More on Sibel Edmonds

Back in early January, Progressive Alaska covered the publication in the UK Sunday Times of a feature article, interviewing ex-FBI translator and now-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. This last week, the Sunday Times added more information, and caught the FBI attempting to hide one of the files alluded to by Edmonds by denying the file's existence, even though they had acknowledged that the file exists when responding to an unconnected party's Freedom of Information Act request.

Yesterday, American hero Daniel Ellsberg, who has stayed knowledgeable about the Edmonds case, wrote an article for Bradblog. It is worth quoting from at length:

For the second time in two weeks, the entire U.S. press has let itself be scooped by Rupert Murdoch's London Sunday Times on a dynamite story of criminal activities by corrupt U.S. officials promoting nuclear proliferation. But there is a worse journalistic sin than being scooped, and that is participating in a cover-up of information that demands urgent attention from the public, the U.S. Congress and the courts.

For the last two weeks --- one could say, for years --- the major American media have been guilty of ignoring entirely the allegations of the courageous and highly credible source Sibel Edmonds, quoted in the London Times on January 6, 2008 in a front-page story that was front-page news in much of the rest of the world but was not reported in a single American newspaper or network. It is up to readers to demand that this culpable silent treatment end.

Just as important, there must be pressure by the public on Congressional committee chairpersons, in particular Representative Henry Waxman and Senator Patrick Leahy. Both have been sitting for years on classified, sworn testimony by Edmonds --- as she revealed in the Times' new story on Sunday --- along with documentation, in their possession, confirming parts of her account. Pressure must be brought for them to hold public hearings to investigate her accusations of widespread criminal activities, over several administrations, that endanger national security. They should call for open testimony under oath by Edmonds --- as she has urged for five years --- and by other FBI officials she has named to them, as cited anonymously in the first Times' story.

Go read the rest of Ellsberg's article!

Ellsberg observes later in his essay that a pushback is being mounted by FBI surrogates, claiming that Edmonds stumbled upon a counter-intel op. If that were true, there wouldn't have been such enormous unpunished bribes to U.S. Congressmen, and so much high-level narcotic smuggling going on. Don't hold your breath on this being picked up soon by the US or Alaska mainstream media. Which, once again, is why PA is covering this, rather than our regular Alaska fare.

On a local note: KUDO's Shannyn Moore interviewed Bradblog's Brad Friedman right after the New Hampshire primary. I only heard part of the interview - it was about possible vote tampering in that primary - but it was excellent radio.