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In this second interview installment, Sibel Edmonds reveals many of the dramatic episodes related to her reports to superiors of an active spy in the FBI Language Unit, and the unprecedented retaliation and coverup. Based on her new book, Classified Woman, Sibel Edmonds shares many details of her disclosures of espionage at the FBI, the ensuing coverup, and the failures on Congress, the courts and the media to address the pattern of wrongdoing.  Starting with her immediate supervisors, she also reported the breach to Special Agent in Charge Thomas Frields–who made it clear he intended to cover it up.  Frields tried to intercept a letter from Edmonds to Asst. Director Dale Watson, but was too late.  Edmonds also talks about her attempts to expose the spying and the coverup to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), then chair of Government Oversight Committee.  Waxman and his staff showed deep interest, until Edmonds explained that her information implicated top government officials–including Democrats in Congress.  At that point, they ignored her and their promises to hold hearings.  She also talks about the media–including 60 Minutes–and its failure to report abuses by government officials.  And she gives us a recap of the evil State Secrets Privilege and how is was used to gag her.

Be sure to listen to the last 10 minutes or so, as Sibel gives a powerful summation of her ordeal and how it has changed her views of her country and its government.

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In this Boiling Frogs interview, Sibel Edmonds co-hosts as we speak with BoilingFrogsPost contributor William Engdahl.  Engdahl returns to our show to discuss the continuing tension with Iran driven by Israel and US propaganda, the effect of the war rhetoric in creating the ideal backdrop for a massive speculative spike in oil, and the role of key banks such as Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan along with oil majors such as BP in manipulating this new oil price bubble since last Autumn. He talks about MEK and its high-level guardian angels in Washington, the recent Kony 2012 hysteria as a major AFRICOM & US State Department manipulative propaganda campaign to undermine Chinese influence in Central Africa, and more!

F. William Engdahl is an American-German freelance journalist, historian, and economic researcher. He has a degree in engineering and jurisprudence from Princeton University and graduate study in comparative economics at the University of Stockholm, and has been working as an economist and free-lance journalist in New York and in Europe. Mr. Engdahl is the author of several books including A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics in the New World Order, and may be contacted through his website at www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net

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John Stauber, retired co-founder of Center for Media and Democracy, on ALEC’s role in fostering right-wing laws; Anarchist scott crow on his FBI harassment, New Orleans after Katrina, and more.  From a live bradcast 4/18/12 on KPFK/Los Angeles.Stauber is an author and longtime anti-corporate activist.  He helped start the Center for Media and Democracy in Madison, which has been exposing ALEC and its corporate sponsors for more than a year.  Stauber talks about the “Stand Your Ground” law, likely to be used as a legal defense by the man who shot Trayvon Martin, the role of ultra-right leaders like Paul Weyrich in ALEC, and the long arc of conserative organizing that’s visible today.  Stauber also talks about the upcoming Wisconsin recall election of Gov. Scott Walker.

At about 41:25, scott crow returns.  He talks about his book, Black Flags and Windmills.  crow volunteered to help in New Orleans after Hurricane, and helped organize the Common Ground Collective.  He talks about the recent sentencing of 5 cops for the murder of survivors on the hurricane and floods.

At 56:56, Gary Chew returns from the movies to tell us about the new film Bully.

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Attorney Steve Kohn talks about FBI games to block publication of the Sibel Edmonds Story, and Peter van Buren returns with a chilling account of State Dept. retaliation for his book, We Meant Well. Kohn is also author of The Whistleblower’s Handbook, and an expert on the limits imposed on government employees with security clearances who publish books.  Today, he publicly called out the FBI over its 341-day delay in responding to the submission of the manuscript for Classified Woman.  He explains the law and how the FBI has defied it, despite the facts that the Inspector General found Edmonds’ claims to be credile and serious, and that the book is based on matters that were never classified, or have been declassified.  Click here for more on Kohn, his book, and his National Whistleblowers Center.

At 32:46, Peter van Buren returns.  He is the courageous State Department employee who is presently enduring cruel and crude retaliation for his book and blog posts.  He details an interrogation session that just occurred a day ago, as his bosses attempt to humiliate him further and force him to quit before they fire him.  Van Buren is incredibly articulate and has a keen sense of humor that seems to keep him sane.  Visit his blog, before they shut it down.

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The inimitable Pepe Escobar of Asia Times returns with a fascinating report on Syria in this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds.

Roving investigative journalist Pepe Escobar returns to our show and provides us with ‘real’ reportage on Syria and Iran. He discusses the narrow view and propaganda presented by the US government and media, and deconstructs the rehearsed messages and images presented by the mainstream media on the Syria conflict. Mr. Escobar talks about dueling psychological operations targeting Iran, the latest amateurish assassination attempts by rogue agents posing as agents of Iranian government, all carrying trademarks of Israeli false flag operations, the ‘real’ effects of the recent US-Israel operations and sanctions against Iran on Iran’s internal politics, and more!

Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for The Real News Network. He is an investigative journalist with three decades of experience in covering politics and conflicts around the globe. He’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Since the late 1990s, he has specialized in covering stories and cases from the Middle East to Central Asia, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination. Escobar has made frequent visits to Iran and is the author of three must-read books: Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War, Red Zone Blues: A Snapshot of Baghdad During the Surge, and Obama Does Globalistan.

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Ross Jackson, author of Occupy World Street, offers his vision for a new world economy;  Gary Chew reviews Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; Will Durst makes fun of the Supreme Court.Jackson is a fascinating man; born in Canada, lived in Denmark for many years, he founded a software company, an early hedge fund, and became a currency trading expert.  He founded the Gaia Trust and its education project, and has promoted the ecovillage movement.  In Occupy World Street: A Global Roadmap for Radical Economic and Political Reform, he defines our problems carefully, and offers a clear vision for a new economic order.  We talk about the current gas price spikes, about the harsh treatment of Greece, and the future of the Euro.  Visit his website here.

At 40:35, Gary Chew drops in with a review of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; at 45:00, Will Durst jokes about the Supreme Court oral arguments on Obamacare.

Due to an internet outage today at the Secret Studio, we were unable to post the daily News & Comment or the latest in-depth interview featuring journalist Charles Glass on military contractors and investigative reporter Jason Leopold on Homeland Security’s surveillance of Occupy Wall St.  We hope to be re-connected Tuesday.

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Peter van Buren, author of We Meant Well, defends other whistleblowers even as he is being forced out of his 20+ year career at the State Department in this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds. 

Van Buren joins us to discuss the Obama administration’s unprecedented persecution and prosecution of government whistleblowers, and how they have already charged more people under the Espionage Act for alleged mishandling of classified information than all past presidencies combined. He talks about the retaliation he has experienced as the only Foreign Service Officer ever to have written a critical book about the State Department while still employed there, including the suspension of his security clearance, demotion, and being placed under surveillance at work.

Van Buren served with the Foreign Service for over two decades and worked as a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) leader in Iraq. In September 2011, he released a book about his experiences, titled: We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People. After the book’s publication, the State Department suspended Van Buren’s security clearance indefinitely and is proceeding to terminate his employment.

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In this Boiling Frogs interview, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds, we explore and update a landmark case against illegal wiretapping with attorney Jon Eisenberg. 

Jon Eisenberg joins us to discuss al-Haramain v. Bush/Obama, the only case against the government’s illegal wiretapping that was permitted to proceed, and his experience in dealing with Orwellian government secrecy and abuses during his representation of this case. His description of writing briefs in response to secret government filings that he was not permitted to see is incredible! Eisenberg talks about the Obama administration and how it has embraced the power grab and abusive litigation tactics of the previous administration, and the rise of the police state in the United States.

Jon Eisenberg is an attorney with three decades of experience in appellate litigation. He has argued 11 cases in the California Supreme Court, and dozens in the California Courts of Appeal and Ninth Circuit. He is also a California State Bar Certified Appellate Specialist. In 2011 he received California Lawyer magazine’s “Attorney of the Year” (CLAY) award and was also named one of the Recorder’s “Attorneys of the Year” for his work on the Al-Haramain case. Eisenberg received his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Hastings Law Journal and graduated Order of the Coif. His Bachelor of Arts is from the University of California at Irvine.

Two strong views on the Middle East: Jennifer Lowenstein teaches Middle East studies at U of Wisconsin;  Trita Parsi is president of the National Iranian American Council.  Lowenstein is also a board member of the Chomsky fund, and has lived and worked in Gaza.  She questions the basis for the March 9 drone strike that killed a resistance leader in Gaza, and the assertion by Israel that Zuhair al-Qaissi was planning an attack on Israel–which PBC compares to the US drone strike in Yemen last September that killed al-Awlaki.  She also notes that Israel tested its “Iron Dome” missile defense in this skirmish, which provoked the launch of about 150 rockets from Gaza.  As we speak, a cease-fire seems to be taking hold; 24 Palestinians reported killed so far.  Lowenstein also is sharply critical of Obama for failing to stand up to Netanyahu and allowing Israel to dominate aspects of US foreign policy.

At 29:50, Trita Parsi returns.  His new book is A Single Roll of the Dice, where he reveals the missed opportunity in 2009 to engage Iran in a diplomatic process.  Parsi is more generous than Lowenstein, praising Obama for preventing Israel from attacking Iran in the near future.  Parsi argues that, while Obama made obligatory statements about the US and Israel, he set policy for US support for an attack on Iran that may preclude military action.  He joins me in rejecting the false choice reflected in the notion “we can never allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon” and in expressing skepticism of the alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to DC.  Parsi appeared on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on March 8; get more info at his website.