Hastert, Helicopters, Textron, Turkey, Cash...

[G_j]

from:
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=2286_0_1_0_C

Hastert, Helicopters, Textron, Turkey, Cash...

First of all, my new interview with former FBI translator turned whistleblower Sibel Edmonds- a very interesting read- will be out soon on Antiwar.com. If you aren't familiar with her case, read last year's interview, as well as this and this.

Corruption in high places was alleged in a recent Vanity Fair article that surveyed government whistleblowers, including Edmonds, and unnamed congressional sources. The most sensational one was that House Speaker Dennis Hastert was paid up to $500,000 five years ago by the Turkish lobby to derail a bill that would have recognized the Armenian genocide carried out in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire.

While it cited FBI wiretapped phone conversations from 2000 mentioning Hastert, the magazine conceded that there was no way of proving this allegation.

For his part, Hastert had always claimed that his eleventh-hour decision to quash the bill in October, 2000 owed directly to the intercesson of then-President Clinton, who sent a letter to him personally requesting that maintaining good relations with Turkey were more important than Armenian heritage: "We have significant interests in this troubled region of the world: containing the threat posed by East and Central Asia, stabilizing the Balkans and developing new sources of energy."

Indeed, the potential ill effects of irritating Turkey were vocally stated, not least of all by the Turkish authorities themselves. And this pressure probably meant the end regardless. But if Hastert was able to bluff the Turkish lobby into giving him 500G unnecessarily, hey, more power to him.

But the tale is more complex. Consider this contemporary report on human rights and military sales to Turkey:

..more..

[cascadiance]

1. Here's a link to the interview thread! It is a MUST read!

I just posted this to LBN and it looks to be quickly already on the greatest page right now. She really points a lot of fingers in this interview, perhaps moreso (even though tactfully still trying not to be too specific) than the Vanity Fair article...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1702215

There's really a lot of fuel here for discussions! Let's try and put our responses in the LBN forum though. It is still important to discuss for a wide audience, as Sibel herself notes in this interview!

I've tried my best this weekend (I'm still in Dallas now), to spread her story amongst other fellow classmates that went to school with me here in Turkey. A lot of interest there from those I talked to in reading more on her issues, even though the Vanity Fair article we discussed had a lot of potential controversial impact on Turkish American relations, which Sibel herself feels bad about from some statements in this interview. That makes me impressed with her that much more. I've seen so many people take extreme sides one way or the other on the Armenian question, and rarely find people that try to not be overly opinionated on it and try to look for the truth about it without people corrupting the message. That's where she is and that's where I am on that question!

But I'm still *far* from getting the 50% ratio of people I first talk to knowing who Sibel Edmonds is. Until we at least get that ratio I think we still have a *lot* of work to help get her story out.

[G_j]

2. I agree, btw, the LBN thread was moved to GD

I will try to help keep it alive. What a remarkable interview!

[cascadiance]

3. I'm now headed to the airport shortly...

Thanks for the earlier kicks. Keep the thread alive today, as it is important this info gets out. So much of these sorts of stories are coming out now. We need to get help from others in connecting the dots! I think things are starting to come to a head now!