(english / italiano)
Chi nasconde cosa sull'11 Settembre ? (1)
1. Dov Zakheim e l'11 settembre
2. Feds probe Clinton aide over missing papers: Former national
security adviser under criminal investigation (CNN) / Kerry Adviser
Steps Aside Amid Outcry Over Documents (NYT)
=== 1 ===
Da Comedonchisciotte
http://www.comedonchisciotte.net/
modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1922
----------------
Dov Zakheim e l'11 settembre
Il System Planning Corporation (SPC) progetta, costruisce e distribuisce
tecnologia altamente sofisticata, capace di permettere ad un operatore
il
controllo del volo di aerei in modo remoto, da una postazione terrestre
o
aerea. Per vedere l'aspetto e le caratteristiche dell'hardware:
www.sysplan.com/Radar/CTS.
La SPC commercia inoltre una tecnologia che rende possibile la presa di
comando di un veicolo aereo già in volo. Ad esempio la tecnologia Flight
Termination System (FTS) è capace di "dirottare aerei dirottati" e
costringerli ad atterrare in luoghi sicuri. Il sistema FTS abbinato a
quello
CTS (Command Transmitter System) è capace di controllare il volo anche
di
otto aerei contemporaneamente (vedi www.spyplan.com/Radar/FTS).
La possibilità di un 'uso scellerato' di queste brillanti tecnologie,
sviluppate e impiegate dalla SPC, avrebbe meritato un'attenta
considerazione
nell'ambito di una completa e imparziale indagine sui fatti dell'11
settembre.
In questo contesto è necessario sottolineare che il rabbino Dov Zakheim
è
stato Direttore Generale della Divisione Internazionale della SPC fino
al
giorno che il presidente Bush lo ha nominato Sottosegretario alla
Difesa e
Revisore del Pentagono (Capo dell'Ufficio Finanziario al Pentagono). In
pratica due cariche che lo ponevano come autorità soltanto al di sotto
di
Rumsfeld (colui che ha scritto la politica del The Project for a New
American Century - PNAC) e gli conferivano la facoltà di spostare fondi
all'interno del Pentagono. Da entrambe le cariche si è dimesso il 15
aprile
2004.
Il direttore finanziario del Pentagono lascia il posto dopo aver
supervisionato la vorticosa ascesa del budget per la difesa che ha
raggiunto
nel 2005 la cifra di 450 miliardi di dollari. ZaKheim ha rifiutato di
dire
ai giornalisti l'esatto motivo della sua partenza, affermando solo di
essere
esausto nel controllare centinaia di miliardi di dollari
dell'amministrazione Bush: "Lascio perché sono stati 3 anni di duro
lavoro".
Non molto tempo prima di raggiungere i vertici del Pentagono, Zakheim
fu il
co-autore di un articolo, intitolato "Ricostruire le Difese
dell'America:
Strategia, forze e risorse per un nuovo secolo" che venne pubblicato dal
PNAC nel settembre 2000, esattamente un anno prima dell'11 settembre;
nell'articolo, a pagina 51, si stabilisce che "il processo di
trasformazione, anche se è di portata rivoluzionaria, è probabilmente di
lunga durata, in assenza di un qualche evento catastrofico e
catalizzante -
come fu Pearl Harbour"."Voilà! 9/11" commenta Stephen M. St. John.
Chi è Zakheim?
Conservatore repubblicano, si laurea al College ebraico di Londra nel
1973 e
ottiene il dottorato in economia e politica a Oxford. Già negli anni 70
inizia la sua carriera nell'Ufficio Affari Finanziari del Congresso (ed
esattamente nella Divisione affari internazionali e sicurezza
nazionale). Ex
professore di economia all'università Yeshiva di New York, ha dal 1981
(quando ebbe il primo incarico al Dipartimento della Difesa sotto la
presidenza Reagan) ricoperto vari incarichi al Pentagono, continuando
nello
stesso tempo a lavorare per l'industria privata, esattamente come
consulente
per la McDonnell Douglas e la Boeing.
Durante la campagna presidenziale del governatore Bush del 2000 era
consigliere per la politica estera. In quel periodo, mentre lavora alla
SPC,
si impegna anche in due importanti commissioni, nominate dal Congresso e
guidate da Rumsfeld, prima del suo ritorno al Pentagono, una sulla
proliferazione dei missili balistici e l'altra sull'importanza dello
spazio
negli affari militari. Come risultato del lavoro svolto, Rumsfeld
chiese a
Zakheim di assumere l'incarico di "controllore" dei conti (2001),
sapendo di
mettere all'ufficio finanziario del Pentagono una persona il cui
principale
obiettivo era quello di trasformare l'esercito americano in una forza
capace
di affrontare futuri scontri nelle guerre "asimmetriche" combattute
contro
terroristi e altri elusivi nemici.
Zakheim fu tra i pochi strateghi della difesa degli anni di Reagan e del
primo Bush a non abbandonare Washington durante gli 8 anni della
presidenza
Clinton, rimanendo in città e mantenendosi in contatto con l'ambiente.
Dopo l'attentato dell'11 settembre, "Zakheim si è assunto una nuova
responsabilità, pagando circa 1 miliardo di dollari il giorno per la
guerra
al terrorismo". Da questo momento Zakheim dipinge se stesso come un
"facilitatore", come l'uomo che si preoccupa che a nessuno venga a
mancare
le capacità finanziarie di portare avanti questa guerra su due fronti
che
l'America si trova a combattere. Afferma infatti: "Questa è una guerra
su 2
fronti. E' la nostra prima guerra su due fronti dalla II guerra
mondiale e
la nostra prima guerra interna dalla guerra del 1812. Non ci sono
precedenti
nella nostra memoria. Io non mi preoccupo del sostegno a questa guerra.
Non
per il momento... voglio assicurare a tutti, dal soldato agli alti
comandi,
le risorse necessarie per combattere le guerre della nazione". Secondo
Zakheim, la guerra al terrorismo ha accelerato la possibilità di un
cambiamento all'interno del Pentagono e ha reso più facile per Rumsfeld
spingere "l'agenda della trasformazione" incentrata sulla difesa
missilistica e interna, sul contro-terrorismo, sul dominio spaziale,
sulle
guerre cibernetiche e sui missili spaziali di precisione a lungo raggio.
Dalle sue parole: "Il sistema è un sistema a reazione lenta finché non
accade qualcosa e qualcosa è accaduto. E il sistema ha reagito. Ciò
spingerà
avanti la nostra agenda, ovviamente innestata dagli sforzi per la
guerra,
questo genere di guerra che molti di noi hanno paventato e anticipato".
Alla SPC, fabbrica di Arlington, raddoppiò il salario preso al
Pentagono.
Era l'epoca in cui sfornava prime pagine (e libri) su vari soggetti tra
cui
quelle sul caccia israeliano Lavi e le opzioni di pace "strategicamente
marginali" messe in atto dall'amministrazione Clinton.
Intanto si viene a conoscere che il Pentagono ha perso la traccia di 2,3
migliaia di miliardi: "Secondo alcuni calcoli non siamo capaci di
rintracciare questo denaro attraverso l'analisi delle transazioni"
(frase di
Donald Rumsfeld, riportata su CBS News, 29/1/02).
In pratica questo denaro è scomparso - nessuno sa dove sia finito.
Funzionari governativi hanno accusato il sistema di contabilità e il
dipartimento della difesa americano, dal canto suo, non è stato in
grado di
produrre bilanci controllati in modo indipendente dal 1995.
Uno studio dell'Ente pubblico per il controllo amministrativo e
contabile ha
trovato i sistemi di contabilità di magazzino della Difesa tenuti in
modo
così approssimativo che l'esercito americano risulta aver perso ogni
traccia
di 56 aeroplani, 32 carri e 36 unità di lancio di missili Javelin.
Che sia questo il motivo delle dimissioni?
Uri Dowbenko su Conspiracy Planet esclama: "Il rabbino Zakheim ha
lasciato
il Pentagono. Grazie a Dio". Secondo l'articolista, dopo più di 20 anni
di
comando esercitato su una frode militare del valore di più di 3000
miliardi
di dollari, il Revisore dei conti del Pentagono se ne va e si
trasferisce
alla Booz Allen Hamilton attraverso quel famoso meccanismo della "porta
girevole" che lega governo e compagnie industriali di sostegno. Zakheim
sarebbe responsabile della mala gestione di più di 400 miliardi di
dollari/anno. Zakheim dopo le contestazioni ha affermato che "ci
troviamo
negli affari economici di guerre in corso, non sui libri di bilancio".
Conclude Dowbenfo: "Intanto il rabbino se ne esce di scena lasciando le
finanze del Pentagono con più di 5000 diversi sistemi finanziari in
atto. Se
si fosse trovato a fare quello che ha fatto al Pentagono in una
multinazionale, sarebbe stato accusato di cospirazione criminale,
negligenza
e migliaia di accuse di frode. Il paradosso è che se ne sta andando a
lavorare proprio nel cosiddetto settore privato".
Dal punto di vista delle indagini su un delitto (11/9), 'blueridge' (uno
pseudonimo) nel suo post su libertyforum afferma: "E' l'ora di mettere
il
suo nome tra i principali sospettati ... egli è ovviamente un uomo
dell'autorità sionista (agente Rothchild), con esperienza in controllo
remoto (Direttore della System Planning Corporation - tecnica di
controllo
remoto di velivoli!), sotto solo a Rumsfeld in quanto ad autorità,
scrittore
politico del PNAC e capace di spostare i fondi all'interno del Pentagono
stesso!" Questi sarebbero i sospetti capaci di spiegare "movente, mezzi
e
opportunità... tutti in un solo uomo! Io credo che possa essere la MENTE
DELL'11/9! (E' sorprendente come la stampa non se ne sia mai
adeguatamene
occupata)"
=== 2 ===
Feds probe Clinton aide over missing papers
Former national security adviser under criminal investigation
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Posted: 7:42 PM EDT (2342 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/20/berger.probe/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former national security adviser Samuel "Sandy"
Berger is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department over
allegations that he took secret documents from the National Archives
while reviewing Clinton administration records for the 9/11 commission.
Sources said that among the documents Berger took were drafts of a
Clinton
administration "after-action" report on efforts to thwart the so-called
"millennium plot," a suspected al Qaeda attack planned around the New
Year's holiday in 1999.
Berger, who was national security adviser during President Clinton's
second
term, said in a statement Monday that the removal of the papers was
unintentional.
He said he returned everything he had after the National Archives told
him
documents were missing, "except for a few documents that apparently I
had
accidentally discarded."
Law enforcement sources said archive staff told FBI agents they saw
Berger
placing items in his jacket and pants, and one archive staffer told
agents
that Berger also placed something in his socks.
That latter allegation drew a sharp response from Berger associate and
former White House lawyer Lanny Davis, who challenged any unnamed
official
who makes such an accusation to come forward publicly.
"I suggest that person is lying," he said. "And if that person has the
guts,
let's see who it is who made the comment that Sandy Berger stuffed
something
into his socks."
Berger was designated as the official from the Clinton administration
who
would review documents relevant to 9/11 commission inquiries into the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He also was a witness at
commission
hearings and reviewed records to prepare for his personal testimony.
In recent months, he has been serving as an informal foreign policy
adviser
to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, but stepped down
from
the unpaid position Tuesday, said his lawyer, Lanny Breuer.
The investigation has been under way since October, and its disclosure
the
week before the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts
--
and just days before the 9/11 commission is due to release its report
-- led
some Democrats to question whether the news was leaked for political
reasons.
Kerry's campaign reacted strongly to suggestions by some Republicans
that
Berger might have passed classified information to it.
"This appears to be a partisan attempt to divert attention away from the
9/11 commission report," said Kerry spokesman Phil Singer. "Instead of
using
the report's recommendations to learn how we can improve our homeland
security, Republicans are playing politics with an inquiry."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said he found the
timing
"very curious, given this has been under way now for this long."
"Somebody leaked it, obviously, with intent, I think, to do damage to
Mr.
Berger, and I think that's unfortunate," Daschle said.
But an administration source told CNN that any suggestion the Justice
Department leaked the investigation on purpose now is "simply not true."
Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt said Berger's decision to leave the
Kerry
campaign "was appropriate, but there are still questions that remain."
"There are still a lot of questions about whether or not the Kerry
campaign
benefited from the information Berger took," Holt said.
Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the Republican speaker of the House,
said
he was "profoundly troubled" by the probe and suggested Berger was
trying to
conceal damaging information from the 9/11 commission.
"What information could be so embarrassing that a man with decades of
experience in handling classified documents would risk being caught
pilfering our nation's most sensitive secrets? Did these documents
detail
simple negligence, or did they contain something more sinister?" Hastert
asked a statement.
Berger regrets 'sloppiness'
One Berger associate said Berger acknowledges placing his handwritten
notes
into his pants pockets, and perhaps into his jacket as well.
National Archives' policy requires that if someone reviews classified
documents and wants to take out handwritten notes, those notes must
first be
cleared by archivists.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of
withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my
knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton
administration was produced," Berger said in a written statement.
A government source said some of the documents at issue were classified
as
"code word" materials -- the highest level of secrecy in the U.S.
government, held more closely than nuclear secrets.
The source said the 9/11 commission was briefed on the Berger
investigation,
but the White House was never informed of the matter.
Archives officials told investigators that at least one draft of the
millennium plot after-action report is still missing.
9/11 panel: Probe won't affect report
But Al Felzenberg, a spokesman for the 9/11 commission, said
commissioners
have no reason to believe the Berger investigation will affect "the
substance or integrity" of its final report, due to be released
Thursday.
The 10-member bipartisan panel, formally known as the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established
to investigate the
events before, during and immediately after the attacks of September
11, 2001.
Felzenberg said the panel "believes it had access to all materials
needed to
do our report," and was "reasonably certain" it saw all versions of the
missing after-action memo.
Associates said Berger knew there were copies of the documents and that
former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, the after-action report's
author, was cooperating with the commission inquiry. They questioned
what
motive Berger would have had to take and destroy documents.
Two sources associated with the investigation said Breuer made a
detailed
statement of Berger's view of the facts at issue several months ago and
has
offered to talk to the Justice Department about a resolution to the
probe.
Breuer has renewed his offer to talk several times since, one of the
Berger
associates said, but said prosecutors have refused to enter into such
discussions.
In the case of the classified documents removed from the archives, the
associate said Berger was reviewing thousands of documents and trying to
"power read" as much as possible -- placing some in a pile to be
forwarded
to the 9/11 commission and others in a "nonresponsive" file to be
returned,
because he did not believe they were relevant to the commission's
requests.
Berger has told associates and his attorneys he deliberately set aside
drafts of the millennium plot after-action report because it was a
longer
document and "he knew he needed to take some time on it," according to
one
adviser.
In Berger's account, after hours of reading documents, he inadvertently
took
the documents he had set aside to read later along with other materials
and
a leather portfolio he had carried into the screening room.
CNN's John King, Kelli Arena, Bob Franken and Pam Benson contributed to
this
report.
---
Kerry Adviser Steps Aside Amid Outcry Over Documents
By DAVID STOUT and MARK GLASSMAN
Published: July 20, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/politics/20CND-
BERG.html?pagewanted=1&hp
WASHINGTON, July 20 — A former national security adviser, Samuel R.
Berger,
quit his role as informal adviser to the presidential campaign of
Senator
John Kerry today amid a clamor over his improper handling of classified
documents.
"Mr. Berger does not want any issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to
be
used for partisan purposes," Lanny Breuer, Mr. Berger's attorney, told
The
Associated Press late this afternoon. "With that in mind he has decided
to
step aside as an informal adviser to the Kerry campaign until this
matter is
resolved."
The decision to step aside came after a day in which Republicans zeroed
in
on the disclosure that Mr. Berger, who was President Bill Clinton's
national
security adviser, removed classified documents from the National
Archives
last year. Some Republicans wondered aloud today whether Mr. Berger had
used the papers to help Senator Kerry, the presumptive Democratic
presidential
nominee.
Mr. Berger's mishandling of the documents, which were related to
terrorism
and which he took from the National Archives in preparation for his
testimony before the 9/11 commission, seemed today to become a bigger
problem for the Kerry campaign almost by the hour — and at the worst
possible time, as Mr. Kerry is hoping to gain a big lift by next week's
Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Mr. Berger, no stranger to the knees and elbows of Washington,
apparently
bowed to the political reality that "if you have to explain it, don't
bother."
Mr. Kerry issued a statement in which he said: "Sandy Berger is my
friend,
and he has tirelessly served this nation with honor and distinction. I
respect his decision to step aside as an adviser to the campaign until
this
matter is resolved objectively and fairly."
While Democrats had seemed inclined to give Mr. Berger the benefit of
the
doubt and accept his explanation that the incident with the documents
was
inadvertent, Republicans were decidedly less charitable.
The Republican majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, told
reporters in the Capitol he did not know whether the classified
documents
that Mr. Berger took had been sent to the Kerry campaign. "But I think
it's
pretty interesting that the press is now reporting that these documents
had
to do with airport security and seaport security, and that those are two
areas where the Kerry campaign has seemed to focus on relative to
alleged
deficiencies in homeland security," Mr. Frist said.
Mr. Berger was not immediately available for comment on the Republican
remarks. However, he said Monday night that the documents had been taken
inadvertently. And the Kerry campaign said today it was drawing up a
statement rebutting the assertions.
Senator Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon, called on the Kerry
campaign to
"immediately disavow any connection with Sandy Berger" and turn over any
documents supplied by Mr. Berger.
"Right after the documents were taken, John Kerry held a photo op and
attacked the president on port security," Mr. Smith recalled. "The
documents
that were taken may have been utilized for that press conference."
A moment later, Mr. Smith said: "I just simply think it's important for
the
American people to know how disappointing this conduct is as they try to
take down the president of the United States. The American people
deserve
better than this. And frankly, we expect more than this."
It was disclosed on Monday night that Mr. Berger removed classified
national
security documents from the National Archives while vetting them in
preparation for testimony before the commission investigating the
terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Berger inadvertently removed at least two slightly different
versions of
a memo critiquing how the government handled national intelligence and
security issues before the millennium celebration in December 1999, as
well
as personal notes he had taken on classified documents, Mr. Breuer said
Monday night.
"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of
documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with
requests by the 9/11 Commission, I inadvertently took a few documents
from
the Archives," Mr. Berger himself said in a statement Monday. "I also
took
my notes on the documents reviewed. When I was informed by the Archives
there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had,
except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally
discarded."
Mr. Berger is the subject of a Justice Department criminal
investigation,
not the target of one. The distinction is crucial. A subject is a person
whose activities are of interest to investigators; a target is a person
who
might be charged with actual wrongdoing.
The affair took on a slightly comic note today, as Republican senators
said
Mr. Berger had apparently put some papers in his trousers.
"Now, I don't know what happened to these documents after they were put
in
Mr. Berger's pants," Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said today.
"It's
been reported in the press that these documents related to homeland
security
at our airports and at our seaports. And it's very interesting to note
that
those are two areas where Senator Kerry has been very critical of our
Homeland Security Department."
Deputy Attorney General James Comey declined comment on the
investigation
today. But he did say prosecutors take "very, very seriously" any
possible
mishandling of classified documents, The A.P. said.
Mr. Berger said Monday he deeply regretted "the sloppiness involved" and
that he did not intend to keep any document from the commission. The
investigation and Mr. Berger's statement were first reported by The
Associated Press. All of the documents and notes were returned by Mr.
Berger
to the archives in early October, within a week of his learning they
were
missing, his lawyers said.
Despite Mr. Berger's insistence that his mishandling of the documents
was
accidental, the potential for political repercussions quickly became
obvious, in part because Mr. Berger has been an adviser to Senator
Kerry,
President's Bush's presumptive Democrat opponent. Then, too, the
disclosure
that the documents were mishandled comes just before the Sept. 11
commission is to release its long-awaited report. A spokesman for the
commission, Al Felzenberg, told The Associated Press today that Mr.
Berger's
actions would have no effect on the work of the panel, which Mr.
Felzenberg
said had had access to all the materials it needed.
Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican and member of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said people should not rush to judgment about
Mr.
Berger's actions. "I think we need more information," he said today on
Fox
News. "I mean, obviously the timing of it is not good if he is serving
as an
adviser to a presidential candidate. But from now on until the election,
everything like this will have a spotlight put on it and examined very
carefully."
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said he was
surprised.
"I know Sandy Berger well," Mr. Lieberman said on the same Fox News
program.
"He's a very patriotic American. Unless we learn otherwise, I have to
assume
that what Sandy says is right, that any removal of documents was
inadvertent."
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, told
reporters
at the Capitol that Mr. Berger had served his country "very ably and
very,
very well" and deserved the benefit of the doubt. The senator said
someone
had obviously leaked the fact of the investigation to embarrass Mr.
Berger.
"The timing of all this is curious," Mr. Daschle said.
And David R. Gergen, the longtime political strategist who worked in the
administration of President Bill Clinton as well as in the Nixon, Ford
and
Reagan White Houses, said he thought what Mr. Berger did was "more
innocent
than it looks."
"I have known Sandy Berger for a long time," Mr. Gergen said on NBC's
"Today" show. "He would never do anything to compromise the security of
the
United States." Mr. Gergen said he thought it "suspicious" that word of
the
investigation of Mr. Berger came out just before release of the 9/11
commission report.
Federal agents investigated the allegations that Mr. Berger mishandled
classified materials, a senior government official said Monday evening
. The
official said that the inquiry had concluded and was now being reviewed
by
prosecutors at the Justice Department who will decide whether any laws
were
broken.
Federal law makes it a crime to mishandle classified information,
either by
copying it or removing it from a government-approved secure room, even
if
the information does not fall into the wrong hands. Even so, prosecutors
have in the past exercised wide latitude in cases in which former
officials,
including cabinet officers, would be treated under the law.
Earlier this year, Paul O'Neill, the former Treasury Secretary, was
found to
have used classified material from his tenure in writing a book about
the
Bush economic team. An internal inquiry found that Treasury Department
officials had improperly turned over documents that should have been
classified but that Mr. O'Neill did nothing wrong.
Before that, Johh Deutch, a former C.I.A. director, became the subject
of an
embarrassing inquiry into whether he had downloaded classified
intelligence
documents to an unsecured personal computer that he used to gain access
to
Internet sites. On his final day in office, President Clinton pardoned
Mr.
Deutch, who was in the midst of negotiating a plea agreement with
prosecutors on charges stemming from the accusations.
Chi nasconde cosa sull'11 Settembre ? (1)
1. Dov Zakheim e l'11 settembre
2. Feds probe Clinton aide over missing papers: Former national
security adviser under criminal investigation (CNN) / Kerry Adviser
Steps Aside Amid Outcry Over Documents (NYT)
=== 1 ===
Da Comedonchisciotte
http://www.comedonchisciotte.net/
modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1922
----------------
Dov Zakheim e l'11 settembre
Il System Planning Corporation (SPC) progetta, costruisce e distribuisce
tecnologia altamente sofisticata, capace di permettere ad un operatore
il
controllo del volo di aerei in modo remoto, da una postazione terrestre
o
aerea. Per vedere l'aspetto e le caratteristiche dell'hardware:
www.sysplan.com/Radar/CTS.
La SPC commercia inoltre una tecnologia che rende possibile la presa di
comando di un veicolo aereo già in volo. Ad esempio la tecnologia Flight
Termination System (FTS) è capace di "dirottare aerei dirottati" e
costringerli ad atterrare in luoghi sicuri. Il sistema FTS abbinato a
quello
CTS (Command Transmitter System) è capace di controllare il volo anche
di
otto aerei contemporaneamente (vedi www.spyplan.com/Radar/FTS).
La possibilità di un 'uso scellerato' di queste brillanti tecnologie,
sviluppate e impiegate dalla SPC, avrebbe meritato un'attenta
considerazione
nell'ambito di una completa e imparziale indagine sui fatti dell'11
settembre.
In questo contesto è necessario sottolineare che il rabbino Dov Zakheim
è
stato Direttore Generale della Divisione Internazionale della SPC fino
al
giorno che il presidente Bush lo ha nominato Sottosegretario alla
Difesa e
Revisore del Pentagono (Capo dell'Ufficio Finanziario al Pentagono). In
pratica due cariche che lo ponevano come autorità soltanto al di sotto
di
Rumsfeld (colui che ha scritto la politica del The Project for a New
American Century - PNAC) e gli conferivano la facoltà di spostare fondi
all'interno del Pentagono. Da entrambe le cariche si è dimesso il 15
aprile
2004.
Il direttore finanziario del Pentagono lascia il posto dopo aver
supervisionato la vorticosa ascesa del budget per la difesa che ha
raggiunto
nel 2005 la cifra di 450 miliardi di dollari. ZaKheim ha rifiutato di
dire
ai giornalisti l'esatto motivo della sua partenza, affermando solo di
essere
esausto nel controllare centinaia di miliardi di dollari
dell'amministrazione Bush: "Lascio perché sono stati 3 anni di duro
lavoro".
Non molto tempo prima di raggiungere i vertici del Pentagono, Zakheim
fu il
co-autore di un articolo, intitolato "Ricostruire le Difese
dell'America:
Strategia, forze e risorse per un nuovo secolo" che venne pubblicato dal
PNAC nel settembre 2000, esattamente un anno prima dell'11 settembre;
nell'articolo, a pagina 51, si stabilisce che "il processo di
trasformazione, anche se è di portata rivoluzionaria, è probabilmente di
lunga durata, in assenza di un qualche evento catastrofico e
catalizzante -
come fu Pearl Harbour"."Voilà! 9/11" commenta Stephen M. St. John.
Chi è Zakheim?
Conservatore repubblicano, si laurea al College ebraico di Londra nel
1973 e
ottiene il dottorato in economia e politica a Oxford. Già negli anni 70
inizia la sua carriera nell'Ufficio Affari Finanziari del Congresso (ed
esattamente nella Divisione affari internazionali e sicurezza
nazionale). Ex
professore di economia all'università Yeshiva di New York, ha dal 1981
(quando ebbe il primo incarico al Dipartimento della Difesa sotto la
presidenza Reagan) ricoperto vari incarichi al Pentagono, continuando
nello
stesso tempo a lavorare per l'industria privata, esattamente come
consulente
per la McDonnell Douglas e la Boeing.
Durante la campagna presidenziale del governatore Bush del 2000 era
consigliere per la politica estera. In quel periodo, mentre lavora alla
SPC,
si impegna anche in due importanti commissioni, nominate dal Congresso e
guidate da Rumsfeld, prima del suo ritorno al Pentagono, una sulla
proliferazione dei missili balistici e l'altra sull'importanza dello
spazio
negli affari militari. Come risultato del lavoro svolto, Rumsfeld
chiese a
Zakheim di assumere l'incarico di "controllore" dei conti (2001),
sapendo di
mettere all'ufficio finanziario del Pentagono una persona il cui
principale
obiettivo era quello di trasformare l'esercito americano in una forza
capace
di affrontare futuri scontri nelle guerre "asimmetriche" combattute
contro
terroristi e altri elusivi nemici.
Zakheim fu tra i pochi strateghi della difesa degli anni di Reagan e del
primo Bush a non abbandonare Washington durante gli 8 anni della
presidenza
Clinton, rimanendo in città e mantenendosi in contatto con l'ambiente.
Dopo l'attentato dell'11 settembre, "Zakheim si è assunto una nuova
responsabilità, pagando circa 1 miliardo di dollari il giorno per la
guerra
al terrorismo". Da questo momento Zakheim dipinge se stesso come un
"facilitatore", come l'uomo che si preoccupa che a nessuno venga a
mancare
le capacità finanziarie di portare avanti questa guerra su due fronti
che
l'America si trova a combattere. Afferma infatti: "Questa è una guerra
su 2
fronti. E' la nostra prima guerra su due fronti dalla II guerra
mondiale e
la nostra prima guerra interna dalla guerra del 1812. Non ci sono
precedenti
nella nostra memoria. Io non mi preoccupo del sostegno a questa guerra.
Non
per il momento... voglio assicurare a tutti, dal soldato agli alti
comandi,
le risorse necessarie per combattere le guerre della nazione". Secondo
Zakheim, la guerra al terrorismo ha accelerato la possibilità di un
cambiamento all'interno del Pentagono e ha reso più facile per Rumsfeld
spingere "l'agenda della trasformazione" incentrata sulla difesa
missilistica e interna, sul contro-terrorismo, sul dominio spaziale,
sulle
guerre cibernetiche e sui missili spaziali di precisione a lungo raggio.
Dalle sue parole: "Il sistema è un sistema a reazione lenta finché non
accade qualcosa e qualcosa è accaduto. E il sistema ha reagito. Ciò
spingerà
avanti la nostra agenda, ovviamente innestata dagli sforzi per la
guerra,
questo genere di guerra che molti di noi hanno paventato e anticipato".
Alla SPC, fabbrica di Arlington, raddoppiò il salario preso al
Pentagono.
Era l'epoca in cui sfornava prime pagine (e libri) su vari soggetti tra
cui
quelle sul caccia israeliano Lavi e le opzioni di pace "strategicamente
marginali" messe in atto dall'amministrazione Clinton.
Intanto si viene a conoscere che il Pentagono ha perso la traccia di 2,3
migliaia di miliardi: "Secondo alcuni calcoli non siamo capaci di
rintracciare questo denaro attraverso l'analisi delle transazioni"
(frase di
Donald Rumsfeld, riportata su CBS News, 29/1/02).
In pratica questo denaro è scomparso - nessuno sa dove sia finito.
Funzionari governativi hanno accusato il sistema di contabilità e il
dipartimento della difesa americano, dal canto suo, non è stato in
grado di
produrre bilanci controllati in modo indipendente dal 1995.
Uno studio dell'Ente pubblico per il controllo amministrativo e
contabile ha
trovato i sistemi di contabilità di magazzino della Difesa tenuti in
modo
così approssimativo che l'esercito americano risulta aver perso ogni
traccia
di 56 aeroplani, 32 carri e 36 unità di lancio di missili Javelin.
Che sia questo il motivo delle dimissioni?
Uri Dowbenko su Conspiracy Planet esclama: "Il rabbino Zakheim ha
lasciato
il Pentagono. Grazie a Dio". Secondo l'articolista, dopo più di 20 anni
di
comando esercitato su una frode militare del valore di più di 3000
miliardi
di dollari, il Revisore dei conti del Pentagono se ne va e si
trasferisce
alla Booz Allen Hamilton attraverso quel famoso meccanismo della "porta
girevole" che lega governo e compagnie industriali di sostegno. Zakheim
sarebbe responsabile della mala gestione di più di 400 miliardi di
dollari/anno. Zakheim dopo le contestazioni ha affermato che "ci
troviamo
negli affari economici di guerre in corso, non sui libri di bilancio".
Conclude Dowbenfo: "Intanto il rabbino se ne esce di scena lasciando le
finanze del Pentagono con più di 5000 diversi sistemi finanziari in
atto. Se
si fosse trovato a fare quello che ha fatto al Pentagono in una
multinazionale, sarebbe stato accusato di cospirazione criminale,
negligenza
e migliaia di accuse di frode. Il paradosso è che se ne sta andando a
lavorare proprio nel cosiddetto settore privato".
Dal punto di vista delle indagini su un delitto (11/9), 'blueridge' (uno
pseudonimo) nel suo post su libertyforum afferma: "E' l'ora di mettere
il
suo nome tra i principali sospettati ... egli è ovviamente un uomo
dell'autorità sionista (agente Rothchild), con esperienza in controllo
remoto (Direttore della System Planning Corporation - tecnica di
controllo
remoto di velivoli!), sotto solo a Rumsfeld in quanto ad autorità,
scrittore
politico del PNAC e capace di spostare i fondi all'interno del Pentagono
stesso!" Questi sarebbero i sospetti capaci di spiegare "movente, mezzi
e
opportunità... tutti in un solo uomo! Io credo che possa essere la MENTE
DELL'11/9! (E' sorprendente come la stampa non se ne sia mai
adeguatamene
occupata)"
=== 2 ===
Feds probe Clinton aide over missing papers
Former national security adviser under criminal investigation
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 Posted: 7:42 PM EDT (2342 GMT)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/20/berger.probe/index.html
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former national security adviser Samuel "Sandy"
Berger is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department over
allegations that he took secret documents from the National Archives
while reviewing Clinton administration records for the 9/11 commission.
Sources said that among the documents Berger took were drafts of a
Clinton
administration "after-action" report on efforts to thwart the so-called
"millennium plot," a suspected al Qaeda attack planned around the New
Year's holiday in 1999.
Berger, who was national security adviser during President Clinton's
second
term, said in a statement Monday that the removal of the papers was
unintentional.
He said he returned everything he had after the National Archives told
him
documents were missing, "except for a few documents that apparently I
had
accidentally discarded."
Law enforcement sources said archive staff told FBI agents they saw
Berger
placing items in his jacket and pants, and one archive staffer told
agents
that Berger also placed something in his socks.
That latter allegation drew a sharp response from Berger associate and
former White House lawyer Lanny Davis, who challenged any unnamed
official
who makes such an accusation to come forward publicly.
"I suggest that person is lying," he said. "And if that person has the
guts,
let's see who it is who made the comment that Sandy Berger stuffed
something
into his socks."
Berger was designated as the official from the Clinton administration
who
would review documents relevant to 9/11 commission inquiries into the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He also was a witness at
commission
hearings and reviewed records to prepare for his personal testimony.
In recent months, he has been serving as an informal foreign policy
adviser
to Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, but stepped down
from
the unpaid position Tuesday, said his lawyer, Lanny Breuer.
The investigation has been under way since October, and its disclosure
the
week before the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts
--
and just days before the 9/11 commission is due to release its report
-- led
some Democrats to question whether the news was leaked for political
reasons.
Kerry's campaign reacted strongly to suggestions by some Republicans
that
Berger might have passed classified information to it.
"This appears to be a partisan attempt to divert attention away from the
9/11 commission report," said Kerry spokesman Phil Singer. "Instead of
using
the report's recommendations to learn how we can improve our homeland
security, Republicans are playing politics with an inquiry."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said he found the
timing
"very curious, given this has been under way now for this long."
"Somebody leaked it, obviously, with intent, I think, to do damage to
Mr.
Berger, and I think that's unfortunate," Daschle said.
But an administration source told CNN that any suggestion the Justice
Department leaked the investigation on purpose now is "simply not true."
Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt said Berger's decision to leave the
Kerry
campaign "was appropriate, but there are still questions that remain."
"There are still a lot of questions about whether or not the Kerry
campaign
benefited from the information Berger took," Holt said.
Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, the Republican speaker of the House,
said
he was "profoundly troubled" by the probe and suggested Berger was
trying to
conceal damaging information from the 9/11 commission.
"What information could be so embarrassing that a man with decades of
experience in handling classified documents would risk being caught
pilfering our nation's most sensitive secrets? Did these documents
detail
simple negligence, or did they contain something more sinister?" Hastert
asked a statement.
Berger regrets 'sloppiness'
One Berger associate said Berger acknowledges placing his handwritten
notes
into his pants pockets, and perhaps into his jacket as well.
National Archives' policy requires that if someone reviews classified
documents and wants to take out handwritten notes, those notes must
first be
cleared by archivists.
"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of
withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my
knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton
administration was produced," Berger said in a written statement.
A government source said some of the documents at issue were classified
as
"code word" materials -- the highest level of secrecy in the U.S.
government, held more closely than nuclear secrets.
The source said the 9/11 commission was briefed on the Berger
investigation,
but the White House was never informed of the matter.
Archives officials told investigators that at least one draft of the
millennium plot after-action report is still missing.
9/11 panel: Probe won't affect report
But Al Felzenberg, a spokesman for the 9/11 commission, said
commissioners
have no reason to believe the Berger investigation will affect "the
substance or integrity" of its final report, due to be released
Thursday.
The 10-member bipartisan panel, formally known as the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, was established
to investigate the
events before, during and immediately after the attacks of September
11, 2001.
Felzenberg said the panel "believes it had access to all materials
needed to
do our report," and was "reasonably certain" it saw all versions of the
missing after-action memo.
Associates said Berger knew there were copies of the documents and that
former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke, the after-action report's
author, was cooperating with the commission inquiry. They questioned
what
motive Berger would have had to take and destroy documents.
Two sources associated with the investigation said Breuer made a
detailed
statement of Berger's view of the facts at issue several months ago and
has
offered to talk to the Justice Department about a resolution to the
probe.
Breuer has renewed his offer to talk several times since, one of the
Berger
associates said, but said prosecutors have refused to enter into such
discussions.
In the case of the classified documents removed from the archives, the
associate said Berger was reviewing thousands of documents and trying to
"power read" as much as possible -- placing some in a pile to be
forwarded
to the 9/11 commission and others in a "nonresponsive" file to be
returned,
because he did not believe they were relevant to the commission's
requests.
Berger has told associates and his attorneys he deliberately set aside
drafts of the millennium plot after-action report because it was a
longer
document and "he knew he needed to take some time on it," according to
one
adviser.
In Berger's account, after hours of reading documents, he inadvertently
took
the documents he had set aside to read later along with other materials
and
a leather portfolio he had carried into the screening room.
CNN's John King, Kelli Arena, Bob Franken and Pam Benson contributed to
this
report.
---
Kerry Adviser Steps Aside Amid Outcry Over Documents
By DAVID STOUT and MARK GLASSMAN
Published: July 20, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/20/politics/20CND-
BERG.html?pagewanted=1&hp
WASHINGTON, July 20 — A former national security adviser, Samuel R.
Berger,
quit his role as informal adviser to the presidential campaign of
Senator
John Kerry today amid a clamor over his improper handling of classified
documents.
"Mr. Berger does not want any issue surrounding the 9/11 commission to
be
used for partisan purposes," Lanny Breuer, Mr. Berger's attorney, told
The
Associated Press late this afternoon. "With that in mind he has decided
to
step aside as an informal adviser to the Kerry campaign until this
matter is
resolved."
The decision to step aside came after a day in which Republicans zeroed
in
on the disclosure that Mr. Berger, who was President Bill Clinton's
national
security adviser, removed classified documents from the National
Archives
last year. Some Republicans wondered aloud today whether Mr. Berger had
used the papers to help Senator Kerry, the presumptive Democratic
presidential
nominee.
Mr. Berger's mishandling of the documents, which were related to
terrorism
and which he took from the National Archives in preparation for his
testimony before the 9/11 commission, seemed today to become a bigger
problem for the Kerry campaign almost by the hour — and at the worst
possible time, as Mr. Kerry is hoping to gain a big lift by next week's
Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Mr. Berger, no stranger to the knees and elbows of Washington,
apparently
bowed to the political reality that "if you have to explain it, don't
bother."
Mr. Kerry issued a statement in which he said: "Sandy Berger is my
friend,
and he has tirelessly served this nation with honor and distinction. I
respect his decision to step aside as an adviser to the campaign until
this
matter is resolved objectively and fairly."
While Democrats had seemed inclined to give Mr. Berger the benefit of
the
doubt and accept his explanation that the incident with the documents
was
inadvertent, Republicans were decidedly less charitable.
The Republican majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, told
reporters in the Capitol he did not know whether the classified
documents
that Mr. Berger took had been sent to the Kerry campaign. "But I think
it's
pretty interesting that the press is now reporting that these documents
had
to do with airport security and seaport security, and that those are two
areas where the Kerry campaign has seemed to focus on relative to
alleged
deficiencies in homeland security," Mr. Frist said.
Mr. Berger was not immediately available for comment on the Republican
remarks. However, he said Monday night that the documents had been taken
inadvertently. And the Kerry campaign said today it was drawing up a
statement rebutting the assertions.
Senator Gordon Smith, Republican of Oregon, called on the Kerry
campaign to
"immediately disavow any connection with Sandy Berger" and turn over any
documents supplied by Mr. Berger.
"Right after the documents were taken, John Kerry held a photo op and
attacked the president on port security," Mr. Smith recalled. "The
documents
that were taken may have been utilized for that press conference."
A moment later, Mr. Smith said: "I just simply think it's important for
the
American people to know how disappointing this conduct is as they try to
take down the president of the United States. The American people
deserve
better than this. And frankly, we expect more than this."
It was disclosed on Monday night that Mr. Berger removed classified
national
security documents from the National Archives while vetting them in
preparation for testimony before the commission investigating the
terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Mr. Berger inadvertently removed at least two slightly different
versions of
a memo critiquing how the government handled national intelligence and
security issues before the millennium celebration in December 1999, as
well
as personal notes he had taken on classified documents, Mr. Breuer said
Monday night.
"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of
documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with
requests by the 9/11 Commission, I inadvertently took a few documents
from
the Archives," Mr. Berger himself said in a statement Monday. "I also
took
my notes on the documents reviewed. When I was informed by the Archives
there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had,
except for a few documents that apparently I had accidentally
discarded."
Mr. Berger is the subject of a Justice Department criminal
investigation,
not the target of one. The distinction is crucial. A subject is a person
whose activities are of interest to investigators; a target is a person
who
might be charged with actual wrongdoing.
The affair took on a slightly comic note today, as Republican senators
said
Mr. Berger had apparently put some papers in his trousers.
"Now, I don't know what happened to these documents after they were put
in
Mr. Berger's pants," Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia said today.
"It's
been reported in the press that these documents related to homeland
security
at our airports and at our seaports. And it's very interesting to note
that
those are two areas where Senator Kerry has been very critical of our
Homeland Security Department."
Deputy Attorney General James Comey declined comment on the
investigation
today. But he did say prosecutors take "very, very seriously" any
possible
mishandling of classified documents, The A.P. said.
Mr. Berger said Monday he deeply regretted "the sloppiness involved" and
that he did not intend to keep any document from the commission. The
investigation and Mr. Berger's statement were first reported by The
Associated Press. All of the documents and notes were returned by Mr.
Berger
to the archives in early October, within a week of his learning they
were
missing, his lawyers said.
Despite Mr. Berger's insistence that his mishandling of the documents
was
accidental, the potential for political repercussions quickly became
obvious, in part because Mr. Berger has been an adviser to Senator
Kerry,
President's Bush's presumptive Democrat opponent. Then, too, the
disclosure
that the documents were mishandled comes just before the Sept. 11
commission is to release its long-awaited report. A spokesman for the
commission, Al Felzenberg, told The Associated Press today that Mr.
Berger's
actions would have no effect on the work of the panel, which Mr.
Felzenberg
said had had access to all the materials it needed.
Senator Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican and member of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said people should not rush to judgment about
Mr.
Berger's actions. "I think we need more information," he said today on
Fox
News. "I mean, obviously the timing of it is not good if he is serving
as an
adviser to a presidential candidate. But from now on until the election,
everything like this will have a spotlight put on it and examined very
carefully."
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, said he was
surprised.
"I know Sandy Berger well," Mr. Lieberman said on the same Fox News
program.
"He's a very patriotic American. Unless we learn otherwise, I have to
assume
that what Sandy says is right, that any removal of documents was
inadvertent."
Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, told
reporters
at the Capitol that Mr. Berger had served his country "very ably and
very,
very well" and deserved the benefit of the doubt. The senator said
someone
had obviously leaked the fact of the investigation to embarrass Mr.
Berger.
"The timing of all this is curious," Mr. Daschle said.
And David R. Gergen, the longtime political strategist who worked in the
administration of President Bill Clinton as well as in the Nixon, Ford
and
Reagan White Houses, said he thought what Mr. Berger did was "more
innocent
than it looks."
"I have known Sandy Berger for a long time," Mr. Gergen said on NBC's
"Today" show. "He would never do anything to compromise the security of
the
United States." Mr. Gergen said he thought it "suspicious" that word of
the
investigation of Mr. Berger came out just before release of the 9/11
commission report.
Federal agents investigated the allegations that Mr. Berger mishandled
classified materials, a senior government official said Monday evening
. The
official said that the inquiry had concluded and was now being reviewed
by
prosecutors at the Justice Department who will decide whether any laws
were
broken.
Federal law makes it a crime to mishandle classified information,
either by
copying it or removing it from a government-approved secure room, even
if
the information does not fall into the wrong hands. Even so, prosecutors
have in the past exercised wide latitude in cases in which former
officials,
including cabinet officers, would be treated under the law.
Earlier this year, Paul O'Neill, the former Treasury Secretary, was
found to
have used classified material from his tenure in writing a book about
the
Bush economic team. An internal inquiry found that Treasury Department
officials had improperly turned over documents that should have been
classified but that Mr. O'Neill did nothing wrong.
Before that, Johh Deutch, a former C.I.A. director, became the subject
of an
embarrassing inquiry into whether he had downloaded classified
intelligence
documents to an unsecured personal computer that he used to gain access
to
Internet sites. On his final day in office, President Clinton pardoned
Mr.
Deutch, who was in the midst of negotiating a plea agreement with
prosecutors on charges stemming from the accusations.