They're Back - Iran contra-era fabricator and his associate

[donsu]

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=12059

They're Back
An Iran contra-era fabricator and his associate appear to have opened a new channel to Washington.



From time to time, I call up a longtime associate and business partner of Manucher Ghorbanifar, the infamous Iran-contra arms dealer and intelligence peddler deemed a fabricator by the CIA who lured the Reagan administration to secretly sell TOW missiles to the Tehran mullahs. This elderly Ghorbanifar associate is a former official in the Shah’s government, long financially dependent on Ghorbanifar, whom he serves as a kind of dignified elderly secretary; like many Iranian exiles, he dreams that the mullahs will be overthrown and that he can soon return to his native country from his long exile in France.

Since 9-11, Ghorbanifar and his business associate, both based in France, have tried through various channels and schemes to get back on the U.S. government payroll as intelligence sources on Iran and the Middle East. Their efforts to do so have been thwarted -- until now. The associate told me that he now has channels to the U.S. government, and a response to my inquiry about this from the office of Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte did not include a denial.

I’ve written at length about Ghorbanifar’s meeting with Pentagon officials in Rome in December 2001, and a 2004 effort by Ghorbanifar and his business associate to get on the U.S. government payroll as intelligence assets through the person of Congressman Curt Weldon, who published a book based on their information that reveals how breathless and inaccurate the scheme was. (“Dear Curt,” reads one memo from the Ghorbanifar associate. “I confirm again a terrorist attack within the United States is planned before the American elections.") At every juncture, pressure from the CIA and Foggy Bottom ultimately shut those channels down.

-snip-

Intrigued, I contacted the office of the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, who, as intelligence czar, is presumably ultimately responsible for preventing the corruption of U.S. intelligence on Iran by possible fabricators.

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[seemslikeadream]

1. Two words

NIGER FORGERIES


Did he ever leave? :shrug:


http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2005/10/the_niger_forge.html

[blm]

2. IranContra and BCCI are the roots of EVERYTHING going on today.

The BFEE must have been thrilled they talked a president into keeping THOSE books closed. BushInc wouldn't be in power and dictating to the rest of the world today if those books had been opened.

[bigbrother05]

3. That's why * was "installed"

First thing he did was shutdown the Presidential Records release that would have outed Poppy, but had no problems passing on Bill's files if it served his purposes.

[blm]

5. Unfortunately, I meant in 1993 when the issues were still alive and

investigations were still going on. Walsh was pressured into finishing up, even though there were still areas left to pursue.

[annabanana]

4. I'm sure there are brand new "IWG"s burrowed away

in several departments... ready & willing to stovepipe whatever is required to justify the invasion of Iran.

[blm]

6. No doubt about it. And they have the "reporters" in place for the phony

stories we'll be hearing more of soon, too.