Weeken d Edition
January 26 / 27, 2008
Why Bush Wants to Legalize the Nuke Trade with Turkey
Exonerating Neo-Con Crimes
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 UK Times two weeks ago, and Edmonds’ charge
seems to be on the verge of vindication.
In likely reaction to the UK 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 within 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 DissidentVoice.org 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 June 2008.