Published on Thursday, February 21, 2008 by the Atlantic Free Press
Why Bush Wants to Legalize the Nuke Trade With Turkey
by Joshua Frank
According to FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, there is a vast black
market for nukes, and certain U.S. officials have been supplying
sensitive nuclear technology information to Turkish and Israeli
interests through its conduits. It’s a scathing allegation which was
first published by the London Times two weeks ago, and Edmonds’ charge
seems to be on the verge of vindication.
In likely reaction to the London Times report, the Bush Administration
quietly announced on January 22 that the president would like Congress
to approve the sale of nuclear secrets to Turkey. As with most stories
of this magnitude, the U.S. media has put on blinders, opting to not
report either Edmonds’ story or Bush’s recent announcement.
The White House Press Release claims that President Clinton signed off
on the Turkey deal way back in 2000:
`However, immediately after signature, U.S. agencies received
information that called into question the conclusions that had
been drawn in the required NPAS (Nuclear Proliferation
Assessment Statement) and the original classified annex,
specifically, information implicating Turkish private entities
in certain activities directly relating to nuclear
proliferation. Consequently, the Agreement was not submitted to
the Congress and the executive branch undertook a review of the
NPAS evaluation ¦ My Administration has completed the NPAS
review as well as an evaluation of actions taken by the Turkish
government to address the proliferation activities of certain
Turkish entities (once officials of the U.S. Government brought
them to the Turkish government’s attention).’
What `private entities’ the press release refers to is not clear, but it
could well include the American Turkish Council, the `entity’ revealed
in the Times article. The Bushites seem to be covering their own exposed
backsides, for the timing of Bush’s call to sell nuke secrets to Turkey
is certainly suspicious, if not overtly conspicuous.
It appears the White House has been spooked by Edmonds and hopes to
absolve the U.S. officials allegedly involved in the illegal sale of
nuclear technology to private Turkish `entities’. One of those officials
is likely Marc Grossman, the former ambassador to Turkey during the
Clinton Administration who also served in the State Department from
2001-2005. Grossman has been named by Edmonds who claims he was directly
involved in the nuclear smuggling ring that she says has allowed the
intelligence agencies of Pakistan, Israel and Turkey to operate in the
U.S. with impunity. Totally complicit in the nuke trade, the U.S.
government, according to Edmonds, has known of the vast criminal
activities of these foreign nations’ presence in the States, which has
included all sorts of illegal activities like drug trafficking,
espionage and money laundering.
Edmonds says `several arms of the government were shielding what was
going on’ which included an entire national security apparatus
associated with the neoconservaties who have profited by representing
Turkish interests in Washington. As Justin Raimondo recently reported in
Antiwar.com:
`¦this group includes not only Grossman, but also Paul
Wolfowitz, chief intellectual architect of the Iraq war and
ex-World Bank president; former deputy defense secretary for
policy Douglas J. Feith; Feith’s successor, Eric Edelman; and
Richard Perle, the notorious uber-neocon whose unique ability to
mix profiteering and warmongering forced him to resign his
official capacity as a key administration adviser ¦ Edmonds
draws a picture of a three-sided alliance consisting of Turkish,
Pakistani, and Israeli agents who coordinated efforts to milk
U.S. nuclear secrets and technology, funneling the intelligence
stream to the black market nuclear network set up by the
Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan. The multi-millionaire Pakistani
nuclear scientist then turned around and sold his nuclear assets
to North Korea, Libya, and Iran.’
Is the Bush Administration seeking to exonerate these `officials’ with
its plea to allow Turkey to obtain U.S. nuclear secrets? Besides
Grossman, who else was involved in Edmonds’ grim tale of the
nuke-for-profit underground? As the news that U.S. officials have
allegedly been supplying Turkey with nuclear technology begins to creep
in to the mainstream media, the Bush team appears to be moving to
legalize the whole shady operation.
If Congress does not block or amend Bush’s legislation to sell nukes to
Turkey in less than 90 days, it will become law automatically, likely
acting retroactively to clear the alleged crimes of Marc Grossman and
his neocon, nuke-trading friends.
Joshua Frank is co-editor of Dissident Voice and author of Left Out! How
Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush (Common Courage Press, 2005), and
along with Jeffrey St. Clair, the editor of the forthcoming Red State
Rebels, to be published by AK Press in July 2008.
© 2008 Atlantic Free Press
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