Peddling Peril, Peddling Lies
Sunday, 28. March 2010
David Albright, President of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), has a new book out (which I haven’t read) about AQ Khan and the nuclear black market called Peddling Peril: How the Secret Nuclear Trade Arms America’s Enemies.
In the “Acknowledgements” section of the book, Albright writes: “Many former government officials generously provided critical knowledge about the Khan Network, US policy, nuclear terrorism, and illicit nuclear trade. In particular, I would like to thank Richard Barlow, Joseph DeThomas, Robert Einhorn, Mark Fitzpatrick, Robert Galluci, Thomas Graham, Marc Grossman, Khalid Hassan, Fred McGoldrick, Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Joseph Nye, Howard Shaffer and John Wolf.”
While most of these people are acknowledged experts in nuclear matters, the name Marc Grossman stands out as someone without particular expertise in this area. Since when has Marc Grossman been an informed source on these matters? Why is David Albright talking to Grossman? And why is Grossman talking to David Albright? And for how long has Grossman been plying Albright with ‘information‘?
Albright has been criticized by many in the intelligence community, and if Marc Grossman has always been a source, then it is no wonder that Alright is poorly regarded.
It is true that Grossman was a political officer at the Pakistan Embassy in the early 1970s when AQ Khan was getting started, and Grossman was Ambassador to Turkey from 1994-1997 when Turkish entities were involved in supplying the Khan network, and he was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in 2003 when a US-based Turkish company was caught supplying the Khan network – so he could conceivably assist Albright in some of these matters, but as far as I can tell, nobody has ever turned to Grossman for expertise on any of these issues, at least not publicly.
Is it possible that Grossman has been offering himself as a ’source’ to various authors to spin the stories away from the truth?
First, let’s revisit some of the Grossman’s activities according to former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds. In an article in the American Conservative by Phil Giraldi, Ms Edmonds describes systemic blackmail operations where Richard Perle and Douglas Feith supplied Grossman with information about specific (sexual, financial etc) vulnerabilities which could be used to blackmail people who had access to secret information, including nuclear secrets. Grossman would then give the information “to foreign agents who exploited the vulnerabilities of these people to recruit them as sources of information.”
In the same article, Ms Edmonds also states that the criminal network also “had a network of Turkish professors in various universities with access to government information.” In order to maintain and expand the network, a key asset, who was a professor of nuclear physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “would place a bunch of Ph.D. or graduate-level students in various nuclear facilities like Sandia or Los Alamos, and some of them were able to work for the Air Force.” Ms Edmonds further stated that “If for some reason they had difficulty getting a security clearance, Grossman would ensure that the State Department would arrange to clear them.”
Under oath (PDF), Ms Edmonds stated that Marc Grossman was on the payroll of various players in the nuclear black market and that he actively hindered efforts by the CIA to penetrate and unravel the nuclear black market. Ms Edmonds said that, in 2001, Grossman alerted his ‘business associates’ that nuclear consulting company, Brewster Jennings, was actually a CIA front company which was investigating the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Grossman’s outing of Brewster Jennings forced the CIA to shutter the company, doing untold damage to the anti-proliferation efforts, and putting many agents and sources in danger.
In short, Marc Grossman was actually a vital player in the so-called ‘AQ Khan network,’ and should be facing criminal charges.
David Albright’s use of Grossman as a credible source in a book about ‘arming America’s enemies’ is beyond ironic, and it undermines everything that Albright says or writes, and yet for some reason Albright is consistently presented as a serious expert on TV and radio, and given a chance to peddle his book.
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Miguel Says:
I just finished reading “Nuclear Jihadist”, and there is an interesting passage where Marc Grossman and another State Department employee tried a spying mission to find out more about A.Q. Khan’s Kahuta uranium enrichment plant. Grossman talked his way in the facility by claiming the two men were going for a picnic on the nearby hillside. This was in 1979, a few months before the Soviet invasion.
Officials like Grossman and Congressman Solarz seemed to be generally concerned about nuclear proliferation in the 1980s. Is it possible that, at some poin, they just figured, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?”
In terms of Albright, I look at him the same way I look at the rest of the Nonproliferation community in the U.S.. They are useful sources, but they have their limitations. Albright isn’t going to really stray too far from the government line if he wants to have influence. No one wants to be the next Richard Barlow.
Early Light Says:
Perhaps Mr. Grossman is sincerely offering first-hand inside knowledge about international nuclear proliferation and the treasonous government officials that further the goal of improving foreign nuclear weapons?
Maybe he’s on to something here.
Make money helping sell nuclear secrets, then make money helping catch the people involved in selling nuclear secrets?
Maybe his plan is to sell out the whole network, go into the federal witness protection program, and live like a king under some assumed name, having screwed both his country and his country’s enemies?
Kingfisher Says:
Luke, good find – interesting stuff.
On a procedural matter: did you confirm with Albright that it is the same Marc Grossman (it probably is, but it still needs to be done), and did you ask him for comment? Further, I think it should be noted that Albright did appear the Kill The Messenger documentary about Sibel, and lent credence to her claims.
Kingfisher Says:
“Officials like Grossman and Congressman Solarz seemed to be generally concerned about nuclear proliferation in the 1980s. Is it possible that, at some poin, they just figured, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?””
I think that is an excellent question, Miguel. I would bet that such a scenario often plays an important dynamic at some point.
Lukery Says:
Thanks KF. re the procedural matter, no, I did not confirm that it is ‘the’ Marc Grossman.
Ishmael Says:
This story always makes me wonder how far up the knowledge went. Grossman compromised B/J almost 2 full years before Valerie Plame’s own cover identity as Counter-proliferation division head was blown by Novak acting for Libby, Cheney and Rove. At the same time, Plame’s attorneys have never contacted Edmonds for a deposition on their lawsuit even after I contacted Melanie Sloan of CREW, who was Plame’s attorney, suggesting they follow that line of investigation. So the people suing the government for the compromise of their covert status, in violation of civil and criminal law, didn’t contact the ONE person who could shine a light on the actual timeline of Brester/Jennings and Plame’s compromise as intelligence assets. It also made me wonder just what the actual role of CIA’s CPD really was. Then I remember that it was Halliburton in the 90’s that sold Iran gas centrifuge technology while Cheney was running the company.
This is straight out of a John Le Carre’ novel only there’s no George Smiley to clean up the mess for “The Boffins”.
Simon Says:
“international nuclear proliferation”
Ishmael: There is an answer an it’s fairly simple. I got on to the answer indirectly, but first let me make my point. The answer is climate change. Energy corporations are pursuing oil and nuclear power to maintain their own hegemony because it can be centrally controlled. This is critical to geopolitics. If one looks at it this way the following scenario makes complete sense: ever hear mention of chemtrails outside the circle of conspiracy theorists? I don’t pay it much attention, but over several years four incidents stand out. Gary, an inspector for Boeing with DoD clearance, confirms placement of two tanks remotely controlled on commercial aircraft. A Republican legislator of the Old School, honest and fiscally conservative, admits privately that one of his civil engineer contacts admits to aerial spraying. Remote dieoffs of frog populations in high alpine areas remains a mystery. Barium used commonly in some diagnostic work is being found in increasing levels among small children. Why? If we are to maintain oil consumption as our primary energy source, then carbon emissions will continue and global warming will continue. A force driven, mechanistic approach is to spray barium particles at high altitude to reflect incoming solar radiation. When the earth warms it dissipates cumulus clouds that normally reflect incoming solar radiation. Of course this aerial spraying is in violation of all international protocol, which is why it must be done covertly. Also, just to add a little confusion to the mix, barium particles can be used in the Artificial Ionospheric Mirror technology to redirect HAARP broadcasts over the horizon. This is a win/win solution for those that have no sense of earth balance.
Ishmael Says:
So the Power Elite’s solution to global warming is Nuclear Winter?
Simon Says:
Why does the good stuff always happen when Sibel goes out of town? Lead story in the New York Times today Thursday 4/1: “Federal Judge Vaughn Walker rejecting Obama administration efforts to shroud in secrecy warrantless wiretapping.”
remo Says:
Aside, but along the general run of ‘books peddling LIES – Americas Enemies:
Jason Leopold:truthout:30march.
The Justice Department has quietly recanted nearly every major claim the Bush administration made about Abu Zubaydah, the alleged al-Qaeda leader who was the first suspected terrorist subjected to the torture of waterboarding and other White House-approved “enhanced interrogation techniques.”In a federal court filing, Justice backed away from the Bush administration’s statements that Zubaydah had helped plan the 9/11 attacks and was a close confidant to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as well as even earlier claims from the Clinton administration that he was directly involved in planning the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa.
I wonder what part of the commission report they got right?
tricoccum Says:
The CIA covert branch in the USA was gathering intel about Pakistani involvement in nuclear proliferation in 1982. It was recruiting Pak. students in the US as potential penetration agents to scope out the operations of AQ Khan. Tricoccum
Simon Says:
Has anyone visited the Wikileaks site? http://www.collateralmurder.com. I was curious about the Internet surveillance aspect. There seems a marked delay in getting to the site.
Kingfisher Says:
“Has anyone visited the Wikileaks site? http://www.collateralmurder.com. I was curious about the Internet surveillance aspect. There seems a marked delay in getting to the site.”
Internet surveillance aspect? Like is it ok to watch; men in black wont come to my door will they? If that is what you mean then yes, it is ok to watch it. Marked delay? You don’t think zillions of people linking to it in the past 24 hours has anything to do with it?
Dude, not everything is a conspiracy. You cant let this stuff work its way into your personal life (web habits), because it’ll just destroy you inside. The dynamic happens; people work themselves into their own conspiracy theories, has happened to me before. Something ya gotta look out for.
KF
camusrebel Says:
As most who care probably already know , the damning video is all over the web. It has officialy gone viral. Wikileaks is the shizzle!
By Monday evening the story garnered over 4,000 comments at HuffPo(no, i do not frequent that site) and similar massive interest all over the web.
Will it hasten our exit from the ME? Will inject some caution or morality into our merchants of death and their mindless minions?
Those 2 question hinge on a third. To what extent will the MSM be forced to cover it. If Tiger and trapped miners are all we get from them, the impact from net virality will be minimal.
camusrebel Says:
Wondering what my fellow frogs think about Wayne Madsen?
His take on Wikileaks paints a disturbing picture of Mossad and Soros using it for nefarious purposes.
Curious if others have found him reliable in the past.
contextofnocontext Says:
@ camusrebel
See John Young’s response to the leak and the Intelligence/CIA question @ cryptome.org. Just scroll down the main page a little bit.
Simon Says:
@kingfish Point well taken. Thanks.
@camusrebel I met Madsen once in Portland. Talking about conspiracy – I had schematics from Bob Beck on electronic mind control that I gave to Wayne when I asked him to sign my copy of ‘Jaded Tasks’. Two men in the audience were overheard using my real name, and I had never introduced myself. Madsen probably has a backdoor into Carnivore/Echelon or the latest iteration, since much of his work does not document sources very well. He frequently breaks stories, sometimes years ahead of their appearance elsewhere on the Internet
zaknick Says:
why the hell don’t my posts appear?
Kingfisher Says:
“why the hell don’t my posts appear?”
The Illuminati does not want them to appear, that’s why.
True Oil Says:
Zaknick,
Why the hell did I visit this site numerous times yesterday to see
if the new Podcast was up yet AND none of the posts from yesterday
morning or afternoon were visible to me?
I’m pretty sure I know why in my case, I hope its not the same reason in your case.
Messin.
T Says:
@camusrebel. Re: Wayne Madsen. I used to watch him on RT. But then when they started treating some Obama-isn’t-American nutcase like a legitimate news story, I said enough.
That’s one thing I don’t understand abou Madsen and some others (ex., Greg Palast). If these guys are so great, then how come literally NOBODY in the progressive media will give them their own show? Madsen has his own website. Palast says he used to work for the BBC (Panorama and Newsnight). Naturally, we all promote ourselves as best we can.
But I actually did some research on Palast. I contacted the BBC and went to each of these programs. I checked through their old shows, staff listings, etc. Nothing. I emailed the BBC personnel dept. Again, nothing. Was he full-time staff? Was he just a stringer on a few stories? I even emailed Palast’s website on this. And never got an answer.
Once again, my question. If Madsen (and the other guy Webster Tarpley) are so great, how come RT doesn’t give them their own program? If Palast is so wonderful, then how come he’s recycling stories instead of actually breaking new ones?
And these guys want my tax-deductable donation to their “investigative fund”? No thanks.
Nate Says:
“At the same time, Plame’s attorneys have never contacted Edmonds for a deposition on their lawsuit even after I contacted Melanie Sloan of CREW, who was Plame’s attorney, suggesting they follow that line of investigation.”
That’s interesting Ishmael. Perhaps the Plame lawsuit was entirely politically motivated? It would seem strange, but it would make sense in light of the fact that they didn’t pursue the evidence Sibel has unearthed and given Wilson’s anti-Bush administration stance.
While people are asking questions about the veracity of investigative journalists and whistleblowers, is there anything that would suggest Mike Ruppert and his narratives aren’t credible? So far I haven’t come across anything to make me doubt it, so I tend to trust the things of his I’ve seen. His PROMIS story was pretty mind-boggling. I asked a cyber-security CIA employee (FWIW) if he had heard of the saga but he said he hadn’t, but that that kind of thing does happen.
Simon Says:
Since we are wandering around in the wilderness awaiting Sibel’s return, I thought I could add my two cents regarding Valerie Plame. It looked from Joe Wilson’s past that he operated in the capacity of an Economic Hitman. (See John Perkins’ Confessions of An Economic Hitman.)
When Wilson was on a speaking tour in Salem, Oregon, I was able to ask him a question. His response was an embarrassed silence. I suggested that he was collateral damage. That his wife was the real target because of her efforts to expose ’salting evidence for weapons of mass destruction into Iraq by the Carlyle Group’ and exposure of the Turkish heroin manufacturing operation through the Russian-Israeli Mafiya. All of this is the sort of information that Sibel had direct access to and was the basis of my question to Dick Wilson.
Simon Says:
Correction: Misspelled Joe as Dick in second spelling. Joseph Charles Wilson, IV, ambassador; b. Bridgeport, Conn., Nov. 6, 1949; s. Joseph Charles III and Phyllis (Finnell) W.; m. Susan Dale Otchis, Apr. 27, 1973 (div. 1986); m. Valeri Elise Plame, Apr. 3, 1998; children Sabrina Cecile, Joseph Charles, Trevor Rolph, Samantha Finnell Diana. BA in History, U Calif., Santa Barbara 1972. Fgn. Svc. Officer Dept. of State, Washington, 1976-98; congl. Fellow Am. Polit. Sci. Assn., 1985-86; dep. Chief of mission Am. Embassy, Bujumbura, Burundi, 1982-85, Brazzaville, Congo, 1986-88, Baghdad, Iraq, 1988-91; amb. Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, 1992-95; polit adv. to Commdr. in Chief U.S. Armed Forces Europe, 1995-97; spl. Asst. to pres., sr. dir. For African affairs Nat. Security Coun., Washington, 1997-98; pres. JC Wilson Internat. Ventures, 1998 -. Recipient Disting. Alumni award U. Calif. Santa Barbara, 1991, Comdr. Order of Equatorial Star govt. Gabon award, 1995, Disting. Def. Dept. Civilian award, 1997; named hon. Adm. County Commr., El Paso, Tex., 1991. Mem. Am. Polit. Sci. Assn., Am. Fgn Svc. Assn. (William R. Rivkin award 1987),U. Calif. Santa Barbara Alumni Assn., San Onofre Surfing Club. Avocations: golf, bicycling, fitness.
Office: Ste. #300 1717 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, D.C. 2006-4619 Email: joewilson@rockcreekcorp.com