Cheating the American Public

Once again what was to be an open Senate Hearing on the Oslo Accords on February 4th has now been sabotaged by Arabists in the State Dept. What was the great fear? What was to be exposed? What is to remain hidden?

First, the Hearings have been “postponed until March. And, secondly, the title has been changed from hearings on the “Oslo Accords” to “Middle East Development”. The sophisticated reader familiar with pro-Arab manipulations of the State Dept. understands that discussions regarding Oslo will be watered down to a point where nothing of substance will emerge. With Oslo mixed up in the agenda of the general Middle East area – especially while the drum beats of war against Iraq are booming, people like Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross will be able to easily confuse the Committee about Oslo.

Although Senator Sam Brownback is Chairman of the Sub-committee who called for hearings on the Oslo Accords, the person who is responsible for re-scheduling military, civilian and diplomatic speakers and arranging the agenda is Danielle Pletka. She is the Director for the Near Eastern & South Asian Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The reader must understand that, when one is a majority staff director, he/she has the power to pull the direction of a Hearing one way or another. In this case the major Director of the agenda is Danielle Pletka. Those who understood the machinations of Washington, regard Pletka as very politically Left and she is generally viewed as an Arabist.

Although Pletka is the major Director of this Committee, the very conservative Jesse Helms is Chairman. Perhaps you will recall that, although Helms expressed a positive attitude toward Israel, his aide Danielle Pletka worked very closely with State Dept. officials who were decidedly pro-Arab and often quite hostile to Israel. One example was the covert visit by Pletka to Yassir Arafat.

What was Pletka’s relationship with Dennis Ross and/or Martin Indyk? They arranged her visit with Arafat. Why did Senator Helms keep her on after it was disclosed in the WASHINGTON TIMES by Jamie Dettmer(1) that she had covertly met with Arafat and discussed the peace process in July 1995? Was Senator Helms ambushed by his own staff or did he know? He said: “I did not authorize or sanction any trip overseas for staff members to meet with the PLO chairman.” (2) When telling some American Jewish leaders about her Arafat meeting, Pletka shocked them by saying she had been “thrilled” and “excited” to meet him.(3) Is there a program to penetrate and the Congress through staff assistants who, as everyone knows, controls the agenda of their busy bosses?

The issue is not just one Senate staffer but rather her influence on the continual flow of $500 million in US taxpayers’ money to Arafat’s Palestinian Authority. That aid was intended to stimulate economic independence for the PA, but contingent on compliance with their commitments to the Oslo Accords. The question is raised: Were US MEPFA funds (Mid East Peace Facilitation Assistance) diverted by Arafat into his own pockets and to wage a parallel political campaign in Israel by buying chunks of Jerusalem real estate with the knowledge and approval of Indyk, Ross, Pletka, etc. Her boss Helms caved on legislation to stop the flow of MEPFA funds to Arafat for non-compliance.

Pletka is reportedly close to Dennis Ross and particularly a fellow Australian, Martin Indyk. Pletka arranged the two Senate Hearings on Martin Indyk when he was appointed Ambassador to Israel and recently as Assistant Sec. of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Most observers considered them merely a sham. Indyk was given a soft pass with puff questions when hired for his first post as Ambassador to Israel. No questions of consequence were asked of Indyk in the Helms hearings run by Pletka. In fact Helms disappeared and could not be reached during those hearings – leaving Pletka to run the show. Indyk’s rapid conversion to American citizenship so he could be America’s Ambassador to Israel seemed very suspicious. Some questions could have explored his background with respect to any role he played in Australian Intelligence linked to British Intelligence M1-6. Any linkage to the CIA and representing a pro-Arab State Dept. program should have been explored.

Martin Indyk distinguished himself as the American Ambassador to Israel by interfering with the Israeli government and acting in an adversarial role despite the fact that he is Jewish, was a guest in that country and supposed to be a diplomat. He frequently used his position to threaten Israel while forcefully promoting the Palestinian cause.

The trio of Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk and Danielle Pletka is a relationship worth exploring. Those who came to her office seeking contact with Chairman Helms of the Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Relations dealing with issues relating to Israel were generally given short shrift. Although Pletka is also Jewish, her politics seem to match the Arabist team of Dennis Ross, Aaron Miller, Dan Kurtzer.

Hearings on the Oslo Accords planned for February 4th were postponed, allegedly because Martin Indyk was too busy traveling with Ms. Albright to attend. The hearing are now switched to March 3 and under a different name, “Middle East Development”. Regrettably, as expected, they seem to be easily manipulating Sen. Brownback perhaps because he doesn’t know the covert game being played in the Mid-East.

Many more people besides Pletka, Ross, Indyk wish our foreign policy in the Middle East to remain a covert program. Those who cut deals in arms sales, oil contracts, transfers of weapons’ technologies simply do not want their nefarious deals to become public knowledge. If they did, this scandal would make the investigations and media feeding frenzy on Clinton romps a children’s party.

Dear Reader, where do you think such catastrophes as Iran-gate and Iraq-gate are spawned? In the dark by people who have governmental powers and who use these powers for special interests.

In an open hearing on Oslo you’d hear knowledgeable Middle East experts testify. They’d name private interests such as multi-national corporations, arms manufacturers, et al, who could then be dragged into the sunlight. As bats who only glide through the darkness, special interests cannot abide the sunshine of open hearings.

It appears that the fake illusion of a real Hearing will mark the March 3rd charade.

Pletka has already invited well-known Jewish Leftists who are infamous for their hostility to Israel. As in the two prior Hearings on Martin Indyk, Pletka will load the agenda with witness who are politically Left, Arabist and hostile Jewish leaders. Her trick is to load the agenda with hours of irrelevant testimony which will kill any prospect of real information being exposed about Oslo and the dirty tricks of the Administration.

Other questions come to mind as we observe what seems to be a crass manipulation of the investigating Committee: Is Danielle Pletka reporting to and/or taking orders from other pro-Arab interests? Are other staff level people purposely placed in various Congressmen’s offices to divert or shield them from information which other interests do not want them to focus on?

When one wonders whether our Senators are being manipulated from the inside, we recall that J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director, compiled extensive files, reportedly blackmailing Senators and other high officials to force compliance with his view of how America should be run.

Suppose you were a top official in the White House or State Dept. and wanted no interference from the Congress or, at least, from key Senators and Representatives likely to be honestly seeking the truth. Planting an employee in their offices wouldn’t be difficult.

They would observe and report. Later, as trust and dependence grew, the “mole” would move higher in the ranks of the Congressmen’s staff. It’s true for any branch of our Government since Congress holds the strings on their money allotment. This includes all three branches of Government, Executive, Legislative, Judicial, plus the Military and our Intelligence Agencies – all of whom have extremely high budgets to protect.

I am not talking about lobbyists but employees, presumably working for Congress when, if fact, they report covertly to someone else. Who would benefit if a Senatorial Committee is tilted by means the staff assistant of one unaware Senator? Most Senators rely heavily on their staffs to analyze and make recommendations. If ever there was a weak link in the American system, this is it.

We may owe Danielle Pletka a vote of thanks by her demonstration of the control which LAs (Legislative Aides) or Administrative Assistants can have on American policy. Some aides come to our American Government with their own biased agendas. Recruiting them would be fairly easy, particularly if the deal was sweetened with under-the-table, no-tax cash payments.

Perhaps Senator Brownback will put Danielle Pletka on the witness stand under oath to speak of what she knows. In any case, we can only hope Brownback himself pulls the Senate Committee Hearing together and schedules hard testimony from real experts on the Mid-East. He should also dis-invite the Pletka gaggle of space fillers and time killers.

While most Administrative Assistants to the Congress are loyal and serve their bosses properly, there are, no doubt, those who would subvert America’s National Interest to work for two masters. It’s time for Congress to clean up its own House – even to the point of summarily firing assistants acting as moles and betraying the national will of the American people.

Sen. Brownback could turn March 4th into real Hearings simply by inviting whomsoever he pleased and, thereby, bypassing the Pletka cabal. Surely, there are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who would be furious to learn that the Hearings have been set up to hoodwink the American public while advancing the hidden agenda of the White House and State Dept.

I would strongly suggest to that the Reader contact Committee members at these fax numbers:

1.”Taming Jesse Helms” by Jamie Dettmer, Washington Times & Insight Magazine, 8/24/95

2.”A Shocked Senator Helms Responds to Insight Story”, by Jamie Dettmer & Paul Rodriguez, Insight Magazine, 9/18/95

3.”Conservatives Say Helms Has Softened on Terrorists”, by Jamie Dettmer, Washington Times & Insight Magazine, 9/11/95