Franklin Lamb is quite a liar (updated)

A couple of years ago I noted that a Beirut-based writer named Franklin Lamb, an apparent Hezbollah groupie, publicized a "secret CIA report" that claimed that Israel would not exist in twenty years.

He added (on Iran's PressTV):

Lamb with former Hezbollah spiritual leader Fadlallah

The study, which has been made available only to a certain number of individuals, further forecasts the return of all Palestinian refugees to the occupied territories, and the exodus of two million Israeli - who would move to the US in the next fifteen years.

The study is fictional, but his report ended up all over the crazy Left websites anyway. (The JC interviewed a number of Capitol Hill experts and all agreed it was false. Lamb claimed that he had proof, but never supplied it to TheJC.)

The supposed report appeared more to be Iranian wishful thinking than anything that was sourced in the US.

It looks like Lamb is going back to his 2009 playbook.

A paper entitled “Preparing For A Post Israel Middle East”, an 82-page analysis that concludes that the American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist Israel. The authors conclude that Israel is currently the greatest threat to US national interests because its nature and actions prevent normal US relations with Arab and Muslim countries and, to a growing degree, the wider international community.

The study was commissioned by the US Intelligence Community comprising 16 American intelligence agencies with an annual budget in excess of $ 70 billion. The IC includes the Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Defense Intelligence Agency, Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, State, Treasure, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency commissioned the study.

Look how specific he is being! 82 pages! 16 intelligence agencies! And he goes through 15 points of the memo, all of which align very nicely with, again, Iran's view of Israel.

In fact, he even says:

[The report] notes Iran as an example of a country and people that have much in common and whose citizens have a real interest in enjoy [sic] bilateral associations (here an apparent reference to Israel and its US lobby) not determined by the wishes of other countries and their agents.

No wonder Lamb is a frequent guest and columnist on Iran's PressTV!

I have a sneaking suspicion that his resume there is padded, though. I can find no mention of him outside his own writings - no association with the many colleges he claims to have taught at, for example.

If you are going to lie, Lamb knows, you go all in. You make it very detailed, with specific quotes and dates. If you sound authoritative, most people won't bother checking.

Another great example of his lying style comes from this May article where he wrote:

During a late June 1982 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Begin, Reagan was handed a note from George Shultz. Based on the information he had in hand, Reagan directly told Begin that the US had reliable information than Israel was using American weapons against civilians in Lebanon.

At this point according to Reagan, Begin became very agitated.

He lowered his glasses and while glaring at Reagan and shaking his index finger said, “Mr. President, Israel has never and would never use American weapons against civilians and to claim otherwise is a blood libel against every Jew, everywhere.”

Following their meeting Reagan told Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, as reported by Weinberger and by various biographers of Reagan that “I did not know what the term “blood libel” meant, but I know that the man looked me straight in the eyes and lied to me.”

It sounds so convincing - and indeed there was friction between the US and Israel over the alleged use of cluster bombs in Lebanon - but, again, these quotes simply cannot be found anywhere besides the writings of Franklin Lamb. Nothing in Reagan's autobiography, nothing in Caspar Weinberger's memoirs - zilch.

(Update: And as commenter Mrzee points out - George Schulz was not yet Secretary of State in June 1982! He entered office the following month, after Reagan met Begin.)

But when you are in the employ of your Iranian/Hezbollah masters, telling the truth is not exactly one of the top criteria for the job.

UPDATE: Lori Lowenthal Marcus at the Jewish Press has a photo of Lamb with another of his heroes, child-murderer Samir Kuntar:

They look so happy together!

UPDATE 2: I found out much more about Lamb. He's a convicted criminal. What a surprise.