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THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH - BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
JEFFHEAD.COM ^ | 20 April 2008 | Jeff Head

Posted on 04/20/2008 12:47:45 PM PDT by Jeff Head

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To: Lady Jag

Thanks for asking LJ. Just haven’t been posting as much. Missed some of your good pings too, sorry.


41 posted on 04/20/2008 2:30:08 PM PDT by potlatch
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To: potlatch

I’ve been missing your brilliant gifs!


42 posted on 04/20/2008 2:31:55 PM PDT by Lady Jag ( I dreamed I surfed all day in my monthly donor wonder bra - https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: Lady Jag

I appreciate that very much!!


43 posted on 04/20/2008 2:33:12 PM PDT by potlatch
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To: Lady Jag
My pics for this one are already on this thread; but reposting anyway.

Obama mentor identified as communist

In Obama's book, Dreams From My Father he repeatedly refers to his friend and adviser as "Frank." Frank Davis was a known communist who belonged to a party subservient to the Soviet Union. In fact, the 1951 report of the Commission on Subversive Activities to the Legislature of the Territory of Hawaii identified him as a CPUSA member. What's more, anti-communist congressional committees, including the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), accused Davis of involvement in several Communist front organizations."





Let's remember who MoveOn.org is.  Look at this archived screenshot of the Communist Party's website.  Notice the blue text on the blue background in the left border at the bottom.






Related:

Screen captures of OBAMA campaing headquarters

MoveOn.org members vote to Endorse Barack Obama

Obama's support of Isalmic radical candidates in Kenya, 2006, is of great concern




44 posted on 04/20/2008 2:34:50 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: editor-surveyor; Jeff Head

Hell, no! Why would you even ask that? I’m just trying to make sure of the reason Rezko is pictured with the terrorists. Since Jeff Head mentioned “ISLAMIC billionaire,” I suspect the association is probably sound.


45 posted on 04/20/2008 2:36:55 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (To the liberal, there's no sacrifice too big for somebody else to make. --FReeper popdonnelly)
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To: Calpernia

I’m still reading this info that’s new to me.

I know the media won’t, but why isn’t anyone using this?


46 posted on 04/20/2008 2:40:27 PM PDT by Lady Jag ( I dreamed I surfed all day in my monthly donor wonder bra - https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: snippy_about_it
I listened to it. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This guy HATES whites!!!!!!!!!!! It is UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! When is this story going to run????? These are words from his very mouth!! NOT the words of his associates, but his words!!!

I have prayed daily and will continue to pray that God Almighty will expose Obama for what he is!!! He is NOT a Christian. There is NO way that the Holy Spirit resides in his heart. The man's heart is void, IMO.

47 posted on 04/20/2008 2:40:56 PM PDT by Anti-Hillary (Yo Obama! IF FOR 20 YEARS YOU STAY IN THE PEW, IT'S BECAUSE YOU SHARE THE VIEW!!!!!)
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To: Always Right
In fact, it's important to remember that while three members of the Weather Underground died at their own hands because of a failed bomb they were constructing, no one else died at their hands. The group scrupulously worked to make sure that their attacks were on property, not people.

That's why the three that died were making a bomb laced with nails and shrapnel I suppose. The guy who wroote this is an abject apologist and quisling.

These people declared war on the US and then went about waging it during a time of war. Ayers should be serving a life sentence at best. He deserves the noose.

48 posted on 04/20/2008 2:41:26 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be. (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: Calpernia

You’ve work on this issue is brilliant and I appreciate the links - going through some now. Mind if I use some of the photos?


49 posted on 04/20/2008 2:45:38 PM PDT by Lady Jag ( I dreamed I surfed all day in my monthly donor wonder bra - https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: Travis McGee
A couple of days, decades ago, who cares.

Eff them and those who refuse to condemn them. If the formatting doesn't work, I'm sure readers here will get the message, the Obama's couldn't give a *hit what was happening on those days. Other than their friends arrests, of course.

 

RONNIE G AVERY

Army - PFC - E3

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Aug 5, 1946

From:

HAMILTON, AL

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

JAMES C BARBOUR

Army - PFC - E3

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Dec 13, 1947

From:

RICHMOND, VA

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

JACK ADRIAN BARNHART

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 23, 1948

From:

RAHWAY, NJ

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

JOHN STANLEY BAXTER

Army - 1LT - O2

Age:

29

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Oct 4, 1938

From:

PLAINWELL, MI

Religion:

METHODIST

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

JOHN BERTRAM BECKER

Marine Corps - CPL - E4

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Feb 13, 1946

From:

COLD SPRINGS H HGT, KY

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

GERARD FRANCIS BERGIN

Marine Corps - PVT - E1

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Oct 6, 1949

From:

CAMBRIDGE, MA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

BENNY DALE BESS

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 21, 1948

From:

MC ALESTER, OK

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

EARL JEROME BLUNKALL

Marine Corps - CPL - E4

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 13, 1947

From:

NASHVILLE, TN

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

RICHARD ALLEN BROWN

Marine Corps - LCPL - E3

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 22, 1948

From:

COLUMBUS, OH

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

JERRY CELLETTI

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Oct 3, 1949

From:

STERLING, IL

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

VINCENT ALLEN CLARK

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

24

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Dec 4, 1943

From:

INDIANAPOLIS, IN

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

PETER FRANK COMACHO

Marine Corps - LCPL - E3

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 14, 1950

From:

SANTA ANA, CA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

KENNETH DALE COMBS

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

May 5, 1947

From:

CAMARILLO, CA

Religion:

METHODIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

TIMOTHY JAMES COTTRELL

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Feb 25, 1949

From:

WELLINGTON, OH

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

WILLIAM FELTON CROOK

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 29, 1947

From:

HARRISON, AR

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

GLENN FREDRICK DEAN

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Oct 16, 1947

From:

WEST BEND, WI

Religion:

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

MICHAEL JAMES DERRIG

Marine Corps - LCPL - E3

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Oct 9, 1948

From:

CHICAGO, IL

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

DANIEL PATRICK DROSZCZ

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jun 29, 1949

From:

CHICAGO, IL

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

LESLIE MILTON DYSON

Army - PVT - E1

Age:

19

Race:

Negro

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Apr 16, 1949

From:

TAKOMA PARK, MD

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

GLENN CHARLES FISH

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 14, 1946

From:

GREAT FALLS, MT

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



WILLIAM F FLAHERTY

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Apr 11, 1947

From:

KANSAS CITY, MO

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

ROGER LEE FRAKER

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

May 23, 1949

From:

HELLAM, PA

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

DENNIS PATRICK FRIEDHOFF

Army - PFC - E3

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 6, 1948

From:

ELMA, IA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

DAVID URBAN FRITZ

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 18, 1948

From:

COLOGNE, MN

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

ALLEN AVERY GRIFFIN

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

28

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 17, 1939

From:

HOUSTON, MS

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

PAUL RAY GRINE

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Aug 20, 1947

From:

STOYSTOWN, PA

Religion:

LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

JAMES RONALD HARRIS

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jun 30, 1949

From:

CLARKSVILLE, AR

Religion:

CHURCH OF CHRIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

CHRISTOPHER LYNN HAYES

Army - PFC - E3

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Apr 13, 1950

From:

LOUISVILLE, KY

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

JOHN KENNY HILL

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Aug 7, 1947

From:

TUNICA, MS

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON L JAMES

Army - SFC - E7

Age:

29

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 4, 1938

From:

SHADY SPRING, WV

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Married



ROY CARROLL REGISTER

Army - SSGT - E6

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 30, 1946

From:

VALDOSTA, GA

Religion:

CHURCH OF GOD

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

RUDOLPH SOTELO RENTERIA

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Nov 17, 1946

From:

SAN JOSE, CA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

JIMMIE JENKINS RICHARDSON

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 14, 1950

From:

FLORENCE, SC

Religion:

METHODIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

CHARLES JOHN SNYDER

Army - PFC - E3

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 27, 1948

From:

ASTORIA, NY

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

ARTHUR OLOGUE SOTO

Army - SGT - E5

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 28, 1948

From:

SELMA, CA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

ARTHUR LEE STOCKBURGER

Marine Corps - CAPT - O3

Age:

28

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Apr 20, 1940

From:

LIVINGSTON, MT

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

JAMES DONALD WAGSTAFF

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Apr 4, 1948

From:

HARPURSVILLE, NY

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

HENRY LUKE WARNER

Army - 1LT - O2

Age:

25

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jun 21, 1943

From:

WASHINGTON, DC

Religion:

EPISCOPAL, ANGLICAN

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

ROBERT GLEN WASHBURN

Marine Corps - LCPL - E3

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 5, 1947

From:

CALIFORNIA CITY, CA

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

HAROLD LECURNE ZUG

Marine Corps - SGT - E5

Age:

23

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 23, 1944

From:

FAIRBORN, OH

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

ROBERT LEROY CROSBY

Navy - LTJG - O2

Age:

25

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Dec 24, 1943

From:

SOUTH HAMILTON, MA

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

NORMAN KERMIT FORK

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 8, 1948

From:

LAUREL, NE

Religion:

LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD

Marital Status:

Married



 

 

 

 

DENNIS FRENCH

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 15, 1947

From:

TUCSON, AZ

Religion:

METHODIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

RONALD MARCEL GOULET

Army - CAPT - O3

Age:

23

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 13, 1946

From:

THOMPSONVILLE, CT

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

MICHAEL DAVID GUNNELS

Air Force - A1C - E3

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Dec 15, 1946

From:

ANDALUSIA, AL

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

RICHARD ALFRED GWINN

Army - 1LT - O2

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Dec 24, 1947

From:

MIAMI, FL

Religion:

METHODIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

BRUCE EDWIN HAZLE

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Feb 15, 1948

From:

GREENVILLE, SC

Religion:

BAPTIST

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

GREGORY JOHN HUGHES

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

18

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Mar 4, 1951

From:

ROYAL OAK, MI

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

WILLIAM MELVIN JOHNSON

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Aug 30, 1949

From:

DETROIT, OR

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

JOHN FRANCIS MACHUL

Army - SP4 - E4

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jan 14, 1950

From:

CLARE, MI

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



KENNETH JAMES MC CLUSKEY

Marine Corps - PFC - E2

Age:

22

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Nov 1, 1946

From:

PITTSBURGH, PA

Religion:

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

ERIC ALLAN REAM

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Sep 23, 1948

From:

SCHAEFFERSTOWN, PA

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

LARRY CHARLES VASTINE

Army - CPL - E4

Age:

19

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jul 1, 1950

From:

MC DERMOTT, OH

Religion:

PRESBYTERIAN

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

HARLAND LYLE WILKINSON

Army - PVT - E1

Age:

20

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Nov 15, 1948

From:

OMAHA, NE

Religion:

LUTHERAN & MISSOURI SYNOD

Marital Status:

Single



 

 

 

 

LARRY CURTIS WRENN

Marine Corps - CPL - E4

Age:

21

Race:

Caucasian

Sex:

Male

Date of Birth

Jul 5, 1948

From:

FAYETTEVILLE, NC

Religion:

PROTESTANT

Marital Status:

Single



 

 


50 posted on 04/20/2008 2:45:56 PM PDT by SJackson (before we work on problems, have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation, Michelle O.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag

Using what? The MoveOn CPUSA association? Or the screen captures of Obama’s office? Or the HUAC/Frank Davis connection?

Regardless, the answer is probably still the same.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1320747/posts
George Soros, Media Connections - Bump List


51 posted on 04/20/2008 2:46:15 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag

Anything I ever compile is up for grabs. That is why I post it. To get it out there.


52 posted on 04/20/2008 2:47:48 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Lady Jag

Meant: “Your work . . . “

Got Yardwork Strain Drain.


53 posted on 04/20/2008 2:47:58 PM PDT by Lady Jag ( I dreamed I surfed all day in my monthly donor wonder bra - https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: Jeff Head

Yeah. Of all of Obama’s nefarious connections, the one he absolutely cannot hide from is the fact that he actively campaigned for (first cousin) Odinga in 2006. While I won’t go so far as to say Odinga is a brutal dictator (given that he lost and is now Prime Minister of Kenya, not president), he is typical of the central african strongmen. The riots and murders, though relatively unusual in Kenya, are part and parcel of central African politics for the most part. Odinga also sold out his own Christian faith by agreeing to a brutal form of Shariah law that is now being imposed. Also, it’s likely that Odinga has ties to Mugabe (heck, everyone in central Africa does).

Asbolutely incredible that even the MSM can ignore this connection. Obama cannot equivocate about this. It is 10,000 times more significant than Wright, Rezko, and Ayers combined. How can the President of the US possibly handle the quickening pace of societal collapse in Africa (which will be a major foreign policy crisis in a couple years, if not sooner), when he is so closely tied to the co-leader of the most important nation in central Africa? It’s mind boggling.


54 posted on 04/20/2008 2:53:34 PM PDT by Ilya Mourometz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: devolve; Jeff Head; Lady Jag; ntnychik; PhilDragoo; MeekOneGOP; dixiechick2000

55 posted on 04/20/2008 2:56:34 PM PDT by potlatch
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Calpernia
Obama's support of Isalmic radical candidates in Kenya, 2006, is of great concern

Obama's support of Isalmic radical candidates in Kenya, 2006, is of great concern

OBAMA-MANIA COMES TO KENYA / He is the nation's golden boy from Web chat rooms to Kenyan saloons

Malik Obama, the older brother of Barack Obama, holds an undated photo of Barack, Malik and an unidentified friend while sitting in his Siaya, Kenya, shop. Associated Press photo by Karel Prinsloo

Also, his autobiographical statements indicate that Barack Obama admires both Hugo Chavez’ socialist policies and the traditional Islamic practice of wealth re-distribution. Although he would never cop to it in public, I have no doubt he despises Israel. In short, he is a thorough-going Marxist, and if the voters willingly turn the reigns of power over to this dangerous radical, they deserve every evil result that will inevitably follow from that.

--------------------------------------------------------

Jefferson linked to Africa diamonds case

Kenya, Related? Read and see why the question must be asked


Rep. William Jefferson, facing a federal trial on corruption charges, has been linked to the prosecution of a former diamond executive in Botswana, opening a new window onto the congressman's dealings in Africa.

The New Orleans Democrat and his family allegedly were the recipients of illegally funded trips to Botswana in 2001 and 2002, according to charges Botswanan prosecutors have filed against the former director of the Debswana Diamond Co. Ltd., a partnership between diamond giant De Beers SA and the Botswana government.

Jefferson has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with his Debswana-linked trips to Botswana. But the trips shed more light on African dealings that are at the heart of the federal corruption case against him.

Calls placed to Jefferson's office were referred to his lawyers, who did not return a call seeking comment Friday. Federal prosecutors in Virginia who are prosecuting him on bribery and other charges declined to comment.

At the time of the trips, Jefferson was fighting in Congress on behalf of the Botswanan diamond industry to derail or alter pending legislation to outlaw so-called "blood diamonds," gems collected and sold by African rebel groups.

(snip)
God bless you Danny Pearl.  Maybe your death won't be in vain.  This was one of Danny Pearl's last articles before he was kidnapped and murdered.

http://www.geocities.com/spyjaguar/161101.html
Much-smuggled gem aids al-Qaida November 16, 2001

MERERANI, Tanzania, Nov. 16 — In the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, miners with flashlights tied to their heads crawl hundreds of feet beneath the East African plain, searching for a purple-brown crystal that will turn into a blue gem called tanzanite. Many of the rare stones chipped off by the spacemen, as the miners are called, find their way to display cases at Zales, QVC or Tiffany. But it’s a long way from these dusty plains to U.S. jewelry stores, and the stones pass through many hands on their journey. Some of those hands, it is increasingly clear, belong to active supporters of Osama bin Laden.

A TRADE GROUP called the Tanzanian Mineral Dealers Association denies that bin Laden’s al-Qaida has any role in the tanzanite trade. But in the bars and cafes that dot the streets of Tanzania’s mining community, the radical connections are no secret. According to miners and local residents, Muslim extremists loyal to bin Laden buy stones from miners and middlemen, smuggling them out of Tanzania to free-trade havens such as Dubai and Hong Kong.

“Yes, people here are trading for Osama. Just look around and you will find serious Muslims who believe in him and work for him,” says Musa Abdallah, a Kenyan who has worked as a tanzanite miner for six years.

EMBASSY BOMBINGS

Many details of the trade remain murky, such as whether its main role is to earn money for the militants or simply to help them move funds secretly about the world. Still, William Wechsler, a former National Security Council member in charge of counterterrorism under President Clinton, says there is little doubt that bin Laden’s links to gemstones, including tanzanite, have been used at times to help fund his terror activities. Al-Qaida’s dealings in tanzanite in the 1990s were detailed at length during the recent federal trial that convicted four bin Laden men in connection with the U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya.

Alex Magyane, a Tanzanian government official actively investigating the tanzanite trade, says he has recently traced bin Laden-linked smuggling of rough stones through Kenya to bazaars in the Middle East. “Beyond any doubt, I am 100 percent sure that these Muslim gem traders are connected to Osama bin Laden,” the official says.

Tanzanite is so rare it is mined in only one place on earth, a five-square-mile patch of graphite rock here in northeastern Tanzania. Legend has it that Masai tribesmen discovered the gem when a bolt of lightning set fire to the plains, and some crystals on the ground turned blue. In 1967 an Indian geologist identified the stone as a rare form of the mineral zoisite and determined that it turned a velvety blue when heated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Tiffany & Co. named it “tanzanite” and promoted it as “the most important gemological discovery in 2,000 years.” Tanzanite became a U.S. marketing phenomenon, second in popularity only to sapphire among colored stones.

HEART OF THE OCEAN

Its popularity soared when movie fans learned that the sapphire heart-shaped pendant Kate Winslet hurled into the sea in the movie “Titanic” was actually tanzanite. By then, the U.S. was selling $380 million of tanzanite jewelry a year.

Yet Tanzania’s official exports of uncut tanzanite crystal totaled a mere $16 million last year. Rampant smuggling spirits as much as 90 percent of the production out of the country, Tanzanian government statistics show. Local traders often buy plastic bags full of rough stones, paying cash and exchanging none of the paperwork that would trigger a 3 percent export duty. And in faraway places where the rough tanzanite is cooked, cut and polished, such as the Indian city of Jaipur, dealers say they don’t question suppliers closely about sources.

Mererani, which is a 30-minute drive from the mines along a treacherous dirt road, is reminiscent of a Gold Rush town, with shacks, bars, brothels and hordes of young men hoping for a strike. Besides a few big mechanized mining operations, hundreds of individuals hold tiny, 50-yard-square claims that they mine as best they can. Working with the “spacemen” who descend the tunnels are “snakes,” the term for boys who sift piles of grit on the surface and sometimes wriggle into the crevices too small for adults. Restaurants play on the dreams of prosperity, taking names like New York and The Big Apple. But alongside the dreams and the decadence, a religious radicalism is brewing.

Tanzania’s Muslims, who make up about 40 percent of the populace, have long practiced a “soft” Islam, tolerant of drinking, revealing dress and their many Christian neighbors. But Muslim radicalism began to rise in the early 1990s, fueled by poverty and financial support from Islamic charities abroad. It included the al-Qaida cell that bombed the U.S. embassy in Tanzania three years ago.

In Mererani, a new mosque called Taqwa has brought an openly radical Muslim presence to the tanzanite district. Taqwa’s imam, Sheik Omari, has issued edicts that Muslims miners should sell their stones only to fellow Muslims. The diktats breed resentment. “The fundamentalists have established a mafia to dominate the trade,” says Abdallah, the Kenyan spaceman. “Even if non-Muslims offer better prices for our stones, we are harassed by the fundamentalists not to sell to anyone but them. Many Muslim miners obey because they are scared of them.”

The Taqwa mosque is still under construction on a dusty side street. Inside a temporary prayer hall of wood and corrugated metal, miners are taught the importance of avenging the “arrogance” of America and defending Afghanistan from “U.S. oppression.” Support for bin Laden is a duty, miners are told. The faithful of Taqwa often address one another as Jahidini, a Swahili word that means Muslim militant. Some routinely greet one another as “Osama.”

After prayers, the mosque’s courtyard becomes an open-air gem-dealing space, where Sheik Omari and other mosque leaders trade tanzanite with small-time miners. In between haggling, the elders preach the virtues of suicide attacks as a way to defend their faith.

‘TICKET TO PARADISE’

“Remember, Islam teaches us that your body is a weapon,” Sheik Omari tells a group of young men in Swahili. “But if you die, you should take as many of your enemy with you as you can. This will be your ticket to paradise.”

Asked if he works with or belongs to al-Qaida, Sheik Omari gives a vague answer, as do others at the mosque. ” ‘Al-Qaida’ means ‘base.’ I don’t know any base. But Islam says we must support our brothers and sisters and those who defend Islam from its enemies,” Sheik Omari says.

The mosque traders, who aren’t licensed as dealers but act as informal middlemen, make clear the gem business must serve their militant brand of Islam. “We as Muslims must unite in dealing in gemstones to help one another and to generate funds to defend Islam from those who want to destroy it,” says Aman Mustafa, a Kenyan gem broker and teacher at the mosque, who says he has studied Islamic law in Sudan.

U.S. investigators of al-Qaida’s business say that it is designed to create self-sustaining networks and cells. Here in Mererani, some proceeds from the tanzanite trade are plowed back into expanding Taqwa’s influence. “This mosque is being built with tanzanite,” Sheik Omari says. “Our Islam is stronger with our efforts to create a Muslim force in this gemstone.”

KENYAN CONNECTION

Magyane, whose government title is regional mine officer, says some of the stones bought by the Muslim militants are smuggled through “rat routes” to the Kenyan city of Mombasa. That city is a stronghold of al-Qaida sympathizers and was a base for the 1998 embassy bombings.

Throughout the embassy-bomber trial this year in New York, several bin Laden associates or former ones, both state witnesses and defendants, referred to dealings in tanzanite in the mid-1990s. Testimony described how the stones moved through Kenya to Hong Kong via one of two al-Qaida companies, Tanzanite King or Black Giant, set up by defendant Wadih el Hage, a gem dealer and former personal secretary to bin Laden. El Hage is serving a life sentence for his role as the bombers’ financial facilitator.

Bin Laden supporters trading tanzanite today face no interference from Tanzanian authorities. “We have no proof they are involved in terrorist activities,” says the mining area’s regional governor, Daniel Ole Njoolay.

Adadi Rajabu, head of Tanzania’s counterterrorism police, adds that “before 1998, we never knew there were people smuggling gemstones on behalf of a terrorist group. But it is not an area we have looked at carefully. Most of our attention since 1998 has been focused on operatives who were likely to be engaged in activities like bombings, not business.”

ROAD TO DUBAI

Sheik Omari and Mustafa say they sell their stones to a prominent local dealer, Abdulhakim Mulla, who Mustafa says sends some of the gems on to Dubai. The dealer denies the Dubai connection. In any event, on a recent day Sheik Omari could be overheard telling miners to bring perfect stones to the mosque, because “our market in Dubai only wants perfect stones.”

To Westerners in the gem business, mention of Dubai raises alarms. For one thing, the emirate is known as a center of money laundering and the underground cash-transfer system known as hawala, much-favored by bin Laden. Dubai also has no gem-cutting industry. It lies far outside normal channels for the trade in rough gemstones, most of which go to Jaipur, to Bangkok or to a few other traditional centers of cutting and polishing.

“Dubai is the kind of place that should throw up a flag that something is definitely askew,” says Cap R. Beesley, president of American Gemological Laboratories in New York, which tests colored stones. “When you see any rechanneling through nontraditional destinations like Dubai, it means someone is finding some financial incentive not to play by the book.”

U.S. law-enforcement officials have identified Dubai as a haven for al-Qaida business interests. The FBI and the Treasury Department are currently trying to help the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, to crack down on the abuse of Dubai’s free-trade zones by terrorists and criminals. While this effort mainly focuses on gold smuggling, the U.S. also has reports that al-Qaida uses tanzanite as a way to move funds around the world, says a U.S. government investigator familiar with Dubai.

Out of more than 12,000 pounds of official tanzanite exports from Tanzania last year, a mere 13 pounds were sold to Dubai dealers. But Magyane estimates that a hundred times that amount actually made its way to Dubai, through smuggling.

CASH BUSINESS

In Dubai, on a strip of small jewel shops along a creek, Africans often go door to door trying to sell plastic bags full of unrefined gold and sometimes uncut gemstones for cash. D.B. Siroya, an Indian dealer based in Dubai for two decades, says he has sometime acquired rough tanzanite in Dubai on behalf of Indian friends, buying from sellers he knows.

The cash element is part of what makes the gem trade attractive to al-Qaida, according to Wechsler, the former U.S. counterterrorism official. He says the gem business is also attractive because it is tiered, with many layers of brokers, traders, cutters, polishers and wholesalers between miner and consumer.

A U.S. government-funded report last year for Tanzania’s mining industry noted that the country’s gem industry was “subject to abuse by money launderers, arms and drug dealers.” Afgem Ltd., a South African mining company, has been trying to change that. It advocates branding tanzanite stones with tiny laser-etched logos and bar codes, plus other regulations to discourage smuggling. But its plan last year ignited clashes with small miners, who, Tanzanian intelligence claims, were funded by foreigners with a stake in the current loose system.

The many tiers in the business make it possible for unsavory players to get in and out without leaving much of a trace. In the U.S. jewelry industry, which consumes nearly 80 percent of tanzanite gems, many participants say they have heard industry reports of tanzanite links to al-Qaida only recently, and tend to discount them.

QVC Inc. says it has met with its seven tanzanite vendors to make sure they comply with its ethics code, which says QVC won’t knowingly deal in gemstones “that originate from a group or a country which engages in illegal, inhumane or terrorist activities.” Darlene Daggett, executive vice president of merchandising, says that if tanzanite “definitively can be linked to terrorist activities, we will not continue to sell it.”

Zale Corp. says it has heard “bits and pieces” about such a link, but not enough to know if it needs to change procedures. “It comes down to knowing who we do business with and knowing where they get their stones,” says spokeswoman Sue Davidson. “But all we really know is what they’re telling us. Without some kind of gemstone authorization, certification and tracking system in place, we cannot guarantee that no stone has been smuggled.”

Zale CEO Robert DiNicola adds: “If it came to light that there is a problem with tanzanite, we wouldn’t deal with it.”

Jewelers of America, a retail jewelers’ trade group, says it has been focusing on the “far more significant consequences to human life” of “blood” diamonds, those whose sale helps to fuel African conflicts. “I’m not suggesting we are not willing to look at other connections,” but “we need more information,” says the group’s chief executive, Matthew Runci.

56 posted on 04/20/2008 2:59:46 PM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: Jeff Head; Kackikat; Fred Nerks; Rome2000; Beckwith; KingJaja; GodGunsGuts

SECRET CABINET PAPERS (OMG!...Obama’s first cousin’s father took orders from Soviets/Red Chinese!!!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993920/posts

The Kenya Connection (Obama Supports Islamo-Commie Cousin’s attempt to overthrow Gov. of Kenya)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1994439/posts

Kenya’s Cabinet ‘Soaks Up 80% Of The Budget’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003236/posts

Obama’s cousin Odingo made Prime Minister of Kenya
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000991/posts

‘Miracle baby’ a victim - judge (OBAMA’S COUSIN LINKED TO WANTED CHILD TRAFFICKER)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996498/posts


57 posted on 04/20/2008 3:03:22 PM PDT by maggief
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To: Ilya Mourometz
This is how Obama's cousin used his "political" power to murder, pillage, riot, burn, and coerse his way into that Kenya Prime Ministership.

More "change", more "Audacity of Hope".

58 posted on 04/20/2008 3:07:44 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be. (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: maggief; Calpernia

Great documentation and links. Thanks for sharing them here...the more we get documented and out to the public the better.


59 posted on 04/20/2008 3:08:58 PM PDT by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be. (www.dragonsfuryseries.com))
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To: LibertyRocks

Ping!


60 posted on 04/20/2008 3:12:23 PM PDT by maggief
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