[casi] The Kenneth Joseph Story

["AS-ILAS" <AS-ILAS@DELETETHISgmx.de>]

Hi all,

FYI

Now, this is interesting:

An Assyrian priest (Ken Joseph) - Washington Times - Rev. Moon & the
Moonies - CIA - well-known right wing journalist and CIA asset Arnaud de
Borchgrave with special psyops missions [psychological operations missions
in (dis-)information warfare] - Iraq - genuine and not so genuine human
shields or so - etc etc ....


Best

Andreas
-------------------

http://www.counterpunch.org/lipton04122003.html

April 12, 2003

A CounterPunch Special Investigation

Wag the Kennel?

The Kenneth Joseph Story

by CAROL LIPTON
with special assistance from Adam Sacks

On March 21, veteran right-wing journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave, Paris
Bureau Chief for Newsweek for 23 years, and now United Press International
(UPI) Editor at Large, wrote from the International Desk in Amman Jordan
that "a group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with
Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14
hours of uncensored video", and that Kenneth Joseph, a young American
pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked
me back to reality'". [1]

On March 23, 2003, The Washington Times ran an identical article by de
Borchgrave, also from Amman, Jordan via UPI, stating that the "American
anti-war demonstrators" who were accompanied by these human shield
volunteers had returned not on March 21, but on March 22. [2]

This time, de Borchgrave described Kenneth Joseph, not as an American
antiwar demonstrator, but as a "young American pastor of the Assyrian
Church of the East", who was Included in the group of antiwar demonstrators
. Joseph's itensely emotional transformation from dedicated antiwar
activist into ardent supporter of the war in Iraq was attributed to those
interviews. Within 3 days, the right wing media was saturated with this
story, which also received coverage in the mainstream press.

Incredibly, nowhere has a single photo or segment from these 14 hours of
interviews been published, nor do any other journalists who have covered
this story claimed that they saw the videos.

The Washington Times, which published the first stories on Joseph, is owned
by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who acquired UPI in 2000.

Reverend Moon is head of a notorious religious right-wing Christian cult,
the Unification Church, whose fanatical followers, called "moonies", are
subjected to mind-control techniques, as written about by former cult
members.[3] Rev. Moon, whose organization has been the subject of hundreds
of newspaper artiles, stories, and books, was convicted for tax evasion on
July 20, 1984, and was in federal prison, has developed close ties with the
Reagan and both Bush administrations. [4]

The founding editor of the Washington Times, James Whelan, has spoken out
against the Moon organization since resigning his position due to
manipulation from Moon officials. Rev. Moon's political and business
operations were the subject of a 1992 Frontline special on PBS.

PBS questioned the financial backing of The Washington Times, which
consistently loses approximately two million dolars a month in operating
costs. The Moon organization has spent an estimtated one billion dollars
since it began the Times, without accounting for its revenue sources.[5]

De Borchgrave, author of "The Spike" and several other political novels,
has been linked to the CIA and far-right think-tanks and institutions,
including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). [6]

On March 26, 2003, The Washington Times reprinted a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
article by Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, who was deputy
assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration, entitled
"A shield decides it's time to turn it in", describing Rev. Joseph as one
of several "repentant" human shields who had been part of "a group of
American anti-war demonstrators, that joined a Japanese human-shield
delegation" in Iraq. [7]

Johann Hari's Article

On March 27, an article by British journalist Johann Hari, dateline Amman
Jordan and entitled "Spreading peace at gunpoint", appeared in the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer. Its topic was alsoKenneth Joseph, the "young American
pastor" who was "so convinced that the current war would be waged against
the will of the Iraqi people" that he went to Iraq to act as a human
shield.[8]

He wrote in this highly charged and dramatic piece that "Joseph was
"explaining that his trip had shocked him back to reality". Yet Hari never
states to whom Joseph did the "explaining", or where. He recounts Joseph's
story as if it were his own, clamining that Iraqis were "willing to see
their own homes demolished" in order to end Hussein's tyranny, and proceeds
to issue a trenchant indictment of the entire antiwar movement, accusing
its members of being "the real imperialists", for ignoring the "true
wishes" of the Iraqi people.

Hari had already written an essay on March 26 for the Independent, a
progressive British newspaper, entitled "Sometimes, the only way to spread
peace is at the barrel of a gun", where he describes Joseph as an "ardent
antiwar activist," whose beliefs were "as fervent as any menber of the Stop
the War Coalition". [9]

On March 27, the Washington Times then published "Dissiolusioned Human
Shields", by right-wing pundit Reed Irvine, head of Accuracy in Media,
which is illustrative of the broadside attacks on the antiwar movement
which followed. [10]

Irvine's story embellished upon de Borchgrave's account, stating that this
group of American antiwar organizers had "joined a delegation of Japanese
human shields" in Iraq. He describes the group's spokesperson as Kenneth
Joseph, pastor of an obscure religious group, the Assyrian Church of the
East, with "a substantial membership in the United States".

On March 28, Irvine also wrote a piece for the right wing newsletter
NewsMax.com, making reference to the "plastic shredder" torture methods in
Iraq:

"[Rev. Joseph] said that his talks with Iraqis convinced him that Saddam is
"a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and
Hitler. . . Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as
people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so [the
torture masters] could hear the screams as bodies got chewed up from foot
to head."[11]

Similar stories, juxtaposing tales of Saddam's torture with an indictment
of peace activists, spread like wildfire. Other conservative columnists,
such as William F. Buckley's National Review, ran the story, which suddenly
appeared in right wing media throughout the globe. [12]

Kenneth Joseph Unknown to Human Shield Organizations

The Philadelphia Daily News covered the human shield expedition from London
to Iraq, which comprised over 200 people from 30 countries travelling in
red double-decker buses on a gueling 3,000 mile10-day trek. They went to
guard civilian sites, such as schools, hospitals, water-treatment
facilities and electrical plants. After the Department of State travel ban
prohibited American citizens from going to Iraq without obtaining special
clearance, all human shield groups needed to apply for this clearance. [13]

A glaring ommission from these articles is how Kenneth Joseph obtained
State Department clearance, which he seems to have circumvented as a result
of his "invitation as a religious person and family connections'", and
which spared having a government "minder" tail him 24 hours a day. [14]

None of the peace organizations or human shield groups whom I contacted had
ever heard of Kenneth Joseph, nor is his name found on any human
shield-related websites. [15]

Who is Kenneth Joseph?

Both Arnaud de Borchgrave, in his two UPI articles, and Johann Hari, in
both the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Independent, describe Kenneth
Joseph as an "American antiwar demonstrator".

In a report posted by the Religious Organizations Network, entitled
"Assyrian Christianity in Japan", by UCAN Report, Reverend Joseph spoke at
a conference on March 16, 1998 in Tokyo, on the history of Christianity in
the Far East. At the conference, he was introduced as "American Reverend
Ken Joseph". [16]

Kenneth Joseph's byline appears on a March 26 article, datelined Amman,
Jordan, entitled "I Was Wrong", and posted on the Assyrian Christian News
website. He identifies himself not as an American, but as an Assyrian, born
and raised in Japan, whose father [Ken Joseph, Sr.] came to Japan to
rebuild the country after World War II.[17]

He writes that as a minister, "and due to my personal convictions, I have
always been against war for any and all reasons. It was precisely this
moral conviction that led me to do all I could to stop the current war in
Iraq." He recites with emphasis his antiwar credentials:

"From participating in demonstrations against the war in Japan to strongly
opposing it on my radio program, on television and in regular columns, I
did my best to stand against what I thought to be an unjust war against an
innocent people - in fact my people". . .".

In an interview in Capitalism Magazine, he again spoke about "participating
in demonstrations against the war in Japan to strongly opposing it on my
radio program, on television, and in regular columns". [18]

Assyrian Christians.com states that Barbara Walters will be broadcasting
his videotape. [19] Yet, there is no mention of Kenneth Joseph on the
Abc.com index to Barbara Walters show.

Joseph's biography is posted on the Assyrian Christian News website. It
states that he is pastor at the Narimasu Christ Church in Tokyo, Japan,
founder and director of The Japan Helpline, a worldwide 24-hour hotline and
relief assistance organization, and founder and director of the Japan-based
Keikyo Institute, which studies the historical roots of Christianity in
Asia. [20]

A fundraising appeal for The Keikyo Institute, seeking to raise a million
dollars for this "Christian museum in Tokyo", can be found on The Christian
Broadcasting Network website. It mentions Ken Joseph's "discovery of the
Nestorian Monument in China," as proof that Assyrian Christians settled
there, and the goal of the fundraising drive was to provide for the
reconstruction of this and other Christian sites in China. There is no
mention whatsoever of peace or antiwar activism. [21]

Joseph graduated from the Christian Academy in Japan, and Biola University
in La Mirada, California, with degrees in Intercultural Communictions and
Mass Communications, and after graduation, returned to Japan in 1987, which
would make him at least 37 years old. Yet a recent interview in Japan Today
magazine, discussing his work on the Japan Helpline states in bold letters
that he is 28. [22]

The alumni directory for Biola College posts an entry for Kenneth Joseph.
While he states that he is a pastor in Japan, directing the Keikyo
Institute, has written 3 books, and a weekly column for one of Japan's main
newspapers, nowhere does he mention being a "peace activist". [23]

Joseph's biography also states that he is currently working on a book about
his experiences in Iraq and the current situation in the Middle East, and
in other articles, he claims to have written a book along with his father
on Assyrian Christians in the Middle East. Yet, nowhere does Amazon.com
list any references to books written by Kenneth Joseph, Jr., nor was he
mentioned on a website email directory of Assyrian authors.

Joseph wrote an article entitled "The Forgotten Christians", posted on
October 29, 2002 to Church of the East News.com, which credits him as a
"writer and Assyrian Missionary in Japan". It lists his address c/o The
Keikyo Institute, which his bio says is in Japan, as being in California
(Box 16351, Sierra Madre, CA 91104), with an email address, Info@Church of
the East.com. Nowhere does this article even hint at fervent antiwar
activity, despite the fact that the article begins "with signs of war with
Iraq increasing every day". [24]

Joseph presents a detailed history of the Assyrian Christians, whom he
claims still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. He then segues to
a discussion of U.S. foreign policy: "Currently, the State Department is
attempting to put together a coalition of Iraqui Nationalist Groups to
decide on a future Government, but the Assyrian Christians as the only
non-Islamic group in the mix are at a decided advantage". Id.

Thus, a full 5 months before UN inspections were cancelled and the Iraqi
war began, this "antiwar activist" had an inside track on plans for a
post-war Iraqi government.

In the January, 2003 Assyrian Christian Newsletter, Dr. Dan Wooding,
founder of ASSIST Ministries, penned "Ministering to the Assyrians", about
a clandestine missionary trip led by Kenneth Joseph, an American "Western
Assyrian Christian" who "now lives in Japan" to Baghdad. Joseph, who
apparently just returned, went there to deliver supplies to "the precious
Assyrian Christians and to set up a network to distribute relief once the
situation calms". [25]

He quotes Joseph as having stayed "with relatives in Baghdad", and being
"the only foreigners in the city without a Government agent. Joseph also
claims that one of his students was working with a UN Agency, "so we were
completely protected and able to work out of the UN Offices and the
Church." Id. Nowhere is there any indication that Kenneth Joseph was an
antiwar activist or human shield.

The Assyrian Christian Newsletter, which I logged onto on April 2, has
since been disabled.

In an article datelined January, 2003, entitled "The Forgotten Christians
of Iraq", a right wing newsletter emblazoned with the American flag, there
is no mention of a planned trip to Iraq to be a "human shield", nor antiwar
sentiment, nor even the missionary relief trip. He did, however, state that
he was a delegate from Asia to the recent Assyrian Representation meeting
in London, which brought together Assyrians from Europe, the U.S., Asia and
the Middle East for the first time, to put together a plan for a
post-Saddam Iraq". [26]

It is obvious that Kenneth Joseph has been involved in long-term policy
planning for the future of Iraq, with an eye upon being a key player in
post-war reconstruction.

The Japan Times Connection

Kenneth Joseph's regular newspaper column is published by Japan Times, for
which he has a regular column. Japan Times is part of the Nifco group, a
multinational corporation. The Chairman of the Board of Nifco is Toshiaki
Ogasawara, a member of the Trilateral Commission from 1992 through 2002.
[27]

Ogasawara is a graduate of Princeton, and serves or has served in some
official capacity on the boards of Bank of America, Avon, Nike, General
Electric Japan, Prudential Asia, and LucasVarity. He is also on the Board
of Trustees of the University of Southern California, and the Board of
Governors of the Pacific Forum, a project of the Center for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), where Arnaud de Borchgrave works. [28], [29].

The index linked to his name lists 36 articles written by Joseph since he
started his column in 2002. [30] None contain any references to antiwar
activity, the war in Iraq, political demonstrations in Japan, or human
shields in general, until April 1, over a week after de Borchgrave's UPI
article.

The Japan Times did print several articles on human shields arriving in
Syria, dateline Damascus, March 29, 2003. They mention two Japanese who
left Baghdad after serving as "human shields", and were staying at a hotel
in Damascus. The delegation was described as having guarded water
purification plants near Baghdad, to symbolically ward off attacks.

The Japanese Embassy said that both were in good health, and that 41
Japanese were still in Iraq, with 9 still acting as human shields, as
reported by the Foreign Ministry. Remarkably, despite Kenneth Joseph being
a staff writer for The Japan Times, nowhere is this internationally
renowned "human shield" mentioned in his own paper as having joined company
with this Japanese delegation, as reported by de Borchgrave. [31]

Then there is the matter of Kenneth Joseph's column in Japan Times.

In the two years that Joseph has written this column, the first time Joseph
mentions the impending war in Iraq was his February 27 article entitled
"Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again worry of
their future". [32]

In that article, Joseph calmly and dispassionately discusses the global
political situation, focusing on Assyrian Christians. He writes about U.S.
State Department plans to assemble a coalition of Iraqi nationalist groups
to establish a future government.

He seems amazingly knowledgeable about plans for post-war Iraq, making
reference to a pan-Assyrian conference in London, which drew up plans for a
post-Hussein Iraq. Discussions at the conference covered "the establishment
of political priorities for which land would constitute an independent
Assyria and a constitution." This is not the writing of an impassioned,
rather naive peace activist, but rather of a seasoned political strategist
with advance knowledge of the impending war.

On April 1, he wrote an article for Japan Times, "Many Iraqis see war as
their only escape route", describing a recent trip to Iraq, without giving
the dates of that trip. [33]

He alludes to his antiwar views, and his newspaper columns on the subject,
but paradoxically doesn't refer to any antiwar articles in column for that
paper. Nor does he mention being part of a delegation, American or
Japanese, to Iraq. Joseph recounts how he "began to talk to some of the
'human shields' gathered in Baghdad", who are described as presumptuous,
insensitive, and tone-deaf to the needs and desires of the Iraqi people for
freedom, even if it means war in their land. He notes how the Iraqis were
prepared for a loss of life, perhaps their own.

There's only one thing Kenneth Joseph doesn't mention: the videotapes.

1. http://www.upi.com/

2. http://www.washtimes.com/

3. For a detailed discussion of Reverend Moon's organizational history, the
brainwashing techniques employed on cult members, and a profile of his
vast, multi-billion dollar business and media empire, see Releasing the
Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves, by Steve Hassan, one of
the original deputies in the United States to Reverend Moon, who left the
Moon organization and has widely lectured and written of his experiences in
the organization. On the subject of cults, see also Combatting Cult Mind
Control by Steven Hassan, Aitan Publications, May 2000; the document cited
here is from:

HD:Moonorg.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (000A82AE)

A chronology of Reverend Moon's organizational empire and Church, since his
arrival in America in 1971, can be found at:

HD:FAST-FACTS-Sun Myung Moon.doc (WDBN/MSWD) (000A82AD)

4. According to Robert Parry, writing in Consortiumnews.com on October 11,
2000, Rev. Moon's business empire paid millions of dollars to North Korea's
communist leaders in the early 1990's, when the hard-line government needed
foreign currency to finance its weapons programs, according to U.S. Defense
Intelligence Agency documents. The payments included a $3 million "birthday
present" to current communist leader Kim Jong Il, and offshore payments
amounting to "several tens of millions of dollars" to the previous
communist dictator, Kim Il Sung.

Besides making alleged payments to North Korea's communist leaders, the
80-year old founder of the Unification Church has funneled large sums of
money, possibly in the millions of dollars, to former President George H.
Bush. Both Bush Sr. and Ronad Reagan have close personal ties with Rev.
Moon, who was an honored guest at the Reagan inaugural ceremony.

In recent years, the Moon organization has made substantial inroads in
expanding its media and corporate power base. Dozens of top politicians,
including George Bush Sr., academics, and media celebrities have accepted
paid invitations to speak for the Moon group, Women's Federation for World
Peace, unwittingly lending prestinge and credibility.

5. Moon.doc (WDBNMSWD)(000A82AD)

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2000/101100a.html

6. De Borchgrave's connections to the CIA and far right organizations and
individuals can be accessed by a "proximity map" search on the Public
Information Research's website. The search will generate a map, with a
background description for each person or entity on the map:

http://www.namebase.org/

A namebase search on this website for Arnaud deBorchgrave produced 101
links to government and political leaders, authors, right wing
organizations, and books written about him. A portion of those listings are
as follows:

Covert Action Information Bulletin 1983-#19 (15)

Covert Action Information Bulletin 1985-#23 (24 29 32)

Covert Action Information Bulletin 1980-#10 (39-40)

Covert Action Information Bulletin 1980-#10 (41-42)

Covert Action Information Bulletin 1980-#10 (41-42)

Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). Extra! 1988-10 (7)

Executive Intelligence Review 1999-04-23 (48)

Resource Center. GroupWatch 1989-CSIS (1)

Herman,E. O'Sullivan,G. The Terrorism Industry. 1989 (145)55

Scheim, D. Contract on America. 1988 (324)

Covert Action Quarterly 1999-#68 (62)

Executive Intelligence Review 1999-04-23 (48)

CounterSpy 1982-01 (56)

Marshall,J., The Iran-Contra Connection. 1987 (215)

Parenti, M. Dirty Truths. 1996 (77)

Bradlee,B. A Good Life. 1995 (151)

An excellent overview of the CIA's influence over the media, which also
includes de Borchgrave, can be found at the Global Intelligence News
Portal, which posted an article entitled "CIA and the Press: The Mighty
Wurlitzer", which can be found at:

http://mprofaca.cro.net/ciapress2.html

7. http://www.washtimes.com/

8. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/

9. http://argument.independent.co.uk/

10. http:www.aim.org/publications/

11. http://www.newsmax.com/

12. The March 24, the National Review, article, by James S. Robbins, also
denounces the antiwar movement for lacking the moral rectitude of Reverend
Joseph:

"Many peace marchers invoked Gandhi and King, but they will never be
subjected to the purifying sacrifices necessary for true satyagraha. They
can afford to do this because of their confidence that they will be treated
humanely...I would respect the antiwar demonstrators much more if they
volunteered to be human shields in Baghdad, because at least then they
would be putting themselves at genuine risk for their beliefs (Can we refer
to those who do not go overseas for peace as chicken doves?) If they did
so, they might have an epiphany like the one recently visited on Kenneth
Joseph." This can be found at:

http://www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins/032403.asp

13. http://www.philly.com/mid/dailynews/news/local/5318201.htm

14. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/

15. These are websites found on Google:

http://groups.google.com/groupsSee, also:

http://www.agonist.org/

16. http://www.atour.com/religion/docs/20001221d.html

17.http://www.assyrianchristians.com/

18. http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=2631

19. http://assyrianchristians.com/

20. http://assyrianchristians.com/about_ken_joseph.htm

21. The link for the Christian Broadcasting Network's article is:
http://cbn.org/SpiritualLife/churchandministry/

22. The Japan Today interview can be found at the following link:

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/

23. http://www.biola.edu/admin/alumni/classes.cfm?az=J

24. http:www.thechurchoftheeast.com/news_oct_29_02.htm

25. http://www.christiannewstoday.com/CNTNews85.html

26. http://aanf.org/midwest/jan2003/forgotten_christians.htm

27. http://www.namebase.org/

28. http://cellar.usc.edu:9673/iac2001/speaker?rec_id=4

29. http:www.usc.edu/about/administration/trustees/

30.http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

The list of the 36 articles written by Ken Joseph for Japan Times, his
regular newspaper column in Japan, since 2002, are as follows, and can be
found at the following website:

* Taking issue with a visa 'investigation' March 18, 2003

* Homesickness, toll-free numbers and money orders March 4, 2003

"There are 2 million of our fellow Assyrian Christians in Iraq. They need
our prayers at this time. The best way to appreciate all we have in Japan?
Leave for a little bit! I'm homesick already."

No mention of "war".

* Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again wary of
their future February 27, 2003

He expresses concern about the effects of instability on Assyrians if there
is a regime change. While he sounds ambivalent about regime change here, he
seems more afraid of it than not.

* A kind word, visa sponsorship and tax refunds February 18, 2003

* Refunded cash for working at home and a sumo day out February 4, 2003

* Leaving Japan, getting organized and cash refunds January 21, 2003

* Pension posers, recycling visas, and a re-entry tip-off January 14, 2003

* Getting cash reimbursed for medical costs December 17, 2002

December 10, 2002 No mention of "war" or "Iraq"

* Can tourists get themselves working visas? December 3, 2002

* Visa rules and looking for a dream job November 15, 2002

* A good result with Japan's health insurance system November 1, 2002

No mention of "war" or "Iraq", nor of the international conference he had
just attended in London, and mentioned on the Assyrian Christian News
website

* Insuring your health; ensuring your privacy October 18, 2002

* Finding out more about the law and you in Japan October 4, 2002

* Check-up costs, parking perils, and 'quake advice September 19, 2002

* Reaching out to Japanese hit on Sept. 11 September 5, 2002

* Divorce issues, cheap traveling and getting ADSL September 5, 2002

* Seeking medical redress and keeping control of Spam August 22, 2002

* Looking after your mental and physical well-being in Japan August 8, 2002

* Prominent figures raise questions over numbering system August 8, 2002

* Health insurance, pension cash claims and odd-job search July 25, 2002

* When the 'Big One' hits, help will be close at hand July 25, 2002

* Permanent status and foreign driving licences in Japan July 11, 2002

* Seeking a foreign channel July 4, 2002

* Newshungry TV viewers fighting for English service June 27, 2002

* Getting your just rewards for a lifetime of slog June 13, 2002

* The fuss-free way to get you and your stuff home May 30, 2002

* Lifelines May 16, 2002

* Welcome to a new page, welcome to a new column May 9, 2002

* Religious site July 24, 2001

* All in a (24-hour) day's work June 24, 2001

* Help is on the way June 24, 2001

* Parents driven to 'kidnap' children December 13, 2000

* JET sends third relief mission to Turkey August 24, 1999

* Volunteers struck by refugees' fortitude May 18, 1999

31. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

32. Kenneth Joseph's February 27 Japan Times article can be found at:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/

33. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/







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