Toronto, ON--
Going-over-to-the-other-side Syndrome could be the latest affliction plaguing high-ranking american military officials.
While american forces and the coalition of the willing are still fending off dregs of the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq, one of america's top generals has upped and defected to the other side.
General Eric K. Shinseki served in the U.S. army for some 38 years and was the highest-ranking asian-american in U.S. military history when he became the army Chief of Staff in June 1999. Shinseki retired from the U.S. army in august of 2003, in a career capped as Chief of Staff–the top uniformed position in the army.
In civilian life, Shinseki is now a bank director at BNP Paribas, Saddam's favourite aTM machine, at the heart if the ongoing United Nations Oil-for-Food scandal.
With offices in New York, BNP Paribas is the most profitable bank in the Euro zone, with a significant and growing presence in the United States and leading positions in asia.
General Shinseki, last in the news for his controversial insistence that a postwar Iraq might require many more forces than the 100,000 american troops and the tens of thousands of allied forces necessary for a reconstruction effort, is a former commander of the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia.
In the arena of war, it is crucial to know who the enemy is. We can only trust that when top military officials leave the arena to work for friends of the enemy, they remember the old adage of loose lips sinking ships.
Nor is Shinseki the only top military gun to go over to the other side.
John Lehman, former Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan, is now "senior adviser" to BNP Paribas.
Listed on the Who's Who of the 911 Commission, Lehman is a director of Racal Industries, a company that sells military equipment to 80 nations around the world and specializes in field communications equipment for use in desert environments. Lehman owns interests in and serves on the board of Ball Corporation, whose aerospace division builds cooling systems for NaSa.
It must be ironic to some that a man involved with Saddam's bank, was on the 911 Commission.
add to this sleeping-with-the-enemy coterie, the name of former U.S. federal reserves head, Paul Volcker, handpicked by UN Secretary General Kofi annan to lead an independent inquiry into the oil-for-food program. Volcker was on the BNP Paribas board.
Meanwhile, Saddam's favourite aTM machine can now count the military head of the US army, the civilian head of the Navy and Uncle Sam's former top economist as one of theirs.
When generals trade in their stars for dollars and highrollers from the U.S. Navy trade camps, you don't have to be thinking in conspiracies to start to ponder.
Meanwhile, how can the U.S. win the Iraq war when members of the american leadership are getting higher pay from the enemy than they ever could ever be paid on american soil?
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2024 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2024 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement