http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/004522.php

May 31, 2005

What's Really Behind The White House Stonewall Over Bolton Documents?

Perhaps we know now why the White House is fighting so furiously to
prevent the Senate Intelligence Committee from getting all of the
documents wanted by committee Democrats to evaluate the fitness of
John Bolton to be our UN ambassador.

According to Wednesday’s New York Times previewed in the International
Herald Tribune, it has been leaked by administration sources that what
the White House is refusing to release to the committee are reports
that Bolton obtained from the NSA by way of a special request.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/01/news/bolton.php

And what is in those reports?

The names of American individuals and companies that may have violated
export restriction bans on the shipment of dangerous weapons material
to China, Libya, and even Iran.

And is it too big of a leap to assume that some or all of these firms
may prove to be very damaging to the White House, as campaign
contributors?

Some of the information that the White House has refused to provide to
Congress for its review of the nomination of John Bolton includes the
names of American companies mentioned in intelligence reports on
commerce with China and other countries covered by export
restrictions, say government officials who have been briefed on the
documents.

The fact that the documents also included the names of American
companies, and that the subject had to do with possible violations of
American export restrictions, provides a new clue as to why the White
House might be rebuffing the congressional requests.

The names of the Americans and the companies remain highly classified,
but they were provided to Bolton by the National Security Agency in
response to special requests he made as under secretary of state for
arms control.

The administration has allowed the top Republican and Democrat on the
Senate intelligence committee to review copies of the 10 intelligence
reports, based on conversations intercepted by the National Security
Agency, about which Bolton requested the additional information.

But the names of American people and companies had been deleted from
those reports, and the administration has refused to provide Senate
leaders with the names, even though they were obtained by Bolton.

The government officials who described the intelligence reports
declined to speak for the record, citing the classified nature of the
documents and the extraordinary political sensitivity surrounding
them.

They would not say what countries other than China might have been the
subject of the reports, but noted that Bolton's responsibilities also
included monitoring efforts to prevent Iran, Libya and other countries
from acquiring dangerous weapons.

The officials included both proponents and critics of Bolton's
nomination, who said they wanted to provide the public with a clearer
picture of the nature of the dispute between Congress and the White
House.

The officials did not know or would not say which American companies
might have been mentioned in the documents.

The senators, Pat Roberts of Kansas, the chairman of the Senate
intelligence committee, and John Rockefeller of West Virginia, the top
Democrat on the panel, both said that they had concluded that Bolton
had acted properly in requesting the information from the agency.

Both senators said they did not need to know the names obtained by
Bolton to reach that conclusion.

But Rockefeller questioned whether Bolton might have improperly shared
the names with others.

Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat of the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations, cited the administration's refusal to provide the
names to Congress in persuading 39 other Democrats and one independent
to block until at least next week any vote on Bolton's nomination.

So which companies are Bush and ***** (Mr. Halliburton Doing Business
with Saddam) Cheney trying to protect here, and how many of them are
major Bush/Cheney campaign contributors?

Do you remember the stink that GOP congressman Christopher Cox raised
with the allegations that Clinton sold our secrets to the Chinese for
campaign contributions?
http://www.consortiumnews.com/1999/121799b.html

What happens to Bush and the GOP if it turns out that major GOP
contributors violated the export ban to China, Iran, Libya, and other
countries?

And what happens to Bolton if it is found out that he acquired this
information and told others about it, possibly even the companies
involved, in violation of national security protocols?

_________________________________________________________

Harry