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Murdock · 10-16-2004, 01:16 AM

A Favorite line of attack from the right is to attack John Kerry's record.. or lack there of.. of passing legislation and bills.. But John Kerry was instrumental in investigation of terrorist financing early on..

Here's an intresting article on the subject...

Quote:

Follow the Money
How John Kerry busted the terrorists' favorite bank.

By David Sirota and Jonathan Baskin

Two decades ago, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was a highly respected financial titan. In 1987, when its subsidiary helped finance a deal involving Texas oilman George W. Bush, the bank appeared to be a reputable institution, with attractive branch offices, a traveler's check business, and a solid reputation for financing international trade. It had high-powered allies in Washington and boasted relationships with respected figures around the world.

All that changed in early 1988, when John Kerry, then a young senator from Massachusetts, decided to probe the finances of Latin American drug cartels. Over the next three years, Kerry fought against intense opposition from vested interests at home and abroad, from senior members of his own party; and from the Reagan and Bush administrations, none of whom were eager to see him succeed.

By the end, Kerry had helped dismantle a massive criminal enterprise and exposed the infrastructure of BCCI and its affiliated institutions, a web that law enforcement officials today acknowledge would become a model for international terrorist financing. As Kerry's investigation revealed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, BCCI was interested in more than just enriching its clients--it had a fundamentally anti-Western mission. Among the stated goals of its Pakistani founder were to "fight the evil influence of the West," and finance Muslim terrorist organizations. In retrospect, Kerry's investigation had uncovered an institution at the fulcrum of America's first great post-Cold War security challenge.

More than a decade later, Kerry is his party's nominee for president, and terrorist financing is anything but a back-burner issue. The Bush campaign has settled on a new strategy for attacking Kerry: Portray him as a do-nothing senator who's weak on fighting terrorism. "After 19 years in the Senate, he's had thousands of votes, but few signature achievements," President Bush charged recently at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh; spin that's been echoed by Bush's surrogates, conservative pundits, and mainstream reporters alike, and by a steady barrage of campaign ads suggesting that the one thing Kerry did do in Congress was prove he knew nothing about terrorism. Ridiculing the senator for not mentioning al Qaeda in his 1997 book on terrorism, one ad asks: "How can John Kerry win a war [on terror] if he doesn't know the enemy?"

If that line of attack has been effective, it's partly because Kerry does not have a record like the chamber's dealmakers such as Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) or Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Though Kerry has been a key backer of bills on housing reform, immigration, and the environment, there are indeed few pieces of landmark legislation that owe their passage to Kerry.

But legislation is only one facet of a senator's record. As the BCCI investigation shows, Kerry developed a very different record of accomplishment--one often as vital, if not more so, than passage of bills. Kerry's probe didn't create any popular new governmental programs, reform the tax code, or eliminate bureaucratic waste and fraud. Instead, he shrewdly used the Senate's oversight powers to address the threat of terrorism well before it was in vogue, and dismantled a key terrorist weapon. In the process, observers saw a senator with tremendous fortitude, and a willingness to put the public good ahead of his own career. Those qualities might be hard to communicate to voters via one-line sound bites, but they would surely aid Kerry as president in his attempts to battle the threat of terrorism.

<snip>

Article is continued @

Link

Niteshift · 10-16-2004, 10:43 PM

LOL

Nice try at making it look like Bush/Republicans were the only ones involved with BCCI.

Clifford Clark, a powerful figure in the Democratic party in the 1980's, was the head of First American, which was a BCCI front company. Clark and Democrat advisor Robert Altman (later the under-secretary of Treasury under Clinton) were later indicted as part of their BCCI involvement.

Officials at investment giant Stephens Inc., including longtime Clinton friend David Edwards, took steps to rescue Harken Energy, a struggling Texas oil company with George W. Bush on its board. Over the next three years, Mr. Edwards brings BCCI-linked investors and advisers into Harken deals.

(Yes, a Clinton fired was the one responsible for bringing BCCI into the Bush picture.)

Let's not pretend like Democratic party players weren't involved in this.

iGame3D · 10-17-2004, 11:35 AM

Quote:

All that changed in early 1988, when John Kerry, then a young senator from Massachusetts, decided to probe the finances of Latin American drug cartels. Over the next three years, Kerry fought against intense opposition from vested interests at home and abroad, from senior members of his own party; and from the Reagan and Bush administrations, none of whom were eager to see him succeed.

Second Paragraph, nobody was pretending anything.

Niteshift · 10-17-2004, 11:02 PM

The thrust of the article is "Kerry brought down the 'terrorists favorite bank', a bank that was involved with a Bush company".

Aside from that, having to go back 2 decades to find something Kerry did about terrorism is laughable. This, of course, has little, if anything to do with today, since none of the terrorist groups involved are "players" today. al Qaeda didn't even exist then.

Murdock · 10-17-2004, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Aside from that, having to go back 2 decades to find something Kerry did about terrorism is laughable. This, of course, has little, if anything to do with today, since none of the terrorist groups involved are "players" today. al Qaeda didn't even exist then.

I'll refer you to the 2nd to the last paragraph..

Quote:

Make no mistake about it, BCCI would have been a player. A decade after Kerry helped shut the bank down, the CIA discovered Osama bin Laden was among those with accounts at the bank. A French intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post in 2002 identified dozens of companies and individuals who were involved with BCCI and were found to be dealing with bin Laden after the bank collapsed, and that the financial network operated by bin Laden today "is similar to the network put in place in the 1980s by BCCI." As one senior U.S. investigator said in 2002, "BCCI was the mother and father of terrorist financing operations."

Niteshift · 10-20-2004, 12:13 AM

I'll refer you to the 2nd to the last paragraph..

I'll refer you to HISTORICAL FACT.........bin Laden existed back then, but al Qaeeda did not.

Don't ignore what I said in an attempt to make yourself APPEAR correct.

Murdock · 10-20-2004, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Aside from that, having to go back 2 decades to find something Kerry did about terrorism is laughable

Kerry supported:

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The Patriot Act
Authorization to go into Afghanistan
Iraq War Resolution.

Kerry supported most all of the President's ant terror agenda, minus the 87 Billion dollars.

Quote:

I'll refer you to HISTORICAL FACT.........bin Laden existed back then, but al Qaeeda did not.

I don't see why it's so difficult to concede the fact that Kerry was on the cutting edge of Anti Terrorism legislation back when most of the nation was focused on other things.

JTP · 10-20-2004, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murdock

Kerry supported:

Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The Patriot Act
Authorization to go into Afghanistan
Iraq War Resolution.

Kerry supported most all of the President's ant terror agenda, minus the 87 Billion dollars.

I don't see why it's so difficult to concede the fact that Kerry was on the cutting edge of Anti Terrorism legislation back when most of the nation was focused on other things.

The first one he didn't support, then he did, then he didn't, then he did.
The second one he opposses.
The fourth one we now know he doesn't, or didn't, or did but changed his mind.
The only one he stands by is Afghanistan. But just wait, that may change too.

Murdock · 10-21-2004, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTP

The first one he didn't support, then he did, then he didn't, then he did.
The second one he opposses.
The fourth one we now know he doesn't, or didn't, or did but changed his mind.
The only one he stands by is Afghanistan. But just wait, that may change too.

Can you site any source for the claim that Kerry wavered on the 96 Anti Terrorism act?

The Patriot Act wasn't even read by congress and passed in haste.. most people agree that there are things in there that are worthy of opposition...
Kerry has never wavered on the act of permission and the right of the President to take action, it's *how* this President took action.
Afghanistan he never has wavered on one bit, but the fact remains, John Kerry brought to light a corrupt finacing network and brought it down, over the objections of the opposition party, his party, and international pressure...

Brainstorm · 10-21-2004, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Let's not pretend like Democratic party players weren't involved in this

What a shame you didn't read the entire article before you posted this comment.

The last paragraph of the article:

Quote:

Because many important members of his own party were involved in this scandal, it was a distasteful subject for other committee and subcommittee chairmen to investigate. They did not. John Kerry did."

10-16-2004, 10:43 PM	#2
Niteshift L.E.O. in Good Standing Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 6,432 Grams: 2,909.92 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	LOL Nice try at making it look like Bush/Republicans were the only ones involved with BCCI. Clifford Clark, a powerful figure in the Democratic party in the 1980's, was the head of First American, which was a BCCI front company. Clark and Democrat advisor Robert Altman (later the under-secretary of Treasury under Clinton) were later indicted as part of their BCCI involvement. Officials at investment giant Stephens Inc., including longtime Clinton friend David Edwards, took steps to rescue Harken Energy, a struggling Texas oil company with George W. Bush on its board. Over the next three years, Mr. Edwards brings BCCI-linked investors and advisers into Harken deals. (Yes, a Clinton fired was the one responsible for bringing BCCI into the Bush picture.) Let's not pretend like Democratic party players weren't involved in this. __________________ A burning desire for social justice is never a substitute for knowing what you're talking about. -Thomas Sowell Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.

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10-17-2004, 11:02 PM	#4
Niteshift L.E.O. in Good Standing Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 6,432 Grams: 2,909.92 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	The thrust of the article is "Kerry brought down the 'terrorists favorite bank', a bank that was involved with a Bush company". Aside from that, having to go back 2 decades to find something Kerry did about terrorism is laughable. This, of course, has little, if anything to do with today, since none of the terrorist groups involved are "players" today. al Qaeda didn't even exist then.

10-20-2004, 12:13 AM	#6
Niteshift L.E.O. in Good Standing Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 6,432 Grams: 2,909.92 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Stock Portfolio Total Value: 0.000 Gain/Loss: 0.000%	I'll refer you to the 2nd to the last paragraph.. I'll refer you to HISTORICAL FACT.........bin Laden existed back then, but al Qaeeda did not. Don't ignore what I said in an attempt to make yourself APPEAR correct.

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