-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:14 pm Subject: Bush Tries to Outmaneuver Sibel Edmonds -- Only the Spineless Dems Can Stop Him! http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2777893 ? Luke Ryland: Two weeks after the first article in the Times about the involvement of high-level US officials being involved with Turkish and Israeli interests in supplying the nuclear black market, President Bush quietly announced that the US will start supplying nuclear technology to Turkey. Do you think that is a coincidence? Sibel Edmonds: The timing is certainly very, very suspicious. The proposals that are being floated are very suspicious too.? There are reports that Turkey will build an enrichment facility, and that Turkey will become the key supplier of nuclear fuel to other Muslim countries who want nuclear power plants.? None of this makes any sense. And again, the US media is nowhere to be seen on this issue. Where are the journalists? Do you remember the noise made a couple of years ago when the US announced that it would supply India with nuclear technology? So far, nearly a week after the announcement and not a single major US media outlet has even reported on the deal! Think of the hypocrisy, with all the saber-rattling at Iran over enrichment. If it's such a good idea to sell nuclear technology to Turkey, why isn't the White House out there selling the idea?? Where are the arguments in the press saying that this will be good for regional stability, or that it will help reduce demand for oil, or even that it is simply good business because US firms will be able to sell their hardware and knowledge?? There's nothing!? Silence.? What does that tell you? Luke Ryland: What needs to be done? Sibel Edmonds: The way they've structured this deal is that Congress has 90 days from the announcement, now 84 days, to block the 'agreement,' otherwise it basically becomes law. The first thing that we need to do is to make sure that this doesn't 'automatically' become law.? We need the journalists, the experts, and the bloggers to raise hell over this issue, and we need to make sure that Congress investigates this properly before rubber-stamping it. The clock is ticking and we need to act now. As you know, and this was even published in the White House press release on this issue, certain 'Turkish private entities' have been involved 'in certain activities directly relating to nuclear proliferation.'? This includes supplying the A.Q. Khan network -- which built Pakistan's nuclear bomb, and also supplied North Korea, Iran and other countries -- but as the recent Times stories indicate, so much more as well. The White House press release states that all these issues have been resolved; that the Turkish government has addressed these issues, that the US government has evaluated these actions and that the US government is satisfied,?but that all of this is secret --?classified! Given the track record of this administration in abusing classification and distorting intelligence, why on earth would we trust them with this?? What is in the report?? Is it truthful?? Why is it classified?? ? We saw these exact same people do the same thing in the late 80s when they enabled Pakistan to get nuclear weapons. Richard Barlow did his best to stop them then, but if Congress doesn't hold hearings this time around the same thing will happen again. We should have stopped Pakistan then, but unless this 'classified' report is made public and the contents publicly debated, then the Barlow of today won't even get the chance to debunk whatever is in that 'classified' report.? What conceivable logic is there in classifying the details of how Turkey has cleaned up its act regarding nuclear proliferation?? If they have, they should be proud of it! There are many great anti-proliferation organizations out there, we need to rally all of them, and all of the 'pro-transparency' organizations, to this cause. We need journalists to contact these experts for their opinion and expertise, and we need these experts to contact journalists to ensure that the story, and the issues, is covered, and covered thoroughly. We also need to recruit bloggers and alternative media to keep the pressure on. Perhaps a 'countdown clock' as we count down the 90 days might help. Luke Ryland: What are the next steps in the process? Sibel Edmonds: I'm not exactly sure of the process at the moment, but it has been reported that this 'automatically' becomes law after the 90 days, somehow, unless Congress blocks or amends the legislation. Apparently the approval process somehow includes convincing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee not to object, so those committees appear to be our first firewall. (Ed note: Senate Foreign Relations Committee includes Joe Biden (Chair), Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama, and Jim Webb for the Democrats, and Richard Lugar, Chuck Hagel and George Voinovich for the minority.? Hopefully one of them will stand up on this important issue. The House side looks more difficult:?the Chairman is Tom Lantos -- ?who was listed in Sibel's Rogue's Gallery, which apparently identifies 18 of the guilty parties in her case --?so that might be a problem.? Ron Paul is also on that committee, he might be a prime target for this campaign.) Luke Ryland: Is there anything else we can do? Sibel Edmonds: There is one other hope. As last week's White House press release states, Bill Clinton tried to pass this legislation in 2000 but "immediately after" Clinton tried to send it to Congress, it was blocked, because some people apparently highlighted Turkish involvement in the nuclear black market and, who knows, maybe threatened to blow the whistle.? Those same individuals, and others like them, can stop this again, and they should do everything they can to make sure that this doesn't happen. They should try to do it internally, and if they can't do it internally, then they need reach out to journalists, either on or off the record. Hopefully some honest, dedicated people will try to block it again, but we can't rely on that. We need to pressure congress to ensure that this doesn't go through. Time is running out, the countdown clock is ticking down, and we need to stop this now.? We need the help of journalists, congress, nuclear proliferation experts, bloggers and those active citizens in the blogosphere and elsewhere. Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year. ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com
