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'BUSH
SNR - REAGAN - U.S. - ILLEGAL SHIPMENTS OF ARMS USING ISRAEL - THROUGH
AUSTRALIA - TO IRAN'
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News
More Special
Speeches
Communiqués
World Events of Significance
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FROM: http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/transcript.php3?date=2001-10-31&title=Guns+and+Money October 31, 2001 - Guns
and Money
A multi-party committee on electoral matters is meeting in Canberra. COMMITTEE OFFICIAL: The commission has already made it clear to the committee that it considers there are significant problems... Its general mission is to investigate issues of funding and disclosure to political parties. Sources of funding is a sensitive issue for all parties. And a polite consensus usually rules meetings such as this. But one submission from a member of the public, a Queensland journalist, has forced a rather awkward issue onto the agenda. COMMITTEE OFFICIAL: Allegation before the committee that donations were made improperly in 1985 in Western Australia. It's an issue involving substantial allegations of weapon's trading and corruption in Australian politics, which have never been investigated. An accusation which has been glaringly ignored for a decade. It's interesting to compare the American political and judicial response to the same allegations. OLIVER NORTH AT US CONGRESSIONAL HEARING: Counsel, I respectfully and regretfully decline to answer the question based on my... The Iran-Contra hearings created a political storm and almost downed a president. The full story of how American intelligence agencies illegally traded weapons to Iran has never been completely told, but at least American politicians got halfway to the bottom of the barrel and the public at least got to hear all sides of the issue freely aired in a public inquiry. One of the key witnesses in the Iran-Contra scandal, was an Israeli intelligence officer imprisoned in America on arms dealing charges. Abandoned by Israel, he began to talk about the work he'd done for Israeli and American intelligence in trading weapons to Iran and he was acquitted. OFFICIAL ASKS OF ARI BEN-MENASHE: Who were the connected people? While awaiting various appearances before US Congress, Ari Ben-Menashe sought refuge in Australia, a place he'd visited many times during the gun running operation to Iran. ARI BEN-MENASHE: My name is Ari Ben-Menashe. On 'Dateline' 10 years ago, he claimed that he had, with the authority of the Australian Government, shipped weapons bound for Iran through Perth. ARI BEN-MENASHE: Certain arms were shipped through Australia to Iran from the Israelis with the intervention of the Americans. More disturbingly, he claimed that payments had been made to sections of the Labor Party to facilitate the trade. ARI BEN-MENASHE: Contribution monies like that always have a paper trail. Ari Ben-Menashe's allegations were never investigated by police or security agencies. They were never put before a court, a Commission, parliament or Parliamentary Committee until today. COMMISSION OFFICIAL: It would be a resources thing. I would be more inclined thinking we would be looking at the present and the future, rather than going too far into the past. Despite the low-key atmosphere, this committee enjoys rare powers to seek government records, to call witnesses under privilege, to confirm or discredit this accusation once and for all. Labor Party member Michael Danby is strongly against any discussion of the issue whatsoever. REPORTER: Why not, put it to rest? Why not? MICHAEL DANBY, LABOR PARTY MEMBER: Why not? Because the committee has other priorities, because it's a 10-year-old allegation and because it is based on the claims of a person who most people who seriously examine this don't feel has any credence. Marshall Wilson, a Queensland journalist, wrote the submission which requested that the committee investigate the claims. He had recently obtained Ben-Menashe's immigration file, which revealed the department was fully aware of Ben-Menashe's claims and revealed the department's haste to get him out of the country. MARSHALL WILSON, JOURNLAIST: Ben-Menashe was here on our shore applying for asylum. We had him in our hands, we could have gone and investigated every single allegation he was making, fully, fairly, frankly - it was never done. Why was it never done? Wilson saw the committee as the last chance under privilege to flush out the truth. MICHAEL DANBY: We're more focused on domestic electoral matters. REPORTER: Put it this way, you could ask within the Labor Party and have those questions been asked? Have you asked your WA colleagues? MICHAEL DANBY: All I know is that the senior people when they see this just laugh at it and regard it as a joke. 12 years ago, Ari Ben-Menashe was left in a New York prison when Israel, still covering its involvement in trading weapons to Iran, denied his existence. Today, he moves through the city as a commodities trader and political consultant to several African and South American nations. He hasn't spoken about issues in Australia for 10 years. When he first began to talk openly about the role of the US and Israel in Iran, he faced a concerted campaign by officials in both countries that he was a liar. But Ben-Menashe has never retreated from his accusations and as the truth behind Iran Contra has unfolded, his reputation has been elevated remarkably. He had no role or interest in raising the issues concerning Australia again, but is more bemused than offended to hear that his character is now being questioned in Australia. He gave Australian authorities every opportunity to test, confirm or rebut his claims and they never did. ARI BEN-MENASHE: I put the information out and if anyone wants to look through it, great. If they don't, they don't have to. That's standard, but I'm not - I was asked for an interview by yourself and I'm doing that, but you know. What Ari Ben-Menashe has to say involves allegations of the most extreme nature, but oddly they have never been seriously addressed in Australia. REPORTER TO KIM BEAZLEY: This story that you knew about an arm shipment that was warehoused in WA? KIM BEAZLEY, THEN MINISTER FOR DEFENCE: We've been tumbled. I'll come clean. Elvis gave us the money. Kim Beazley was Minister for Defence at the time of the alleged arms shipments through Perth and federally, he was Labor's most prominent politician to hail from WA. KIM BEAZLEY: I'll reveal what really happened. Elvis rose from the grave and planted bucket-loads of money on the desk of the Secretary of the Labor Party. The federal Labor government in 1991 showed a an equal lack of enthusiasm to give any credibility to the claim. The truth of Ari Ben-Menashe's accusations has never been tested, but what this story unquestionably reveals is the abject failure of our security, political and judicial institutions, particularly those supposedly independent of government to fulfil their investigatory obligations. The background begins in 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran and implemented the world's frost modern Islamic theocracy - the precursor to Afghanistan's Taliban. America branded Iran the home of Islamic terrorism. Dozens of Americans had been kidnapped in Iran and by Iranian sympathisers in Lebanon. It was a slow torture for the American public. What began as a secret weapons for hostage exchange went into a multibillion-dollar business for American and Israeli intelligence agencies, with the knowledge of Reagan and vice-president Bush. GEORGE BUSH, THEN US VICE-PRESIDENT: We want the truth and the American people have a fundamental right. When Iran went to war with Iraq, the potential profits became irresistible. Despite a congressional ban on weapons to Iran, American agencies saw an opportunity to raise black money to fund their favourite right-wing rebel group in Nicaragua, the Contras, which the American Congress had also banned them from assisting. Ayatollah Khomeini was the bin Laden of his day. The sworn enemy of the Great Satan America. The notion that Israeli and American intelligence agencies were selling him weapons, was so bizarre that initially it beggared belief. A disbelief that allowed the operation to run for seven years before it was exposed. Originally, the plan to disguise the US operation was a simple one. Sell massive amounts of weapons to ally Israel, who would then simply on-sell them secretly to the Iranians. A profitable plan for both nations that nearly came unstuck when the Russians shot down one of the Israeli cargo planes. ARI BEN-MENASHE: It started leaking out in the press about Israeli involvement in the Iran/Iraq war. So third parties were necessary. We now know how Israel and America fed the bloody feud when Iran and Iraq. It is unquestionable that they used multiple third party ports, many of them from distant locations, such as South America, to disguise the trade. It is now alleged that another southern route was used as well. In Australia and Perth in particular, the good times were rolling. The Hawke Labor Government was in the middle of its record stint in power. The stock market was booming. Western Australian businessmen with intimate links to the Labor Party had come to national prominence. The expression "Western Australian entrepreneurs" was still a term used admiringly. It is alleged that at the time of the 1987 America's Cup in Perth, it wasn't just racing boats slipping in to Western Australian harbours. Ari Ben-Menashe maintains that he visited Australia frequently in the 1980s to oversee the occasional shipment, but '87 was one of the biggest and final operations. Up to 10 front companies were used throughout the operation to ship thousands of tow missiles and other weapons through Western Australia. Ben-Menashe believes that the operation had government or ministerial approval, but his direct dealings with Australian intelligence officers forms the cornerstone of his first-hand allegations - a claim that could be readily tested in any court or inquiry. REPORTER: Was any money or other favours given to Australian intelligence or Customs officials? ARI BEN-MENASHE: To the bureaucratic level, no. REPORTER: Were they aware that money was changing hands? ARI BEN-MENASHE: I wouldn't think so. I wouldn't think so. Possibly on the highest levels of intelligence service, yes, but not on the bureaucratic Customs level, I wouldn't think so. No. But they were aware of the transactions. REPORTER: And what the nature of those transactions were? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Aware of what's coming in and going out. REPORTER: And where it was going and what it was for? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah, just be aware of it so they wouldn't touch the cargo. The Australian Government at the time denied that the weapon shipment had occurred. Given that an election campaign is under way, we stress that Kim Beazley denies any knowledge of such shipments and Ben-Menashe specifically excludes him from any of his accusations regarding money. If sections of the Australian Government did assist in an illegal operation of the CIA and Israeli intelligence, it may have been morally questionable, given that tens of thousands of men, women and children were dying in one of the most brutal wars of modern times. But possibly not illegal. What would be illegal is that if that assistance was given for the personal profit of individuals or institutions of the Labor Party as Ari Ben-Menashe maintains. REPORTER: So this money is going to, what you say is the Labor Party and/or Labor Party individuals? ARI BEN-MENASHE: That's right. REPORTER: As cash payments? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah. Ben-Menashe claims that as the operation wound up in '87, he was ordered by Tel Aviv to transfer $6.5 million, more than 8.5 Australian, to Labor Party sources. The suggested vehicle was the John Curtin Foundation. JOHN CURTIN, ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: Australia stands for and with the empire. God only knows what John Curtin, a renowned socialist, would have thought of the Perth foundation named in his honour. JOHN CURTIN: Liberty and freedom are in danger. Launched under the patronage of Brian Burke and with the blessing of Prime Minister Bob Hawke, the billionaires of Perth clamoured on board as patrons of the John Curtin Foundation. The new true believers. Allegations would later be made that the Foundation was the key to doing business with the Labor Government in WA. Although no findings or allegations were made about the bulk of these patrons, the foundation was quietly dissolved in 1991 when it came under the intense scrutiny of the Royal Commission into Corruption in WA. CHRIS PYNE, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE: Certainly it surprised me and surprised most Australians that anybody would ever think that was possible in our general policy is quite naive about... Chairman of the committee Liberal Party member Chris Pyne. ANDREW MURRAY, WA DEMOCRAT: I have no way of knowing whether any of those allegations are true or not and I think it is up to the committee to determine that. Western Australian Democrat Andrew Murray believes that the committee should at least make further inquiries. MICHAEL DANBY: It puts a smear across the Labor Party. Michael Danby presents one of the US Congress reports which criticised Ari Ben-Menashe, but the findings of that report were in themselves widely criticised. He also asserts that Ben-Menashe is in effect a fraud, that he was never an Israeli intelligence agent. MICHAEL DANBY: Mr Ben-Menashe's own submission to the committee showed that he was a translator for the Israeli Army. On the central question of whether Ari Ben-Menashe is who he says he is, Michael Danby offers rather ironic evidence. MICHAEL DANBY: This is a Defence Force reference. The papers he is referring to were the key to proving Ari Ben-Menashe's bona fides. And were discovered by 'Newsweek' journalist Bob Parry. BOB PARRY, JOURNALIST: I'd heard his name connected with a number of the Iran-Contra developments as some kind of spooky Israeli operative, who sort of showed up in a number of cases. But I never could find him. Then I got a call from someone who said "Well, if you are looking for him he's in federal prison now, up in New York. Bob Parry was one of the first journalists to break the Iran-Contra story and the first to provide objective analysis of Ben-Menashe's identity. BOB PARRY: To that point, Israel had been saying that Ben-Menashe was a fraud, that they didn't know who he was, that he was just sort of making all these stories up. They told the US Government that in connection with the prosecution. It was Bob Parry who discovered the references that Danby is referring to. BOB PARRY: There were three - I received three letters of reference signed by Israeli military officers, and they basically discussed his important role in various activities of military intelligence. The references were genuine and proved that he worked for military intelligence. The particulars of his intelligence assignments are not described, but there is absolutely no reference or implication that he was a translator. They refer to him holding key positions responsible for a variety of complex and sensitive assignments, which demanded exceptional analytical and executive capabilities. And another, that he was in charge of a task which demanded considerable analytical and executive skills. BOB PARRY: The Israelis clearly were trying to contain the information that Ben-Menashe was giving out. All of which needed to be checked, but in terms of him being who he said he was, I concluded that he was telling the truth. CONGRESS OFFICIAL: Would you state your name? ARI BEN-MENASHE: My name is Ari Ben-Menashe. CONGRESS OFFICIAL: And you are a citizen of what country? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Israel. CONGRESS OFFICIAL: Where are you living now? ARI BEN-MENASHE: In Australia. CONGRESS OFFICIAL: You understand, Mr Ben-Menashe, that this is pursuant to an informal inquiry by some members of Congress, to determine whether or not a congressional investigation is to be carried out... While Australia was pretending that he didn't exist, other institutions accepted his experience and background and then tested his evidence. He was twice summoned to American congressional hearings as well as called as a witness to the Defence Committee of British Parliament. He was one of the key witnesses in exposing Robert Maxwell's links to Israeli intelligence, revealing Maxwell's involvement in weapon dealing and dubious money movements for Israel. BRITISH COMMITTEE OFFICIAL: ..the alleged relationship between the Israeli intelligence service and Robert Maxwell and in particular, Mr Nicholas Davies, the news editor. [TVOTW Insert - Robert Maxwell fell (or was pushed) from his own personal yacht in the Canary Islands and died in suspicious circumstances on 5 Nov 1991. He was also an Israeli Mossad agent in the 1980's.] One of those implicated the accusation was one of Maxwell's editors Nick Davies, who Ben-Menashe directly implicated in arms deals. Davies' legal case against Ben-Menashe was dropped and he was sacked by his newspaper when it was revealed that Ben-Menashe's claims were correct. Whatever else may be said about Ari Ben-Menashe, few would now doubt that he did work for Israeli intelligence and that he was extensively involve in the shipment of weapons to Iran. And it's also known he frequented Australia during this period in the 1980s. ARI BEN-MENASHE: So it was time to make some payments. When he was in Australia in 1991 to early '92, no federal agency investigated his claims. More details were published in his book, 'Profits Of War' in 1992. Only a few paragraphs dealt with his time in Australia, but they are extraordinarily frank paragraphs. He writes of how the payment was made through a US front company controlled by Richard Babayan. REPORTER: So, Richard Babayan was responsible for the negotiations and the money? ARI BEN-MENASHE: That's right. Richard Babayan worked for the Shah's secret police before the Iranian revolution and had extensive connections in both Iran and America. ARI BEN-MENASHE: We acted like we were in the same American school in Tehran together and later on, when the revolution came by, he left Iran and he went to the States and was working for the US Government. REPORTER: In what capacity, what arm of the US Government? ARI BEN-MENASHE: CIA. REPORTER: CIA operative? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah. Although the paragraphs in his book were brief, they were certainly not coy or vague. The following account has never been challenged legally or publicly denied. He claims that Babayan was in contact with Yosse Goldberg, a prominent Perth businessman, close associate of and major donor to Premier Brian Burke. The book claims that through Goldberg, the cheque passed to Alan Bond as patron of the John Curtin Foundation and was then passed through companies associated with Robert Maxwell, which disguised and disbursed the funds. Ben-Menashe believes that part of the money was directed to the John Curtin Foundation, with or without the knowledge of the patrons, and the remainder disbursed to other party sources and individuals. Neither Yosse Goldberg nor Alan Bond chose to make any comment to this program, but there's no implication that either of them personally received any money, nor that they would have been aware of the source of those funds or their ultimate destination. REPORTER: So, as far as you are aware, the principal payment is made as a lump sum payment? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah. REPORTER: And then it is disbursed to whom? Or to what bodies? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Again, it was a payment for the Labor Party. It was a contribution to the Labor Party and then it gets disbursed however it's disbursed. REPORTER: So there wouldn't be a single $6 million deposit? ARI BEN-MENASHE: No, I don't believe that for a minute. REPORTER: So broken up in - in what way? Explain this to me how this would be broken up? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Generally speaking, these payments would always be broken up in pieces and different pieces coming from different places. That's why businessmen were used. When he first made these claims, they could have been easily verified or dismissed by any competent investigator. Shipping records, banking records, names, dates, places all could have been scrutinised if there was the will, which it appears there wasn't. Nothing but a stony silence. It has been claimed that Ben-Menashe's account was too vague for any investigation to be launched. It is an accusation that amuses him. He did provide complete details to at least one Australian authority and the supporting evidence is not with him. Today, it is sitting in a filing cabinet in Australia. ARI BEN-MENASHE: Now it's up to the Australians to decide what they want to do with it. In the months before he was thrown out of the country, he came to the attention of the Royal Commission into Corruption in Western Australia. The WA Inc Inquiry. No reference to Ben-Menashe appears in the public reports, but it would now seem that his story didn't seem so implausible to them. REPORTER: So you weren't holding back? This is very important. You spoke with Royal Commission investigators and you weren't holding back on the information you had? It was clear and unambiguous? ARI BEN-MENASHE: No. In my opinion it was clear and unambiguous. REPORTER: And it was supported by documented evidence? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Some of it was. REPORTER: And they would still retain that documentary evidence presumably? ARI BEN-MENASHE: I don't know what they do with their evidence. It would seem that the Western Australia authorities aren't too sure what they did with the evidence either. Western Australian Director of Public Prosecutions, Robert Cock. REPORTER: Have you seen the record? ROBERT COCK, WA DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS: All I've seen is a short note confirming that the allegations that were made publicly by Mr Ben-Menashe are also made to the Royal Commissioners. Six weeks ago, at the urging of Andrew Murray, the electoral matters chairman confidentially wrote to the West Australian Director of Public Prosecutions. The DPP is the custodian of the Royal Commission records and his advice was sought on whether the records contained any information that would be relevant to their inquiry. Six weeks later, there has been no reply and more disturbingly, the records have not been found. REPORTER: No, I understand that, but you have been requested by Parliamentary Committee and you have not been able to ascertain whether the records exist. You've found two pages or whatever? ROBERT COCK: I found some material, yes. REPORTER: Is that an appropriate response? I haven't concluded my response to the Parliamentary Committee yet, so it is perhaps premature to express an opinion. REPORTER: How substantial was the information you gave to the investigators? Was it an oral account or how detailed? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Of course it was an oral account, but there were documents that were given to them. REPORTER: Have those documents seen the light of day before? Have they been released in any way? ARI BEN-MENASHE: No. REPORTER: Have you released them? ARI BEN-MENASHE: No. A senior source within the DPP's office maintains that the records concerning Ari Ben-Menashe and all related material are missing. It's an assertion that Robert Cock denies, but he agrees that they haven't been found, nor has any record of their whereabouts been found. REPORTER: The Parliamentary Committee is requesting something of you beyond what was published 10 years ago? ROBERT COCK: Yes. REPORTER: They have information that these files contain matters that were never publicly revealed. So as a DPP, as a prosecutor, isn't it well within your ambit to make best effort to get those files and to consider whether there is anything worth investigating? ROBERT COCK: I think my role is certainly to ensure that if there is evidence of a criminal offence that would be appropriately prosecuted in the present environment, that is it's not too stale and the evidence is still useful, then I would prosecute it. But nothing has come to my attention to suggest that anything of that nature exists or should be examined. REPORTER: But you haven't seen the files? ROBERT COCK: That's right. Marshall Wilson provides evidence of how detailed the WA Inc investigation was. Two years ago he recorded an interview with one of the Royal Commission investigators, which has never been broadcast or published. The investigator's identity and position has been confirmed. VOICE OF INVESTIGATOR: The cheque was drawn on a Channel Islands account and it was at a local bank, in which a lot of the Royal Commission players were playing. If I recall, we had a photocopy of the cheque, with the date, the amount, everything. VOICE OF MARSHALL WILSON: This has never been made public obviously. VOICE OF INVESTIGATOR: I don't believe so. Apart from what Ben-Menashe has claimed, there's never been any public understanding that such extraordinary material was gathered. Senior sources within the Royal Commission confirm that a major investigation was under way when it was cancelled, not concluded - just cancelled. ROBERT COCK: I should say that I'm not in any way suggesting that files are missing. I am simply saying I haven't sought to access them other than in a pre-emptory way and when I did that, I only found a couple of pages. The pages that Robert Cock has found, confirm one useful fact. That the investigators had been in communication with Richard Babayan - the man Ari Ben-Menashe maintains was used to pass the funds. Richard Babayan has had a chequered career over the past decade and he left America suddenly three years ago, during a State Department investigation. Currently, he's somewhere in Europe and I called him from Paris to request a meeting. REPORTER: Is Richard Babayan there, please? My name is Mark Davis, I'm a journalist from Australia. He declines any meetings or discussions. He believes the time for that has now passed. VOICE OF RICHARD BABAYAN: I hope you understand I'm trying to put a certain section of my life behind me. I've paid my dues and enough is enough. There was a time when certain people in Australia could have looked at these things and they weren't interested at that time. I don't see why anything... In the brief notes discovered by the DPP is a reference relating to Babayan, that he was prepared to testify and provide full documentation if an inquiry proceeded. VOICE OF RICHARD BABAYAN: It's very sad that when the time was right nothing was done and I think again if anything comes out, it will make some noise and be blown away. As a matter of fact, my memory is fading. On the available evidence, it's difficult to see why such an investigation could have been cancelled. Two sources confirm that Commissioners regarded the Ben-Menashe matters has beyond the territory and scope of a Western Australian inquiry. That is, it led to national issues. It would seem that those issues were of an explosive nature. Ben-Menashe claims that the complete information that he was given to investigators put the payments into a broader context; that there was a long history of payments by Israeli and American intelligence agencies to a source within the Labor Party. ARI BEN-MENASHE: So if you put this into context, you won't - it won't look so - people say, "Where did this money come from? Why did it come?" You know, what people don't realise - there was a flow of money, outside money, over the years to the Labor Party from various sources. REPORTER: When you say 'various sources', various foreign sources? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Foreign sources. That's right. The origins of this flow of money, the origins, not saying directly from the US or Israeli governments and the origins could be traced to the US or Israeli governments, but they would go through business people that are connected and so on. The context of this accusation concerns a particular individual who Ben-Menashe names, rather than the Labor Party in general. He claims that this was the broader issue that he was providing information about to the Western Australian investigators. ARI BEN-MENASHE: ...connected with intelligence agencies that would contribute. The WA Inc investigator, recorded here, indicates this was one of the areas being investigated when the inquiry was ended. VOICE OF INVESTIGATOR: He was a little too sensitive, given the circumstances of what the overall picture was with Ben-Menashe. Further sections of this tape indicate an individual and can't be played. REPORTER: Is there anybody who has the capacity to remove files from this office without your authority - legal responsibility? That would be a criminal offence to remove files without my authority. ROBERT COCK: No, no that would be a criminal offence to remove files without my authority. Whether it's a Premier's department or Australian intelligence agency? ROBERT COCK: Absolutely right. That's correct. They would not be able to remove files? ROBERT COCK: That's correct. It's yet to be established whether the records still exist and if they do, whether the Western Australian DPP is prepared to give any indication of what they may contain to the Parliamentary Committee or other federal authority. But before Ari Ben-Menashe left the country in 1992, he gave some details to one other individual - John Howard, then leader of the Opposition had at least three extensive meetings with Ari Ben-Menashe. JOHN HOWARD: I said I was sufficiently interested and impressed with what he had to say to go on listening. ARI BEN-MENASHE: Why don't you ask him. REPORTER: I will ask him. He'll give his version. I'm interested in yours. ARI BEN-MENASHE: I'm sure he'll give the right version. The only thing else - please ask him about the matter. John Howard declined to be interviewed for this program or provide any written response to questions regarding his discussions with Ari Ben-Menashe and his reasons for never at least airing the matter at the parliamentary privilege. REPORTER TO JOHN HOWARD: I have some questions about Ari Ben-Menashe. You met him on several occasions. Did you find his claims credible? JOHN HOWARD: Cherrio. REPORTER: Why didn't you raise it in parliament, sir? A spokesman for the Prime Minister later advised that Mr Howard had met with Ari Ben-Menashe; that he found Ben-Menashe's allegations interesting, but to the best of his recollection, he did not receive enough material to raise the issue in parliament. It's unclear whether John Howard received the same information that WA Inc investigators received. If he did, his ability to respond now would be compromised by his 10 years of silence. John Howard has never discredited Ari Ben-Menashe. ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah, he was pretty much aware of it. REPORTER: He was already aware of it? ARI BEN-MENASHE: Yeah. The political advantage to Howard would have been obvious, but perhaps the consequences of raising this issue were too great. It could have exposed intelligence operations of two allies, friends and allies needed by a future prime minister. At the time, Mr Howard was talking with Ben-Menashe, Ben-Menashe was providing critical testimony against both the director of the CIA and the then serving president, George W Bush. To make matters worse, Margaret Thatcher's son had recently been accused of involvement in the arms business and Ben-Menashe had had dealings with him as well. Perhaps overall, the costs were too great. Perhaps they still are. The electoral matters committee has been resolved spending the results of the committee. It's yet to be seen who the next parliament will appoint as members and what their agendas will be. FROM: http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/transcript.php3?date=2001-10-31&title=Guns+and+Money Further to the above:- FROM: http://www.namebase.org/cgi-bin/nb01/TO Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. New York: Sheridan Square Press, 1992. 394 pages. If this book is even half true, it means that less than ten percent of the Reagan and Bush administration double-dealing was ever revealed to the American public. Ari Ben-Menashe's description of the U.S.-Israeli arms network can only be described as "sensational." If you accept his scenario, it's apparent that an impotent U.S. Congress, once they got a whiff of the dimensions of the problem and considered their options, had no choice but to cover it all up. Some journalists who have verified portions of Ben-Menashe's story have found that his information is excellent. Others just wish he would disappear and are inclined to discredit him, because to accept him is to admit that you've been chasing your tail for ten years and missing it all. With Ben-Menashe, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground. Ben-Menashe was one of six on Israel's top-secret Joint Committee on Israel-Iran Relations, and spent years globe-trotting for them, setting up fronts and transferring millions in cash. In 1980 he saw George Bush in Paris meeting with a high Iranian official, and in 1986 he briefed Bush. In 1981 Robert Gates helped him with his suitcase containing $56 million. Others in this book include Margaret Thatcher's son Mark, Chilean arms dealer Carlos Cardoen, and Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner, to name a few. If you start reading this book, watch out for Mossad hit men and hold on to your hat. |
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