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'Another crawler ... Same rock'
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"... Earlier
this year, WikiLeaks, working with more than twenty media partners
including Al-Akhbar, released some of Stratfor’s private emails in a
project dubbed the “Global Intelligence Files.” In relation to Lebanon and the
rest of the Middle East, the emails instantaneously showed that Stratfor placed
singular importance on one source, codenamed ME1.
Prior to connecting the
dots and uncovering ME1’s identity, Al-Akhbarblogged about him in a March
26 post entitled “Our Man in
Beirut,” with evidence gleaned from the “GI
Files”:
For the Levant, Senior
Analyst for the Middle East and South Asia (MESA), Reva Bhalla, gains the bulk
of her human insights from a single main source. Codenamed ME1, the identity of this valuable source is
protected even in Stratfor’s own internal source listings (All the files listing
the informants names and contact information were conveniently entitled “source
lists.”) We don’t yet know who ME1 is, but Reva describes her relationship with
him as follows:
“I have
been working with ME1 for more than 4 years now. He needs ego stroking and is
very defensive, but very well connected. I have caught several instances though
where what he has reported is in the OS verbatim. When you inquire about it, he
shows classic defensive tactics. He has great sources, but his source
information can be difficult to evaluate b/c I can't tell when he might be
fabricating the information to justify his pay. Known since 2003. Tempermental
[sic]. Sometimes his immediate reaction is suspect. Often good info but hard to
tell when it is and isn't. Emphasized quantity over
quality.”
Previous
readings by Al-Akhbar reported that ME1 was an active
source at least as far back as 2006. The Stratfor emails also indicated that he
was a major link, connecting the private intelligence firm to other sources,
which allegedly included military, academic, diplomatic and media figures in
Lebanon and elsewhere.
Moreover, ME1’s importance to Stratfor was made
evident by the fact that he received a significant pay raise last October, which
brought his salary up from $3,000 to $6,000 per
month, making him one of the highest paid contractors for the
so-called “Shadow CIA.”Upon deeper examinations of the GI Files, ME1’s
identity was uncovered: Hilal Khashan. Khashan is the author of a number of
written works, notably a book titled “Inside the Lebanese Confessional Mind” –
described by the notorious neocon Daniel Pipes as “a stunningly original study on the political
attitudes of Lebanese.” (Khashan is also a fellow and regular contributor to
Pipes' Middle East Quarterly.)
Khashan first appears within the
Stratfor files in November 2004. Corresponding with Anthony Sullivan, a
recruiter for the firm, Khashan wrote about his “great interest” in Stratfor
founder George Friedman’s article scrutinizing the CIA, and added, “I am writing
this note to express to you my interest in cooperating in this worthwhile
effort.” (doc-id
5488035)
A month later, Khashan sent his CV to Sullivan, who in turn
passed it on to other senior employees within Stratfor’s Special Operations
department. (doc-id
5315732)
While Director of Special Operations Bob Rushing expressed
concern over the new recruit’s ability to gain access as an academic, Sullivan
assured him: “Khashan has knowledge of Muslim movements and connections with
Muslim personalities in Lebanon and elsewhere [in] the Levant.” That seemed to
put to rest any doubts over Khashan’s merits as a provider of “human
intelligence.” (doc-id
5338445)
The use of the codename ME1 appears
to have begun in 2006. Most of these early reports by ME1 concentrated on
Lebanon, with a particular focus on Hezbollah....... ME1’s analyses
and predictions were mostly generic and occasionally grossly off-the-mark. For
example, in response to a question sent by Bhalla on 4 November 2006 regarding
Hezbollah’s objectives during the early stages of negotiations with Israel over
the release of two captured Israeli soldiers, ME1 predicted: “The negotiations
will drag on for a considerable period of time and I am certain that the Israeli
soldier held in Gaza will be released first.” (doc-id
5278972)
Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a prisoner swap by 2008, while
Hamas and Israel’s prisoner swap occurred only last year. Despite
his shortcomings, the relationship between ME1 and Stratfor continued to
grow.
With time, ME1’s reports expanded to include insights on Syrian
military mobilizations, and political developments within Lebanon, Palestine and
Iran. (doc-id
62654, doc-id
62734, doc-id
63303, doc-id
63417, doc-id
63057)....
According to the Stratfor cache,
"ME1" used some of his students as sub-sources. By 2011, ME1’s claimed
sources included a number of Arab diplomats, the Egyptian ambassador in Lebanon,
a Lebanese military general, the head of Lebanon’s internal security forces, an
international law expert involved in the United Nations Special Tribunal in
Lebanon, and more. (doc-id
5430752, doc-id
103613, doc-id
103501, doc-id
103543, doc-id
67951, doc-id
220792, doc-id
3652040, doc-id
282856, doc-id
75432,doc-id
180039, doc-id
944505)
ME1’s identity appeared to be a closely guarded secret, known
only to a few within Stratfor.... (Continue,
here)"
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