In this issue:

Jay Rockefeller: 'Five Votes in My Pocket' for Senate Probe of Pentagon

No Cakewalk: Paul Wolfowitz Almost Assassinated in Baghdad

Former CIA Agents Demand Full Investigation of Wilson Leaks

Cheney Tries To Shift Blame for Faulty Intelligence to CIA

Beast-man Arnie Begins Terminating Services

Profile: HMO Executive To Be Arnie's Chief of Staff

The Cheney Coup: He's the Rider, and Won't Dismount

Medicare Cuts Attached to Prescription Drug 'Benefits'

Shadow Prescription-Drug Market Endangers Elderly

From Volume 2, Issue Number 43 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Oct. 28, 2003

USA News Digest

Jay Rockefeller: 'Five Votes in My Pocket' for Senate Probe of Pentagon

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is prepared to utilize a special committee rule to conduct his own investigation of how top Administration officials, such as President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, used or exaggerated Iraq intelligence.

At a press briefing Oct. 24, Rockefeller elaborated his intentions, and refuted statements printed in the same day's Washington Post, which attributed to the Committee chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan), the claim that the Intelligence Committee's work is 95% complete.

Rockefeller pointed out that, under Committee rules, "all I have to do is to get five signatures that we want to investigate a subject—the use, for example, of intelligence, the shaping of intelligence, the manipulation of intelligence, or whatever; whatever it is we choose to look at, and then, that will be looked at, and we can investigate that. And there's no way that the Chairman [Roberts] can say that we cannot do that. And if it comes to that, we will resort to that."

Asked if he has the signatures, he answered: "Oh, I have the signatures in my pocket, ... speaking euphemistically."

Rockefeller said that what chairman Roberts is doing, "is saying the blame is with the intelligence community, and there will be no questions about the White House." On the contrary, he counterposed, the resolution that created the Senate Intelligence Committee "specifically gives us jurisdiction to look into the matter of use" of intelligence by policy-makers, not merely the "collection and analysis of intelligence."

In an obvious reference to the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, a rogue intelligence unit run by neo-con Jabotinskyites Paul Wolfowitz and Doug Feith, Rockefeller raised the question of whether "there was intelligence that was being run without the knowledge of the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, or anybody else, from certain places." The Senator added, "I'll say no more than that, but that would be rather startling, wouldn't it, if intelligence was being collected overseas which the Central Intelligence Agency had no knowledge of, or the State Department community had no knowledge of? There are a lot of things we have yet to investigate."

No Cakewalk: Paul Wolfowitz Almost Assassinated in Baghdad

At 6 a.m. local time on Oct. 26, six-eight rockets hit the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, where Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. There are numerous wounded, and one high-ranking Army colonel is dead.

Steve Marney, a journalist with Middle East Broadcasting based in Dubai, said the two ninth-floor rooms on either side of his were completely destroyed by the attack. The hotel is part of a compound, on the west bank of the Tigris River, used by the U.S.-led administration. It is in a fortified complex that includes palaces built by former leader Saddam Hussein.

A Reuters photographer saw five impact holes on the west side of the hotel. He said three of the rockets appeared to have gone through the wall, the others through windows. The whole area was sealed off and U.S. military helicopters circled the building. TV reports said the hotel was being completely evacuated.

Agence France-Presse reported that hotel hallways filled with smoke, blood stained the floor, and at least three bodies were carried out on stretchers.

The attack was made in a pretty sophisticated, and bold manner. Initial reports indicated that a truck drove up, pulling a trailer, disguised as a generator, which had been refitted to carry a missile launcher. The truck was driven to a street, which crosses the Tigris River, at the 14th of July Bridge, and parked about 500 meters from the hotel. The bridge had been reopened only the day before, for the first time since the war. Iraqi police said they tried to tell the driver of the truck to move it, but he fled. Several rockets were then fired repeatedly at the hotel where Wolfowitz was staying on the 12th Floor. Severe damage was done on the floor below his.

Wolfowitz, the man responsible for overseeing the Pentagon consultants who predicted a "cakewalk" in the taking of Iraq, appeared before the press and TV cameras, unhurt, but visibly very shaken. He continued to claim that the U.S. is successful in Iraq, despite the actions of "criminals who are trying to destabilize this country." He described them as "a few who refuse to accept the reality" of the "new" Iraq. He said the U.S. would persevere: "We are taking the fight to the enemy, ... getting the job done."

But, on the morning of Oct. 27, the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Iraq was rocked by terrorist bombing attacks, including against the International Red Cross, and against four Iraqi police stations.

Military experts in the U.S., such as retired Army Gen. William Nash, strongly disagree with neo-con Wolfowitz's claims of "success" in Iraq. Nash, in particular, on Sept. 8, had warned that unless the U.S. did something drastic, such as airlifts of food and supplies, and an emegency program to provide electricity, clean water, and jobs to the Iraqis, that there would be an explosion of violence. He predicted that "it might be too late," if nothing was done by the U.S. to improve conditions by Ramadan.

Former CIA Agents Demand Full Investigation of Wilson Leaks

At the request of two retired CIA officers, Larry Johnson and Jim Marcinkowski, the Senate Intelligence Committee held a closed-door hearing on Oct. 24, on the leak of Amb. Joe Wilson's wife's identity. The two agents are asking the Committee to investigate the leak as a supplement to the Justice Department's investigation.

Interviewed on CNN, Johnson said that it is important for the committee to investigate, because "a lot of the damage that has occurred is not going to be seen." He explained that there has been damage to Mrs. Wilson, and that her life "has been put at risk," and that the people she worked with overseas are at risk.

"You could potentially have people dead because of this," Johnson said, but "as far as the CIA coming forth and detailing it, we are not likely to hear that, because they have to protect the sources and methods.... We can't bring the bodies out, because in some cases, it's going to involve protecting sources and methods."

Marcinkowski said of the Wilson leak: "This is an unprecedented act. This has never been done by the United States government before. The exposure of an undercover intelligence officer by the U.S. government is unprecedented. It's not the usual leak from Washington. The leak-a-week scenario is not at play here. This is a very, very serious event."

Both Johnson and Marcinkowski are registered Republicans. Johnson emphasized, "This isn't about partisan politics. This is about protecting national security and national security assets, and in this case there has been a betrayal, not only of the CIA officers there, but really a betrayal of those of us who have kept the secrets over the years on this point."

In a separate briefing, called by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, Johnson and Marcinkowski were joined by former CIA officer, Vincent Cannistraro. The three said that currently serving CIA analysts were under pressure from Vice President Cheney and others to produce intelligence that supported the Administration's push for war against Iraq. The officers cited the repeated, and what they called "unprecedented," visits to Langley by Cheney and Cheney's Chief of Staff, Lewis Libby.

Cheney Tries To Shift Blame for Faulty Intelligence to CIA

According to a Knight-Ridder story circulated Oct. 24, Dick Cheney is behind the comments made by Sen. Pat Roberts to the Washington Post, in which he said that "the Executive was ill-served by the intelligence community," and which blamed the CIA for producing "sloppy" intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.

Knight-Ridder reports: "A senior administration official, who agreed to speak only on the condition of anonymity, said Roberts' CIA comments were issued with Cheney's encouragement. The official said Cheney is trying to shift the blame for the lack of progress in Iraq, which is becoming an issue in next year's presidential and congressional elections, from the White House to the CIA."

Beast-man Arnie Begins Terminating Services

Now the **** "hits the fan," is how a veteran Democratic insider described the reality behind the media circus this week in Sacramento, as Governor-Elect Beast-man Schwarznegger made his debut in the State Capitol on Oct. 22. Schwarzenegger's appearance was pure aura of power, as swarms of press followed him around, and supporters were bussed in to fawn over him.

Schwarzenegger announced he will probably call for one or more special sessions of the legislature in November. The tasks he will put before the lawmakers will be: 1) consider repeal of the bill granting drivers' licenses to illegal immigrants; 2) revise the workers' compensation measure passed by the legislature, looking for about a 20% rate reduction for businesses (with the state, or employees themselves, picking up the difference); 3) restructure the state's billion-dollar debt-restructuring plan; 4) repeal the tripling of the car-license fee, and find a way to replace the $4 billion payments to cities and counties which the fee is expected to generate.

While some members of the Democratic leadership said they are open to these proposals, others said there is no chance for the incoming Governor to get them through. He has threatened to use statewide ballot initiatives, if necessary, to push through these measures.

The Governator is steamrolling the process. "Action, action, action, action—that's what the people voted me into this office for.... They wanted to have a Governor that is filled with action, that performs and that represents the people, and that's what I'm here to do."

Profile: HMO Executive To Be Arnie's Chief of Staff

In his first two major appointments, Schwarzenegger demonstrated that he intends to serve his Synarchist masters well, by targetting the "fat" in health-care spending. His chief of staff, Patricia Clarey, had been serving as vice president for governmental affairs for Health Net Inc., a Woodland Hills, Calif.-based HMO. Prior to this job, she was deputy chief of staff for one of Arnie's controllers, former Gov. Pete Wilson.

She will join Donna Arduin, who is conducting an "audit" of the state budget, designed to find "fat" which can be cut. Arduin, who worked previously for Gov. Jeb Bush as budget director in Florida, is notorious for her nastiness. To save $1 million in the Florida budget, she cut out the state program to provide eye tests for pre-school children whose parents could not afford eye care. As a result of this $1 million in "savings," 15,000 children were not tested, and a program to provide free eyeglasses for children was also cancelled.

The Cheney Coup: He's the Rider, and Won't Dismount

Writing for Inter Press Service on Oct. 23, anti-neo-con writer Jim Lobe says that Cheney's "National Security staff," led by Scooter Libby, "is the largest ever assembled by a vice-president," and that from this apparatus, Cheney is running "pro-Likud ... neo-con" policies. While providing no information on who comprises that "Cheney NSC," Lobe details some of the Cheney's operations to take over power in the Administration. Most importantly, Lobe assesses that the idea that "Cheney's the one" responsible for the Middle East debacle, and other policy disasters, is "gaining currency in power circles in Washington," with more Republicans beginning to want to move against him.

"Cheney is actively trying to blunt Congressional pressure to reduce the Pentagon's control over Iraq policy and fire several ... hawks beginning with ... Douglas Feith, who are believed to have misled Congress about the evidence used to justify the war and the post-war situation," writes Lobe.

At the same time, Cheney continues to set policy, through control over other branches. Lobe reports that Cheney rides roughshod over Condi Rice, having packed the NSC with "his" people, whom Lobe identifies as Elliot Abrams and Steve Hadley.

Cheney also is behind the campaign against Arafat, having told Ariel Sharon's defense minister in a "private" meeting, that Arafat "should be hanged." "Even before 9/11," says Lobe, Cheney enthusiastically endorsed the Israeli assassination policy. And Paul Wolfowitz is Cheney's man; Lobe says that the VP blocked Richard Armitage, a friend of Secretary of State Colin Powell, from getting the #2 position at the Defense Department, and put Wolfowitz there instead. He also installed "ultra-unilateralist" John Bolton in the State Department to undermine Powell's policies.

Medicare Cuts Attached to Prescription Drug 'Benefits'

The Congressional conference committee charged with melding drastically different, but equally awful, House and Senate bills to provide prescription-drug benefits for 41 million older and disabled Americans on Medicare, is coming up with more cuts in benefits. From the start, House Republicans wanted to use the issue as a first step to destroy the Medicare program. In the House bill, if private insurers refuse to offer a drug-only insurance plan, Medicare patients in that area would have no access to drug coverage at all. One committee compromise lets the Federal government assure a back-up prescription-drug benefit when private insurers don't offer one. But another "compromise" mandates no government subsidy for medication for the elderly who live above 150% of poverty.

Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas (R-Calif) is demanding that Congress limit Medicare expenditures if they rise too quickly. He and House Republicans demand "competition" between traditional Medicare and private insurers through a flat fee or "premium support" patients would use to buy insurance. The sickest and poorest patients who need traditional Medicare (which sets no limit on hospital care) would be forced to join cheaper private HMO plans who would be allowed to raise rates and cut care. Until a plan is passed, sick patients, desperate for cheaper drug prices, will seek to import drugs, often dealing with a flourishing multi-billion-dollar criminal market in counterfeit or tampered drugs (see item below).

Shadow Prescription-Drug Market Endangers Elderly

Criminal operators are involved in the "shadow" U.S. prescription-drug market that endangers hundreds of thousands of patients who receive tampered or dummy drugs. As EIR reported months ago, the country has been plagued with critical shortages of drugs needed daily by patients, nursing homes, and hospitals. Hospitals spend weeks to find needed drugs, and are forced to buy them from unknown operators who "happen" to have the drug available at triple the regular cost. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied any crisis, in answer to EIR, more and more batches of drugs were recalled because they were counterfeit, diluted, or made up of nothing but water, the government is now addressing the issue, but not attempting to forcefully regulate the field.

Criminal operators procure prescription drugs at a deep discount from legitimate distributors under false pretenses, and then resell or dilute them enough to make this a multi-billion "shadow market" that now threatens the integrity of the nation's prescription-drug system. Billions of dollars of drugs are sold, resold, diluted, and have caused a number of deaths, but there is little oversight.

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