In this program, we review and present information about the Muslim Brotherhood and the phenomenon that became known as “The Arab Spring.”
The Muslim Brotherhood is an Islamic fascist organization, allied with the Axis in World War II. After the war, the organization gravitated to elements of Western intelligence, where it proved to be a bulwark against Communism in the Muslim world.
It is our view that the Brotherhood was seen as useful because of its military offshoots (Al-Qaeda in particular) were useful proxy warriors in places like the Caucasus and the Balkans and because the Brotherhood’s corporatist, neo-liberal economic doctrine was in keeping with the desires and goals of the trans-national corporate community.
(The Afghan Mujahedin were a direct offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and the successful war conducted by that group was a successful manifestation of “Brotherhood” as proxy warriors. Of course, Al-Qaeda grew directly from the Afghan jihadists.)
In FTR #‘s 733 through 739, we presented our view that the so-called Arab Spring was a U.S. intelligence operation, aimed at placing the Brotherhood in power in Muslim countries dominated either by a secular dictator or absolute monarchy.
In FTR #787, we solidified our analysis with definitive confirmation of our working hypothesis presented years earlier.
About the Muslim Brotherhood’s economic doctrine: ” . . . . . . . In Muslim liturgy, the deals cut in the souk become a metaphor for the contract between God and the faithful. And the business model Muhammad prescribed, according to Muslim scholars and economists, is very much in the laissez-faire tradition later embraced by the West. Prices were to be set by God alone—anticipating by more than a millennium Adam Smith’s reference to the ‘invisible hand’ of market-based pricing. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood hails 14th century philosopher Ibn Khaldun as its economic guide. Anticipating supply-side economics, Khaldun argued that cutting taxes raises production and tax revenues, and that state control should be limited to providing water, fire and free grazing land, the utilities of the ancient world. The World Bank has called Ibn Khaldun the first advocate of privatization. His founding influence is a sign of moderation. If Islamists in power ever do clash with the West, it won’t be over commerce. . . .”
Ronald Reagan resonated with the Brotherhood’s economic doctrine when promoting his supply-side economics: “President Reagan, in his news conference yesterday, cited a 14th century Islamic scholar as an early exponent of the ”supply-side” economic theory on which his Administration bases many of its policies. An authority on the scholar later said that the reference seemed accurate. . . . Responding to a question about the effects of tax and spending cuts that began taking effect yesterday, Mr. Reagan said the supply-side principle dated at least as far back as Ibn Khaldun, who is generally regarded as the greatest Arab historian to emerge from the highly developed Arabic culture of the Middle Ages. . . .”
The U.S. view on the Brotherhood and Islamism in general was epitomized by CIA officer Graham Fuller, who ran the Afghan Mujahadin: ” . . . . . . . Fuller comes from that faction of CIA Cold Warriors who believed (and still apparently believe) that fundamentalist Islam, even in its radical jihadi form, does not pose a threat to the West, for the simple reason that fundamentalist Islam is conservative, against social justice, against socialism and redistribution of wealth, and in favor of hierarchical socio-economic structures. Socialism is the common enemy to both capitalist America and to Wahhabi Islam, according to Fuller. . . .‘There is no mainstream Islamic organization...with radical social views,’ he wrote. ‘Classical Islamic theory envisages the role of the state as limited to facilitating the well-being of markets and merchants rather than controlling them. Islamists have always powerfully objected to socialism and communism....Islam has never had problems with the idea that wealth is unevenly distributed.’ . . . .”
Next, we present the reading of an article by CFR member Bruce Hoffman. Noting Al Qaeda’s resurgence and Al Qaeda’s emphasis on the Syrian conflict, Hoffman cites the so-called “Arab Spring” as the key event in Al Qaeda’s resurgence. ” . . . . The thousands of hardened al-Qaeda fighters freed from Egyptian prisons in 2012–2013 by President Mohammed Morsi galvanized the movement at a critical moment, when instability reigned and a handful of men well-versed in terrorism and subversion could plunge a country or a region into chaos. Whether in Libya, Turkey, Syria, or Yemen, their arrival was providential in terms of advancing al-Qaeda’s interests or increasing its influence. . . . It was Syria where al-Qaeda’s intervention proved most consequential. One of Zawahiri’s first official acts after succeeding bin Laden as emir was to order a Syrian veteran of the Iraqi insurgency named Abu Mohammad al-Julani to return home and establish the al-Qaeda franchise that would eventually become Jabhat al-Nusra. . . .”
Hoffman notes that Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State were, at one time, part of a unified organization: ” . . . . Al-Qaeda’s chosen instrument was Jabhat al-Nusra, the product of a joint initiative with al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, which had rebranded itself as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). But as Nusra grew in both strength and impact, a dispute erupted between ISI and al-Qaeda over control of the group. In a bold power grab, ISI’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced the forcible amalgamation of al-Nusra with ISI in a new organization to be called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Julani refused to accede to the unilateral merger and appealed to Zawahiri. The quarrel intensified, and after Zawahiri’s attempts to mediate it collapsed, he expelled ISIS from the al-Qaeda network. . . .”
An Egyptian newspaper published what were said to be intercepted recordings of Morsi communicating conspiratorially with Muhammad al-Zawahiri, the the brother of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the head of Al-Qaeda. Much of this checks out with information that is already on the public record.
The Egyptian government sentenced more than 500 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, to the resounding condemnation of Western countries, including the U.S. What we were not told was why. THIS appears to be why. Note the profound connection between the Muslim Brotherhood government of Morsi and Al Qaeda, information that supplements what the Bruce Hoffman paper discusses: ” . . . . Morsi informed Zawahiri that the Muslim Brotherhood supports the mujahidin (jihadis) and that the mujahidin should support the Brotherhood in order for them both, and the Islamist agenda, to prevail in Egypt. This makes sense in the context that, soon after Morsi came to power, the general public did become increasingly critical of him and his policies, including the fact that he was placing only Brotherhood members in Egypt’s most important posts, trying quickly to push through a pro-Islamist constitution, and, as Egyptians called it, trying in general to ‘Brotherhoodize’ Egypt. This second phone call being longer than the first, Zawahiri took it as an opportunity to congratulate Morsi on his recent presidential victory—which, incidentally, from the start, was portrayed by some as fraudulent—and expressed his joy that Morsi’s presidency could only mean that ‘all secular infidels would be removed from Egypt.’ Then Zawahiri told Morsi: ‘Rule according to the Sharia of Allah [or ‘Islamic law’], and we will stand next to you. Know that, from the start, there is no so-called democracy, so get rid of your opposition.’ . . .”
Note the networking of GOP Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham with Khairat El-Shater of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood while he was in prison. ” . . . . The call ended in agreement that al-Qaeda would support the Brotherhood, including its international branches, under the understanding that Morsi would soon implement full Sharia in Egypt. After this, Muhammad Zawahiri and Khairat al-Shater, the number-two man of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, reportedly met regularly. It is interesting to note here that, prior to these revelations, U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson was seen visiting with Khairat al-Shater—even though he held no position in the Morsi government—and after the ousting and imprisonment of Morsi and leading Brotherhood members, Sens. John McCain and Lindsay Graham made it a point to visit the civilian Shater in his prison cell and urged the Egyptian government to release him. . . .”
Might there be some relationship between the Graham, McCain/Shater contacts and the evolution of the Benghazi/Clinton emails/Trump election nexus?
Note, also, that Morsi and Zawahiri/Al-Qaeda jihadis were allegedly involved in the Behghazi attack that, ultimately, led to the Benghazi hearings, the Hillary Clinton e‑mail non-scandal and Donald Trump’s ascent: ” . . . . Along with saying that the Brotherhood intended to form a ‘revolutionary guard’ to protect him against any coup, Morsi added that, in return for al-Qaeda’s and its affiliates’ support, not only would he allow them to have such training camps, but he would facilitate their development in Sinai and give them four facilities to use along the Egyptian-Libyan border. That Libya is mentioned is interesting. According to a Libyan Arabic report I translated back in June 2013, those who attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, killing Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, were from jihadi cells that had been formed in Libya through Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood support. Those interrogated named Morsi and other top Brotherhood leadership as accomplices. . . .”
In FTR #‘s 1007, 1008 and 1009, we presented a highly complex constellation of political events and entities that are embodied in the “Russia-Gate” psy-op, and that track back to a progression of overlapping intelligence scandals tracking back decades. In this program, we attempt to give greater coherence to analysis of this consummately important phenomenon.
For purposes of clarity, we present synoptic analysis of key points of discussion and analysis in FTR #‘s 1007 and related programs.
1.–The Alfa conglomerate maintains the Alfa Fellowship program, a subsidiary of the Carl Duisberg Society’s new umbrella the Cultural Vistas organization.
2.–The Carl Duisberg Society was the vehicle that shepherded 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta around Germany and the U.S.
3.–Alfa subsidiary Crown Alfa had dealings with commodities Marc Rich, whose pardon was investigated by James Comey. The negotiations between Rich and Crown Alfa were ultimately unsuccessful.
4.–In FTR #930, we noted that another Alfa associate Mikhail Fridman did purchase Marc Rich assets.
5.–Also in FTR #930, we noted an Alfa Bank server communicating with the Trump organization.
6.–In 2001, Crown Alfa associate Norbert Seeger’s Progressive Citizens Party of Liechtenstein gave Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein unprecedented power, making him, in effect, Europe’s only absolute monarch. Hans-Adam’s new powers gave him control over the courts and judicial system just as the 9/11 attacks and resulting Operation Green Quest investigations were moving in the direction of the Lichtenstein-based Al-Taqwa nexus.
7.–An Al-Taqwa subsidiary, the Asat Trust had links to the House of Liechtenstein–the ruling family of Liechtenstein.
8.–Robert Mueller helped derail the Operation Green Quest investigation while serving as head of the FBI.
9.–The House of Liechtenstein is a subsidiary of the House of Habsburg.
Again, for purposes of clarity, we review links of the Habsburg family to “European integration,” anti-Soviet/Cold War activism and Ukraine:
1.–Members of the Habsburg dynasty have been involved in the context in which Lee Harvey Manafort and the Habsburg Group were operating–European integration–in order to ease Ukraine into the Western, rather than the Russian orbit. ” . . . .The most striking example of the trend is the appointment this week of Georg von Habsburg, the 32-year-old-grandson of Emperor Karl I, to the position of Hungary’s ambassador for European Integration. In neighbouring Austria, the traditional heart of Habsburg power, Georg’s brother, Karl, 35, was recently elected to represent the country in the European parliament. In addition to this, he serves as the president of the Austrian branch of the Pan-European movement. . . . .”
2.–Jumping forward some 14 years from our previous article, we see that a Habsburg princess was anointed as Georgia’s ambassador to Germany. Note that [now former] Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili endorsed her. Saakashvili became, for a time, the governor of the Ukrainian province of Odessa! Note, also, the role of the Habsburgs in the final phase of the Cold War: “. . . . The heirs to the Habsburg emperors helped speed the downfall of the Soviet empire, particularly by arranging the cross-border exodus from Hungary to Austria in the summer of 1989 that punched the first big hole in the iron curtain. . . .”
3.–Karl von Habsburg has been active in Ukraine for some years before establishing a radio station. Karl von Habsburg is the head of the UNPO. Note the Ukrainian orientation and influence of Wilhelm von Habsburg, in World War I through the World War II eras, as well as his anti-Soviet activism: ” . . . . A military officer by training, Wilhelm supported Ukraine’s independence struggle during World War I. He fought with Ukrainian troops against the Russians, and had schemed and cajoled a myriad of politicians to support his monarchial aspirations. Almost until his death at the hands of the Soviets in 1948 – he was snatched off the streets of Vienna and transported to a prison in Kyiv for working as an agent against the Soviet Union – Wilhelm believed this slice of the family’s empire could be his. . . .”
4.–Fast-forwarding again some five years from our previous two articles and one year after the EuroMaidan coup we see that actions speak louder than words, and Karl’s new Ukrainian radio station says a lot: “Since 20 January, a truly European radio station [Note this–D.E.] is broadcasting in Ukraine, its main sponsor, Karl-Habsburg Lothringen, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview . . . . Karl Habsburg-Lothringen is an Austrian politician and head of the House of Habsburg. Since 1986, he has served as President of the Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Union. . . .”
5.–As we noted, “Plan B” for Ukraine might be termed “Plan OUN/B.” Otto von Habsburg formed the European Freedom Council with Jaroslav Stetzko, the wartime head of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborationist government that implemented Third Reich ethnic cleansing programs in Ukraine. The EFC was closely aligned with the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, headed by Stetzko. The ABN, as we have seen in the past, is a re-naming of the Committee of Subjugated Nations, a consortium of Eastern European fascist groups formed by Hitler in 1943.”. . . . The Hapsburg monarchy helped guide the leadership in their former possessions. The Freedom Council was formed by Otto von Hapsburg and Jaroslav Stetzko at a conference in Munich on June 30-July 2 1967, as a coordinating body for organizations fighting communism in Europe. EMP H.R.H. Otto von Hapsburg was honorary chairman of the European Freedom Council, based in Munich, during the 1980s and allied to the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN). . . .”
Lee Harvey Manafort’s activities overlap the dynamics highlighted above:
1.–Manafort’s networking with the “Habsburg Group” of European politicians to effect Ukraine’s integration into the EU orbit: ” . . . . . . . . A second Washington lobbying firm hired by Mr. Manafort, the Podesta Group, also said last year that it had ‘arranged meetings and media opportunities’ for visiting European leaders regarding Ukraine, starting in 2012, including for Mr. Gusenbauer, Mr. Prodi and two former presidents, Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and Viktor A. Yushchenko of Ukraine. . . . The group of senior former politicians, according to the indictment, was informally called the Hapsburg Group, after the Austro-Hungarian dynasty, the Habsburgs. . . .”
2.–Lee Harvey Manafort and the Habsburg Group enlisted Alex van Der Zwaan, son-in-law of German Khan the (Kiev) Ukraine-born founder of Alfa Bank: ” . . . . Alex van der Zwaan was charged with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates, who served as a top official on President Trump’s campaign and a longtime business partner of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Based in London, van der Zwaan worked for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which worked with Manafort and Gates when they served as political consultants in Ukraine. Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a billionaire and an owner of Alfa Group, Russia’s largest financial and industrial investment group. . . . Like the Manafort and Gates charges, van der Zwaan’s case is rooted in Ukraine, where Manafort worked as an international political consultant starting in 2005. . . .”
Of central interest in our analysis is the long espionage career of Felix Sater, the point man for Trump’s attempted dealings with Russia. Sater is a spy, working for both CIA and FBI. Much of his work links to events and institutions connected to Osama bin Laden/9/11. In an earlier political incarnation, Robert Mueller headed the FBI during part of the period when Sater worked for the Bureau, in addition to his work for the Agency. With long-time spook Sater as the point man for Trump’s [hitherto unsuccessful] business dealings with Russia and evident spy Manafort Trump’s former campaign manager, it is altogether reasonable to see “Team Trump” in both the USA and Russia as an intelligence “op.”
The following excerpt highlights those efforts, especially some which place his work directly in the milieu of the Operation Green Quest raids, which were effectively covered up by Robert Mueller when he headed the FBI. ” . . . . Sater reported back to intelligence agencies on the results of coalition bombings, kills on the battlefield, the financial networks behind the 9/11 bombers and other al-Qaeda members worldwide, and even the identity of a New Mexico company believed to be laundering terror funds in the US. . . .”
The foundation of the U.S. intelligence/Hapsburg/Underground Reich concatenation dates to the period immediately after World War I: ” . . . . . . . . The Hapsburgs would desert Germany in return for an American commitment. Subsidized by the United States—which brought over to Europe the President’s close adviser Professor George D. Herron to impart Wilson’s vital imprimatur—this updated Hapsburg sovereignty must commit in advance to eradicating the Bolsheviks. A revitalized Austro-Hungarian buffer zone to fend off Soviet penetration of the Balkans turned into a lifelong chimera for Dulles, and spurred his devotion over the many years to some manner of ‘Danubian Federation.’ . . . .”
This relationship gained momentum during the Second World War, with approaches by the Third Reich to Allied as a Nazi defeat began to take shape.
Of paramount significance for our purposes is a “Christian Wester” accommodation apparently involving Prince Egon Max von Hohenloe, who married into the Habsburg family. Operating out of Lichtenstein and traveling on a Lichtenstein passport, von Hohenloe served as an intermediary between U.S. intelligence and Walter Schellenberg, in charge of overseas intelligence for the SS. (Schellenberg was also on the board of directors of International Telephone and Telegraph and became a key operative for the postwar Gehlen organization.)
Allen Dulles’s strategic outlook embraced and shaped much of what appears to underlie the Habsburg/OUN/Western intelligence activity with regard to Ukraine: ” . . . Pronouncements alternated with rich meals in a Liechtenstein chateau; Hohenlohe bit by bit exposed his quasi-official status as a spokesman for SS elements with in the German government who now looked beyond the ‘wild men’ in control. What casts a longer shadow is the outline of Allen’s geopolitical ideas. The peace he has in mind, Dulles indicates, must avoid the excesses of Versailles and permit the expanded German polity to survive, Austria included and possibly at least a section of Czechoslovakia, while excluding all thought of ‘victors and vanquished . . . . as a factor of order and progress.’ . . . . The resultant ‘Greater Germany’ would backstop the ‘formation of a cordon sanitaire against Bolshevism and pan-Slavism through the eastward enlargement of Poland and the preservation of a strong Hungary.’ This ‘Federal Greater Germany (similar to the United States), with an associated Danube Confederation, would be the best guarantee of order and progress in Central and Eastern Europe.’ . . . . ”
A former Abwehr officer alleges that he attended a meeting in Spain between Abwehr head Wilhelm Canaris, Donovan and Stewart Menzies, chief of MI6–British Intelligence. ” . . . . . . . . An Abwehr officer, F. Justus von Einem, later claimed to have sat in on a carefully prepared meeting at Santander in Spain in the summer of 1943 during which both Menzies and Donovan agreed to Christian Wester terms as recapitulated by Canaris personally. If this exchange occurred, Donovan kept it quiet. . . .”
In this program, we extend analysis the operations of the “Greater Habsburg” milieu and the associated Underground Reich around the world and into dynamics incorporating the use of Islamist proxy warriors in that important geopolitical province, as well as the manipulation of other Third World ethnic groups as destabilizing elements in targeted areas.
At the epicenter of this dynamic is the Earth Island.
Stretching from the Straits of Gibraltar, all across Europe, most of the Middle East, Eurasia, Russia, China and India, that stretch of land: comprises most of the world’s land mass; contains most of the world’s population and most of the world’s natural resources (including oil and natural gas.) Geopoliticians have long seen controlling that land mass as the key to world domination. The population that occupies the middle of that stretch of geography is largely Muslim.
Among the salient points to be considered in the context of the Habsburg/Underground Reich/Western intelligence dynamic:
1.–Liechtenstein monarch Prince Hans-Adam II’s 2000 gift to Princeton University: “. . . . A $12 million gift to Princeton from Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein will create the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination . . . .The gift will expand the University’s existing Liechtenstein Research Program on Self-Determination, which also has been funded by Prince Hans-Adam II. It will enable Princeton faculty, students and outside experts to expand their work and embark on wide-ranging new projects in such places as Kosovo, Kashmir, and Chechnya. . . .”
2.–In this context, one should not lose sight of the similarity of the focus of the Liechtenstein Institute and the Habsburg-affiliated UNPO. Are both of these organizations part of the new “kinder, gentler” covert operations paradigm? Bear in mind that both the Hapsburgs and the closely-associated House of Liechtenstein are conservative Catholics. Their interest in “native peoples” and “self-determination” for Islamists, Turks, Tibetan Buddhists and Lakota Sioux is all the more suspicious, under the circumstances!!
3.–We review (from FTR #550) links between pro-Uighur activist Erkin Alptekin and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty—both closely connected to U.S. intelligence—Erkin Alptekin is a founder and key member of the UNPO, about which we will have more to say below. Alptekin is also on the board of the Dalai Lama Foundation. Michael Van Walt, another close associate of the Dalai Lama, is also deeply involved with the UNPO.
With the Dalai Lama and his milieu, we appear to be looking at manifestations of the Underground Reich as a “virtual state”—a state without formal geographical borders. We should also note that Central Asia—the area that is the focal point of the Dalai Lama’s and UNPO’s support for Uighur separatist elements was viewed by geopoliticians as critical for maintaining control of the Earth Island.
5.–We review Karl von Habsburg’s role as head of the UNPO and his marriage to Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza. Note that the UNPO champions the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans. (We looked at the Dalai Lama’s profound links to the Nazi SS and the Underground Reich in–among other programs–FTR #‘s 547, 842 and 843.)
6.–An article accessed in FTR #‘s 635 and 636 highlights support for the Uighurs by the UNPO.
7.–Emblematic of the true nature of the supposedly “humanistic, progressive” UNPO is the fact that they have incorporated the Afrikaners into their pantheon of “disenfranchised” peoples.
8.–Note that the UNPO counts the secession of Kosovo as one of its successors. As discussed in—among other programs—FTRs 330, 622, the Kosovo Liberation Army is the direct descendant of the 21st Waffen SS Division (Skanderbeg) and other fascist fighting formations of World War II.
The title of the program references former Trump campaign manager and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich’s advisor Paul Manafort as “Lee Harvey Manafort.”
Far from being a “Russian/Putin/Kremlin agent, Paul Manafort is a U.S. intelligence officer, who was charged with the task of teasing Ukraine from the Russian into the Western orbit. Heeding polls that found Ukraine’s citizens to oppose the country’s inclusion into NATO and midwiving a report that exonerated then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich of criminal excess in the jailing of his predecessor and rival Yulia Timoshenko, Manafort undertook political activism on behalf of both causes in order to effect his goal of Westernizing Ukraine.
When the combination of popular dissatisfaction with the austerity-laden EU association proposal and Russian pressure led to Yanukovych’s cancellation of the deepening of Ukrainian/EU relations, the Euromaidan coup sealed the fate of the Yanukovych government. “Plan B” for the integration of Ukraine into the Western camp was the Euromaidan coup, which culminated in the sniper killings of numerous civilians. As discussed in FTR #‘s 982 and 993, those sniper attacks may well have been a provocation, effected by Ukrainian fascist and OUN/B successor Andriy Parubiy christened “The Captain of the Maidan” and–very possibly–Manafort himself.
Plan B, for the maneuvering of Ukraine into the Western camp might be termed “Plan OUN/B.”
Manafort–like Lee Harvey Oswald and Edwin Wilson before him–has been “left out in the cold” by his spymasters, left to take the fall for an operation he undertook on their behalf. Hence, our christening of Trump’s former, unfortunate campaign manager as “Lee Harvey Manafort.”
A major factor in the events highlighted in our last program, this broadcast and the forthcoming program is the Habsburg (also spelled “Hapsburg”) dynasty and related elements. The Habsburgs are the royal family that presided over the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ruled Central and much of Eastern Europe for 600 years.
In addition to the Habsburg power political forces, our analysis focuses on the tiny, Habsburg-affiliated European principality of Liechtenstein. With a population of just 32.000, Liechtenstein is a vertically-integrated lean, mean money-laundering machine.
Overlapping the Liechtenstein connection is the Alfa Group–a Russian conglomerate, the most important component of which is the Alfa Bank.
For purposes of clarity, we present synoptic analysis of key points of discussion and analysis in FTR #‘s 1007 and related programs.
1.–The Alfa conglomerate maintains the Alfa Fellowship program, a subsidiary of the Carl Duisberg Society’s new umbrella the Cultural Vistas organization.
2.–The Carl Duisberg Society was the vehicle that shepherded 9/11 hijacker Mohamed Atta around Germany and the U.S.
3.–Alfa subsidiary Crown Alfa had dealings with commodities Marc Rich, whose pardon was investigated by James Comey.
4.–In FTR #930, we noted that another Alfa associate Mikhail Fridman did purchase Marc Rich assets.
5.–Also in FTR #930, we noted an Alfa Bank server communicating with the Trump organization.
6.–In 2001, Crown Alfa associate Norbert Seeger’s Progressive Citizens Party of Liechtenstein gave Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein unprecedented power, making him, in effect, Europe’s only absolute monarch. Hans-Adam’s new powers gave him control over the courts and judicial system just as the 9/11 attacks and resulting Operation Green Quest investigations were moving in the direction of the Lichtenstein-based Al-Taqwa nexus.
7.–An Al-Taqwa subsidiary, the Asat Trust had links to the House of Liechtenstein–the ruling family of Liechtenstein.
8.–Robert Mueller helped derail the Operation Green Quest investigation while serving as head of the FBI.
9.–The House of Liechtenstein is a subsidiary of the House of Habsburg.
In this program, we set forth elements overlapping the dynamics presented above, including:
1.–Manafort’s networking with the “Habsburg Group” of European politicians to effect Ukraine’s integration into the EU orbit: ” . . . . . . . . A second Washington lobbying firm hired by Mr. Manafort, the Podesta Group, also said last year that it had ‘arranged meetings and media opportunities’ for visiting European leaders regarding Ukraine, starting in 2012, including for Mr. Gusenbauer, Mr. Prodi and two former presidents, Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and Viktor A. Yushchenko of Ukraine. . . . The group of senior former politicians, according to the indictment, was informally called the Hapsburg Group, after the Austro-Hungarian dynasty, the Habsburgs. . . .”
2.–Lee Harvey Manafort and the Habsburg Group enlisted Alex van Der Zwaan, son-in-law of German Khan the (Kiev) Ukraine-born founder of Alfa Bank: ” . . . . Alex van der Zwaan was charged with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Rick Gates, who served as a top official on President Trump’s campaign and a longtime business partner of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Based in London, van der Zwaan worked for the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, which worked with Manafort and Gates when they served as political consultants in Ukraine. Van der Zwaan is the son-in-law of German Khan, a billionaire and an owner of Alfa Group, Russia’s largest financial and industrial investment group. . . . Like the Manafort and Gates charges, van der Zwaan’s case is rooted in Ukraine, where Manafort worked as an international political consultant starting in 2005. . . .”
3.–Members of the Habsburg dynasty have been involved in the context in which Lee Harvey Manafort and the Habsburg Group were operating, in order to ease Ukraine into the Western, rather than the Russian orbit. ” . . . . Georg von Habsburg, the 32-year-old-grandson of Emperor karl I, to the position of Hungary’s ambassador for European Integration. In neighbouring Austria, the traditional heart of Habsburg power, Georg’s brother, Karl, 35, was recently elected to represent the country in the European parliament. In addition to this, he serves as the president of the Austrian branch of the Pan-European movement. . . . .”
Jumping forward some 14 years from our previous article, we see that a Habsburg princess was anointed as Georgia’s ambassador to Germany. Note that [now former] Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili endorsed her. Saakashvili became, for a time, the governor of the Ukrainian province of Odessa! Note, also, the role of the Habsburgs in the final phase of the Cold War: “. . . . The heirs to the Habsburg emperors helped speed the downfall of the Soviet empire, particularly by arranging the cross-border exodus from Hungary to Austria in the summer of 1989 that punched the first big hole in the iron curtain. . . .”
Karl von Habsburg has been active in Ukraine for some years before establishing a radio station. Karl von Habsburg is the head of the UNPO. Note the Ukrainian orientation and influence of Wilhelm von Habsburg, in World War I through the World War II eras, as well as his anti-Soviet activism: ” . . . . A military officer by training, Wilhelm supported Ukraine’s independence struggle during World War I. He fought with Ukrainian troops against the Russians, and had schemed and cajoled a myriad of politicians to support his monarchial aspirations. Almost until his death at the hands of the Soviets in 1948 – he was snatched off the streets of Vienna and transported to a prison in Kyiv for working as an agent against the Soviet Union – Wilhelm believed this slice of the family’s empire could be his. . . .”
4.–Fast-forwarding again some five years from our previous two articles and one year after the EuroMaidan coup we see that actions speak louder than words, and Karl’s new Ukrainian radio station says a lot: “Since 20 January, a truly European radio station [Note this–D.E.] is broadcasting in Ukraine, its main sponsor, Karl-Habsburg Lothringen, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview . . . . Karl Habsburg-Lothringen is an Austrian politician and head of the House of Habsburg. Since 1986, he has served as President of the Austrian branch of the Paneuropean Union. . . .”
As we noted, “Plan B” for Ukraine might be termed “Plan OUN/B.” Otto von Habsburg formed the European Freedom Council with Jaroslav Stetzko, the wartime head of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborationist government that implemented Third Reich ethnic cleansing programs in Ukraine. The EFC was closely aligned with the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, headed by Stetzko. The ABN, as we have seen in the past, is a re-naming of the Committee of Subjugated Nations, a consortium of Eastern European fascist groups formed by Hitler in 1943.”. . . . The Hapsburg monarchy helped guide the leadership in their former possessions. The Freedom Council was formed by Otto von Hapsburg and Jaroslav Stetzko at a conference in Munich on June 30-July 2 1967, as a coordinating body for organizations fighting communism in Europe. EMP H.R.H. Otto von Hapsburg was honorary chairman of the European Freedom Council, based in Munich, during the 1980s and allied to the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN). . . .”
An important consideration in the context of his program is the career and position of Roman Zvarych. In addition to being the spokesman for the Nazi Azov Battalion, Zvarych was:
1.–Minister of Justice under Viktor Yuschenko.
2.–Minister of Justice under both Tymoshenko governments.
3.–An adviser to Petro Poroshenko.
4.–In the 1980’s, the personal secretary to Jaroslav Stetzko, the wartime head of the Nazi collaborationist government in Ukraine. Stetzko implemented Nazi ethnic cleansing in Ukraine during World War II.
Program Highlights Include:
1.–Ukraine’s suspension of cooperation with the Mueller probe, in order to avoid endangering Trump’s arming of Ukraine.
2.–Manafort and the Habsburg Group’s networking with Andrei Artemenko, a Pravy Sektor affiliate whose operations with Felix Sater and Michael Cohen were described as part of a Russian conspiracy but were, in fact, part of an anti-Russian conspiracy. This is discussed at length in FTR #967.
3.–Review of Felix Sater’s intelligence background. Sater is the point man for Trump’s dealings with Russia. ” . . . . Sater reported back to intelligence agencies on the results of coalition bombings, kills on the battlefield, the financial networks behind the 9/11 bombers and other al-Qaeda members worldwide, and even the identity of a New Mexico company believed to be laundering terror funds in the US. . . .”
In this broadcast, we present elements fundamental to an understanding of the Russia-Gate psy-op–elements which heavily overlap the 9/11 attacks in particular.
In several programs, we have noted Felix Sater’s work on behalf of both CIA and FBI.
Sater has been a very important U.S. intelligence operative, with many of his principal efforts involving fields of endeavor directly related to Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks. The article below highlights those efforts, especially some which place his work directly in the milieu of the Operation Green Quest raids, which were effectively covered up by Robert Mueller when he headed the FBI.
” . . . . Sater reported back to intelligence agencies on the results of coalition bombings, kills on the battlefield, the financial networks behind the 9/11 bombers and other al-Qaeda members worldwide, and even the identity of a New Mexico company believed to be laundering terror funds in the US. . . .”
Next, we revisit information from FTR #530 concerning the relationship between 9/11 hijack ringleader Mohamed Atta and the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft, a joint U.S. German fellowship program that sponsored Atta’s entry to, and stay in, Germany. (For more about Atta and the CDS, see—among other programs—FTR#’s 477, 523.)
It is interesting, and probably significant that the mysterious German couple who brought Atta into Germany under the auspices of the CDS came to meet him through their friend, Mohamed’s father. In FTR#523, we examined the senior Atta’s apparent supervision of the hijackers in Florida. He was apparently the leader of the group, a fact covered up by the FBI. In FTR#519, we looked at the senior Atta’s endorsement of the London subway attacks.
Notice the strange circumstances under which the faceless German couple came to sponsor Atta. Does this make sense? Note, also, that the identity of the German couple who sponsored Atta was kept secret by the Chicago Tribune. WHY?!
In 2011, the Carl Duisberg Society merged with the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) and became Cultural Vistas. One of the CDS’s subsidiary elements in the early years of this century–the Alfa Fellowship Program–is now a subsidiary of Cultural Vistas.
In January 2011, Cultural Vistas was formed after a nonprofit merger between two longstanding exchange organizations: the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) and CDS International.
Alfa Fellowship Program
Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange
The Carl Duisberg Society (CDS International in the above Wikipedia entry), which shepherded Atta into the U.S. is described in an entry on a website that also featured the Alfa Fellowship, sponsored by the Alfa conglomerate: ” . . . . In the 1920’s, Carl Duisberg, General Director of Bayer AG in Germany, envisioned sending German students to the United States on work-study programs. Duisberg was convinced that international practical training was critical to the growth of German industry. Many of the returning trainees later rose to prominent positions at AEG, Bayer, Bosch, Daimler Benz, and Siemens, bringing with them new methods for mass production, new ideas, and new business practices. Following World War II, alumni from the first exchanges founded the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft (CDG) in 1949 to help engineers, businessmen and farmers gain international work experience necessary for the rebuilding of Germany . . . .”
The Alfa Fellowship was on the website of the CDS. Now, it is a subsidiary of the Cultural Vistas non-profit, resulting from the merged CDS entity.
“ALFA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM”; Page on the Carl Duisberg Society web site (as of 2006).
“ALFA FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM: Nearly fifteen years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Cold War-era policies and concepts continue to affect U.S. relations with Russia. . . . The Alfa Fellowship Program is designed to address this problem . . . .”
Crown Resources and other Crown entities are part of the Alfa Group, one of whose outgrowths is the CDS subsidiary program, the Alfa Fellowship. Note that Marc Rich, whose pardon was investigated by former FBI director James Comey, dealt with Crown Alfa, although an effort to sell his commodities deal to the company failed. ” . . . . A deal to sell the Swiss-based commodities operation of former U.S. fugitive financier Marc Rich to Russia-owned energy trading group Crown Resources is off. . . . Crown is owned by the Alfa Group conglomerate. . . .”
One of the principal figures in the Crown/Alfa network is Dr. Norbert Seeger, about whom we will more below.
” . . . 30. Dr. Norbert Seeger; Rechtanswalt, Vaduz [Liechtenstein]—Information includes: Knowledge of facts pertaining to role of Crown Finance Foundation and other Crown entities in money laundering and tax evasion activities. . . .” (From the legal documents in a lawsuit—“Rule 26 Initial Disclosures; UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT; SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK; NOREX PETROLEUM LIMITED No. 02 Civ. 1499 (LTS)(KNF); Plaintiff v. ACCESS INDUSTRIES, INC.; Et. Al. Defendants; PLAINTIFF’S RULE 26(a)(1) INITIAL DISCLOSURES; 1. INDIVIDUALS LIKELY TO HAVE DISCOVERABLE INFORMATION THAT MAY BE USED TO SUPPORT NOREX’S CLAIMS . . . . A. Individuals Associated With Plaintiff”; p. 8. . . .”
A critical element of discussion here concerns the tiny principality of Liechtenstein—a small European country of 32,000 people, whose principal industry is money laundering. As we will see, Liechtenstein figures significantly in the events in and around 9/11. In 2001, Prince Hans Adam became (for all intents and purposes) the only absolute monarch in Europe. This gambit was accomplished through a popular referendum, effected under the auspices of a front group—the Progressive Citizens Party.
The referendum ceded to the Prince virtually all real power. In particular, he had the ability to completely control the judicial system, thereby controlling all legal investigations in the country—a particularly interesting and important power in the very important year of 2001! This assumption of absolute power put Hans Adam in the position of being able to block or neutralize any legal investigation into any of the financial shenanigans that transpired in Liechtenstein, including 9/11-related activities!
The Bank Al-Taqwa was incorporated in Liechtenstein!
The head of Liechtenstein’s Progressive Citizens Party is Norbert Seeger—a principal figure in Alfa’s Crown Resources subsidiary!!
Information about the Al Taqwa/Asat Trust links with the royal family of Liechtenstein is set forth as follows: ” . . . . One company in the Al Taqwa galaxy that was designated by the United States and the U.N. as a terrorist-related entity is a Liechtenstein entity called Asat Trust. . . . The records also shed light on the involvement of one member of the royal family of Liechtenstein in Asat Trust. According to the documents, deceased Prince Emanuel von und zu Liechtenstein became a board member of Asat Trust in May 1970 and stayed until November 1990, when he was replaced by Martin Wachter, the trust’s current director. Florian Krenkel, a spokesman for the royal family, said Prince Emmanuel had died in 1987 and that he was a distant cousin from ruling Prince Hans Adam II. . . .
“. . . There also appears to be some links between Asat Trust and a bank owned by the Liechtenstein royal family. Several Asat Trust documents feature on their letterheads ‘Bank in Liechtenstein AG’ beneath ‘Asat Trust.’ The royal family bank has changed its name and is now called LGT bank. . . .”
Delving into the nature of the royal family of Liechtenstein, the program closes with discussion of the closeness between Hans-Adam II’s clan and the Hapsburg dynasty that ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I.
This program is a “prequel” to upcoming analysis of the fundamental dynamics of the “Russia-Gate” psy-op, which is inextricably linked with the Ukraine crisis, the deep politics of U.S. “black-ops,” the Underground Reich, the 9/11 attacks and the House of Hapsburg [or Habsburg–one will find both spellings.]
As can be readily imagined, this will be quite a bicycle ride, and will take a couple of programs, plus some diligent following of linked information, to absorb.
Robert Mueller is a very, very “special” prosecutor indeed. In fact, he is not a “prosecutor” at all–he is a fixer. Charged with the legal untangling of numerous, overlapping criminal conspiracies involving powerful elements of the intelligence community dealing drugs and engaging in, or enabling terrorism, Mueller has been “less than vigorous” in his investigations.
Most significantly for our purposes, the investigations he has overseen–read “overlooked”–are progressively overlapped. From Iran-Contra related investigations into the Bank of Commerce and Credit International, the criminal career of Manuel Noriega and the bombing of Pan Am 103, to individuals and institutions figuring in the nascent energy ventures of George W. Bush, to the financing of Al-Qaeda, Mueller’s judicial provinces lead directly to the Russia-Gate psy-op, whose elements figure in the mosaic of the 9/11 attacks.
The progression of scandals obfuscated by Mueller include:
1.–BCCI–Dubbed by wags “The Bank of Crooks and Criminals,” BCCI was used by Oliver North and the Iran-Contra milieu for some of their operations, in addition to serving as a financial vehicle for the financing of terrorism. Mueller did not pursue the U.S./Reagan administration elements involved in the Bank’s operations.
2.–Manuel Noriega–Another of the players in the Iran-Contra drug dealing, Noriega’s prosecution circumnavigated the Panamanian dictator’s operations on behalf of the U.S. national establishment that originally placed him in power.
3.–The bombing of Pan Am 103–alleged by the insurance investigator’s report to have been executed by Monzer Al-Kassar, the bombing killed a team of military intelligence officers who had come across some of the Iran-Contra players and their dealings with terrorists. Al-Kassar was reported by the DEA to bring 20% of the heroin into the United States. Al-Kassar was used by Oliver North for some of his shipments of weapons to the Contras.
4.–Operation Green Quest–The investigation into the financing of Al-Qaeda, the inquest produced the raids of 3/20/2002. These raids targeted individuals and institutions overlapping both the Bank Al-Taqwa and the Islamic Free Market Institute of Grover Norquist. The Bank Al-Taqwa held an account with an unlimited line of credit for Al-Qaeda. Incorporated in Liechtenstein, Al-Taqwa was headed by a former Nazi intelligence officer named Youssef Nada. The driving force behind the Bank Al-Taqwa was Francois Genoud, the heir to the political last will and testament and collected literary works of Adolf Hitler, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels. Talat Othman, the operating director of Norquist’s Islamic Free Market Institute and protege of BCCI kingpin Gaith Pharaon, interceded with then Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill on behalf of the individuals and institutions targeted by the 3/20/2002 raids. O’Neill was fired later that year. The Operation Green Quest investigation went nowhere and then FBI director Robert Mueller did not pursue any of the above leads.
This concatenation is complex and, without research, opaque. For more about Operation Green Quest, the role of Robert Mueller’s FBI in the subversion of Operation Green Quest, see FTR #‘s 356, 357, 415, 433, 454, 456, 462, 464, 467, 498, 499, 513, 569, 603.
In our next two programs, we will be looking at the Al Taqwa complex and Liechtenstein, where it was incorporated. It was headed by Youssef Nada, whose CV we review for convenience. ” . . . . . . . . But Yussef Nada is even better-known to the Egyptian [intelligence] services, who have evidence of his membership in the armed branch of the fraternity of the Muslim Brothers in the 1940’s. At that time, according to the same sources, he was working for the Abwehr under Admiral Canaris and took part in a plot against King Farouk. Mr. This was not the first time that the path of the Muslim Brothers crossed that of the servants of the Third Reich. . . . ”
We will also be looking at the political environment of the Carl Duisberg Society, which is allied with the Alfa Fellowship, which appears to be something of an MBA program for the Alfa Conglomerate and the Alfa Bank, major focal points of our upcoming inquiry.
The Carl Duisberg Society, which shepherded Atta into the U.S. is now part of the Cultural Vistas organization, which includes the Alfa Fellowship. ” . . . . In the 1920’s, Carl Duisberg, General Director of Bayer AG in Germany, envisioned sending German students to the United States on work-study programs. Duisberg was convinced that international practical training was critical to the growth of German industry. Many of the returning trainees later rose to prominent positions at AEG, Bayer, Bosch, Daimler Benz, and Siemens, bringing with them new methods for mass production, new ideas, and new business practices. [This places them in the heart of Third Reich industry and war production–D.E.] Following World War II, alumni from the first exchanges founded the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft (CDG) in 1949 to help engineers, businessmen and farmers gain international work experience necessary for the rebuilding of Germany . . . .”
Of the incorporation of CDS into cultural Vistas and the subsequent development of the organization, we read: ” . . . . The organization was officially incorporated as a nonprofit in 1963. In January 2011, Cultural Vistas was formed after a nonprofit merger between two longstanding exchange organizations: the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) and CDS International. . . .”
. . . . In 1968, the Carl Duisberg Society was founded in New York City as a non-profit organization designed to rekindle Duisberg’s original exchanges and to facilitate international career training opportunities for Americans and Germans. The name was officially changed to CDS International in 1987 to reflect the organization’s increasingly international nature of its programs beyond Germany to include partners in other European countries, Asia and Latin America. . . .’
It comes as no surprise that, according to the BKA, Mohamed Atta’s associates in South Florida included the children of prominent German industrialists.
Developing information about the cast of characters in the “Russia-Gate” psy-op, we highlight the political allegiance of “Team Trump”–the operatives involved with Trump’s campaign and business dealings with Russia, as well as Robert Mueller, former FBI chief and a very special prosecutor indeed.
Although Trump certainly had links to Russian mob figures, they are by no means the prime movers in this drama.
Most importantly, we detail the political resumes and deep politics underlying the cast of characters in this drama, tracking the operational links back to Joe McCarthy and the red-baiting specialists from the first Cold War.
Joe McCarthy legal point man Roy Cohn is, to a considerable extent, the spider at the center of this web. Cohn:
1.-Was Trump’s attorney for much of “The Donald’s” professional life.
2.-Introduced Trump campaign manager and dirty tricks specialist Roger Stone to the seated President.
3.-Was instrumental in arranging for a bribe which made “independent” Republican John Anderson the Presidential candidate for the Liberal Party in New York. This gambit gave Reagan a key victory in New York. Cohn and Stone’s associate in this operation was Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno–one of Cohn’s mob clients and among Donald Trump’s organized crime associates as well.
4.-Was the point man for introducing Rupert Murdoch to Ronald Reagan and forging the right-wing media attack machine that dominates today, the most prominent element of which is Fox News.
Roger Stone is another figure who weaves throughout this concatenation. Stone:
1.-Was Donald Trump’s campaign manager and later dirty tricks operative, who networked with WikiLeaks go-between for the Trump/Alt-right crew.
2.-Was touting Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson. Johnson and Jill Stein were advocated for by Stone as participants in the debates between Hillary Clinton and Trump. (Johnson and Stein’s combined vote total helped Trump win in several key states.)
3.-Worked with Roy Cohn to put “independent” Republican John Anderson the Presidential candidate for the Liberal Party in New York. This gambit gave Reagan a key victory in New York, as noted above.
The point man for the Trump business interests in their dealings with Russia is Felix Sater. A Russian-born immigrant, Sater is a professional criminal and a convicted felon with historical links to the Mafia. Beyond that, and more importantly, Sater is an FBI informant and a CIA contract agent. As the media firestorm around “Russia-gate” builds, it is important not to lose sight of Sater. ” . . . . He [Sater] also provided other purported national security services for a reported fee of $300,000. Stories abound as to what else Sater may or may not have done in the arena of national security. . . .” We wonder if helping the “Russia-Gate” op may have been one of those.
Beyond Sater, other key players in this concatenation do not track back to “Kremlin/Putin/FSB/KGB.” Rob Goldstone–the publicist whose overture to Donald Trump, Jr. initiated the latest “Russia-gate journalistic feeding frenzy in the media, began his career a journalistic foot soldier for Rupert Murdoch, the very same Rupert Murdoch whose christening as a GOP/right-wing propagandist was initiated by Roy Cohn.
Goldstone contacted Donald Trump Jr., dangling the bait that there might be dirt on Hillary available if he met with some associates. Foremost among those is a Russian attorney, Natalie Veselnitskaya. Her apparent purpose in this meeting was not to offer up dirt on Hillary Clinton but to work toward easing a media lockdown on a documentary about the Magnitsky affair.
Spun in the West, the U.S. in particular, as a classic example of ham-fisted Russian corruption and violence, the Magnitsky affair was revealed in the film documentary to be an example of U.S. corruption, not Russian.
Crafted by Putin political opponent Andrei Nekrasov, the film revealed an unexpected dynamic: ” . . . . Nekrasov discovered that a woman working in Browder’s company was the actual whistleblower and that Magnitsky – rather than a crusading lawyer – was an accountant who was implicated in the scheme. . . .”
Attempting to lift the media blackout on Nekrasov’s film was Veselnitskaya’s goal, not disseminating dirt on Hillary Clinton.
Program Highlights Include: the financing of Joe McCarthy’s career by Nazi sympathizer Walter Harnischfeger, part of the German-American Fifth Column in this country which was at the forefront of the discussion in FTR #‘s 918, 919; McCarthy’s use of a postwar Nazi network headed by General Karl Wolff, SS chief Heinrich Himmler’s personal adjutant; Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s role in covering up the BCCI scandal and the overlapping Operation Green Quest investigation pursuant to 9/11.
With the looming decisive second round in the French elections, there is renewed scrutiny on the National Front and its titular head Marine Le Pen.
Networked with various figures ranging from the milieu of Donald Trump to that of Turkish president Erdogan, the National Front and the Le Pens (father Jean-Marie and daughter Marine) are carrying on the fascist tradition in France.
The second of two shows, this program continues our examination of French deep politics, scrutinizing powerful economic and financial arrangements that determined the Franco-German political dynamic throughout most of the twentieth century and, thus far, through the twenty-first as well.
Critical to our understanding is the dynamic of occupying the high ground on both sides of a political divide. This program underscores how this has placed Germany in a key strategic position on both sides of key political struggles: In the pre-World War II era and postwar era as well; In the right-left political divide in French politics; In the struggle between anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim advocates such as the National Front and Muslim-Brotherhood linked elements in the Islamist community.
Key elements of discussion include:
1. Review of Steve Bannon’s ideological fondness for French anti-Semite and Vichy collaborationist Charles Maurras. Maurras’ Action Francaise is a direct antecedent of the National Front. ” . . . . One of the primary progenitors of the party was the Action Française, founded at the end of the 19th century. . . .”
2. Review of the relationship between former president Francois Mitterand (a socialist) and French Holocaust implementer and Vichy police official Rene Bousquet, who was close to Mitterand and helped to finance his campaign and those of other left-wing French politicians. With financial influence in left-wing parties, Germany can help motivate the French left to band together to defeat the French National Front and its anti-EU, anti-NATO ideology. Potential leftists can also be channelled into an anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim position along that of the National Front. ” . . . . . . . The most damning of all charges against Mitterrand and his right wing connections is probably his long lasting friendship with René Bousquet, ex secrétaire général of the Vichy police. . . . In 1974, René Bousquet gave financial help to François Mitterrand for his presidential campaign against Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. In an interview with Pierre Favier et Michel Martin-Roland Mitterrand claimed that he was not the only left wing politician to benefit from Bousquet’s money, as René Bousquet helped finance all the principal left wing politicians from the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s, including Pierre Mendès France. . . .”
3. Discussion of Francois Mitterand’s primary role in establishing the Euro, as a prerequisite for German reunification (his alleged “fear” of a reunified Germany should be taken with a grain of salt in light of his collaborationist background and relationship with Rene Bousquet: ” . . . . He [Robert Zoellick] explained his understanding of how Europe got its common currency. . . . it was very clear that European monetary union resulted from French-German tensions before unification and was meant to calm Mitterrand’s fears of an all-too-powerful Germany. According to Zoellick, the euro currency is a by-product of German unification. . . . in strategic terms, Germany’s influence has never been greater. As the continent wants to bank on Germany’s AAA rating, Berlin can now effectively dictate fiscal policy to Athens, Lisbon and Rome – perhaps in the future to Paris, too. . .”
4. More about the Euro (launched with the critically important assistance of Francois Mitterand: “. . . . It [the euro] has turned the Germans into the new rulers of Europe. And it has consigned France to be the weaker partner in the Franco-German relationship. . . .”
5. Analysis of the decisive relationship between French steelmakers belonging to the Comite des Forges and their German counterparts and Ruhr coal producers, one of the foundational elements of the Fifth Column that is antecedent to the National Front: ” . . . . The struggle of the interwar period was not simply a clash between French interests on the one side and German interests on the other. During the development of the Ruhr-Lorraine industrial complex, like-minded industrialists in France and Germany had become directors of jointly owned and jointly controlled financial, industrial, and distributing enterprises. In many cases common views on questions of economic organization, labor policy, social legislation, and attitude toward government had been far more important to the industrialists than differences of nationality or citizenship. . . . ”
6. The economic collaboration between French and German oligarchs worked to the advantage of Germany: ” . . . .It is curious to note that only the French appeared to have this conflict between public policy and private activities. On the German side, complete co-ordination seems to have been preserved between national and private interests; between officials of the German Republic and the leaders of German industry and finance. . . .”
7. Exemplifying the operation of the pro-German Fifth Column in the Ruhr-Lorraine industrial complex is the relationship between the De Wendel and Rochling interests: ” . . . . During World War I the De Wendels, the influential French-German banking and industrial family which headed the French wing of the International Steel Cartel through their Comite des Forges and whose members had sat in the parliaments of both France and Germany, were able to keep the French army from destroying industrial plants belonging to the German enterprises of the Rochling family. . . . . . . . The Rochling family, with their powerful complex of coal, iron, steel and banking enterprises in Germany, has for generations played in close harmony with the de Wendel family. . . .”
8. The De Wendel/Rochling links were so profound that the Rochlings were called upon to help build the French defensive Maginot Line: ” . . . . On the other hand, as far as the French steel makers’ association, the Comite des Forges, and in particular the de Wendels who headed the Comite, were concerned, it was business as usual-or in this case, business as unusual-that prevailed. . . . When it came time for France to build its impregnable Maginot Line, who should be called in to supply steel and technical assistance but the German firm of the brothers Rochling. . . .”
9. After the French capitulation, the Vichy government–to no one’s surprise–exonerated the Rochlings: ” . . . . Now comes the outbreak of World War II. The French army marching into the Saar during the ‘phony war’ period in 1939, received orders not to fire on or damage the plants of the ‘war criminals,’ the brothers Rochling. In 1940 came the blitz and the fall of France. The Vichy government passed a decree exonerating the Rochlings and canceling their forty-year prison sentences. . . .”
10. The Franco-German steel cartel, in turn, belonged to an international steel cartel featuring the Thyssen firm Vereinigte Stahlwerke (later Thyssen A.G.). The Thyssen interests are inextricably linked with the Bormann capital network. The Thyssens’ principal American contacts were the Bush family. ” . . . . They marked the formation of the United Steel Works in Germany, as a combination of the four biggest steel producers Ernst Poensgen, Fritz Thyssen, Otto Wolff, and the others who drew this combine together had managed to get over a hundred million dollars from private investors in the United States. Dillon Read & Company, the New York investment house which brought Clarence Dillon, James V. Forrestal, William H. Draper, Jr., and others into prominence, floated the United Steel Works bonds in the United States . . . . ”
11. During the occupation of France, the Franco-German corporate connection yielded further German capital domination of French firms: ” . . . The Third Republic’s business elite was virtually unchanged after 1940. . . . They regarded the war and Hitler as an unfortunate diversion from their chief mission of preventing a communist revolution in France. Antibolshevism was a common denominator linking these Frenchmen to Germans. . . . The upper-class men who had been superbly trained in finance and administration at one of the two grand corps schools were referred to as France’s permanent ‘wall of money,’ and as professionals they came into their own in 1940. They agreed to the establishment of German subsidiary firms in France and permitted a general buy-in to French companies. . . .
12. The Franco-German corporate links and the domination of that relationship by corporate Germany and the Bormann network continued into the postwar period: ” . . . . Society’s natural survivors, French version, who had served the Third Reich as an extension of German industry, would continue to do so in the period of postwar trials, just as they had survived the war, occupation, and liberation. These were many of the French elite, the well-born, the propertied, the titled, the experts, industrialists, businessmen, bureaucrats, bankers. . . . Economic collaboration in France with the Germans had been so widespread (on all levels of society) that there had to be a realization that an entire nation could not be brought to trial. . . .”
13. Corporate German/Bormann control of French commerce and finance is the determining factor in contemporary French affairs: ” . . . . The understandings arrived at in the power structure of France reach back to prewar days, were continued during the occupation, and have carried over to the present time. [New York Times reporter Flora] Lewis, in her report from Paris, commented further: ‘This hidden control of government and corporations has produced a general unease in Paris.’ Along with the unease, the fact that France has lingering and serious social and political ailments is a residue of World War II and of an economic occupation that was never really terminated with the withdrawal of German troops beyond the Rhine. . . .”
14. The Franco-German corporate Axis facilitated the De Wendel family’s postwar assistance of Friedrich Flick, another of Hitler’s top industrialists.: ” . . . . The understandings arrived at in the power structure of France reach back to prewar days, were continued during the occupation, and have carried over to the present time. Lewis, in her report from Paris, commented further: ‘This hidden control of government and corporations has produced a general unease in Paris.’ Along with the unease, the fact that France has lingering and serious social and political ailments is a residue of World War II and of an economic occupation that was never really terminated with the withdrawal of German troops beyond the Rhine. . . .”
15. The seamless incorporation of the Franco-German corporate axis into the German-dominated EU and EMU has yielded the ability of the Federal Republic to interfere in the French political process: ” . . . . Like Fillon, Macron is considered ‘Germany-compatible’ by a German think tank, whereas all other candidates are viewed as unsuitable for ‘constructive cooperation’ because of their criticism of the EU and/or of NATO. Recently, Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble ostentatiously recommended voting for Macron. Berlin’s interference on behalf of Macron shows once again that German domination of the EU does not stop at national borders, and — according to a well-known EU observer — surpasses by far Russia’s feeble meddling in France. . . .”
The program concludes with rumination about the role of anti-Muslim sentiment in the French and U.S. political process and the presence of Underground Reich-linked elements on both the “anti-immigrant” side and the Islamist/Muslim Brotherhood side.
Program Highlights Include:
1. Review of the Islamist/Muslim Brotherhood Turkish Refah Party (the direct antecedent of Erdogan’s AKP) and its relationship to Ahmed Huber of the Bank Al-Taqwa.
2. Review of the role of Ahmed Huber (later of the Bank Al-Taqwa) in introducing Turkish Muslim Brotherhood’s Necmettin Erbakan with Marine Le Pen’s father: ” . . . . . . . . A second photograph, in which Hitler is talking with Himmler, hangs next to those of Necmettin Erbakan and Jean-Marie Le Pen [leader of the fascist National Front]. Erbakan, head of the Turkish Islamist party, Refah, turned to Achmed Huber for an introduction to the chief of the French party of the far right. Exiting from the meeting . . . . Huber’s two friends supposedly stated that they ‘share the same view of the world’ and expressed ‘their common desire to work together to remove the last racist obstacles that still prevent the union of the Islamist movement with the national right of Europe.’. . .”
3. Review of The Camp of the Saints, a racist, anti-immigrant book valued both by French National Front types and Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
Supplementing FTR #954, this broadcast continues analysis of the alleged Assad government chemical weapons attack. Key points of discussion include:
1. Further analysis by MIT expert Theodore Postol, who sees the photographic evidence alleged to support the Trump administration’s allegations as questionable. ” . . . ‘This addendum provides data that unambiguously shows that the assumption in the WHR that there was no tampering with the alleged site of the sarin release is not correct. This egregious error raises questions about every other claim in the WHR. … The implication of this observation is clear – the WHR was not reviewed and released by any competent intelligence expert unless they were motivated by factors other than concerns about the accuracy of the report. . . .”
2. Particularly suspicious (laughable?) is a picture showing personnel examining the purported sarin attack site with woefully inadequate protective clothing. ” . . . . ‘If there were any sarin present at this location when this photograph was taken everybody in the photograph would have received a lethal or debilitating dose of sarin. The fact that these people were dressed so inadequately either suggests a complete ignorance of the basic measures needed to protect an individual from sarin poisoning, or that they knew that the site was not seriously contaminated. This is the crater that is the centerpiece evidence provided in the WHR for a sarin attack delivered by a Syrian aircraft.’ . . . . ”
3. Questionable analysis in the alleged chlorine gas attacks also attributed to the al-Assad regime. ” . . . In one of the chlorine cases, however, Syrian eyewitnesses came forward to testify that the rebels had staged the alleged attack so it could be blamed on the government. In that incident, the U.N. team reached no conclusion as to what had really happened, but neither did the investigators – now alerted to the rebels’ tactic of staging chemical attacks – apply any additional skepticism to the other cases. In one case, the rebels and their supporters also claimed to know that an alleged ‘barrel bomb’ contained a canister of chlorine because of the sound that it made while descending. There was no explanation for how that sort of detection was even possible. . . .”
4. A British doctor who was a focal point of PR coverage of the alleged sarin attack has a jihadist background. ” . . . . A British doctor who documented a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria was considered a ‘committed jihadist’ by MI6 and was struck off the General Medical Council in 2016. Shajul Islam, 31, posted several videos on Twitter in the aftermath of the Tuesday’s (4 April) attack where he appeared to be treating patients in Khan Sheikhoun. He appeared on several television networks such as NBC to discuss what he saw, but it has now emerged Islam was previously charged on terror offences in the UK. . . .”
4. The underlying strategic reason for some of the Trump/Russian interface, one that dovetails with the Syrian provocation/escalation: ” . . . . The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective . . . .”
5. George W. Bush administration officials are confident another terrorist attack is coming appear to be concerned that the Trump could use terror to grab and abuse executive powers. We present some of their thoughts against the background of our discussion in FTR #953 about Bernie Sanders’ paving the way for Muslim Brotherhood-linked elements: ” . . . . ‘We can assume there will be another terrorist attack in the U.S. If the executive order is in place, he will point to the attack as support for the executive order and the need to expand it to other countries with bad dudes (Muslims). If the executive order has been struck down, Trump will blame judges and Democrats for the attack. . . .‘We both wholly believe that Trump needs a bogeyman. But, more importantly, he needs distraction and a blame source. In terrorists, he has his bogeyman. In his control of the prevailing press narrative via tweet, he has distraction. And, in the judiciary, he has a source of blame for why his way was right from the beginning.’ . . . . ‘I am fully confident that an attack is exactly what he wants and needs.’ . . . .”
Whereas the Syrian alleged sarin incident appears to have been effected by some of the West’s al-Qaeda surrogates in the conflict, past provocations have involved more direct involvement by elements of the intelligence community. In May of 1963, with then South Vietnamese president Diem pushing for a reduction in U.S. forces in Vietnam (against American wishes), a bombing occurred at a Hue radio station that was the focal point of Buddhist protests of the government’s policy toward Buddhists. The authorship of that attack and a 1952 Saigon bombing, was not the Vietcong.
Key points of analysis:
1. The May, 1963 attack in Hue: “ . . . . As Dang Sy and his security officers were approaching the area in armored cars about fifty meters away, two powerful explosions blasted the people on the veranda of the station, killing seven on the spot and fatally wounding a child. At least fifteen others were injured. . . .”
2. Forensic analysis of the wounds of the victims: “ . . . Dr. Le Khac Quyen, the hospital director at Hue, said after examining the victims’ bodies that he had never seen such injuries. The bodies had been decapitated. He found no metal in the corpses, only holes. There were no wounds below the chest. In his official finding, Dr. Quyen ruled that ‘the death of the people was caused by an explosion which took place in mid-air, blowing off their heads and mutilating their bodies.’ . . . ”
3. Dr. Quyen’s conclusions about the source of the victims’ wounds in the 1963 attack: “ . . . . The absence of any metal in the bodies or on the radio station’s veranda pointed to powerful plastic bombs as the source of the explosions. . . .”
4. Analysis of the 1952 bombing in Saigon: “ . . . . Who did possess such powerful plastic bombs? An answer is provided by Graham Greene’s prophetic novel The Quiet American, based on historical events that occurred in Saigon eleven years before the bombing in Hue. Greene was in Saigon on January 9, 1952, when two bombs exploded in the city’s center, killing ten and injuring many more. A picture of the scene, showing a man with his legs blown off, appeared in Life magazine as the ‘Picture of the Week.’ The Life caption said the Saigon bombs had been ‘planted by Viet Minh Communists’ and ‘signaled general intensification of the Viet Minh violence.’ In like manner, the New York Times headlined: ‘Reds’ Time Bombs Rip Saigon Center.’ . . .”
5. In the 1952 bombing, the operational coordination between U.S. media outlets and the perpetrators of the attack is noteworthy for our purposes: “ . . . . General The’s bombing material, a U.S. plastic, had been supplied to him by his sponsor, the Central Intelligence Agency. Greene observed in his memoir, Ways of Escape, it was no coincidence that ‘the Life photographer at the moment of the explosion was so well placed that he was able to take an astonishing and horrifying photograph which showed the body of a trishaw driver still upright after his legs had been blown off.’ The CIA had set the scene, alerting the Life photographer and Times reporter so they could convey the terrorist bombing as the work of ‘Viet Minh Communists’ to a mass audience. . . .”
6. South Vietnamese investigation of the May, 1963 attack, arrived at a conclusion similar to Graham Greene’s discovery in the 1952 attack: “ . . . . According to an investigation carried by the Catholic newspaper Hoa Binh. . . . a Captain Scott . . . . had come to Hue from Da Nang on May 7, 1963. He admitted he was the American agent responsible for the bombing at the radio station the next day. He said he used ‘an explosive that was still secret and known only to certain people in the Central Intelligence Agency, a charge no larger than a matchbox with a timing device.’. . . .”
In the wake of the alleged sarin attack by Bashar al-Assad’s government and the cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base by the U.S., we examine some of the relevant issues in the crisis, including and especially intelligence evaluations sharply divergent from the official version:
a). We begin with analysis of the area (Idlib) where the alleged Syrian government sarin attack took place. It is dominated by the Al-Nusra Front, the name given to Al-Qaeda in Iraq when it operates in Syria. Note that the top cleric in the Al-Qaeda held area is Abdullah Muhaysini, a Saudi cleric: ” . . . . who was a student [25] of Sulayman Al-Alwan, the Wahhabi cleric who oversaw what his Muslim critics have called a ‘terrorist factory [26]’ in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qassim Province. Al-Alwan was also the instructor of the 9/11 hijacker Abdulaziz Alomari. . . .”
b.) Saddam and bin Laden worked out an arrangement in which Iraq—in order to provide for a payback capability if the U.S. ousted him—gave information about WMD’s to bin Laden’s people. Al Qaeda, in turn, was to act as a back-up unit for Saddam’s Iraq, striking at the United States if it knocked out Saddam. ” . . . . According to Arab sources, in anticipation of a foreseeable reversal of alliances in Kabul, bin Laden had been in discreet contact since September 2000 with associates of Oudai Hussein. . . . Bin Laden and the Iraqis are said to have exchanged information about chemical and biological weapons, despite the opposition of some of the Baghdad leadership, including Tarik Aziz. . . .”
c). Robert Parry notes in Consortium News that elements in the U.S. intelligence community do not agree with the Trump administration’s assessment of the situation. ” . . . . Alarm within the U.S. intelligence community about Trump’s hasty decision to attack Syria reverberated from the Middle East back to Washington, where former CIA officer Philip Giraldi reported hearing from his intelligence contacts in the field that they were shocked at how the new poison-gas story was being distorted by Trump and the mainstream U.S. news media. Giraldi told Scott Horton’s Webcast: ‘I’m hearing from sources on the ground in the Middle East, people who are intimately familiar with the intelligence that is available who are saying that the essential narrative that we’re all hearing about the Syrian government or the Russians using chemical weapons on innocent civilians is a sham.’ . . .”
d.) Parry also notes that some analysts are reporting a strike by a drone launched from a joint Saudi-Israeli base that supports Syrian rebels. ” . . . Despite some technical difficulties in tracing its flight path, analysts eventually came to believe that the flight was launched in Jordan from a Saudi-Israeli special operations base for supporting Syrian rebels, the source said, adding that the suspected reason for the poison gas was to create an incident that would reverse the Trump administration’s announcement in late March that it was no longer seeking the removal of President Bashar al-Assad. . . .”
e.) Parry concludes one of his articles with a scathing analysis of the Trump administration’s claims by a MIT researcher: ” . . . . In a separate analysis of the four-page dossier, Theodore Postol, a national security specialist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, concluded that the White House claims were clearly bogus, writing: ‘I have reviewed the document carefully, and I believe it can be shown, without doubt, that the document does not provide any evidence whatsoever that the US government has concrete knowledge that the government of Syria was the source of the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria at roughly 6 to 7 a.m. on April 4, 2017. In fact, a main piece of evidence that is cited in the document points to an attack that was executed by individuals on the ground, not from an aircraft, on the morning of April 4. This conclusion is based on an assumption made by the White House when it cited the source of the sarin release and the photographs of that source. My own assessment, is that the source was very likely tampered with or staged, so no serious conclusion could be made from the photographs cited by the White House.’ . . . ”
f.) Detailed analysis of an August, 2013 sarin attack, originally thought to have been perpetrated by Bashar Al-Assad, was presented by Seymour Hersh in the London Review of Books. The sarin turns out not to have come from Syrian government stockpiles. “. . . . Obama’s change of mind had its origins at Porton Down, the defence laboratory in Wiltshire. British intelligence had obtained a sample of the sarin used in the 21 August attack and analysis demonstrated that the gas used didn’t match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal. The message that the case against Syria wouldn’t hold up was quickly relayed to the US joint chiefs of staff. . . .”
g.) Al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda), on the other hand, was producing Sarin and looking to ramp up production through a supply pipeline running through Turkey. ” . . . . The American and British intelligence communities had been aware since the spring of 2013 that some rebel units in Syria were developing chemical weapons. On 20 June analysts for the US Defense Intelligence Agency issued a highly classified five-page ‘talking points’ briefing for the DIA’s deputy director, David Shedd, which stated that al-Nusra maintained a sarin production cell: its programme, the paper said, was ‘the most advanced sarin plot since al-Qaida’s pre‑9/11 effort’. . . .”
h.) The 2013 conclusions of general Martin Dempsey are worth examining in the context of the current crisis: ” . . . . From the beginning of the crisis, the former intelligence official said, the joint chiefs had been skeptical of the administration’s argument that it had the facts to back up its belief in Assad’s guilt. They pressed the DIA and other agencies for more substantial evidence. ‘There was no way they thought Syria would use nerve gas at that stage, because Assad was winning the war,’ the former intelligence official said. . . .”
Program Highlights Include:
1. Review of the corporatist economic foundation of Muslim Brotherhood developmental theory. “. . . . The Muslim Brotherhood hails 14th century philosopher Ibn Khaldun as its economic guide. Anticipating supply-side economics, Khaldun argued that cutting taxes raises production and tax revenues . . . The World Bank has called Ibn Khaldun the first advocate of privatization. . . .”
2. Review of Graham E. Fuller’s support for the economic values of the Muslim Brotherhood and his strange support for Bernie Sanders, whose values are the opposite of those espoused by Fuller.
3. The fact that war in the Middle East raises oil prices–this to be seen against the background of Rex Tillerson being Secretary of State (previously CEO of Exxon/Mobil). ” . . . . For investors like Mr. Abdullah, conflict in the Middle East means one thing: higher oil prices. ‘It’s always good for us,’ he says. . . .”
4. Robert Parry’s view that the omission of CIA director Mike Pompeo and other top U.S. intelligence officials from a photo of Trump’s top advisors is indicative of dissent within the intelligence community from the official version of the attack.
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