Posted on 07/27/2004 2:55:27 AM PDT by syriacus
Senator Kerry's national security adviser had to take back comments he made under oath in 2002 to a federal court that members of a Colombian paramilitary group received training from Al Qaeda in Afghanistant
The disclosure of Rand Beers's amended deposition in Arias v. Dyncorp, may weaken a central claim of the Democratic campaign for the White House that the Bush administration knowingly lied about pre-war Iraq intelligence.
This is his second national security advisor?
This guy is batting 1000.
Beers, Berger & Ketchup Boy = A National Security Drive By Franchise.
On this matter Mr. Beers, who coordinates the national security message for Mr. Kerry, may be guilty of the same thing his boss has accused President Bush of doing -- distorting intelligence to suit the goals of a specific policy.In this case, the policy was American involvement in the drug war in Colombia. Before Mr. Beers left his post in the Bush White House as an adviser for counterterrorism on the eve of the Battle of Iraq, he was the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement and was one of the principal American officials advocating America's drug war in the Andes, known as Plan Colombia
In this position, he took the unusual step on November 27, 2001 of filing a declaration in favor of Dyncorp, the main contractor in charge of spraying defoliating agents on the coca crops grown in the Putumayo region of the country.
Dyncorp sought to have a court challenge brought on behalf of Ecuadorian farmers thrown out of court on national security grounds.
LOL.
Today Mr. Beers is the national security adviser for Mr. Kerry and one of the most influential people on the Kerry team in crafting his message. Mr. Kerry has said that President Bush misled Congress and the American people on Iraq. In a December 2003 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the Massachusetts Senator said Mr. Bush "presented false intelligence to us."Does this sordid mess come down to the fact that a Kerry aide misled the courts in order to help "big business " prevail against ordinary folks who had brought a lawsuit?[snip]
Mr. Beers participated in a documentary produced by Moveon.org and the Center for American Progress entitled, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War.
[snip]
The lawyer for the Ecuadorian families, Terry Collingsworth, was less charitable about Mr. Beers, whom he said the progressive human rights community called "Dr. Evil," when he worked at the State Department. "I took his deposition and he made the claim there was a national-security interest because there was an Al Qaeda link to the Colombian leftists who were getting money from cocaine sales," he said. "He was willing to sign a declaration that either he did not read or he knew was false."
Senator Kerry's national security adviser had to take back comments he made under oath in 2002 to a federal court that members of a Colombian paramilitary group received training from Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.The disclosure of Rand Beers's amended deposition in Arias v. Dyncorp, may weaken a central claim of the Democratic campaign for the White House that the Bush administration knowingly lied about pre-war Iraq intelligence.
On this matter Mr. Beers, who coordinates the national security message for Mr. Kerry, may be guilty of the same thing his boss has accused President Bush of doing -- distorting intelligence to suit the goals of a specific policy.
In this case, the policy was American involvement in the drug war in Colombia. Before Mr. Beers left his post in the Bush White House as an adviser for counterterrorism on the eve of the Battle of Iraq, he was the assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement and was one of the principal American officials advocating America's drug war in the Andes, known as Plan Colombia
In this position, he took the unusual step on November 27, 2001 of filing a declaration in favor of Dyncorp, the main contractor in charge of spraying defoliating agents on the coca crops grown in the Putumayo region of the country.
Dyncorp sought to have a court challenge brought on behalf of Ecuadorian farmers thrown out of court on national security grounds.
Mr. Beers's deposition would appear to have aided their claim when he drew a direct link to the Colombian government's war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and Al Qaeda.
Under federal oath in the District of Colombia [sic] he said, "It is believed that FARC terrorists have received training at Al Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan."
It was not the first [sic ? ] time Mr. Beers had made that claim. In March of 2002, he and the ambassador at large for counterterrorism, Francis Taylor, testified together about how drug cartels worked closely with terrorists.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks launched an advertising campaign asserting the the purchase of retail drugs in American aided international terrorism.
On August 8, 2002, Mr. Beers clarified the line from his November 27 declaration for the court. In a supplemental declaration, Mr. Beers wrote, "I wish to strike this sentence. At the time of my declaration, based on information available to me, I believed this statement to be true and correct. Based upon information made available to me subsequent to the filing of the declaration, I no longer believe this statement to be true and correct."
The next day, On August 9, 2002, Mr. Beers told UPI reporter Mitchell Prothero he had received a rough draft of the declaration he was going to file from the outside counsel of Dyncorp, but that he and his staff had made changes to the document before submitting it to the court.
Today Mr. Beers is the national security adviser for Mr. Kerry and on of the most influential people on the Kerry team in crafting his message. Mr. Kerry has said that President Bush misled Congress and the American people on Iraq. In a December 2003 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the Massachusetts Senator said Mr. Bush "presented false intelligence to us."
The Democratic National Committee last summer ran an advertisement claiming the Bush administration lied about weapons in Iraq and Iraq's links to Al Qaeda. On the DNC Web site under national and homeland security three entries allude to pre-war intelligence and fabrications. These entries are "Weapons of Mass Distortion:" "Lies about Iraq;" and "Misused Iraq Intelligence."
Mr. Beers participated in a documentary produced by Moveon.org and the Center for American Progress entitled, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War. The documentary's promotional material says, "This controversial and arresting film takes you behind the walls of government, as CIA, Pentagon and foreign service experts speak out, many for the first time, detailing the lies, misstatements and exaggerations that served as the reasons to fight a "preemptive" was that wasn't necessary."
A former speechwriter for Mr. Bush, David Frum, told the New York Sun that he thinks there is a double standard when it comes to the charge of manipulating intelligence.
"The Democrats think it is a fireable offense for George Bush to alter his views on terrorism as he discovers new facts," Mr. Frum said. "he used to think Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, now he thinks Iraq had the technology and intention to build weapons of mass destruction. But if it's a firing offense for Republicans to change their minds, it would be just as silly to say that Democratic presidential advisers should be fired for the same thing."
The lawyer for the Ecuadorian families, Terry Collingsworth, was less charitable about Mr. Beers, whom he said the progressive human rights community called "Dr. Evil," when he worked at the State Department. "I took his deposition and he made the claim there was a national-security interest because there was an Al Qaeda link to the Colombian leftists who were getting money from cocaine sales," he said. "He was willing to sign a declaration that either he did not read or he knew was false."
My gosh!!
Sounds like RAnd Beers testimony was for sale to (gasp)big business.
Sounds like Randy Beers will have a very hard time getting a sSenate confirmation should something happen that puts Kerry into office...
That was my take on how it seems, too.
Has this been reported any where but the NY Sun?
I couldn't find it elsewhere, when I checked this morning. I haven't checked more recently.
Headlines from that page
Rand Beers, Assistant Secretary of State for Narcotics and International Law Enforcement Affairs Deposition February 27, 2002
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