by Patrick Lang (bio below)
“Another government practice with the potential for embarrassment,
as the Libby case has shown, is the tendency for administration officials to selectively leak information to manipulate public opinion.” JTA (PDF)
This case is “simmering away” in the courthouse of the Eastern Federal District of Virginia down the street from my house. Franklin was convicted of espionage in this case on behalf of AIPAC and the Israeli Embassy.
Satterfield and Pollack seem to have done the same thing that Franklin was convicted of but appear to have cooperated with the FBI in the matter from the first time that the Bureau approached them about it. Franklin does not seem to have been given that chance, but, perhaps I am missing something … In any event he is of “the torturable class.” Look it up. He should have stayed in DIA where he would have been comfortably lodged in obscurity, but the lure of promotion is a strong one, and so he moved to OSD. Ambition is a frightening thing.
Franklin is convicted but not sentenced. He will be sentenced in December, I believe. Needless to say, the FBI and prosecutors are having “fun” with him until then, and maybe beyond.
People in the know think that this case or set of cases and the Plame/Cheney matter are related because there are so many “common” players in them both. This is likely.
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Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including PBS’s Newshour, and most recently on MSNBC’s Hardball and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”.
Personal Blog: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005
Bio || CV
Favorite Books || More BooTrib <a href="Posts
Novel: The Butcher’s Cleaver (download free by chapter, PDF format)
“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2
