I suspect most people are unfamiliar with Sibel Edmonds. That may be about to change.
Edmonds is a former FBI translator who has said — indeed, has been saying for a long time — that senior U.S. officials knew of al Queda’s plan to attack the U.S. with airplanes months before the 9/11 happened.
A former FBI wiretap translator with top-secret security clearance, who has been called “very credible” by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has told Salon she recently testified to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States that the FBI had detailed information prior to Sept. 11, 2001, that a terrorist attack involving airplanes was being plotted.
Referring to the Homeland Security Department’s color-coded warnings instituted in the wake of 9/11, the former translator, Sibel Edmonds, told Salon, “We should have had orange or red-type of alert in June or July of 2001. There was that much information available.” Edmonds is offended by the Bush White House claim that it lacked foreknowledge of the kind of attacks made by al-Qaida on 9/11. “Especially after reading National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice [Washington Post Op-Ed on March 22] where she said, we had no specific information whatsoever of domestic threat or that they might use airplanes. That’s an outrageous lie. And documents can prove it’s a lie.”
Since Edmonds initially came forward, John Ashcroft and the Justice Department have done everything possible to keep her remarks hidden. Testimony she offered to Congress, for example, was “re-classified” after it was already publicly available. Ashcroft even fought to prohibit Edmonds from speaking to the 9/11 Commission, though he was largely unsuccessful (she testified, but her testimony was not open to the public or press).
Despite her explosive charges and her apparent credibility, Edmonds’ name and story have remained relatively unknown. Slowly, however, the press is picking up on her account of what happened in the FBI before 9/11 thanks, in part, to an important lawsuit she’s filed against her former employer.
At the root of Edmonds’ lawsuit is a challenge to Ashcroft’s practice of classifying information she’s offered that is already publicly available. The Boston Globe had a helpful rundown of the situation yesterday (thanks to Carpetbagger regular Phil for the tip).
Sifting through old classified materials in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FBI translator Sibel Edmonds said, she made an alarming discovery: Intercepts relevant to the terrorist plot, including references to skyscrapers, had been overlooked because they were badly translated into English.
Edmonds, 34, who is fluent in Turkish and Farsi, said she quickly reported the mistake to an FBI superior. Five months later, after flagging what she said were several other security lapses in her division, she was fired. Now, after more than two years of investigations and congressional inquiries, Edmonds is at the center of an extraordinary storm over US classification rules that sheds new light on the secrecy imperative supported by members of the Bush administration.
In a rare maneuver, Attorney General John Ashcroft has ordered that information about the Edmonds case be retroactively classified, even basic facts that have been posted on websites and discussed openly in meetings with members of Congress for two years. The Department of Justice also invoked the seldom-used ”state secrets” privilege to silence Edmonds in court. She has been blocked from testifying in a lawsuit brought by victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and was allowed to speak to the panel investigating the Sept. 11 attacks only behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, the FBI has yet to release its internal investigation into her charges. And the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the bureau, has been stymied in its attempt to get to the bottom of her allegations.
Edmonds’ cases against the Justice Department haven’t made much progress yet, but as the Globe noted, with 9/11 reports on the way, her plight is “back in the spotlight.” It’s about time.
As such, don’t be surprised if her name keeps popping up over the next few months. Her story deserves to be heard.