Full Release - IRmep

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~dditio~ to English). Oh top ofhis work ~t th~
Pentagon, Franklin teaches history at Shepherd
University mW~st Virginia.
http://wWw.haaretz.comlhas~rilobjects/I
In conversations about Franklin with his
coJleagues, one' ofthe words that com~s up
again and again is IInaive.." He is described as an
ideologue who believes wholeheartedly in the
neo-conservative approach. "Everything by him
is black and white," said someone who has
worked with Franklin iJ1 the P~lltagon. "He is a
very nice person, very conservative, not at all
arrogant," said the colleague, adding that one of
the reaso~s he was ~rought intQ_ th~ Near East
and South Asia desk was his political beliefs.
Franklin's political opinions are similar to those
ofhis bosses - Douglas Feith, undersecretary of
defense, and William Luti, the depu~
undersecretary ofdefense responsible for Near
EJ\Stem and South Asian affairs. Like them,
Franklin supports the policy ofacting to bring
democracy to Arab regimes and,build up
pro-American allies in the Middle East.
But those who have worked with Frankljn also
say he was a bit extreme in his work patterns,
attitude and behavior. They occasionally
referred to him ~ "Planet Larry">as a way of
expressing the extent to which he "lives in a
world ofhis own," colleagues said.
People who have worked with Franklin believe
that it was his ~demartc naivete that got him in
trouble, saying Franklin was not aware ofthe
severity ofhis activities, and so did not try to
hide or mask them. Franklin visited Israel eight
times while he served in the U.S. Air Force and
wo~ked at the Pen~gon. Most ofbis visits.
appear to have Deen related to his reserve duty
service as an officer dealing with international
c~ntacts. Accord~ng to his resume. Franklili
served as a reserve air forCe colonel between
1997 and 2004. worl~ing with Ute p.S. military
attache in Tel Aviv. Beforehand he was
involved in analyzing counter-intelligen~ in
the air force.
Had the current accusations not come to light,
Franklin's job at the Pentagon would have
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