12 July 2006. A responds to A2:

The writer of the essays is indeed Robert Seldon Lady, as I said. I have shared --  with this reply -- a court document sent to Cryptome that names the children of Mr. Billy Seldon Lady, who is mentioned in one essay as the father of the writer. The renditioner Robert Seldon Lady is named in the court document. The other children listed on the document are innocent people who will remain unnamed. No need to involve them in the rendition controversy.

Billy Lady had no children named William. William is the name used by Robert as a pen name and was a name sometimes used by Billy Lady himself. Renditioner Robert  Lady has no brother named William, the official records I presented show. Bob Lady wrote the Dead Mule essays, not a brother or anyone else whose real name was William.

Just a minor point compared to the above, but the years and ages work out perfectly for Robert Seldon Lady the renditioner of Abu Omar.

There are numerous Ladys in the New Orleans phone book. Also, William is a common name.  So it is not surprising there is a William Lady there, and I can understand how someone could mistakenly think it was a real William Lady who wrote the essays. However, I went much further than a simple name search on a database. A name search provides no details besides address and phone number and is not positive identification of anyone. I went into the court documents for positive identification.   Certainly, Robert, the famous renditioner wrote the essays, and I have documentary evidence described here and in my original comment.

Bob, if you're a Cryptome fan, fess up and take credit for your pretty good work!

11 July 2006

A2 responds:

I just saw your link to the Southern Writings of "William L. Lady". I do not believe they are the writings of Robert Seldon, but rather a relative. I have no way of proving it, but I thought you may want to instruct your readers that there is no reason to believe there are written by the ex-CIA agent.  A quick search of addresses shows a William L Lady living in New Orleans, and given the subject of the second link, I would say it is more likely that this fellow is your author.

__________

Cryptome: Based on other accounts of Robert Seldon Lady, there could be confusion between William, reportedly another son of William the father, and Robert Seldon Lady. The source of the comments below has been asked for clarification.

A writes:

Here are the links to:

1)  Self-Description of CIA Renditioner Robert Seldon Lady. Lady writes under his father's name, William, because he and 25 other Americans are under Italian arrest warrants for the 2003 kidnapping in Milan of the militant Muslim cleric known as Abu Omar.   

http://www.deadmule.com/content/?cat=4

2)  Essay on Politics by CIA Renditioner Robert Seldon Lady. The byline is "William Lady."  

http://www.deadmule.com/content/2005/10/01/coyotes-from-the-same-hill/

Taken together, the two articles clearly describe Bob Lady instead of his father. The second one, written in 2005, says the writer came to  New Orleans 35 years earlier, or in 1970, just out of high school. That would make him 35 plus 17, or 52 years old in 2005. Many newspapers have reported Robert Lady was born in 1954, which would make him 51 in 2005. When he says "Thirty five years," he probably means give or take a couple. Obviously the numbers are right for Robert, not William Lady.

The first arrests in the case were made just last week. Two Italian secret service (SISMI) officers, Marco Mancini and Gusavo Pignero, stand are charged with complicity with the 25 Americans. The Bush-allied government of  Silvio Berlusconi refused to attempt extradition of the CIA officers. Whether the new Prodi government tries or not, the arrest of the Italians practically guarantees a politically explosive trial this year, wiith the Americans being tried in absentia.