Lawrence Anthony Franklin
Lawrence (Larry) Franklin, is a former Iran specialist at the Defense Intelligence Agency who worked in the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and reported directly to Feith's deputy, William Luti. Franklin was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison on January 20, 2006 on the charges of spying for Israel. [1][2]. He was caught by the FBI passing classified documents on Iran to an Israeli diplomat and two members of the Israel Lobby group AIPAC, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman.
Before moving to the Middle East division in early 1990s, Franklin was a Soviet analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He learned Farsi and became an Iran analyst, developing extensive contacts among Iranians who opposed the Tehran government. [3] During his stint in the Air Force Reserve he served two short tours at the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv. [4]
Espionage and Allegations of Treason
According to James Bamford, Franklin feared a detente with Iran in the leadup to the war against Iraq. '[M]oderates in the Bush administration were "covertly negotiating for Iran to stay quiet and offer help to refugees when we go into Iraq"' Bamford reveals, 'Franklin—a devout neoconservative who had been brought into Feith's office because of his political beliefs—was hoping to undermine those talks.'
- Unable to win the internal battle over Iran being waged within the administration, a member of Feith's secret unit in the Pentagon was effectively resorting to treason, recruiting AIPAC to use its enormous influence to pressure the president into adopting the draft directive and wage war against Iran.[5]
Affiliations
- Office of Special Plans
- AIPAC - Informant
- Defence Intelligence Agency - Iran Analyst
Related Articles
- ^James Bamford, Iran: The Next War, Rolling Stone, August 10, 2006
- Matthew Barakat, "Ex-Pentagon analyst sentenced to 12 years," Associated Press (Boston Globe), January 21, 2006.
