The US-Israeli espionage story is beginning to read like a page-turner of a spy novel. The current "state of play" is something like this: The FBI picked up on the activities of Larry Franklin, a Pentagon official specializing in Iranian affairs, as part of an espionage investigation involving the lobby group AIPAC and the Israeli embassy in Washington. One spin on the story is that Franklin is a naive guy who was overzealous in his policy advocacy and that's what got him in trouble. Others point out that this is highly implausible picture of Franklin, a key adviser to Pentagon hardliner Douglas Feith.
And it's looking more and more like this case presents yet another glimpse in how the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s may have become a template for the entire Middle East foreign-policy making process in this Bush administration, and possibly well beyond the Middle East. As I said back last October, "This can't be good. It just can't be good. We've been here before. Been there, done that. It didn't work out at all."
Following are some of the links I've come across. First of all, this aptly-title article gives some relevant background on the situation:
Iran-Contra II? by Joshua Micah Marshall, Laura Rozen, and Paul Glastris Washington Monthly Sept 2004 (accessed 08/31/04).
Josh Marshall and Laura Rozen both have blogs which readers of Old Hickory's Weblog see referenced and quoted fairly frequently. Juan Cole has also been analyzing this situation at his blog. Here are some recent blog entries from those three on the espionage case, in addition to the ones I referenced earlier:
Josh Marshall:
Laura Rozen:
The FBI Investigation Continued 08/28/04
More than just Franklin 08/28/04
Has Franklin already been flipped? 08/29/04
Ghorbanifar 08/29/04
Franklin, Flipped 08/29/04
More investigation of Feith's office 08/31/04
Juan Cole:
Pentagon/Israel Spying Case Expands: Fomenting a War on Iran 08/28/04
Newsweek: Franklin Confesses/AIPAC Under Separate FBI Investigation 08/30/04
Johnson: FBI Furious at Leak 08/30/04
Hollings on AIPAC 08/31/04
Franklin Met with Naor Gilon 08/31/04
All three of those blogs have their own links to various stories. Here are a few I found looking through other papers.
Spy probe tests US-Israeli ties by Faye Bowers Christian Science Monitor 08/30/04
2d probe at the Pentagon examines actions on Iraq Boston Globe 08/31/04
Report on Iran Key to Spying Inquiry bLos Angeles Times 08/29/04
FBI Questions Israeli Lobbyists in Spying Probe bLos Angeles Times 08/31/04
Israel's Albatross: U.S. Neocons by Robert Scheer Los Angeles Times 08/31/04. (Also at WorkingforChange.com) Scheer writes:
[The Iraq War] has only served to inflame passions across the region, increasing the threat to Israel. Many Israelis concerned for their country are alarmed by President Bush's substitution of militarism for diplomacy, which they believe only benefits those who profit from fear and hate — such as arms brokers and political and religious extremists.
In addition, moderates across the Muslim world have seen their position eroded by popular anger over the U.S. occupation and Washington's uncritical support for Ariel Sharon. Al Qaeda and allied terror groups have seized on the chaos and fury to recruit a new generation of fighters. Extremists are now in control of crucial parts of Iraq and disrupting the rest, while rogue Iran is more politically influential among their co-religionists in the Shiite majority in Iraq than is the U.S. with its 120,000 troops on the ground.
Now, after the missing weapons of mass destruction and Abu Ghraib, comes the latest embarrassing blow to America's image — which polls show has been in free fall since the decision to invade Iraq. ...
The neocons are unstable ideologues, more in love with their own radical dream of breaking the world to remake it in their image than they are with protecting Israel or the U.S. Such unbounded arrogance, embraced by Bush, has greatly amplified the voices of those persistent anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists in the Muslim world and beyond who are now seizing upon the latest Israeli spy rumors.
The following links are to English-language articles in Israeli papers. Ha'aretz is a more liberal paper, while the Jerusalem Post is more conservative and pro-Likud. Richard Perle, one of the most prominent "neoconservatives", sits on the board of the company that own the Post. Ma'ariv is more of a centrist paper.
Ha'aretz links:
FBI said in contact with Franklin by Aluf Benn Ha'aretz (Israel) 08/29/04
Analysis: The Franklin affair will damage Israel's image by Aluf Benn Ha'aretz (Israel) 08/29/04
Analyst at center of spy flap called naive, ardently pro-Israel by Nathan Guttman Ha'aretz (Israel) 08/30/04
Show the proof editorial Ha'aretz (Israel) 08/30/04
Israel won't ask U.S. to clarify why official was tailed by Nathan Guttman Ha'aretz (Israel) 08/31/04
Jerusalem Post links:
Shalom: Franklin affair is 'media nonsense' by Janine Zacharia and Herb Keinon Jerusalem Post (Israel) 08/28/04
Who is Larry Franklin? Jerusalem Post (Israel) 08/28/04
The AIPAC kerfluffle editorial Jerusalem Post (Israel) 08/29/04. The editorial essentially argues reflexively that the charges stem from politics and anti-Semitism.
Ma'ariv links:
Arrest possible soon in new US-Israel spy affair Ma'ariv (Israel) 08/29/04
Spy scandal fizzling out Ma'ariv (Israel) 08/29/04
Israeli diplomat denies any improper behavior by Ben Kaspit and Miriam Fox Ma'ariv (Israel) 08/30/04
A molehill without a mole by Jonathan Ariel Ma'ariv (Israel) 08/31/04. "[A]ccusations of anti-Semitism cannot be made, as there is no evidence to support them. To do so would be to commit the same sin as those who first launched this affair, making unsubstantiated accusations, substituting hype for facts in order to pursue an agenda."
Finally, a source to be taken with huge grains of salt: Suspected Israeli Spy in Pentagon: First the Leak, Then the Fallout Debka.com 08/24/04. Debka.com is a source that has expresses the viewpoint and spin some in Israel's Likud Party who are to the "right" (i.e., more hardline) than Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. I do not rely on it or trust it as a factual source. I look at it for an indication of its particular political spin.
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