Independent Media Websites Shut Down and
My
Resignation from the State Department
Oct. 14, 2004
Dear friends,
On
October 4th, I sent you an email describing one interesting aspect of my
experience interpreting for President Bush and President Megawati of Indonesia
in the White House eight days after 9/11. Without revealing anything
confidential which was discussed in this meeting, I described how
I eventually became convinced that President Bush was being fed
information through some hidden device. As a result of that email being
forwarded by many of you, my comments eventually ended up on
the home page of the popular website democrats.com, with a link to all
but the first two paragraphs of my email at http://community.democrats.com/forums/discussions.cfm?forumid=170&topicid=139727
The
reason I decided to send this email to you is that I had just
received information about the strange "let me finish"
comment Bush had made in the middle of a sentence during his
first debate with Kerry on Sept. 30th. You will recall that this unusual
remark was made when he still had 30 seconds left to finish his
statement, and no one was trying to stop him. In my email to you, I passed on
the link to a recording of this unusual remark available on the
website of NYC
indymedia Thanks to the wonderful network of which we are a part, this
information was spread far and wide by those who are working to expose
all that is going on behind the scenes. It became a
hot topic on the Internet in a very short time.
On
Oct. 7th, just days after this remarkable recording was posted on the
New York Indymedia website, the UK servers which supported 20 Indymedia
websites in the US were seized by intelligence services, effectively
shutting down these valuable independent news sources. Is this just
another amazing coincidence? BBC reported the shocking news of these
seizures on Oct. 11th, stating that the FBI had seized them, though an
FBI spokesman denied this. Widely reported by major media in Britain,
this startling news continues to go virtually unreported in
the mainstream American media. If you want a clear example of how our freedom
of speech is being eroded, I highly recommend reading this BBC article
at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3732718.stm
The
email I sent out to all of you on Oct. 4th was posted with my
permission to democrats.com on Oct. 10th. Yesterday, Oct. 13th, I
received a call from my supervisor at the US Department of State, where I
have served as an interpreter for 18 years. She informed me that as a
result of the information I revealed in that email, my contract as a language
interpreter might be cancelled. This woman has had extensive experience
working with Bush and other presidents. In our phone conversation,
she stated that she has never seen evidence of a hidden earpiece. I have
only interpreted in person for Bush three times. Yet I find it very difficult
to explain how he could have talked so intelligently and in such detail about
Indonesia with no notes during the meeting in question.
I
feel strongly that in this time of rapid erosion of our constitutional rights
and liberties, it is important for everyone to take risks and speak the
truth. I was willing to risk my job, because this information is
too important not to be shared. In fact, as a result of all this in combination
with a new contract which I would have had to sign, I've decided to
cancel my contract as an interpreter with the State Department. The new
contract which I was sent just two weeks ago required that for the rest
of my life I could never communicate about anything I learned
from my work that had not been made public without explicit government
approval. This is far too restrictive for my values and only increases the
already excessive amount of secrecy in the US government. Below, you can
read two emails which I later sent to my State
Department chiefs regarding this matter.
I
know that by working together to expose the disempowering secrets both inside
ourselves and out in the world, we can and will strengthen democracy and
build a better world for ourselves and our children. Please see our website
at http://www.WantToKnow.info to
learn more about all that is happening behind the scenes and what we can do
about it. Thanks for caring and you have a great day!
With
very best wishes,
Fred
Burks for WantToKnow.info
Two Emails from Fred Burks to his supervisors at the US Department of
State
First email sent October 13th:
Dear
(name withheld for confidentiality)
Thank
you for sharing your concerns with me this morning. I fully appreciate your
position and understand that you must do what you believe is best in this. As
I mentioned to you, the email which has drawn so much attention was
originally sent out to one of the email lists I manage. I just went back and
read the posting of this email to democrats.com. On reading how it
was posted there, I saw that the first two paragraphs of my
email message were not included. I thought you might be interested
in reading these two paragraphs for context. Here they are:
"In
the recent Bush/Kerry debate, President Bush made a very strange, revealing
comment in the middle of one of his turns talking. He had been talking
for 60 seconds straight when he slipped in the comment, "let me
finish" between his own words. He had been given 90 seconds to
respond, and no one was in any way trying to cut him off. What was he
referring to? Who was he talking to with this comment? The answer is that it
is very possible that Bush was responding to someone who
was feeding information to him through a hidden earphone.
"Listen
to the mp3
of this comment yourself at NYC
indymedia, or watch the video on the C-SPAN website at:
rtsp://cspanrm.fplive.net/cspan/project/c04/c04093004_debate1.rm (copy
and paste this address to your web browser, then fast forward to 40 min
30 sec)."
You
may or may not be aware that the UK servers which supported 20 US
Indymedia websites (the link above) were confiscated in England shortly after
the above news was published. You can read about this on BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3732718.stm The
American press has neglected to report this significant development. The
information on the "let me finish" comment was sent to me by
someone in the network of international researchers in which I am involved.
It immediately reminded me of my experience with Bush and Megawati
shortly after 9/11, which eventually led to the
democrats.com posting about which you called me this morning.
In
these days when our constitutional freedoms are rapidly being eroded, I feel
it is extremely important that each of us thinks and
acts with a clear intention of what is best for our nation and
for all people. I felt that it was important to write the email relating my
experience in order to contribute to the debate among my fellow
researchers. You are right that I could have talked with other interpreters
about this experience to find out if they had ever experienced anything
similar. I have not done this, and wish I had time to do it. I very much appreciate
your comments that you have never seen any evidence of this. I will
certainly share that without mentioning your name when asked about this
issue. Your experience at the presidential level is vastly greater than
mine. Even so, I would ask you what to make of my experience that day in the
White House. Based on what you know, do you believe that right after 9/11,
when President Bush had been in office less than one year, he could have
known that much about Indonesia? I found this to be highly unusual.
I
don't believe stating that there were 22 talking points and that about half
of them dealt with terrorism and the other half with Indonesia was revealing
any sensitive information. I could easily have written "many talking
points" rather than 22, if I believed that this was sensitive. It was
mentioned on national television that they talked about both terrorism and
Indonesian affairs. Was this revealing confidential information?
I
know and trust that you will do what you believe is right and best. I am
willing to accept whatever you and others at Language Services decide. I am
deeply committed to doing what I believe is right and best. I think
that, especially in these times, only if each of us does what we believe is
right and best for all humanity will we be able to effectively strengthen
democracy and build a better world together. I welcome your comments on all
of this. Thanks again for your concern. You take care and have a good day.
With
best wishes,
Fred
PS
I apologize for becoming somewhat defensive in our telephone conversation. I
have no conscious intention of being confrontational about this. I
appreciate your professionalism in dealing with this matter.
Second email sent Oct. 14th:
Dear
(names withheld)
I
am writing to inform you that it is with sadness that I will be voluntarily
terminating my contract with the State Department. I will send you an
official resignation email and letter within the next few days. I have
thoroughly enjoyed my 18 years working with [the Department of] State
and working with all of you. This has by far been the most diverse,
fascinating work I've ever done. Through this job, I have
also encountered some of the most amazing and inspiring people I've ever
met. It is clear to me, however, that my values are no longer compatible with
what is required by our government to work as an interpreter.
I've
had the new basic ordering agreement sitting here for a couple weeks,
debating whether or not I should sign it because of the more restrictive
Clause 14 on safeguarding information. I've become clear now that I will not
sign the new BOA [Basic Ordering Agreement - my contract]. I did not realize
that the email I sent out would get such wide publicity, and apologize
for any problems that have arisen for you as a result of that. I hope my
voluntary resignation will make things easier for you in this matter. I
welcome any thoughts you might have on this. You can expect my official email
of resignation early next week. Please let me know if you do not think this
is the best course of action, though it is important to understand that I do
not feel ethically I can sign the new BOA. Thank you for all of your support
and all your great work through the years.
With
sadness and very best wishes,
Fred
P.S.
I realize that there is a shortage of good Indonesian interpreters. If there
is any way I can help with this while working around the new BOA, I would
be happy to do so.
Follow-up
Note: For a later Washington Post article on my resignation and lots
more:
http://www.WantToKnow.info/fredburksresigns
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