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August 29, 2004

I'm a diplomat. I failed flight school.

Anyway, so. In The AIPAC kerfuffle, an opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post, one reads:

We are told that the FBI has been investigating Franklin for a year, giving the impression of heft to the story. But as our news pages reveal today, the two AIPAC staffers who are the supposed conduits for Franklin's information have not even been interviewed by the FBI.

Of course, one can also read, in the Knight-Ridder article FBI espionage probe goes beyond Israeli allegations, sources say:

Two or three staff members of AIPAC have been interviewed in connection with the case.

Mind you, both statements might be true; the "two or three staff members" interviewed might not be "the two AIPAC staffers who are the supposed conduits for Franklin's information," after all.

Not that this nit-picking will make even the slightest amount of sense if you're not familiar with what's being termed Iran-Contra II?

On Friday evening, CBS News reported that the FBI is investigating a suspected mole in the Department of Defense who allegedly passed to Israel, via a pro-Israeli lobbying organization, classified American intelligence about Iran. The focus of the investigation, according to U.S. government officials, is Larry Franklin, a veteran Defense Intelligence Agency Iran analyst now working in the office of the Pentagon's number three civilian official, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith.

Which Washington Monthly piece is by Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen and the no-link-for-him editor in chief of the magazine, Paul Glastris.

The article itself is required reading if you'd like to follow this, but you maybe wanna avoid commentary on it. Unless you have a fairly high threshold for both anti-semitism and bogus charges of anti-semitism.

Also, there's quite a few people and organizations involved. Luckily, a helpful diagram is available at uggabugga, based on Juan Cole's take on all this.

I'd add my own take on all this, but, y'know, hiatus. Also, jury duty tomorrow. I mean, if Oprah can do it. . .

Apropos of not a hell of a lot, besides Michael Ledeen's not-yet-determined role in all this, I'd suggest checking out the Coalition for Democracy in Iran Website:

The Coalition for Democracy in Iran (CDI) has been was formed to mobilize the efforts of groups and individuals across the United States, including Iranian-Americans, who in support of the aspirations of the Iranian people for democracy and respect for human rights in Iran. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, there is an even greater urgency to focus in focusing the attention of the U.S. public opinion and the policy makers on the real agenda of the Iranian regime. If [J]udged by actions rather than by words, the battle between the reformers and the hardliners appears only to be a myth, albeit one that which has resulted in conflicting signals from Washington. On the vital issues of support for terrorism and development for of weapons of mass destruction, the Islamic Republic tolerates no dissention.

You can read that Purpose Statement without my edits, for a start. And marvel at the background image they're using; I'd swear I remember that from some of the first sites I visited in Mosaic at U of I way back in the day.

Um, and you probably don't wanna view the source of the page. It's a mess in there, and this is me saying that.

But once you get past the horrible prose, poor design and crap coding. . . well, I couldn't, so if you do, could you write a brief summary for me? Thanks, you're a peach.

Later, I'll explain that entry title. And why there's a watermelon there.

Posted by Aaron at August 29, 2004 11:03 PM

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