else that Powell is stepping down). “Blackwill and Armitage are the quintessential appeasers posing as sophisticated geostrategists. They actually believe that as FDR made an alliance with Stalin to fight the Nazis and Nixon made an alliance with Mao to triangulate the Russians, so George Bush should befriend the Iranian Mullahcracy in order to get them to stop sponsoring terrorism. These people are a danger to our national security.” (See Armitage) Richard Armitage was considered a moderate in the Bush Administration. He was a close associate of Colin Powell and was his deputy Secretary of State. When Bush was reelected in 2004 and Colin Powell resigned, he followed suit. Armitage discouraged Ross Perot’s attempts to get back American POW’s, and in response Perot went after Armitage’s career by exposing his “libertinism in Viet Nam, amid prostitutes, bandits, and gambling houses”. Michael Ledeen has no good words for Armitage either, in part for Armitage’s insistence in calling Iran a “democracy”. Gen. Barry McCaffrey – He was the “Drug Czar” for the Clinton Administration’s “War on Drugs”. He is a frequent NBC News Military Analyst. He was an assistant to Colin Powell during Desert Storm, and continued as an advisor when Powell became Secretary of State. In 2003 he wrote an op ed for the Wall Street Journal titled Rumsfeld in Denial: We won’t win in Iraq unless we face reality, which starts with, “Iraq is a military and political mess, and it’s not getting better.” McCaffrey was accused of ordering the slaughter of hundreds of unarmed Iraqi prisoners two days after the Gulf War ended in 1991. It is ironic that this charge was originally brought by Seymore Hersh, who also broke the story on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. (See Bloodbath) Adm. Joseph Prueher – Admiral Prueher was appointed to be Ambassador to China during the Clinton Administration. (See Ambassador) Prior to that assignment he had become very cozy with the Chinese military – even inviting high level Chinese military to visit his headquarters. (See Visit) During a visit to Hanoi, he actually recommended having US soldiers training Communist Vietnamese soldiers in jungle fighting. “Prueher… alluded that the US and the SRV (Socialist Republic of Vietnam) might wish to train one another’s troops, especially in jungle warfare. (see Viet). Prueher seems convinced that the Chinese should be our friends, as revealed in a 2003 report to the Council on Foreign Relations: “The idea of peaceful resolution is a good one. It is one that needs further discussion in our country and in China. The problems of talking about the military solution is that if you focus on the military solution, that isn’t a solution to the Chinese-Taiwan issue; the solutions lie in the political and the economic domains, and perhaps a little bit in the cultural domain—not in the military one. “ (See CFR) He also argued against CIA Director Porter Goss and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s China assessment: “Goss’s and Rumsfeld’s characterization of China contradict last year’s conclusions of the administration’s Independent Task Force on Chinese Military Power, headed up by former defense secretary Harold Brown and retired admiral Joseph Prueher. The panel found that while China is modernizing its military, it is 20 years behind the U.S., and that "the balance between the United States and China, both globally and in Asia, is likely to remain decisively in America’s favor beyond the next 20 years." (See No Threat) Adm. Prueher believes that not only is China no military threat to America, but that the military personnel of China and the US should be personal chums as well – even to the point of mutual military assistance: “With an almost diplomatic rapport between the militaries, crises could be diffused before unnecessarily escalating to the point where conflict is inevitable.” (See Chums) Adm. Leighton Smith – Adm. Leighton “Snuffy” Smith ran Clinton’s only war: the one in Bosnia. He was Knighted by the Queen of England, and the French bestowed a Rank of High Officer in the French Order of National Merit. He won the Europeans’ praise for his work essentially by taking care of Bosnia for them. “Appointed to four star rank in April 1994, he became Commander in Chief, U. S Naval Forces Europe and Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (1994-1996). In December of 1995, he assumed, concurrently, command of the NATO led Implementation Force, (IFOR) in Bosnia, a position he held until August 1996. (See Snuffy) Gen. Richard Hawley, along with Admiral Leighton, were both in command with direct contact with President Clinton during the Bosnia war. If Bosnia was Clinton’s War, then these two people were heads of Clinton’s military in that war. General Hawley (See Hawley) was the principal deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (Nov. 1993-July 95), Commander of US Air Forces in Europe and commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe from July 1995 through April 1996. Thus he essentially ran the air war in Bosnia (Operation Deliberate Force and the first portion of the Dayton Peace Accord enforcement). In January of 1999, General Hawley said publicly that the US Air Force was so strained by the Kosovo conflict that it would be hard pressed to handle a second war in the Middle East or Korea. That was probably true near the end of the Clinton Administration after their cutting back on the military and simultaneously sending them on adventures in Kosovo. However, that is probably not the sort of thing a general ought to say in public. It is a virtual invitation for trouble to start in the Middle East or Korea. (See Weak) General Hawley retired soon thereafter, in July of 1999. He then went into consulting for the Defense Department and the defense industry, including Veritas Capital. In particular, he is on the Board of Directors for DynCorp, and Mc Neil Technologies described above and two other Veritas companies: Continental Electronics and Enterprise Electronics. Veritas owns another company (Vertex Aerospace) which has Hawley, McCaffrey, Prueher, Zinni and Leighton on the board of directors so they were already associated under the Veritas umbrella before MZM. So this is the bunch that are going to give guidance and supposedly keep MZM/Athena on the straight and narrow? They are an illustrious bunch of military people, many of whom have openly expressed disagreement with the Neocon views. Furthermore, they all held high positions under President Clinton. In assembling this group, is it a coincidence that the President of Veritas, Robert B. McKeon, picked only Clinton Administration people? Is it a coincidence that so many of these people have publicly fought against the Bush Administration? Furthermore, members of this Council are in an intimate relationship with the suite of companies that are owned by Veritas – which includes companies that perform activities we would normally ascribe to governments – rebuilding entire militaries for countries such as Liberia, providing protection for dignitaries, “police” operations… Furthermore, they do it on a worldwide scale. Interesting isn’t it? Apparently leftist political types are managing a private intelligence and police force that engages in activities around the globe on a scale that few are aware of. It is as if an international shadow government exists in private and left-leaning Clinton-blessed hands. With the addition of MZM/Athena they increased their already considerable intelligence and intervention capabilities. They may be doing their work in a nonpartisan way, but how could we tell? MZM/Athena is now “under the leadership and control of Veritas.” The fact that only Clinton associates were chosen to provide this “leadership and control” is disquieting. Links and Citations Purchase: http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/Archive/2005/Aug%20'05/a081805.htm http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050930/305492.html?.v=1 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050818-9999-1n18mzm.html Back: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201951_pf.html Sidestep: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/cunningham/20050622-759-workerss.html Veritas Capital: http://www.veritascapital.com/investments/index.html Note that if you click on the above link, and then click on Athena Innovative Solutions, it takes you to what would be http://www.mzminc.com – however, the link is dead. To get to Athena, you need http://www.athenaisinc.com/Home.aspx. Veritas: http://www.veritascapital.com http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/Archive/2005/Aug%20'05/a081805.htm Athena: http://www.athenaisinc.com/Home.aspx Zinni: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/21/60minutes/main618896.shtml Armitage: http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/1553/2/ http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/2030/44/ http://www.tothepointnews.com/content/view/1789/81/ http://www.voltairenet.org/article30073.html McCaffrey: http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/Speaker.cfm?SpeakerID=3145 http://www.militarycorruption.com/barry.htm http://www.elks.org/conv/con97/mccaffrey.htm http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004361 Viet: http://www.aiipowmia.com/updates/updt397.html (see item 20 March 97) Visit: http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ED050699.cfm Ambassador: http://www.fas.org/news/china/1999/990907-prc-wh.htm http://cisac.stanford.edu/people/josephwprueher CFR: http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=5989 No Threat: http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan02232005.html Chums: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/ ~asiactr/ Archive%20Files/Prueher%20MAS%20APR%202003.pdf Snuffy: http://www.tenix.com/Main.asp?ID=865 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leighton_Smith DynCorp: http://www.dyncorpinternational.com/subpage.aspx?id=13 McNeil: http://www.mcneiltech.com/content/areas_of_expertise.htm Bloodbath: http://www.militarycorruption.com/barry.htm Weak: http://www.aeronautics.ru/usafshortages01.htm Hawley: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hawley.htm http://www.dfi-intl.com/shared/bios/r_hawley.cfm?method=1210 http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=5744 http://schoolofbusiness.cnu.edu/board/r_hawley.html http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/events.asp?aid=623 http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hawley.htm http://www.aef.org/pub/la7.asp Discuss this article on the forums. (2 posts)
SBD
SBD,
This last post is a bit long and has a lot of links I would need to clean up to make it fit in the comment section. Is there anyway you can be more succinct and have only a few links?
BTW, the truth is all of this could be completely on the up and up in the defense contracting world. If these folks had some special talent and tools, then someone would be approached to acquire them to keep them afloat. Just pointing out there is a completely legit angle to this.
AJStrata