Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Since I wrote my first post about the alleged Pentagon spy case, the identity of the possible spy has been revealed. He is Larry Franklin, a low level Pentagon desk officer (and not a senior official as I wrote in my previous post on this subject). It is alleged that he held meetings with AIPAC staffers and Naor Gilon, head of the Israeli Embassy’s political department and that he handed over a draft U.S. position paper regarding U.S. relations with Iran and our plans to respond to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. By the way, I’ve looked high and low for a photo of Mr. Franklin and still cannot locate one. If any of my readers find one, please let me know.

The Pentagon again tried to minimize the significance of the case by saying Franklin “was at the bottom of the food chain, at the grunt level.” Another defense official said Mr. Franklin “had a certain expertise and had access to things, but he wasn’t a policy maker.”

Keep in mind that Mordechai Vanunu was a mere “grunt” at Israeli’s Dimona nuclear reactor and yet he claimed he had almost free run of the place to photograph and sketch whatever he wished. While it is hard to determine how much real damage he did, if one believes Israeli intelligence (and that is a by no means a reasonable proposition), he did serious damage.

The Times also points out in Officials Say Publicity Derailed Secrets Inquiry that CBS News’ Friday scoop revealing the spy case probably irreparably compromised the FBI’s case. With Franklin supposedly cooperating, there was a possibility of ensnaring the Israeli intelligence officers who accepted Franklin’s documents. Now that is impossible and no one may ever be charged with an espionage breach. While one might argue that it is the press’ role to obtain information and reveal it to the public, what CBS has done seems to me unpardonable. And whoever leaked the information to them severely compromised a significant national security matter. I wonder if that person has coming to them the same fate that is in store with the person who “outed” Valerie Plame.

Steven Erlanger in Israel Denies Spying Against U.S. details the Israeli government public position:

After the hugely embarrassing spying scandal of 1985, when Jonathan Pollard, an American intelligence analyst, was arrested and convicted of spying for Israel, the Israeli government made a firm decision to stop all clandestine spying in the United States, Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of the foreign and defense committee in Parliament, said Saturday.

Mr. Steinitz is chairman of the most powerful committee in Parliament, with oversight of all Israeli military and intelligence agencies, and is chairman of the subcommittee on intelligence. He says he has access to as much secret information as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

“This was a firm decision,” Mr. Steinitz said, “and I’m 100 percent confident - not 99 percent, but 100 percent - that Israel is not spying in the United States. We have no agents there and we are not gathering intelligence there, unlike probably every other country in the world, including some of America’s best friends in Europe.”

Steinitz’ comment beggars belief. Who in their right mind believes that Israel stopped snooping on the U.S. after the Pollard incident?? I simply don’t believe it. It’s part of the smoke and mirrors show Israel is attempting to mount to make themselves look pure as the driven snow.

In fact, the Los Angeles Times in Israel Has Long Spied on U.S., Officials Say quotes “government officials” who directly refute Steinitz:

Despite its fervent denials, Israel secretly maintains a large and active intelligence-gathering operation in the United States that has long attempted to recruit U.S. officials as spies and to procure classified documents, U.S. government officials said.

Officials said FBI surveillance of a senior Israeli diplomat, who was the subject of an FBI inquiry in 1997-98, played a role in the latest probe into possible Israeli spying.

“There is a huge, aggressive, ongoing set of Israeli activities directed against the United States,” said a former intelligence official who was familiar with the latest FBI probe and who recently left government. “Anybody who worked in counterintelligence in a professional capacity will tell you the Israelis are among the most aggressive and active countries targeting the United States.”

The former official discounted repeated Israeli denials that the country exceeded acceptable limits to obtain information.

“They undertake a wide range of technical operations and human operations,” the former official said. “People here as liaison … aggressively pursue classified intelligence from people. The denials are laughable.”

A former senior intelligence official, who focused on Middle East issues, said Israel tried to recruit him as a spy in 1991.

“I had an Israeli intelligence officer pitch me in Washington at the time of the first Gulf War,” he said. “I said, ‘No, go away,’ and reported it to counterintelligence.”

The FBI has investigated several incidents of suspected intelligence breaches involving Israel since the Pollard case, including a 1997 case in which the National Security Agency bugged two Israeli intelligence officials in Washington discussing efforts to obtain a sensitive U.S. diplomatic document. Israel denied wrongdoing in that case and all others, and no one has been prosecuted.

Erlanger adds an interesting addendum to his story which seems to point to the direction that Israel wishes this story would go:

[Israeli] officials went to pains on Saturday to say that despite the importance of such intelligence, Israel only works openly in America, including diplomatic conversations and relationships with a full range of sources, from the White House and Congress to AIPAC, which has its own sources. “America is the great exception,” one official said. Mr. Steinitz said, “People leak sometimes when they shouldn’t, that goes on everywhere, but that’s a different matter.”

Israel tries to argue that the transfer of the U.S. Iran plan document from Franklin to the Israeli government was a leak, in other words that Franklin or whoever deliberately leaked the document to Israel. In other words, Israel did not actively attempt to get it, but rather it was dumped in their laps by a helpful American official. That gets Israel off the hook bit time.

For the Times latest report on the case, see:
F.B.I. Is Said to Brief Pentagon Bosses on Spy Case; Charges Are Possible
White House, Key Lawmakers Briefed on Israel Probe

Crooked Timber has graciously linked and trackbacked my last post about Daniel Pipes’ intellectual vendetta against Tariq Ramadan, which culminated in the revocation of the latter’s U.S. visa to teach this fall at Notre Dame.

Several commenters to CT’s post have done a tremendous job completely eviscerating Pipes litany of Ramadan’s supposed “crimes” and intellectual dishonesty. But first, let’s list the substance of Ramadan’s “crimes” as quoted directly from Pipes’ post:

* He has praised the brutal Islamist policies of the Sudanese politician Hassan Al-Turabi. Mr. Turabi in turn called Mr. Ramadan the “future of Islam.”
* Mr. Ramadan was banned from entering France in 1996 on suspicion of having links with an Algerian Islamist who had recently initiated a terrorist campaign in Paris.
* Ahmed Brahim, an Algerian indicted for Al-Qaeda activities, had “routine contacts” with Mr. Ramadan, according to a Spanish judge (Baltasar Garzón) in 1999.
* Djamel Beghal, leader of a group accused of planning to attack the American embassy in Paris, stated in his 2001 trial that he had studied with Mr. Ramadan.
* Along with nearly all Islamists, Mr. Ramadan has denied that there is “any certain proof” that Bin Laden was behind 9/11.
* He publicly refers to the Islamist atrocities of 9/11, Bali, and Madrid as “interventions,” minimizing them to the point of near-endorsement.

And here are other reasons, dug up by Jean-Charles Brisard, a former French intelligence officer doing work for some of the 9/11 families, as reported in Le Parisien:

* Intelligence agencies suspect that Mr. Ramadan (along with his brother Hani) coordinated a meeting at the Hôtel Penta in Geneva for Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy head of Al-Qaeda, and Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheikh, now in a Minnesota prison.
* Mr. Ramadan’s address appears in a register of Al Taqwa Bank, an organization the State Department accuses of supporting Islamist terrorism.

Then there is the intriguing possibility, reported by Olivier Guitta, that Osama bin Laden studied with Tariq’s father in Geneva, suggesting that the future terrorist and the future scholar might have known each other.

Scott Martens proceeds to virtually destroy every major point in Pipes’ list of charges:

I note that the interview that Pipes links to where Ramadan denies that “there is ‘any certain proof’ that Bin Laden was behind 9/11” is dated 25 September 2001. If Pipes is going to be dishonest enough not to point out that Ramadan’s reluctance to assign blame to bin Laden was all of two weeks after 9/11, I see little reason to trust the sleazeball on anything else.

He claims Ramadan was denied entry into France in ‘96 and that Baltasar Garzón claims he had repeated contact with an Algerian terrorist. Funny thing, I can’t find any source for the first claim - it’s not that easy to refuse a Swiss citizen entry into France - and the second one is explicitly denied by Ramadan, repeatedly. The lack of follow-up charges, and the plausibility of Ramadan’s account, suggest that only Pipes and a few others with agendas are still pushing the claim.

Pipes repeats the claim made by Jean-Charles Brisard that Ramadan was under investigation by “various intelligence agencies” - but since none of those “intelligence agencies” have come forward, this smacks a bit of hearsay. The same person is the source of the charge that Ramadan is linked to Al Taqwa bank. Again, I can find charges - denied as well - that Al Taqwa bank may have donated some money to Ramadan’s centre in Geneva. Al Taqwa’s Geneva branch might - for any of a number of reasons - have names and addresses for local promonent Muslims on their mailing list.

And lastly, whatever else Pipes is no good at, he certainly isn’t a French translator. If his Arabic is as crappy as his French, I see no reason anyone should take him seriously about the Middle East. The sentence he is referring to - and links to, the dumbass - where he claims that Ramadan is “minimizing [the 9/11 attacks] to the point of near-endorsement” goes as follows:

Des banlieues françaises aux sociétés musulmanes, vous ne trouverez pas de soutiens, sauf infimes, aux interventions de New York, Bali ou Madrid. On ne peut pas confondre les résistances irakienne ou palestinienne avec les actions pro-Ben Laden.

“From French suburbs to Muslim society, you will find no support, except for some neglegible amount, to the actions in New York, Bali and Madrid. We cannot confuse Iraqi and Palestinian resistance with pro-bin Laden activities.”

“Intervention” is a relatively neutral word in French, but if you see a “near-endorsement” in the above sentences, please explain how. I guess Pipes assumes that if you actually know French, you’re already too far to the left for his pitch.

Pipes actually links to a Le Parisien article that makes different claims than Pipes. Ramadan is not suspected of ever having talked to this Algerian terrorist arrested in Spain. His name apparently came up — not as a co-conspirator but as a name mentionned in conversation — in two taped phone calls, one of them to his publisher in Lyon. One of the terrorists arrested in Spain claims to have taken one of Ramadan’s courses in 1994, but Ramadan points out that he didn’t teach in Paris until 1997.

I rest my case (or I should say that Paul Martens rests the case for me).

Chuck Taggart is just plain great. A great radio DJ (KCSN-FM) with impeccable musical taste, a great devotee of New Orleans cuisine, and I even like his politics. So hats off to this great series of quotations I found at his weblog: Looka:

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901-1909), speaking in 1918

“There ought to be limits to freedom.”

George W. Bush, May 21, 1999

“You don’t get everything you want. A dictatorship would be a lot easier.”

George W. Bush, describing what it’s like to be governor of Texas, Governing Magazine, July 1998

“If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.”

George W. Bush, CNN.com, December 18, 2000

“A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there’s no question about it.”

George W. Bush, Business Week, July 30, 2001

Planxty was one of the first of the Irish “supergroups,” which opened a new era in Irish traditional music. If one could find an American musical equivalent, one could say that they are the Alan Lomaxes, Pete Seegers, John Faheys and Bob Dylans who absorbed the original traditional musical forms (in this case the Blues) of their nation and transformed it into a modern idiom that retained its bond with the original forms. Planxty constituted both a revelation and revolution within Irish music.

My own personal history with Plaxty’s music goes back to sometime around 1975 when I used to listen to WBAI-FM in New York quite religiously. One of the station DJs at the time used Planxty’s Si Bheag Si Mhor as his program theme song. I was mesmerized by both the beauty of the melody and virtuousity of the performance. This was “IT” for me as far as music was concerned. I rapidly became a Celtic music devotee, an interest that continues to this day.

Si Bheag Si Mhor (hear it), which means “Little Fairy, Big Fairy is a Turlough O’Carolan tune which reflects a battle between two fairy hills [thanks to Oliver's comment below which corrects my earlier mistaken translation of the song title]. O’Carolan too played a central role in Irish music and is undoubtedly the most gifted Irish composer who ever lived. His tunes are classics in their own right, combining both an affinity for the balanced, cerebral classical style of his era with the virbrant, tuneful folk traditions he encountered on his travels through the Irish countryside where he played for the great Irish landowners who served as his musical patrons.

Planxty’s eponymous 1973 debut album, Planxty, is a gem of its genre. The tunes are by turns, humorous (Arthur McBride), elegaic (West Coast of Clare) and politically relevant (Only Our Rivers). Like the truly great musical recordings, not a single song is less than stellar. But pride of place has to go to Si Bheag Si Mhor as the epitome of musical grace and beauty.
Please Note: This mp3 blog showcases my love for traditional music. I hope you come, listen, enjoy, and follow the links to buy the music. Such good deeds reward the artists I feature here and allow me to cover a small portion of the expense involved in maintaining this blog.

tags irish-harper, irish-traditional-music, ocarolan, planxty, si-bheag-si-mor

Bruce Springsteen is one of our great songwriters and rock performers. But there are at least two Springsteens: one the hard-rocking musician represented by albums like Born to Run and Born in the USA and the other the thoughtful, introverted folk-pop songwriter represented by Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad. Personally, I vastly prefer the latter over the former because of the bombast that comes from a Springsteen and the E Street Band performance. The last and only time I heard them play was a year or two ago at the Tacoma Dome. Admittedly, this was probably a horrid choice of venue to hear such a concert. But I could barely understand a single word the group sang and I hate that. Lyrics are important to me and if I can’t hear them then I can’t appreciate the performance.

While Springsteen is a pretty fearless artist who goes his own way, he is also a creature of musical commerce. He understands that if he tries to produce records that are only like Nebraska, that soon enough he won’t have to power to make any records at all. So in some way he has to make blockbuster rock music to satisfy his label that he is a viable commericial enterprise. But personally, I’d prefer more Nebraska and less of the other stuff.

So I’d like to introduce you to the best of the best: Across the border (hear it) from The Ghost of Tom Joad, one of his truly fine recordings. Mark Deming of Allmusic.com says of the album:

On it’s own terms it’s a striking and powerful album, and certainly one of Springsteen’s most deeply personal works.

This song’s opening is the ultimate in simplicity–just a guy’s soft voice singing and a strumming guitar accompaniment. The lyrics depict the great hope and longing of the Mexican immigrant waiting to cross the border to the U.S. Promised Land. What is, of course, powerful and wonderful about the song is Springsteen’s willing himself into the mind and heart of a poor man desperate to make a better life for himself and his family. You can be damn sure that the songwriter means for his song to be a strong counterpoint to the anti-immigration political juggernaught and those in America who detest the “foreign element” among us. I guess you could say that this makes Springsteen the quintessential American songwriter in the Woody Guthrie tradition.

WARNING: This mp3 blog exists to spread the wonder and genius that is traditional music. It does NOT exist to enhance your private mp3 collection. So by all means come, listen, enjoy, then follow the links to buy the music. If you come, listen, download, then leave—you’re violating the spirit behind this blog and doing nothing to support the artists featured here. And if you link to my mp3 file at your own site, then you’re stealing my bandwidth and being pretty uncool. So please don’t do it.

Jane Siberry in concert (credit: CBC Radio's Tapestry)Jane Siberry's When I Was a Boy was a revelation when it came out in 1993. Produced by Michael Brook and Brian Eno, it lent a deep, complex and mysterious quality to her sound which created powerfully spiritual music. The production marries Siberry's beautiful vibrato-filled soprano voice with Michael Brook's quavering and spooky electric guitar. The result is enchantment and wonder. I couldn't disagree more with the Allmusic.com reviewer, Roch Parisien who dismissed this album as average and a disappointment because in it Siberry didn't advance her musical progression ...

Allison Krauss is one of America's great national music treasures: a phenomenal fiddle player with an absolutely angelic voice. And she has the face of an angel to match. She and her group, Union Station play some extraordinary music. Here we feature Down to the River and Pray (hear it) and I dont believe you've met my baby (hear it). Down to the River and Pray comes from the Down from the Mountain soundtrack. It's sung a capella with gorgeous backup vocals by the guys in Union Station. I heard ...

The New York Times article announcing the revocation of Tariq Ramadan's visa to teach at Notre Dame University mentions that Danlel Pipes played a role in the campaign to silence Ramadan (the story is linked in my post, Tariq Ramadan, Prominent Muslim Scholar Refused U.S. Visa). It seems that this right wing, ardently hawkish pro-Israeli ideologue has engaged in a long-standing vendetta against Ramadan. In his eyes, Ramadan represents the moderate "façade" of fundamentalist Islam and therefore is especially dangerous. Ramadan is some sort of two-faced Muslim monster who attempts to conceal his hateful, anti-Semitic views underneath a smiling and ...

(credit: CBS/AP)CBS News broadcast a bombshell on tonight's Evening News (FBI Probes Pentagon Spy Case) with Dan Rather reporting that an official working with Douglas Feith, the number 3 Pentagon official under Don Rumsfeld, passed highly sensitive secret documents regarding U.S. policy toward Iran to staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, who in turned passed the documents to Israeli intelligence (see Pentagon Official Is Suspected of Giving Israel Secrets from today's New York Times). If true, this would be a devestating development for all parties, agencies and governments concerned. The case raises all sorts of questions ...

Is this man a terrorist? (credit: NYT)The Bush Administration has made another grievous error insulting Muslim-Americans by revoking the travel visa of internationally renowned Muslim scholar, Tariq Ramadan, who was to teach this coming fall at Notre Dame University (Muslim Scholar Loses U.S. Visa). What is the government's justification?Dean Boyd, said his agency [Homeland Security] had given the State Department information about Mr. Ramadan. He declined to say what it was. "We provided the information to them, and they ultimately made a decision to revoke the visa," Mr. Boyd said. "Generally speaking, the criteria for revocation of visas include public safety risk or national security ...