Susan Lindauer, Lockerbie, and the Neocons

I'm still doing what I can to piece together the confusing Susan Lindauer tale, and should have a large-ish article about it soon.

A number of commentators on both sides of the political aisle have argued that she is something of a fantasist. Perhaps; perhaps not. In a future piece, I will take a closer look at the evidence proffered to support that idea.

The rightist pundits and bloggers have used this incident as the excuse for some exceptionally ugly invective. I was amused by one reactionary commentator who accused Susan Lindauer, and by extension all "lefties," of paranoia. The Lindauer affair has caused the far-right press to damn by association not only all Democrats, but even all those who happen to inhabit the same cities she called home! If that ain't paranoia, what is?

Let us concentrate, for the moment, not on this woman's current troubles, but on the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, a controversy in which she previously figured.

Here are some key factors to consider:

1. In 1998, Lindauer gave a deposition about her 1994 meeting with CIA operative Dr. Richard Fuisz, who insisted that Syria, not Libya, was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. Libya eventually took responsibility for the act. A few weeks ago, Libyan Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem announced that his country was, in fact, innocent of the crime, and had taken the blame only to "buy peace" with America. Make of that claim what you will.

2. Fuisz, we are told, previously had functioned as a source for journalist Seymour Hersh. Fuisz also appears in a 1995 book called "Shell Game" by Peter Mantius, about the Italy's Banca Nazionale del Lavoro scandal -- i.e., Iraqgate, the covert funding of of Saddam Hussein's regime by American and other interests. I have not yet read this book.

3. This same Fuisz appears to head something called Kosmos Pharma. Here is the biographical info available on that company's home page:

"Our founder, Richard C. Fuisz, is an internationally recognized inventor in the healthcare field. Listed as inventor on hundreds of US and international patents, Richard Fuisz is the named inventor for such diverse medical inventions as shearform matrix rapid dissolve, the diagnostic diaper, the remotely adjustable stent, and others. Prior to founding Kosmos Pharma, Dr. Fuisz has started and sold numerous companies, including Fuisz Technologies, a public company sold to Biovail, and Medcom, a public company acquired by Baxter International. Richard Fuisz is a Georgetown Medical School alumnus. He completed his residency at Harvard and served in the White House under the Johnson administration. Richard Fuisz can be reached at rfuisz@fuiszmail.com."

This resume, if legitimate, does not describe a man given to pulling legs -- except, perhaps, to dress a patient in one of those diagnostic diapers.

4. Some may question whether Dr. Fuisz truly worked for the CIA. Keep in mind: Fuisz could not testify at the Lockerbie trial due to a gag order. If he were not connected to American intelligence, no law could have restrained him.

The gag order is quite real. A copy was made available to the UK's Sunday Herald, as that paper reported in its edition of May 28, 2000. (You can find copies of the article online.)

The existence of this gag order is the single best piece of evidence that Susan Lindauer is no mere fantasist: She really did meet with a CIA contact, who really did tell her a startling story about Syrian terrorism, and who was subsequently ordered not to discuss further what he said at the meeting.

5. This gag order also gives the lie to the recent New York Times report which describes Fuisz as a mere "businessman." When a major newspaper downplays or hides connections to the intelligence community -- connections that have been established in court -- one should pay close attention.

6. The question may legitimately be asked: Why would a man like Fuisz tell so large a tale to a small-potatoes personage like Susan Lindauer? After all, Fuisz once had the attention of Seymour Hersh. If the good doctor wanted to publicize an alternate view of the Lockerbie affair, why not call one of the most famous reporters in the world? Why speak to a low-level congressional staffer?

7. The Fuisz version of Lockerbie roughly conforms with the Interfor version. Interfor was a private investigation firm (hired by Pan Am) which issued a report on the incident. Most Lockerbie investigators have disparaged this report. Still, it contains many fascinating details.

In the pre-internet days, back when documents were passed around via Xerox and fax, the Interfor report received a surprisingly widespread -- and instantaneous -- circulation within the community of parapolitical researchers.

8. Here is where the matter falls outside the crude right/left paradigm favored by the reactionary commentators.

The Lindauer deposition, giving the Fuisz version of Lockerbie (call this the "blame Syria" interpretation) was published by the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. A recent article titled "On the Road to Damascus," by Tom Barry, identifies the MEIB as the organ of a neo-conservative named Ziad K. Abdelnour, "an expatriate investment banker from Lebanon who, together with neocon supporters of Israel's Likud Party and the Christian Right, established the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon (USCFL) in 1997."

The article goes on to list the "core supporters," or "golden circle," of the USCFL:

"Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle, Paula Dobriansky, Michael Rubin, and David Wurmser. Other prominent neocons in the Golden Circle include Daniel Pipes (Middle East Forum and U.S. Institute for Peace), Frank Gaffney (Center for Security Policy), Jeane Kirkpatrick (AEI) , Michael Ledeen (AEI), David Steinmann (Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs), and Eleana Benador (Middle East Forum). Also included in this circle of those who have donated $1,000 or more to USCFL is Rep. Eliot Engel (R-NY), the congressional representative who was the main sponsor of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003.

"The USCFL lists Amin Gemayel, who as Lebanon's president in 1983 signed an aborted peace treaty with Israel, as a leading supporter. Although there are a few Muslims in USCFL's Golden Circle, most of the Lebanese-Americans associated with USCFL are Christian, including Abdelnour. In its selected links, USCFL includes the Guardians of the Cedars, a fascistic Christian Right Lebanese organization that has a military wing. The large majority of USCFL supporters, however, are Jewish-Americans."

The thrust of Barry's article holds that Abdelnour is to Syria as Achmed Chalabi once was to Iraq: A little-known but powerful tool for "regime change."

No wonder the Fuisz claims found sympathetic ears here. These guys are itching for a fight with Syria. That itch began well before Gulf War II. If Syria were found culpable for the Lockerbie atrocity, America would have sent in the Marines.

All of which places the objective observer in a very odd situation.

Think about it: The rabid supporters of George W. Bush's neoconservative administration are castigating a woman who (if you believed the initial news reports) allegedly "spied" for Iraq, although one wonders what sort of spying she could have accomplished. So far, no-one has claimed that she had access to pertinent classified information. In fact, publication of the indictment now reveals that, technically speaking, the charge against her is not "spying" but acting as an unregistered agent. (The whole matter came to the FBI's attention because she contacted a relative who works for the current administration. Not exactly proper tradecraft!)

And yet this same woman first made the news by publicizing the "alternative" view of Lockerbie -- a view which the neo-cons had reason to FAVOR.

There was a time, not long ago, when Michael Ledeen, Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle and their comrades very much wanted us to listen to every word Susan Lindauer had to say. Many neocons paid a nice sum of money to an organization which did its damnedest to make sure Susan's voice was heard.

What if Interfor -- and Fuisz -- were the ones practicing deception? What if their "blame Syria" account is an example of disinformation -- i.e., the cunning mixure of truth and fiction? What if they pushed this version of the event to satisfy an agenda favored by the USCFL, the neo-cons, and the Likudniks?

And what if the idealistic Susan Lindauer was their dupe? It wouldn't be the first time someone "played" a progressive who thought she was getting the inside dope.

On the other hand, perhaps Fuisz' words to Lindauer did, in fact, offer insight into the real scoop behind Lockerbie -- in which case, the triumph of the "blame Libya" theory constitutes one of history's most outrageous shams.

Worth noting: The Clinton administration gagged the good Dr. Fuisz. That administration was always particularly careful in its relations with Likud. And it certainly did not want war with Syria.

Right now, I honestly don't know how to interpret these events. But I sense that more is going on here than we've been told.

Never jump to conclusions when attempting to untangle the covert politics of the Middle East. Don't accept a tale as true just because it conforms with your political preconceptions. And don't content yourself with turning over all the rocks -- turn over the rocks beneath the rocks!