In EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Ellsberg Says Sibel Edmonds Case 'Far More Explosive Than Pentagon Papers' is a mindblowing set of claims. In the Vietnam War era the main event which blew apart support for continuation of that war was the bravery of Daniel Ellsberg to reveal the truth, and leak the 'Pentagon Papers'. Ellsberg faced severe criticism and danger but he did it thereby stopping that war. The Brad Blog discusses the case of Sibel Edmonds and her attempt to reveal the truth she discovered about the September 11, 2001 attacks. So far the government has refused her attempts to reveal the truth under the Whistleblower laws, which would give her the legal protection she'd need to safely do so. And she is apparently considering risking all and talking without having whistleblower protection.
Since this is the first I've heard of her, the following will be a summary of the Brad Blog article plus other articles I find by searching for information about her.
EXCLUSIVE: FBI WHISTLEBLOWER SIBEL EDMONDS IS READY TO TALK! Is an earlier Brad Blog posting listing the charges she has made. Essentially the allegations are that the FBI and other agencies dropped several balls, and did other shoddy work related to terrorist investigations prior to September 11, 2001.
Sibel Edmonds: A Patriot Silenced, Unjustly Fired but Fighting Back to Help Keep America Safe is a statement by the ACLU, who is representing her in the appeal of the dismissal of her case claiming unfair firing from her job with the FBI. So, that's a little confusing -- Sibel worked for the FBI starting in September 11, 2001 because of her expertise in Middle Eastern languages. "She was fired less than a year later in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches to her supervisors that could have prevented those attacks." She is contesting that firing, and her suit in that matter has been dismissed, and the ACLU is handling her appeal. "Even though she followed all appropriate procedures for reporting her concerns up the chain of command, Edmonds was retaliated against and fired. After her termination, many of Edmonds' allegations were confirmed by the FBI in unclassified briefings to Congress. More than two years later, in May 2004, the Justice Department retroactively classified Edmonds' briefings, as well as the FBI briefings, and forced Members of Congress who had the information posted on their Web sites to remove the documents."
JUST A CITIZEN This is the 2000's and everybody has an official web site. This one is Sibel's, and contains pointers to media, articles, legal documents, etc.
Wikipedia entry for Sibel Edmonds
Lost In Translation: FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds Grants First Interview To Ed Bradley is coverage published by CBS News of her appearance on 60 Minutes. The Department of Justice later retroactively classified the 60 Minutes broadcast, along with several other appearances by Sibel Edmonds. Yes, Retroactively classified. As in, the show was broadcast, nationwide, and sometime later the DoJ said "wait, that's top secret". How Orwellian is that? In any case the CBS report describes her allegations as being about documents which went untranslated, and that her supervisors required her to work slowly so that they could justify budget for more employees because obviously the work was backing up.
Complete 911 Timeline Sibel Edmonds and Related Scandals is the subset of the excellent 9/11 Timeline which is related to Sibel Edmonds. The most interesting of these is: November 2001 or December 2001: FBI Translator to Have Exclusive Access to Wiretaps of Surveillance Targets with Whom She Has Links ... it concerns FBI translator Melek Can Dickerson and her recommendation of a change in assigning translators to documents to translate. Previously translators were assigned randomly, but Melek recommended assigning translators to specific targets. She went on to recommend specific assignments for the agents, and that she (Melek) be assigned to the American Turkish Council, an organization where she had previously been employed. What's interesting is that if someone were to attempt a cover-up of nefarious activity, one way to do so is for an insider to hide or skew information being collected about those activities. Melek may have had ulterior motives for recommending she be assigned to do translation of her former employer.
Fmr. FBI Translator: White House Had Intel On Possible Airplane Attack Pre-9/11 is an appearance by Sibel Edmonds, in March 2004, on Democracy Now. This happened in the same time frame as when Condoleeza Rice was still National Security Advisor and made some kind of special allowance to Congress for her to testify. It was in this context that she made the claim the government "had no information about an imminent domestic threat involving airplanes" and then went on to name the White House briefing of August 6, 2001 titled "bin Laden Determined to Strike U.S.". Most of the interview discusses the legal wranglings and the gag order which is preventing Sibel from (safely) disclosing the story she has to tell.
Kill the Messenger: Sibel Edmonds focused on the documentary about Sibel Edmond's struggle.
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