Kerry Speaks on BCCI

[kerrygoddess]

Kerry Speaks on BCCI: "Financial transparency is more important than ever"
19 December 2004


John Kerry spoke out today about the BCCI affair calling "for regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to tighten their anti-money laundering procedures." Kerry led the Senate investigation of BCCI in the early 1990's.

Senator John Kerry has slammed the Bank of England over its handling of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) disaster and warned that London remains vulnerable to another major scandal.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=151

[trotsky]

1. Perfect timing!

We definitely wouldn't have wanted the word to get out during the campaign that our candidate was busting corporate criminals years before Kenny Lay raped his employees.

[gWbush is Mabus]

2. lol

[zann725]

17. LOL too! The timing of this is SO significant!

This is NOT coincidental.

Thank you, John! We asked for a 'sign.'

[kerrygoddess]

20. There are no small coincidences...

[DireStrike]

3. lol

Unfortunately, every time I think about something Kerry should have done or mentioned during the campaigns, it turns out that he DID do it... we just didn't hear about it from the news.

I can't speak for this particular issue, but there are plenty of things he said and did that would have worked for the campaign if only they were reported.

[liberalpragmatist]

6. That's true although not with BCCI

He actually said a lot of the things people say he should have said. For instance, anybody on DU remember him calling for repealing the Patriot Act?

But BCCI - it was a huge missed opportunity. Why he didn't bring it up is beyond me.

[JI7]

5. i wish they had made a bigger issue of this

while many people think the problem was in how they responded to the swift boat idiots.

i think the biggest mistake the campaign made was not in talking more about Kerry's record as prosecutor and Senator.

[AntiCoup2K4]

16. No, the biggest mistake was not following through in the first place...

....possibly preventing Poppy from ever holding the White House (at least under his own name) and definitely preventing Jeb and Junior from launching political careers. Skull & Bones probably ordered him not to do anything that would harm the Bushes.

BTW, wasn't John Heinz also somehow involved in the investigation? And John Tower, both of whom died in oddly timed plane crashes (a favorite way for the BCE to resolve problem situations).

Did Kerry chicken out after those two got bumped off, or what?

[kerrygoddess]

10. There was some statement JK made about BCCI

There was some statement JK made about BCCI during the campaign because it was in the news that the trial was starting. If I could remember when it was I would look for it!

I don't know why the campaign opted to not push this and I'm not going to cry over spilled milk.

I am glad to see he is speaking up about it, as the trial is happening.

[liberalpragmatist]

4. Why he didn't mention this during the campaign doesn't cease to amaze me

It's an obvious ad:

"John Kerry brought down the largest terrorist funding scheme in history."

Apparently Shrum (idiot) said it was too "complex" and people would get confused and think "BBC"?

[JI7]

8. RIGHT they should have made a bigger deal of this

forget the swift boat crap. that was a media creation and the media pushed it even if they KNEW it was lies.

but the Kerry campaign should have presented Kerry as a fighter not just in vietnam but in the Senate also. then it woudln't have just been about a guy who fought in vietnam. but a guy who fought for people his entire life with his war service just being one of them.

[liberalpragmatist]

9. I sort of agree with you about the swift boat thing

You saw my thread on the issue. Kerry did actually fight back - albeit a couple weeks too late. THe issue definitely hurt him somewhat. However, while I think he should have fought back sooner, I'm not sure it wouldn't have changed the overall result. The media still would have had a field day with the story and still would have peddled it as a "he said/she said"-type thing.

I think the bigger mistakes were not making clear a broader theme animating Kerry's foreign policy/terrorism positions. He shouldn't have ceded "freedom and democracy" to Bush, and should have argued that Bush was setting back the course for freedom.

The other big mistake in my view was his saying he'd have voted for the IWR even knowing there were no WMDs - he was clearly parsing, trying to not flip-flop but it reduced him to near incoherence on Iraq for a few weeks until his NYU speech (which should have come a few weeks earlier).

[seemslikeadream]

7. What about Riggs Bank?

He said the banking supervision had improved since BCCI episode but warned it was "still necessary" for regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to tighten their anti-money laundering procedures.

WaPo: Allbritton Loses Riggs Bank (front page, day 3)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=691609

[politicasista]

11. What about that and the program in Harlem...

with the kids, something about that he mentioned during his acceptance speech at the DNC?

I agree with everyone here, it was a strategic mistake (yes another one!) and missed opportunity at the DNC to focus on the domestic and social issues (racism, sexism, poverty, etc.) than the whole Vietnam service, but we are at war thanks to Smirky so I guess they wanted to portray Kerry as a war hero who could be strong on terrorism, etc.

[JI7]

12. but they could have done it all

his investigations into BCCI, his work as a prosecutor would have HELPED the perception of him as being tough just as his military service would. in fact it would be better since it wasn't just about him serving in war but about what he has done his entire life and something he would continue to do. it should have all been combined to make the theme of a fighter for the people.

remember Clinton's speech of KErry where he says "John Kerry said send me". that should have been the overall theme and they should have used his record to fill in the details.

he didn't just serve in war when bush went awol, he was also a prosecutor taking on the mob and rapists while bush was getting drunk driving arrests, and he was a senator who went after bcci, iran contra, vietnam mia while bush was still a drunk in his 40's and 50's.

[kerrygoddess]

13. This all was communicated

This all was communicated at various times during the campaign, unfortunately either the media did not report it or people were not listening. Perhaps the campaign should have pushed these issues harder... who knows.

All this is on JohnKerry.com as well - http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/senate.html

[JI7]

15. you are right, i was paying attention and i get tired of people saying

he didn't do something when he did also. the media did ignore it.

but mostly i'm talking about tv ads. and perhaps we need a better coordination where it's not just the campaign itself but other elected democrats and spokespeople plus just people like us who are regular democratic voters and activists who said the same thing.

[rman]

14. Kerry: "Something is really wrong out there" re. CIA narcotics trade

"We were complicit as a country, in narcotics traffic at the same time as we're spending countless dollars in this country as we try to get rid of this problem. It's mind-boggling.
I don't know if we got the worst intelligence system in the world, i don't know if we have the best and they knew it all, and just overlooked it.
But no matter how you look at it, something's wrong. Something is really wrong out there."
-- John Kerry, Iran Contra Hearings, 1987

from the documentary "Crack The C.I.A."
http://www.archive.org/download/ctc/ctc_256kb.mov (32MB, 9min)
http://mysite.verizon.net/res7dhyg/slaverevolt.html

[RamboLiberal]

18. I remember reading that Kerry Campaign didn't make it

a talking point more was because they thought it too complicated for the Doofus voters out there to understand.

Unfortunately they may have been right - but I wish they had highlighted it, especially when the RW was trashing him for having no accomplishments during his senate career. Another campaign mistake IMHO.

Maybe someone can find a link, but I'm at work and have to get home cause my demon mutt has been locked in the house all day cause of the cold weather.

[saracat]

21. Right on. Never overestimate the intelligence of the American

voyter. They would never have grasped this! BCCI What?

[JohnOneillsMemory]

19. Vague=token. Consider P-Tech software at FAA, FBI inaction, 9/11 cover up.

I'm thinking the Kerry/DNC folks are looking at DU to see how little it takes to re-confirm the doubters who want a 'sign' he is still politically relevant. I think he is an insider who covers for the worst crimes the BFEE committ and goes for small concessions which liberals think are courageously won battles.

Consider the Boston FBI's (Kerry's geo-base) inaction on P-Tech, a Saudi-backed software firm being used by the FAA, Air Force, and other Federal agencies which might have been used to take advantage of Operation Vigilant Warrior on the morning of 9/11.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=74962
(P-Tech Has Access to the FAA Computers)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/08/21/national1518EDT0686.DTL
(CIA and NORAD Exercises for Planes Crashed Into Buildings)