Truth is often stranger than fiction. Anthony Weiner finally admitted that he did send the lewd picture of himself. This is pretty amazing after he spent hours over the weekend trying to deny it. In a failed attempt to lie his way out of trouble, he came perilously close to committing a crime. But, perhaps, the real story is with regard to the potential security risk represented by his wife, Huma Abedin.

 While in the military I had a very high security clearance. They not only investigated me, they investigated my family and everyone who knew me. One of the hard and fast rules was that a high-level security clearance should never be given to someone who has close blood relatives living overseas. The problem is that people in this position could be intimidated into violating security. For example, suppose someone has a close family member living overseas. He is told that if he does not provide certain information his relative will be tortured and killed. How many people would be strong enough to resist that kind of pressure? Huma Abedin was raised in Saudi Arabia. Her father was of Indian descent and was an Islamic scholar. He apparently died when she was 17. Her mother is a well-known Islamic scholar and is the Deputy Director of the Dar Al Hekma College for Women, an Islamic school in Saudi Arabia. She is a Pakistani by birth. The following article, which covers a presentation made by Huma Abedin’s mother, explains her view of the world:

http://www.amritavarsham.org/summit/women/saleha.htm

There are a lot of Republicans, as well as Democrats, who speak highly of Huma Abedin. She apparently is well-respected and admired. However, some of the most successful spies in history have been well respected and liked. Alger Hiss was the classic example. The following article from www.history.net does a good job of explaining who Alger Hiss was:

http://www.historynet.com/the-alger-hiss-spy-case.htm

As you can see, there always were and still are people convinced that Alger Hiss was innocent. But, as this article points out, the evidence against him is overwhelming. The real issue is not whether or not he was really innocent, the issue was whether or not we could afford to take the risk in the first place. There is a big difference between accusing someone of being a spy and being prudent with regard to who has access to our most important secrets. Huma Abedin seems, from all accounts, to be a very smart and nice person. She appears to be a loyal citizen. So did Alger Hiss. But, none of that changes the simple reality that because of her personal background she appears to represent a potential security risk. Yet, she is the personal assistant to the former First Lady, former U.S. Senator and current Secretary of State. She is also married to a U.S. Congressman. The following article explains who she is:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110607/ts_dailybeast/14578_humaabedinanthonywienersspectacularwife

Perhaps someone in the main stream media should start asking some rather obvious questions. Why do we allow people who could not obtain a security clearance through normal procedures to have such intimate personal contact with people in power? Suppose that Huma Abedin is strongly influenced by Saudi Arabia. That would seem at least possible because she is a practicing Muslim and her mother was given an award directly by Prince Abdullah. This seems to be a lot more important than whether or not Anthony Weiner likes to take pictures of his private parts and send them to women on the internet.

Significant security risks have almost always been people who were liked, respected and considered to be above suspicion.  That is what made them so dangerous.  Kim Philby was so admired that he was being considered for the new Director of MI-6.  He was also one of the worst traitors in the history of Great Britain.  There were numerous warning signs that Philby was a potential security risk.  He fell in love with a woman named Litz Friedman, who he met in Vienna.  She was an Austrian Communist.  He married her to help her escape to England.  She had close blood relatives living in communist countries.  No one considered that to be a problem.  His father was St. John Philby, who was also a member of British Intelligence.  His father converted to Muslim, took an Islamic name and married a Muslim Worman.  He later became an advisor to the King of Saudi Arabia.  Ironically, the name Kim may have been taken from the name of an Indian Spy in one of Rudyard Kiplings books.  No one considered this to be a problem either.  I could add more details, but I think you get the point. 

 TDM