President Obama called out the use of tax havens by US corporations. Good on him.
Will he also forbid the use of the same tax havens by "US government agencies," "certain US government people," "certain non-profit organizations in the US," "certain US institutions including banking institutions," and "certain US-based organizations" to launder and distribute money'?
Will he investigate the source, and use, of dirty money in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus? Malta? Dubai? Cayman Islands?
Will he ask why former-House-Speaker, and Turkey's lobbyist Bob Livingston, was receiving $1m per year from the Cayman Islands?
Will he wonder why Bruce Fein is working for one of the worst money laundering places on the planet, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus?
Will he investigate "Fethullah Gulen's $25 billion madrassa-and-mosque-establishment efforts throughout the Central Asian region and the Balkans?"
Or will it be business as usual?
Showing posts with label Bruce Fein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Fein. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Bruce Fein, Turkey and the Armenian Genocide.
Last week I wrote an article highlighting the fact that the otherwise respected Bruce Fein is in the pay (and company) of the Turkish Lobby, and that he is apparently willing to write articles denouncing the notion of the Armenian genocide for money.
Now comes news via Inside Higher Ed, that one of Fein's organizations, the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for having the audacity to criticize a book by genocide-denier, Guenter Lewy.
The SPLC is known "for its studies of hate groups -- a focus that has led the center to criticize Holocaust deniers" - and as far as I know, is highly regarded (although there may be some evidence to the contrary).
The Inside Higher Ed article states that:
You might remember from my previous article that Fein is co-founder and Chairman of a group called the American Freedom Agenda. One of their ten founding articles is "Stopping threats to prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act of 1917." This is obviously a defense of AIPAC's Rosen and Weissman - but there is a certain irony in the fact that while Fein is keen on defending journalists, he is also filing multi-million dollar harassment suits against journalists.
One further point: the Inside Higher Ed article notes that:
As I discussed in my previous article, Bruce Fein is 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America, which incidentally shares an address with Bruce Fein & Associates. The president of TCA is Lincoln McCurdy who headed the American Turkish Council (ATC) for fifteen years. The ATC is at the heart of Sibel Edmonds' claims about Turkish corruption in the US.
In a related issue, Inside Higher Ed reminds us that when a scholar at the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University dared to mention 'genocide,' he was forced to quit, at risk of the Institute of Turkish Studies being shut down. As a reminder, the Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University is Sabri Sayari, named in Sibel Edmonds' Rogues Gallery.
Don't expect the University of Utah to publish anything critical of Turkey in the near future.
Summary
Bruce Fein is on the Turkish payroll. He wants to defend journalists (and, implicitly, lobbyists) when it comes to Israel, but he files spurious multi-million dollar lawsuits against those who criticize Israel's second-best friend, Turkey. This frivolous lawsuit against an anti-hate group, the SPLC, argues that it is wrong to allege that people like Lewy receive money from the Turkish government who deny the Armenian genocide, while the Turkish government, through Fein's TCA, gives money to the only university willing to publish Lewy's denialist book. And Lewy & Fein have the audacity to claim that criticizing his denial hurts his book sales!
Now comes news via Inside Higher Ed, that one of Fein's organizations, the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund, has launched a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for having the audacity to criticize a book by genocide-denier, Guenter Lewy.
The SPLC is known "for its studies of hate groups -- a focus that has led the center to criticize Holocaust deniers" - and as far as I know, is highly regarded (although there may be some evidence to the contrary).
The Inside Higher Ed article states that:
"Two quotes in the Southern Poverty Law Center article are cited as defamatory. One states: "Lewy is one of the most active members of a network of American scholars, influence peddlers and website operators, financed by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the government of Turkey, who promote the denial of the Armenian genocide. ...”Funny. Yes, there is an acute stigma about failure to disclose the receipt of money. And there's a good reason for it. Inside Higher Ed asked Fein whether Lewy ever received money from the Turkish government or its subsidiaries, and Fein said he didn't know the answer... Inside Higher Ed should have asked the same question of Fein himself. How much is Fein getting from the Turkish government and its subsidiaries?
The other states: “Lewy makes similar revisionist claims in his 2005 book The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide and in frequent lectures at university campuses across the country. ... Revisionist historians who conjure doubt about the Armenian genocide and are paid by the Turkish government provided politicians with the intellectual cover they needed to claim they were refusing to dictate history rather than caving in to a foreign government’s present-day interests.
[]
Further the suit says that the statements "individually and taken as a whole in context of the article ... are defamatory because they falsely impute to Plaintiff academic corruption, fraud and deceit. ..." As a result of the accusations, the suit says that Lewy has had his "scholarly credibility" hurt and has lost book sales and speaking engagements.
"The acute stigma attached to failures to disclose the receipt of money or its equivalent that could distort academic or professional judgments finds expression in a welter of government conflict-of-interest regulations and financial disclosure standards...”
You might remember from my previous article that Fein is co-founder and Chairman of a group called the American Freedom Agenda. One of their ten founding articles is "Stopping threats to prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act of 1917." This is obviously a defense of AIPAC's Rosen and Weissman - but there is a certain irony in the fact that while Fein is keen on defending journalists, he is also filing multi-million dollar harassment suits against journalists.
One further point: the Inside Higher Ed article notes that:
"In an interview two years ago, Lewy said that (his) book -- which was criticized by some scholars of genocide -- had been rejected by 11 publishers, including 4 university presses, before the University of Utah Press published it."Lo and behold, the University of Utah recently announced a "new Turkish studies project titled "The Origins of Modern Ethnic Cleansing: The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Emergence of Nation States in the Balkans and Caucasus."" The four year project will be "funded in part by the Turkish Coalition of America."
As I discussed in my previous article, Bruce Fein is 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America, which incidentally shares an address with Bruce Fein & Associates. The president of TCA is Lincoln McCurdy who headed the American Turkish Council (ATC) for fifteen years. The ATC is at the heart of Sibel Edmonds' claims about Turkish corruption in the US.
In a related issue, Inside Higher Ed reminds us that when a scholar at the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University dared to mention 'genocide,' he was forced to quit, at risk of the Institute of Turkish Studies being shut down. As a reminder, the Executive Director of the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown University is Sabri Sayari, named in Sibel Edmonds' Rogues Gallery.
Don't expect the University of Utah to publish anything critical of Turkey in the near future.
Summary
Bruce Fein is on the Turkish payroll. He wants to defend journalists (and, implicitly, lobbyists) when it comes to Israel, but he files spurious multi-million dollar lawsuits against those who criticize Israel's second-best friend, Turkey. This frivolous lawsuit against an anti-hate group, the SPLC, argues that it is wrong to allege that people like Lewy receive money from the Turkish government who deny the Armenian genocide, while the Turkish government, through Fein's TCA, gives money to the only university willing to publish Lewy's denialist book. And Lewy & Fein have the audacity to claim that criticizing his denial hurts his book sales!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Bruce Fein & Turkey
There was a great discussion on Bill Moyer's Journal on Friday regarding torture. The guests were Mark Danner and Bruce Fein. As you probably know, Danner recently wrote a terrific article in the NYRB on torture and the Red Cross report, and Bruce Fein has been an elequent Republican voice on the constitution and rule of law, and called for the impeachment of George Bush way back when. Fein was also associate deputy attorney general under the Regan Administration. As it happens, I was looking into Fein earlier this week.
Fein is Chairman and co-founder (with Bob Barr, David Keene and Richard Viguerie) of a group called the American Freedom Agenda which was founded in March 2007.
The ten points of the American Freedom Agenda pledge are:
You see, Bruce Fein is now in private practice as a lobbyist. He has one company called Fein & Fein with his son Bruce which provides "premium appellate, trial, regulatory, and media services." He has another at the same address called The Lichfield Group with only two principals, the other being a Mathilde Fein, presumably a family member. The 'Expertise' page on Lichfield's website claims a lot of things.
Under a category called "United States and Canada" they claim, among other things, "high level connections with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency, on the one hand, to The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal."
Under "Central and Eastern Europe," they claim, among other things, that their services "reach constitutional reform, oil and gas, NATO and European Union membership, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and OPIC, relations with the Hague Tribunal, WTO problems."
Under "South America," they claim, among other things, to provide consulting regarding "drug trafficking, money laundering, and thickening ties with the United States Congress, the Executive Branch, and law and regulatory enforcement agencies."
Under "The Middle East and North Africa" they note that "The Group offers consulting in areas of major concern:... terrorism; nuclear and missile proliferation money laundering; free trade agreements with the United States; oil and gas exploration, refining, and transportation."
Also, Mathilde Fein was "recently invited by the Foreign Policy Institute of Turkey and Bilkent University to present a paper on democratic elections in Iraq and human rights issues."
I don't want to be accused of cherry picking here, so please read the 'expertise' page at the site.
Fein has another company called Bruce Fein & Associates, located at 1025 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 1000. Washington, D.C.. 20036, which incidentally shares that address with the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund - TALDF, where Bruce Fein is the main contact. A bunch of similar astro-trurf groups - including the Turkish Coalition of America, TCA - share the same address. Bruce Fein is 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America. Fein's Huffington Post bio also notes that he was previously 'resident scholar' at ATAA. According to Sibel Edmonds, the ATAA conducts "the dirty activities" of the Turkey/Israeli lobby - including delivering bribes and other forms of blackmail to congressmen like Hastert, Roy Blunt, Tom Lantos, Dan Burton and others. Phil Giraldi similarly fingers ATAA here.
Fein's Huffington Post bio also notes that he has been "a consultant to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." Isn't that odd. Just last month I noted that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was at the heart of Sibel's money laundering claims -and that the TRNC was also at the heart of money laundering operations for Central Asian dictators, terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, and "US government agencies," "certain US government people," "certain non-profit organizations in the US," "certain US institutions including banking institutions," and "certain US-based organizations."
So, yeah, Bruce Fein is a 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America, which, as Mizgin notes, "is closely linked to the Deep State and has created and founded an "academic" program to officially deny the Armenian genocide."
The president of the Turkish Coalition of America is Lincoln McCurdy who "was the president and chief executive officer, 1998 - 2004, and executive director, 1989 – 1998, of the American-Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington." The ATC is at the heart of Sibel's claims.
It should therefore not surprise anyone that Bruce Fein would be called upon to write op-eds such as this which parrots Turkey's position on the Armenian genocide. Fein's position, coincidentally, mimics the genocide-denial position of Bob Livingston, who has long been on Turkey's payroll. Who'd have thought that different people, with different ideological bents, paid to have the same opinion, would actually have the same 'opinion'?
I don't care whether the Armenian genocide resolution makes sense or not (Giraldi argues that it is stupid - but I can't find the link) - but the fact that someone with the apparent stature and integrity of Bruce Fein has apparently succumbed to Mammon on this issue is cause for concern for us all.
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Update: More here
Fein is Chairman and co-founder (with Bob Barr, David Keene and Richard Viguerie) of a group called the American Freedom Agenda which was founded in March 2007.
The ten points of the American Freedom Agenda pledge are:
- No military commissions except on the battlefield.
- No evidence extracted by torture or coercion.
- No detaining citizens as unlawful enemy combatants.
- Restoring habeas corpus for suspected alien enemy combatants.
- Prohibiting warrantless spying by the National Security Agency in violation of law.
- Renouncing presidential signing statements.
- Ending secret government by invoking State Secrets Privilege.
- Stopping extraordinary rendition by the United States.
- Stopping threats to prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act of 1917.
- Ending the listing of individuals or organizations as terrorists based on secret evidence.
You see, Bruce Fein is now in private practice as a lobbyist. He has one company called Fein & Fein with his son Bruce which provides "premium appellate, trial, regulatory, and media services." He has another at the same address called The Lichfield Group with only two principals, the other being a Mathilde Fein, presumably a family member. The 'Expertise' page on Lichfield's website claims a lot of things.
Under a category called "United States and Canada" they claim, among other things, "high level connections with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency, on the one hand, to The New York Times, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal."
Under "Central and Eastern Europe," they claim, among other things, that their services "reach constitutional reform, oil and gas, NATO and European Union membership, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and OPIC, relations with the Hague Tribunal, WTO problems."
Under "South America," they claim, among other things, to provide consulting regarding "drug trafficking, money laundering, and thickening ties with the United States Congress, the Executive Branch, and law and regulatory enforcement agencies."
Under "The Middle East and North Africa" they note that "The Group offers consulting in areas of major concern:... terrorism; nuclear and missile proliferation money laundering; free trade agreements with the United States; oil and gas exploration, refining, and transportation."
Also, Mathilde Fein was "recently invited by the Foreign Policy Institute of Turkey and Bilkent University to present a paper on democratic elections in Iraq and human rights issues."
I don't want to be accused of cherry picking here, so please read the 'expertise' page at the site.
Fein has another company called Bruce Fein & Associates, located at 1025 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 1000. Washington, D.C.. 20036, which incidentally shares that address with the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund - TALDF, where Bruce Fein is the main contact. A bunch of similar astro-trurf groups - including the Turkish Coalition of America, TCA - share the same address. Bruce Fein is 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America. Fein's Huffington Post bio also notes that he was previously 'resident scholar' at ATAA. According to Sibel Edmonds, the ATAA conducts "the dirty activities" of the Turkey/Israeli lobby - including delivering bribes and other forms of blackmail to congressmen like Hastert, Roy Blunt, Tom Lantos, Dan Burton and others. Phil Giraldi similarly fingers ATAA here.
Fein's Huffington Post bio also notes that he has been "a consultant to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." Isn't that odd. Just last month I noted that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was at the heart of Sibel's money laundering claims -and that the TRNC was also at the heart of money laundering operations for Central Asian dictators, terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, and "US government agencies," "certain US government people," "certain non-profit organizations in the US," "certain US institutions including banking institutions," and "certain US-based organizations."
So, yeah, Bruce Fein is a 'resident scholar' at the Turkish Coalition of America, which, as Mizgin notes, "is closely linked to the Deep State and has created and founded an "academic" program to officially deny the Armenian genocide."
The president of the Turkish Coalition of America is Lincoln McCurdy who "was the president and chief executive officer, 1998 - 2004, and executive director, 1989 – 1998, of the American-Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington." The ATC is at the heart of Sibel's claims.
It should therefore not surprise anyone that Bruce Fein would be called upon to write op-eds such as this which parrots Turkey's position on the Armenian genocide. Fein's position, coincidentally, mimics the genocide-denial position of Bob Livingston, who has long been on Turkey's payroll. Who'd have thought that different people, with different ideological bents, paid to have the same opinion, would actually have the same 'opinion'?
I don't care whether the Armenian genocide resolution makes sense or not (Giraldi argues that it is stupid - but I can't find the link) - but the fact that someone with the apparent stature and integrity of Bruce Fein has apparently succumbed to Mammon on this issue is cause for concern for us all.
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Update: More here
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