8 years..."Where Do We Go From Here"...

Today is a day for thought, remembrance, reverence and awareness. As we remember that horrible day, the many who left us, and those who lost loved ones...take a silent moment to yourself offering silent strength on this extremely hard day. And too re...member that we are still fighting two wars in it's name...right or wrong... many soldiers are far from home, far from their loved ones.


So while pausing to reflect, offer silence, or whatever you will be doing today to remember that terribly hard day...remember too that we still bleed from this wound. Many people, from many countries, will not see those they love again..at least not on this plane. So please take a moment out of our self-made distracting lives to think of those lost due to ignorance & hate, those we have lost & will lose on the battlefield
Both soldier & civilian, both just & unjust, both war wounded soldiers & the sick untreated heroes of 9/11 today we should give pause & prayer to the 8 year wound which still bleeds. It is the very least we can do on a day such as this...during times such as these. peace.



There is still much to do and so much to repair both politically & internationally, but today for quiet reflection, acknowledgment & thoughts of future actions to find true justice.
Today we think, Tomorrow we act!

That tragic day we found out who we were as a country and as a people. in an instant we learned who we truly were. Most rallied together as one to do all that they could, while others saw only self-serving opportunity from horror. Neither group should ever be forgotten. Those true heroes that put others welfare above their own deserve to not only be remembered but treated as the true heroes they were. Their actions should not be taken for granted. And it is a black mark on each and every one of us for allowing them to go on without the healthcare many of them so desperately need. By rushing in as they did, with no regard for personal consequences, and consequences˚ there were... with only thoughts of saving both friends and strangers alike they showed us what it really meant to be human. And it made me proud to not only be American on that day but more importantly it made me feel proud to be a part of the Human Race. Sadly, that pride was used against us by the greedy, selfish, and corrupt. This too should never be forgotten, and as we continue to struggle with the "War on Terror" that is currently being played out in two separate full blown wars (as well as dozens "covert" operations around the world.), one that made sense (if war can ever really make sense) or at least had something to do with the terrorism of 9/11, Afghanistan and one that made/makes no sense at all in connection with the "War on Terror" that being Iraq, which was a Secular country that gave no love & no haven to terrorist and love American & America for that matter... at least until we showed up and now the broken country is lousy with terrorists. No thanks is necessary Iraq it was our pleasure....or at least it was Cheney, Rummy, Condy, Bushy, Wolfy &Scooter's˚˚ pleasure (aren't they just a fun bunch? so fun and quirky? You would never know it by their cute nicknames that they were all actually War Criminals...but I digress). And no before you even try and say it let me be clear, NO I DO/DID NOT LIKE Saddam Hussein OR HIS VISCOUS CRIMINAL WAY OF RUNNING IRAQ! And yes, it is a wonderful thing that neither Saddam Hussein nor his son's can call themselves the leader of Iraq ever again˚˚˚ nor torture any Iraqis ever again. Unfortunately, the United States apparently picked up where he left off acting on orders from the White House, U.S. Military began a torture program of their own†. Though the preferred the nomenclature of the Bush Jr. Administration was "Enhanced Interrogations" ( but an illegal naked beating by any other name doth smell as sweet?). Although truth be told (no pun intended of course) I think the rebranding attempt would have worked if only they had made it's official euphemism...ahem... I mean nomenclature, just a little more cutesy and likable, ya know they needed to add a y or two at the end of the name or names, like the rest of the gang.

Then perhaps we might not have noticed perhaps, just how illegal things had gotten; Or just how far from U.S. norms and values they had strayed. If only they had remembered the power of the "y" we might not have ever really paid attention (I mean really, it's not the sort of thing we had normally liked to do right?), but alas they didn't and we did. The world as well as the country paid attention...stood up and NO! No more torture, this is wrong... this isn't us.... this is right.... this isn't working is it? ahem... And since we bothered to look away from our latest text message, turned off the music on our iPhone, put down our cafe mocha latte deluxe with half cafe & necturine extract light foam, logged off facebook and turned away from TMZ nightly update, notice the horrors the Bushy Administration inflicted on this country & the world and choose hope, change and a new direction with old improved values & Ideals, the least our new fearless leader can do is show us true justice does exist and what was once wrong can be put right again! In other words the past Administrations many illegal, not to mention highly immoral, actions have consequences too. And those that did harm in our name deserve to be brought to a real justice. This world of ours needs...craves real and lasting peace...we all do...and as one of the best example of a Human-Being, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. so wisely said: "Without justice, there can be no peace. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."





I know the Obama Administration is far far from evil, obviously. I believe they truly want to do good deeds in the name of mankind. I have a faith in this Administrations government that I haven't had my entire life. That said I hope and pray every day that I am not being one of those blind followers. Believing and seeing only the beautiful rhetoric than realities of action on the ground. And though often Obama has proved that my faith, hope in him is not without merit, that is not to say there have been times that I have found him lacking in overt strength of action in response and conviction. Only time will tell. I know practically no other president has had to face as many calamities all at once as this president & his administration has. But he/ they must know that the old ways haven't worked for us very well and definitely not lately. We need to strongly embrace a new way of affirming our convictions, a new way of settling problems, a new way of handling embarrassing choices by past administrations....no longer can we afford to wipe these damaging embarrassments under the proverbial table (especially the one in the oval office) we must learn to face our past and take accountability for our past misdeeds. I only hope President Obama sees this as clearly as I do. Real justice must finally come for us as a nation, as well as a people, to be able to move forward and thrive...to be able to grow and survive.
Dear Readers today is a very heavy day. The eleventh or September till the end of time should be as such. And the people and event must be remembered and cared for. That said we are not the only country, the only people who seek a life free from pain, fear and terror. The entire living planet seeks the refuge of a peaceful existence. The question is are we willing to do are part to make the desire a reality? Do we...does this Administration have the fortitude to fight for the peace we all so desperately want and need. I sure hope so. If not there will be a wake of hard times in Earth's future and our part in it will be in question. So I choose to believe in the possibility of now...and the strength of conviction of President Barak Obama and his Administration. Today of all days we should include them in our thoughts of peace and love. They have much on their plates...more I am sure then we could possibly conceive of or even fathom.
So with all these things in mind I leave you with this.... Two more wondrous quotes from one of the strongest, most powerful man the world has been blessed to know:


"Power at it's best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at it's best is love correcting everything that stands against love."
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? 1967




"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963


Peace be with you fellow strangers and friends of RandomCrazy Creatives


˚ Most of the rescue workers now have lifelong serious health problems & what's worse many of not most do not have proper Health insurance coverage so go without medicine and without the health care they so deserve...though I believe we all deserve to have health coverage, but that is another topic for another day.

˚˚ What no y name for Scooter? No wonder they threw him to the wolves and is currently in jail for crimes of treason...oh wait he's not...they pardoned him....awwwww...isn't that cute.

˚˚˚ Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces on December 13, 2003. Later brought to trial by the interim Iraqi government (set up by U.S. led forces). November 5, 2006 Saddam was convicted of charges related to the 1982 killings of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites and was sentenced to death by hanging. December 30, 2006 Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti died by execution.

†In all, 98 detainees have died while in U.S. hands, with 34 identified as homicides, at least eight of which were tortured to death…

Keith Olbermann - 8 years in 8 minutes

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so much damage...so much to do...good luck President Obama

The Spy Who Bills Us - MotherJones.com

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MotherJones.com

The Spy Who Bills Us
Your telephone company is most likely cooperating with federal wiretapping programs. And guess what? It's illegal.

Patrick Radden Keefe
February 24 , 2006

Article created by the The Century Foundation.

When your phone bill arrives this month, you might want to take a moment to think about how much you trust your telephone company. While the National Security Agency has gotten a lot of press since it was revealed in December that its analysts engaged in the warrantless surveillance of US citizens, the eavesdropping agency would not have been able to conduct the operation without the intimate—and likely illegal—cooperation of private telecommunications providers.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the NSA adopted a bold new approach. Seeking more unfettered access to the vast communications channels that run through the country, the agency approached executives at major telecommunications companies and requested that they provide the NSA with secret backdoors into the hubs and switches through which our telephone calls and e-mails are routed. Whereas the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires spies to obtain individual warrants for each target in an investigation, the phone companies provided unfiltered access to the full current of communications—not just Al Qaeda's calls, but everyone else's as well.

One problem with this approach is that it's like drinking from a fire hose. The NSA intercepts about 650 million communications worldwide every day, and, in something of a paradox, the better the agency is at hoovering in phone calls and e-mails, the worse it is at isolating critical and timely information from the white noise. According to recent reports, few of the tips the agency generated from its wiretapping program resulted in the identification of actual terrorists or plots.

Another problem is that trolling indiscriminately through the communications stream is illegal. The mechanism for eavesdropping established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is simple: Target first, eavesdrop second. If there are grounds to suspect that a person is a terrorist or agent of a foreign power, a warrant is granted to spy on that person. With this new program, the agency has inverted the traditional steps: Eavesdrop first, then identify targets within the stream of intercepted communications.

Thus far, administration officials have successfully resisted efforts by Congress to address the probable inefficiency and definite illegality of this procedure, but in outsourcing the logistics of the operation to private telecommunications companies, they may have made a crucial error. Employees of the president might argue that ''executive privilege" frees them from responding to congressional inquiries about sensitive national security operations, but the CEOs of the telecom companies have no such easy out. Earlier this month, USA Today reported that AT&T, MCI, and Sprint are three of the companies that secretly cooperate with the NSA. Democratic Senators Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin have written to the companies, asking about their involvement in the program, and if the Bush administration continues to resist congressional inquiries, the senators could subpoena executives of the companies and oblige them to explain their involvement.

Times of national crisis grant a certain license to the executive branch, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has argued, in effect, that as long as officials are endeavoring to keep the country safe, they need not answer questions about the particular means they employ to do so. Private companies have no such license, and AT&T, MCI, and Sprint should not be able to hide from the senators or from their own customers. If it is determined—as it probably will be—that the wiretapping program was illegal, then the telecom companies are guilty of violating federal law. In the meantime, it's clear that they have violated their own customer privacy policies. You might want to take another look at yours.

Patrick Radden Keefe is a program officer and fellow at The Century Foundation. He is the author of Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping.


© 2006 The Foundation for National Progress

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i know...i know....

so i know to have a blog or zine thing....especially a blogzine that involve politics i am supposed to keep it up...add to it often, etc. etc.

but truth is i'm lazy...wait that wasn't what i meant to say...

what i meant to say was that it's been some kinda shitty couple of weeks. now i don't know if anyone reads this or not...and frankly i don't care that much i just like doing something to help or current situation even if it's just a little bit even if it's just for me...

but i digress...

my real point for this post...i guess is to apologize for the lack of info the last few weeks...particularly with all that has been going on. and no i don't mean the paris thing though it is part of why i write on this thing.

everyone was sooo worked up over was paris going to jail...paris is being released from jail early...paris is now out for good..on and on it went...front page news filling every corner of our new media....but here's the thing...during that same time period something far more important was going on in relation to whether someone was or wasn't going to end up in jail..one word...scooter....

yes during the whole paris thing scooter libby was petitioning the courts to keep himself out of jail...the judge said no thankfully...but alas our charming commander-in-chief...as it were...said yes..despite what the court said...again....and why shouldn't he not only is he protecting his own ass..his administration...but no one is paying attention...he/they can do whatever they want...even high treason...and it barely registers as a blip on our radar.

Our president actually said that his 30-month sentence was excessive...FOR TREASON...they outed a CIA operative...it does get more treasonous then that. the administration loves to wrap themselves in the american flag and call themselves the only true patriots. what a joke...they have proven themselves the most unpatriotic bunch in history. not only have they done everything but made our country safer...they have done so while completely decimating our justice system, our bill of rights and most importantly our constitution! they have been systematically destroying everything that makes america great....but they sure as hell no how to talk the talk...too bad they don't walk the walk.

but once again i digress. scooter libby was working directly under...directly for the vice-president....THE VICE-PRESIDENT...you think cheney for that matter bush wasn't apart of the plan? but so far we don't know for sure who was involved...that is except one...so far the investigation as only led to one indictment and that is scooter libby...granted it was more for obstruction than anything else but still...and how does the flag-waving president respond? he pardons the sentence and call it obsessive...and now since it was barely a blip on the news scene...due in large part to the more "interesting" news regarding the status of paris....in fact president bush has said he wont rule out a full pardon. now granted i am of the belief that bush and his administration all deserve impeachment for not only their crimes against humanity but for crimes against this once great nation.

democracy is only as strong as it's people...for that matter democracy is only as strong as it's free press....and sadly for far too many years we all have fallen short...and why too much distraction too much glitz and pop...tooo many gadgets and toys and movies and advertising that get in our way of actually paying attention to the world around us...it used to be that we were too distracted to see the outside world around us...as in other countries...which is bad enough...but now we don't even notice what is going on in the very country we are living in. currently we are in a horrible war that is mentally and physically destroying at least one generation....if not more...millions have been killed and yet the people in this country barely even notice let alone speak up speak out or for that matter do anything about this terrible situation.

don't get me wrong...i love the computer age it has done wonders towards to flow of information political or otherwise...i love gadgets and games and catching a good flick...but i also know that i can't let it distract me from paying attention to the world around me. it's easy to do...we are surrounded by bad news all the time and i get it it's way easier to disappear into a bit of fluff like the iphone or paris than have to digest the great tragedy of an ongoing horrifying war...but it is our job. it is up to each and every one of us to pay attention and participate...that IS what a true democracy is...and if we don't...not only does that make us weaker but it also makes us complacent in the decisions of our leaders.


i too get distracted...which takes me back to the beginning of this rant...but i try not to be...i try to pay attention..and if for some reason i do become distracted i try and have it be for only the most important reasons and something beyond my control.

this babbling rant is long over due...in truth i should have posted something like this weeks ago..when is was all going on..in realtime...but as i said i have had a lousy few weeks....

first i had to have my gallbladder removed..had some minor complications...i'm fine now thanks for asking....then my grandmother pass away...it was not a shock we were expecting it but that doesn't take away from the gut-shot you get when it actually happens. she was a proud strong intelligent wonderful woman who helped teach me to be me and i will miss her terribly. she loved this country...as do i...but she and i lived in two different america's...she got to live in one she could be proud of...i don't....but i was taught to do everything i can to make things better if i see something wrong. i know in the grand scheme of things this little blogzine isn't much...if fact i doubt it is even seen by that many people..but at least it's something...even if it only reaches one person it will have been worth it. we all deserve to live in a country we can be truly proud of....my hope...my dream is this little blogzine contributes in someway to bringing back the america my grandmother lived in....no it was far from perfect but at least it truly stood for something and was on the road to being a better place for everybody. this country was a place of dreams where dreams could and did come true......i for one want that place back.

'They sold out the world for an F-16 sale'

'They sold out the world for an F-16 sale'
Luke Ryland
Published: Monday April 30, 2007
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Onetime CIA analyst alleges Cheney, Libby lied to Congress about Pakistani nukes

In the era of Ronald Reagan, intelligence officer Richard Barlow was an analyst for the CIA, monitoring Pakistan's nuclear program. In 1989, he moved over to the Pentagon, where he worked for then-Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney. Barlow lost that job when he raised objections to his bosses about senior Pentagon officials allegedly lying to Congress concerning Pakistan’s emerging nuclear program.

In a series of interviews with RAW STORY conducted over several weeks, the onetime intelligence officer revealed new details about intelligence on Pakistan’s nuclear program—and efforts by the US to quash attempts to stop development. Barlow's story also casts light on recent efforts by the current administration to keep information from Congress on Iraq and other matters.

Pakistan gets the bomb

In 1975, Pakistani scientist AQ Khan “acquired” nuclear blueprints from his Dutch employer and was immediately put in charge of Pakistan's nuclear program. In 1988, Pakistan would detonate its first atomic bomb.

Former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers has said that the CIA was monitoring Khan from the beginning. He asserts that the US turned down offers to detain Khan in 1975 and 1986 because they wanted to “gain more information” about the scientist’s activities.

Intelligence information later showed that the US and its allies allowed Pakistan to clandestinely acquire most of the technology for its nuclear program from abroad, unwittingly facilitating the spread of nuclear weapons technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya over the past several decades.

When Richard Barlow joined the CIA in 1985 as a counter-proliferation intelligence officer with particular expertise on Pakistan, he quickly realized that Pakistan was continuing to develop its nuclear program, and that some of its clandestine and illegal procurement activity was occurring within the US.

It didn't take Barlow long to realize that US officials knew what Pakistan was doing. According to Barlow, individuals at the State Department later actively facilitated procurement, tipping off targets of sealed arrest warrants in undercover operations and illegally approving export licenses for restricted goods.

Naturally, this situation created problems.

In 1985—following the arrest of a Pakistani agent in the US who attempted to procure specialized switches for nuclear detonators—Congress took steps to prevent Pakistan from developing nuclear weapons, passing bills that would cut off economic and military aid to Pakistan if it were found to be involved in nuclear activities.

One amendment declared that all overt aid to Pakistan—which came to over $4 billion in 1986—must cease unless the President certified annually that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear device. Another prohibited aid to any “non-nuclear” nation found to be illegally exporting nuclear materials from the US.

Given Pakistan's proliferation activities, this meant the ongoing aid to Pakistan was illegal. However, President Reagan wanted military and economic aid to continue flowing to Pakistan to ensure its ongoing support of his covert war against the Russians in Afghanistan.

The countervailing view, held by many at the CIA, was that proliferation was an important threat in its own right and shouldn’t take a back seat to fighting communism. In addition, Barlow and others believed that Pakistan would continue to assist in the covert war against the Russians, regardless of sanctions against its nuclear program.

Barlow sparks a firestorm

In 1987, Barlow engineered the arrest of some of Khan’s agents in the US as part of an undercover operation. He says the arrests came with the full support and knowledge of the highest levels of the CIA and the Reagan administration.

The arrest sparked a firestorm. Proof of Pakistan's proliferation activities would trigger the provisions of the the so-called Solarz Amendment and put an end to Pakistani aid.

The amendment’s author, Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs Chairman Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-NY), called for a top-secret briefing by the CIA. Barlow was sent to represent the agency, armed with talking points.

Under orders from the CIA, Barlow told Solarz’ Subcommittee the truth: There were “scores” of illegal transactions that should have triggered the Solarz Amendment, and the Pakistanis involved—including a retired general—were agents of the government of Pakistan.

Pakistan, Barlow said, had been breaking US nuclear export laws regularly since 1985, and the responsible individuals in the US intelligence and law enforcement communities knew it. Having just approved a multi-billion dollar aid package, Solarz and others in Congress—including Senator Larry Pressler, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee—were outraged to learn about Pakistan's violations of their laws. Solarz was appalled that information had been hidden from Congress.

In contrast, those who had willfully misled Congress were horrified that Barlow had told the truth. They tried to undercut Barlow's testimony but to no avail. Barlow’s classified testimony was unimpeachable.

The pressure on Barlow continued

Barlow was a marked man. While those in his part of the CIA (the Directorate of Intelligence), the State Department non-proliferation staff, and the law enforcement agencies considered him a hero, those running the covert Afghan war—the Directorate of Operations, the former National Intelligence Officer for Proliferation who had been responsible for briefing Congress, and the State Department's regional office—tried to get him fired for engineering the arrest and spilling the beans.

Barlow, however, was soon vindicated. A US court convicted the Pakistani agents and President Reagan triggered the Solarz Amendment for the first and only time.

Immediately afterward, Reagan invoked a national security waiver provision in the law, nullifying the amendment. In the words of veteran intelligence reporter Seymour Hersh, "The President was telling Pakistan that it could have its money—and its bomb."

"These people were determined that nothing like this was ever going to happen ever again—no more arrests, no more truth to the Congress," Barlow recalls. "I had people giving me awards at the same time as other people were trying to fire me—it was unbelievable.”

“I was targeted by some in the Directorate of Operations; they made my life miserable,” he continues. “Nobody at the agency actually tried to destroy my life, but they did make my life miserable and damaged my career prospects.”

“I left of my own free will, relatively speaking,” he adds. “I could have stayed—but I wasn't going to put up with that shit. I was caught in the middle of a massive battle between the cold warriors and the counterproliferation forces in the CIA.”

“The cold warriors were a bunch of arrogant bastards,” he remarks.

F-16s or bust

In early 1989, after George H.W. Bush became president, Barlow joined the Pentagon’s Office of Non-Proliferation Policy—working under then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, then-Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy Stephen Hadley, and then-Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Scooter Libby.

Barlow says he continued to be engaged in trying to arrest more Pakistani nuclear agents. He also encountered similar activity to before regarding lying to Congress about Pakistan's nuclear program in order to keep aid flowing, but now there was a significant difference: The Afghan war was over, so there was no Cold War “justification” for continuing to shovel money at Pakistan. This time, he believes, it was simply about profit.

"They sold out the world for an F-16 sale," Barlow says.

By then, Pakistan possessed nuclear weapons.

"They had nuclear weapons at the time, and we knew they did,” Barlow remarks. “The evidence was unbelievable. I can't go into it—but on a scale of 1 to 10, in terms of intelligence evidence, it was a 10 or 11. It doesn't get any better than that.”

Barlow asserts that in 1988 and 1989, Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush illegally certified that Pakistan was free of nuclear weapons in order to keep funds flowing.

In the late eighties, Pakistan, trying to outmuscle India by injecting nuclear and air power steroids into their arms program, was seeking to buy 60 new F-16s worth $1.6 billion.

F-16 manufacturer General Dynamics desperately wanted the sale.

Unfortunately for the firm, Rep. Solarz and others in Congress expected assurances that the planes couldn't be used to drop nuclear weapons.

This was problematic: American intelligence knew that Pakistan had already made the minor modifications to their existing fleet of F-16s so that they could carry, and drop, nuclear weapons.

In fact, US and foreign intelligence and news reports indicated that the Pakistanis had in fact modified their F-16’s for nuclear delivery and had been conducting training exercises where they practiced dropping nuclear weapons from the F-16s. Nonetheless, Barlow says, Pentagon officials lied to Congress under oath, saying that the planes couldn't be used for nuclear purposes without a radical overhaul well beyond the industrial capabilities of Pakistan.

Barlow says he then learned that Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Hughes had delivered testimony willfully falsified by officials at the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He realized that Hughes had lied to Solarz' committee because earlier in 1989 he had prepared a comprehensive paper on this very issue for then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.

“All the top experts had looked at this question in detail for years, and it was a cold hard engineering question,” Barlow says. “There was no question about it—the jets could easily be made nuke-capable, and we knew that Pakistan had done just that."

Barlow says he tried again to inform his bosses that the congressional testimony was false. He was effectively fired two days later.

“They tried to destroy my life”

They've also continued retaliating against him ever since, more than a decade later, including by invoking the State Secrets Privilege—a blunt legal tool that enables the government to shut down cases which they claim might damage national security—to block the evidence in a court case initiated by the entire US Senate.

“They viciously tried to destroy my life, personally and professionally” says Barlow. “Not just my career, but they went after my marriage, my livelihood, and smeared my name in truly extraordinary ways that no one had ever seen before or since—at least not until the Wilsons were victims of the same people years later.”

“In my case, they suspended my security clearances and engaged in the most vicious abuses of security powers that anyone in the Congress had ever seen. They had nothing on me, so first they secretly fabricated the allegation that I was an ‘intended’ Congressional spy. Once that was found to be false, they then the secretly accused me of being an alcoholic, of not paying taxes, of adultery and more. Then they accused me of being psychotic and used that to invade my marital privacy, including that of my now ex-wife who also worked at the CIA, and sought to destroy my marriage as punishment.” He adds, “Of course, I was cleared of all of these charges, but the damage was done, as intended.”

Three years later, Rep. Solarz told Sy Hersh, “If what Barlow says is true, this would have been a major scandal of Iran-Contra proportions, and the officials involved would have had to resign.”

After two decades of investigations by the CIA Inspector General, the Department of Justice Inspector General, the State Department Inspector General, a General Accounting Office investigation, and the public record, we now know that what Barlow was saying was true.

The officials involved didn't resign. They’ve been running the country for the last six years.