- In an ever-widening scandal involving a Taiwanese government
secret "slush fund," the purpose of which was to covertly influence
other countries' (including the United States and Japan) politics, leaked
Taiwanese government documents name two Bush appointees as receiving money
from this "slush fund" for services, including convincing Bush
to agree to $4 billion worth of sophisticated arms sales to Taiwan.
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- Carl Ford, appointed by GW Bush to assistant secretary
of defense for intelligence and research, and James Kelly, appointed by
GW Bush to assistant secretary of state for East Asia, are the American
officials named as being "paid off" to covertly influence U.S.
politics. Their efforts included accepting millions from this secret slush-fund,
and it appears that this money may have been, at least in part, funneled
by contributions made by Carl Ford (while working for a Washington PR firm,
Cassidy and Associates) to the GW Bush presidential campaign and the Republican
National Committee.
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- In eye-opening revelations which have shocked Taiwan,
and set Washington panicking over the "radioactive" political
fall-out from these covert Taiwanese efforts (aided by Bush "administration"
officials) to influence American politics:
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- * The "slush fund" was set up by Taiwan's ex-president
Lee Teng-hui through the Taiwan National Security Bureau. Lee, although
no longer president, is still very active in Taiwanese politics.
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- * It is reported that there were two secret slush funds
which contained NT$3.5 billion.
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- * The purpose of these two slush funds was to buy political
favors overseas, including in the United States and Japan.
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- * Carl Ford, as a "key player" in Cassidy and
Associates, was paid from this secret slush fund, and is said to have played
a "pivotal role," as Bush's appointed assistant secretary of
defense for intelligence and research, in convincing Bush to allow the
$4billion sale of sophisticated arms to Taiwan. He is said to have been
paid "handsomely," according to leaked Taiwanese government documents.
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- * Carl Ford, an ex-CIA official and a former prominent
defense official in the Reagan/Bush Sr. administrations, was also a lobbyist
for General Dynamics (specifically for the sale of sophisticated arms to
Taiwan). General Dynamics stood to greatly benefit from the sale of submarines
to Taiwan; the submarines would be built in a General Dynamics' company's
shipyards.
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- * Carl Ford is noted as a Cassidy and Associates' "key
player." When Cassidy and Associates was hired by General Dynamics
(owner of Bath Iron Works where the destroyers to be sold to Taiwan would
be built), Cassidy conceived of and drafted the letter sent by U.S. Senator
Trent Lott (Republican) to President Clinton. This letter basically held
hostage congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations with
China until Clinton approved the weapons sale, to which President Clinton
was strongly opposed.
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- * Carl Ford, as a "key player" in Cassidy and
Associates, was directly involved (in addition to the covert money they
received from the Taiwanese slush fund) in acknowledged, contracted PR
work for Taiwan interests. Again, the one of the specific goals was to
influence America to sell Taiwan $4 billion worth of sophisticated arms.
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- * Carl Ford, when testifying before Congress and trying
to convince it to sell arms to Taiwan, was said to be "from the Heritage
Foundation." The Heritage Foundation is a right wing group, funded
in part by Richard Mellon Scaife, and led by right wing power-broker Paul
Weyrich.
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- * Carl Ford, a GW Bush appointee to a very influential
position, while a "key player" for Cassidy and Associates, had
already been involved in another lobbying scandal in Taiwan. This scandal
included Cassidy's attempts to cover up the identities of those companies
and lobbyists providing public-relations and lobbying services for Taiwan
in Taiwan's efforts to get the U.S. government to pass the bill which would
allow America to sell sophisticated arms to Taiwan.
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- * Carl Ford was a "key player" in the Washington
PR firm, Cassidy and Associates, which contracted with Taiwanese organizations
to represent Taiwan's interests in Washington. Cassidy and Associates also
received money from the secret Taiwanese slush fund, the purpose of which
was to covertly influence other countries' politics. It is of note, then,
that the head of Cassidy and Associates met with Taiwan's then-president
Lee Teng-hui (who started the Taiwanese slush fund) where plans were made
to lobby then-Texas Governor Bush, because Bush was seen as the most promising
presidential candidate. The purpose, again, was to convince GW Bush, if
he became president, to allow America to sell sophisticated arms to Taiwan.
It is noteworthy that, indeed, GW Bush, once in the Oval Office, was a
vocal proponent for allowing America to sell sophisticated arms to Taiwan.
The Taiwanese slush-fund's efforts paid off when American policy was changed
such that sophisticated arms are now permitted to be sold to Taiwan.
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- * How important was GW Bush-appointee Carl Ford to Taiwan?
Ford was said to be an important Taiwan lobbyist who was allegedly wined
and dined to the tune of NT$400,000 in late 1999 and early 2000 by the
Lee Teng-hui Taiwanese administration.
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- * Cassidy and Associates received millions from this
Taiwanese secret slush fund. Carl Ford, described as a "key player"
at Cassidy, in turn donated millions of dollars to the GW Bush presidential
campaign and to the Republican National Committee.
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- * James Kelly came directly from heading the Richard
Mellon Scaife-funded Pacific Forum (connected to the military-industry
"think-tank" Centre for Strategic and International Studies,
or "CSIS") to being appointed by GW Bush as assistant secretary
of state to East Asia. While heading the Pacific Forum, Kelly is said to
have "shuffled funds" (money-laundering?) between Taiwan's slush
funds and Japan.
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- * In addition, Kelly is reported to have accepted donations
from Taiwan for CSIS' Pacific Forum. That's right: Kelly came directly
from being responsible to accepting money from Taiwan interests to being
appointed by GW Bush to a key government position in which Kelly would
be a chief policy maker for Asia.
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- * The Taiwan news publications who originally broke the
Taiwanese slush-fund story had their offices raided by Taiwanese government
officials who called the publications traitors and treasonous. After an
outcry arose from the public, the Taiwanese government has backed down
and now says that free speech must be protected.
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- * The three leaked Taiwanese government documents about
the secret slush fund are reported to contain: 1) Details about Taiwan's
unofficial "slush-fund" diplomatic maneuvers in the US, including
the meeting between the originator of the slush-fund, Taiwan's ex-president
Lee, and the head of Cassidy and Associates, a Washington PR group, with
the goal of influencing then-Texas Governor GW Bush in the event that Bush
should he become president; 2) A second document identifies Carl W. Ford,
now Bush-appointed assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research,
as an important figure in Taiwan's lobbying efforts (covert and registered),
the Sing Tao Daily said. 3) The third document records visits by Carl Ford
to Taiwan's NSB in November 1999 and March 2000, Sing Tao said, adding
that the NSB spent more than NT$400,000 entertaining Ford during the visits.
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- * How bad is it going to be for America, thanks to these
two Bush appointees' covert actions on behalf of the Taiwanese government?
These Bush appointees, in the headlines of an important Taipei newspaper,
are reported to be "tainted lobbyists." Tainted. Bush-appointed
American officials are said to be tainted.
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- * What will be the American political fall-out from these
tainted Bush-appointed officials? Consider this: The current Taiwanese
presidential senior advisor, Yao Chia-wen, who recently came to the Washington
for two days of meetings with U.S. think tanks and congressional aides
to find out what the fallout will be from this scandal, received in these
meetings the message, "Fear what is to come." Think-tank scholars
voiced concern that as new names are made public, those who speak out in
favor of Taiwan may be suspected of having "sold out" as potential
recipients of some of the NT$3.5 billion in money allegedly set aside in
two secret slush funds intended to buy political favors overseas. The fears
of the Washington congressional aids and think-tank personnel is that if
anyone in any way represents Taiwan's agenda, they will become "radioactive"
and a Washington pariah.
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- * How will this impact the U.S.-Taiwan relations? Terribly.
It already has. The revelations have damaged Taiwan-American relations,
even forcing Taiwan to suspend some programs: "The exposures of such
secret payments to key US politicians by the island's National Security
Bureau (NSB) in the past week by Hong Kong and Taiwan media has damaged
Taiwan's image and hurt its exchanges with the United States, according
to government officials and analysts. 'The exposure of these secret funds
of the NSB has created a big problem to our diplomatic work,' said Foreign
Minister Eugene Chien yesterday. Taiwan's deputy representative to the
US, Mr Tsai Ming-hsien, admitted that a number of semi-official and official
exchange programmes between Taiwan and the US have been suspended."
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- Comment: So we see that America is, once again, humiliated
by GW Bush's tainted appointees. This time, however, there appears to be
the possibility that Bush's appointees, indeed, served as money-launderers
for the Republican National Committee and the GW Bush presidential campaign.
Certainly, with Bush's tainted appointees, and their reported role as being
"pivotal" in Bush's decision to sell $4 billion worth of sophisticated
arms to Taiwan, it should bring into question whether America's best interests
were served in this decision, or were the best interests of GW Bush's Taiwanese
slush-fund contributors actually that which were being served?
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- It also brings under new consideration the opposition
of the Republican Party and GW Bush to any form of campaign finance reform.
If they are, indeed, receiving illegal campaign funds from a Chinese covert
slush-fund, they would hardly be likely to ever back accountability for
legitimate campaign donations.
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- In addition, this ugly Taiwan-U.S.-Bush-appointee campaign
finance scandal brings up another question which Americans, and Congress,
must address: What are the implications of having GW Bush in the Oval Office
if he has received such considerable illegal campaign contributions from
a covert Taiwanese slush fund? And what does his appointment of two men
highly involved in the distribution of the Taiwanese slush-fund monies
have to say about the "honor and integrity" he promised to bring
to the White House?
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- Finally, we must consider the conflict-of-interest-laden
appointments GW Bush has made, including that of Army Secretary Thomas
White, who is now under at least three investigations for his unethical
conduct since he was appointed by GW Bush. Who is it that GW Bush is really
serving: the American people or his campaign contributors? And can America
stand the damage it will incur as GW Bush seeks to fulfill the quid pro
quos he owes to his campaign funders (both acknowledged, like Enron, and
covert, like the apparent Taiwanese secret slush fund)?
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- Details, References and Sources:
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- For details and references to the above reported facts,
go to The Players.
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- For links to all of the sources referenced in this article
and in "The Players," go to Links.
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- Check Taiwan-gate daily for the latest breaking news
about this Bush White House scandal.
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- http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/Whitlow040102/whitlow040102
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