by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | Dec 4, 2014

CLEARNFO Rating: 5 / 5 Stars

Classified Woman-The Sibel Edmonds Story: A Memoir by Sibel D Edmonds (Mar 9, 2012)
Paperback: 340 pages | Available at Amazon and other book resellers

It is my opinion that Sibel Edmonds is one of the most important women of our era.   She was born in 1970, raised in Iran, moved to Turkey at age 11 and then moved to the U.S. when she was 17. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a psychology from George Washington University and her master’s in public policy and international commerce from George Mason University. She also speaks four languages fluently. That’s all impressive, but that does not make her important. What if I told you that she was so feared by the Federal Government that the ACLU described her as “the most gagged person in American history”; and that even the page numbers of her book and her age were ‘Classified’? The FBI retroactively classified as Top Secret all of the material and statements that had been provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2002 relating to her lawsuit, as well as the letters that had been sent by the Senators and republished by the Project on Government Oversight. What was the government so afraid of? Their most feared enemy: a small woman willing to stand up and tell the truth.

But her real importance to me is found in what she can teach each of us about standing up to those more powerful than us. So with this introduction, it’s hard to know where to start with Sibel Edmonds. For example, just the story of her amazing father, Rasim Deniz, would be enough for a great book. Sibel’s father was one of the Middle East’s leading reconstructive surgeons, but more importantly he was a good father. He taught Sibel truth and dignity; and he taught her to stand up against tyranny, by example. He stood up against the most feared Iranian Secret Police of the day: The Shah of Iran’s SAVAK to protect his little girl and yet again after they moved to Turkey. Unfortunately for Sibel and for all of us, Rasim Deniz died in 2000; but it is to our great benefit that his spirit lives on in Sibel and we are all better for it. How? Because after being confronted with corruption at the highest levels of this country, Sibel didn’t back down. Despite being born in Iran, she has shown us what it takes to be a real American and to hold those in power accountable. In a very real sense, Sibel is the best example of what a true American should be in our modern era. She is made of the same stuff that once made America great and we need to rediscover those roots.  She came to America to find freedom and beauty –which she found– but she also found a system of corruption which reached into the highest levels of our government and Rasim’s little girl –now a woman—would have none of it. Unlike many of her fellow workers at the FBI who would go along to get along in fear of losing their jobs or worse,  Sibel stood tall and confronted the beast that has become the U.S. Federal Government.

Sibel’s ‘Classified Woman’ was a real eye-opener for me. Why? Because I knew our government was corrupt, but I didn’t fully realize how corrupt or how far up the ladder the corruption went. It goes all the way to the top and Sibel documents this detail by detail, fact by fact; not in a vindictive manner to inflame but in a slow methodical process that demonstrates innocence lost; how her belief in the United States was hijacked by the reality of the corruption that implicates the government in the attack on 9/11 and the subsequent whitewash and cover-up represented by the 9/11 official report.

From the back cover: “In this startling new memoir, Sibel Edmonds—the most classified woman in U.S. history—takes us on a surreal journey that begins with the secretive FBI and down the dark halls of a feckless Congress to a stonewalling judiciary and finally, to the national security whistleblowers movement she spearheaded. Having lived under Middle East dictatorships, Edmonds knows firsthand what can happen when government is allowed to operate in secret. Hers is a sobering perspective that combines painful experience with a rallying cry for the public’s right to know and to hold the lawbreakers accountable. With U.S. citizens increasingly stripped of their rights in a calibrated media blackout, Edmonds’ story is a wake-up call for all Americans who, willingly or unwillingly, traded liberty for illusive security in the wake of 9/11.”

Silenced Whistleblower Defies Authorities: A Conversation with Sibel Edmonds

Lost in Translation 10-27-02

The Government Is Raping You: Sibel Edmonds

Additional Reading:

• Vanity Fair: An Inconvenient Patriot By David Rose
• Boiling Frogs Post
• The Lone Gladio by Sibel Edmonds
• Gladio Basics