The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 46 (48)

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0:07 Okay, let's get started. Happy Friday, everybody, to start off with. I know, right? It's like my husband just left for his car show. My daughter just picked up the baby and him and I were looking at each other right before she pulled up and was like, you know, I hate Fridays because then I don't get to see them generally all weekend.

0:36 But we get along, but it's definitely bittersweet. Okay, so we're in the middle of Nicaragua. Well, towards the end of it, actually. On page 534, safe for democracy. We haven't found a democracy yet, but whatever. Meanwhile, other aspects of the CIA project also encounter difficulties.

1:13 Brooklyn Rivera's faction of the indigenous Indians reached an accommodation with Managua. Stedman Muller lost control over Missouri, which stopped receiving supplies. Fagoth himself was expelled from Honduras, which is one of the operators. Then Colonel

1:40 Bermuda's Air Force was set back when one of its C-47 transports went down on a flight out of El Aquacate. All that was left was a C-54 that couldn't fly for lack of spare parts and one last C-47 that Chamorro nicknamed the Rusty Pelican. Honduras itself took a dimmer view of the Contras, placing Washington under increased pressure to keep the money flowing.

2:10 in order for them to stay in the fight. Insofar as negotiations, which Claridge professes was always the goal, except for they turned them down every time someone suggested them. The Contradora nations had scheduled talks in Manzanillo, a White House meeting on June 18th, 1984, supposed to set out what the U.S. negotiating position was. Like, why would,

2:41 You wait until 1984 to do that. Shouldn't you have had that right away? And shouldn't you have attempted that at the beginning? So shouldn't that still be your position? No. So the NSC, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, were intended to force the collapse of the talks from the very beginning. After all, the ARDE disintegrated. Eden Pastora and Alfonso Robelo.

3:14 had the one anti-Sandinista group with revolutionary credentials comparable to the Sandinistas. The ARDA facilities in Costa Rica included a radio station, a factory for making uniforms, several warehouses, and a fleet of about 150 vehicles, despite not getting any drug money.

3:38 That Costa Rica guarded its neutrality in the Nicaraguan War and made some efforts to enforce it. Minimum efforts. Because that's where John Hollis got his ranch and they're flying drugs and weapons through his ranch. And his ranch is in Costa Rica. They arrested 100 ARDE members in late 1983 and seized a shipment of refugee aid from Miami.

4:12 When gems turned up among the clothing, 17 Cuban Americans, meaning Cuban exiles, thought to be en route to join Pastora were ordered out of the country. Reports persisted of Pastora's group becoming involved in running cocaine for the Colombian cartel, which was a bold-faced lie because the CIA is trying to undermine him. Then...

4:49 They floated the story that Pastora's associates were involved in a drug running scheme. And that was the excuse for supposedly the CIA severing the relationship with Pastora. But again, that's a lie. Pastora refused to do anything with the drugs. And that pissed off the CIA. So they tried to set them up. At this point, ARDE had about 3,000 troops of actual fighters.

5:23 not the fat slobs from the National Guard. In 84, Pastora did invade Nicaragua, capturing a small town of San Juan del Norte. The Sandinistas redeployed and ejected him. On May 30th, he had a brush with death in the form of a bomb built into a tape recorder at a news conference in La Penca.

5:52 Both the FDN and the Sandinistas had motive for the assassination. So did the CIA. By the time Pastora had recovered, ARDE had lost steam. Then Pastora again fell victim, this time to injury, suffered in a helicopter crash. Because again, he had been added to the list that the CIA maintained. Langley could cut off aid to ARDE.

6:26 but it could not make the FDN effective, and its resources were drying up. The supplementary appropriation for Nicaragua fell on the rocks as a result of the mining fiasco. In the 1985 CIA budget for Contras, despite all dewey clarages, Venom and Goldwater's embarrassment came out of committee in late May with a favorable recommendation, though predictably with more conditions.

6:55 October, in the wake of the revelation of a nasty contra manual, Congress voted to hold all eight, not specifically appropriated. The secret war managers had anticipated this. As early as December of 83, an interagency working group recognized the strong probability of the administration not being able to get them any money and congressional spending limitations being imposed.

7:23 The 21 million supplemental appropriation had been the first gambit to evade the restrictions. A second, February 84, was National Security Advisors McFarland's approach to the Israelis to see if they could come up with help for the Contra operations. The author says that Israel refused, but that's not true either. We've already established that.

7:54 The Israelis were providing weapons and all kinds of other things. At the height of the mining controversy, on March 27, 1984, Director Casey handed McFarland a memo expecting failure to obtain the money, adding, I am in full agreement that you should explore funding alternatives with Israel or anybody else, and warning the CIA's cash would run out by mid-May.

8:22 Casey sent Claridge to South Africa, leaving immediately after the disastrous Senate hearing on April 10th to solicit aid. But Deputy Director McMahon canceled the approach amid controversy. Instead, the South Americans were asked to help with aircraft, and Pretoria eventually leased some aircrafts to Southern Air Transport, the CIA proprietary.

8:50 In May came a breakthrough. McFarlane met with Prince Bandar, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia, already enmeshed with the CIA in Afghanistan. Saudis agreed to contribute $1 million a month to the Contras. The first of eight deposits were made to a Miami branch of a Cayman Islands bank. That's probably Castle Bank.

9:20 I don't know why the author didn't include the name of it. The money was in the name of Esther Morales, wife of a lawyer friend of Aldolfo Calero, and went to the FDN account at the CIA front bank. In June came a crucial set of discussions within Reagan's inner sanctum. The group that met at the State Department on June 20th included Casey and Claridge, along with National Security Council principals.

9:50 and players. Secretary Shultz listened in wonder at the UN Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick and others spoke of the continued possibility of securing CIA supplemental money and blaming Congress for losing Central America if it fell through. A few days later, a similar scene played out in the White House sit room. The action that moved the National Security Planning Group, Shultz spoke of the men Zanillo

10:21 talks in case he construed the 1983 finding as encouraging third country participation and support of this entire effort. Ambassador Kirkpatrick insisted the U.S. find the money for the Contras so as not to be seen as abandoning them. Schultz cited presidential aide James Baker as saying that seeking money from third countries would be an impeachable offense.

10:48 The secretary wanted an opinion from the attorney general, but others talked right past him. Casey agreed to a legal opinion, but one that made it clear that the U.S. could seek the money. We don't want any other ones. Reagan observed that negotiations were desirable, but they should expect no concessions from Managua, and that contra money, quote, is what will keep the pressure on Nicaragua, unquote.

11:16 Vice President Bush wondered how anyone could object to the U.S. looking for money to support the rebels, not the guerrillas, the rebels. You see the change in anybody that tries to attack a CIA dictatorship, they're called guerrillas. These guys are called rebels.

11:41 Robert McFarland wound up by proposing that no one do anything about a third party support until the administration had a legal opinion. Reagan's last words, quote, if such a story gets out, we'll all be hanging by our thumbs in front of the White House until we find out who did it, unquote. We know who did it. They're all sitting in the room. Following the June planning group, McFarland's staff wrote a presidential directive that

12:12 effectively shut down the diplomatic track. McFarland, who contrary to his own proposal at the meeting, had already solicited third-party cash from Saudi Arabia, had laid the basis for what became the Iran-Contra affair. The congressional blockage and international repercussions from the mining help explain Reagan's motives, both in supporting the countries rhetorically and giving the coordination mission to his national security staff.

12:42 The sheer bravado of proceeding with a predetermined course regardless of the situation was breathtaking. The attitude would later be reprised in the deliberations of George W. Bush administration while moving into the Iraq war. Meanwhile, there were ripples over the presidential finding that led Reagan to revise procedures for covert action.

13:10 finally formalized on January 1985 in a national security decision. This order provided that all covert actions be authorized by written findings, that actions be reviewed periodically, and that the CIA be responsible for operational control of any covert action unless the president directed otherwise. As will be seen, these rules were honored in the breach.

13:39 In the aftermath of the mining, Robert Gates sent Director Casey a penetrating commentary on agency performance. He told the CIA director that helping Congress content in its knowledge of covert actions remained critical. Gates felt the task belonged to the deputy director of operations. Over several years, John Stein and his former associate director, Ed Jozin,

14:09 had been kept in the dark about some of Langley's activities, most predominantly in Central America. Robert Gates had previously complained to Stein on both Nicaragua and the Salvadoran issues, only to find the deputy director of operations knew as little as he did. Right. Casey subsequently shook up the top brass at the CIA. Claire George.

14:38 Was the congressional liaison responsible for the lackluster CIA briefings on the mining? He got promoted for that to deputy director of operations. Robert Gates thought that George, in command of the clandestine service, would fulfill the role he had delineated to the director of CIA. He was mistaken. Gates' own information did not improve appreciably either.

15:10 Claridge stepped up to become the DO in charge of the European area. His replacement in the Latin American division was Al Wiedemeyer. He had a lot to handle with CIA funds now being cut off. The new chief, Alan Fryer, an import from the agency's Middle East clan, hardly knew what he had been put in for.

15:40 Yeah, the guy who is in the Middle East doing all kinds of havoc is going to be shocked by the Latin America one? Yeah, I don't think so. John Stein became the IG. That's convenient. William Casey thought he was giving Stein a reward, but it didn't turn out that way. For each of them, the Nicaraguan project would bite back. Others tried hard to stay away, offered the chance to take charge of...

16:14 The Nicaraguan operation, Tom Gilligan, who thought Reagan had bullied Congress into supporting the project and Congress had set rules designed to make it fail, opted instead for a less prestigious slot as an agency recruiter in New England, probably at one of our Ivy League schools. Joe Fernandez, the 47-year-old task force political chief,

16:43 despite his reprimand for the Contra Psychological Warfare Manual, got the call to Costa Rica as station chief. So the guy responsible for the Psychological Warfare Manual talking about all kinds of shit, to include torture, is going to get the station chief in Costa Rica where

17:10 Again, Robert Hall is, that's where the DEA agent group is going to be working out of the CIA office for him. And they're running Contra out of Costa Rica. Fernandez was a stickler for detail on the political action beat. He had made sure even to wear clothes that might impress Edgar Chamorro, born in New York and raised in Miami.

17:43 Fernandez had seven kids. Gilligan ran into him in a church parking lot one Sunday. Gilligan wondered why Fernandez would jump into the quagmire, especially since Joe had already served his time. Gilligan recalls, quote, because he said that was where the action was and where he could have the most impact, unquote. And that's true because it was going to be ran out of Costa Rica's CIA station.

18:11 For Congress, the Contra Manual became the last straw. It voted against a fresh demand for money, which the administration contrived to have attached to the Summer Jobs Bill, and then reenacted the Bowling Amendment with stricter rules prohibiting Pentagon or intelligence community assistance to the Contras as an amendment to the 85 Defense Budget Bill, prohibiting Pentagon or intelligence.

18:42 community assistance. They just kept on going. In Honduras, the CIA supply lines began to dry up. By June 84, barely a million dollars remained in the project account. The Contras shifted to a precarious hand-to-mouth existence. Columns remained in the base camp for months at a time, but Reagan did not wish to give up his secret war.

19:08 Reagan's efforts to pursue the war led to a covert operation conducted inside the White House by the staff of the National Security Council. The result would be a bizarre tale of greed, betrayal, and a controversy that eroded the Reagan administration. Reagan's choice of ambassador to the UN.

19:33 had been the most prominent woman among his campaign foreign policy advisors. Jean Kirkpatrick came to Reagan's attention as a result of her article in the magazine Commentary in November of 79. In an article called Dictatorships and Double Standards, Kirkpatrick argued that there is a difference between dictators of the left and of the right. Really?

20:01 She used the supposed distinction to hit at the Carter administration's policies. For example, the president's refusal to support the Nicaraguan dictator, Somoza, because he was controlled by the CIA. We have good dictators and bad dictators. Did you know that? According to Kirkpatrick's reading of history, right-wing dictators are more respecting of human rights.

20:32 They do not create refugees, merely tolerate social inequities, and are more amenable to liberalization, and of course, are more friendly to the U.S., more respecting of human rights. That's weird, because there were hundreds of thousands of people tortured and killed under quote-unquote right-wing dictatorships.

21:07 That's really weird. Revolutions in this view stem entirely from, you guessed it, the Soviet Union. Kirkpatrick's article became far more influential in Reagan's years than warranted by the quality of its reasoning or the presentation of facts. For example, she presented the mullahs' Iran as a Soviet client state. It provided a basis to which...

21:43 they could rationalize support for right-wing dictatorships rather than democracies or the ones dubbed communist-influenced. The Reagan administration's rhetoric about global democracy and its specific assertions that the Nicaraguan Contras had a democratic character owed a great deal to Kirkpatrick's logic.

22:13 enabling officials to finesse facts and use unsubstantiated claims. Nicaragua held an election in 1984, but the Sandinistas won. So according to Reagan and Kirkpatrick, no democracy existed there despite having an election. The Contra leadership

22:39 composed entirely of persons who had never participated in an election. Reaganites portrayed that as democratic. The terrorists are the democrat. And the people that were actually elected are the terrorists, according to Reagan and his acolytes. This explains why the democrats act the way they act today.

23:09 By then, Jean Kirkpatrick had left the administration just to ensure the doctrine's author kept her hand in. Reagan appointed her to the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board. Ambassador Kirkpatrick had once visited Tegu, explicitly linking her theory to the Central American Secret War. The CIA project, together with the Reagan-era covert operations, were uniformly

23:42 connected to the support for quote-unquote democratic values, even while detailed justification for various actions spoke more of something that you would see being done by a country that's not a democracy at all. This remained true in the wake of the Nicaraguan harbor mining. The Contras tried to show optimism. Field commanders asserted that the FDN had

24:12 never been in a better position. Political Director Adolfo Calero, after defeat of the 14 million paramilitary aid requests, said, quote, I am confident we will pull through this crisis caused by Congress, unquote. So Congress caused the crisis by not funding the illegal mining and killing of innocent people.

24:40 Kind of like the logic used by the Cuban exiles blaming JFK for their fuck up. But I digress. In fact, there had been a disaster and it had nothing to do with Congress. Langley cashed in all of his chips for a high-risk operation. The disaffected indigenous people, the elimination of Eden Pastora, removed FDN's political rivals, but reduced the threat to Managua.

25:10 With no Contras working from Costa Rica, the Nicaraguan army could focus on Honduran borders. Unfortunately, there were still people working from Costa Rica, mainly the U.S. As the Sandinistas reinforced the north, at the end, columns were out of supplies. Calero's situation could hardly have looked more bleak. So why was he optimistic?

25:37 Calero had the declaration of U.S. officials from the CIA and national security staff who met with him in Honduras in April at the height of the mining controversy. One of those in attendance was Dewey Claridge. He introduced Marine Colonel Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North. North did the talking. The U.S. would not abandon the Contras.

26:04 Little more than a wish at the time, but the wish was Ronald Reagan's and a president's desire carried a lot of weight. North had called in to see his boss, National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, who told him that Donald Fortier, the deputy, to do whatever was necessary to ensure passage of the next Contra appropriation. Fortier convened a high-level group to review options. North held the Contra's hands.

26:33 Adolfo Calero threw himself into fundraising. Cuban exiles were a major target. Restaurants and community centers in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, became locales for Calero and others to whip up sentiment for them to write checks. But the rebels could not raise enough. Calero estimated FDN needed at least a million dollars a month to sustain itself. 1.5 to expand.

27:03 Rebel spokesperson with Calero's approval promised that within 40 days, the Contras would establish an unbroken front from the Honduran border to Costa Rica. But that kind of money stayed beyond reach. In Washington, the United Nicaraguan Opposition, UNO, the umbrella group now masking the FDN, began shopping among high-powered lobbying firms.

27:33 And the CIA front called Gray and Company actually developed their PR campaign. But Calero judged that that was too high of a price, although nothing developed. Gray employee Robert Owen became so dedicated to the cause that he put together his own support plan.

28:03 tax-exempt entities, one for education and the other to raise money. He showed this plan to North, whom he had met while working in the Senate in 1982. North encouraged Owen to visit Central America and scout out conditions there. Owen went where? Oh, to Costa Rica. You know, the place that's not involved right now. Yeah. And then he went on to Honduras.

28:28 So if nothing's going on in Costa Rica, why would he go to Costa Rica? Because the entire operation is being ran out of Costa Rica. This trip was in May of 84. He spoke to the Contra leaders about money needs and reported back to North. This marked the beginning of an intense experience. Intense is the word for North. He had been the most junior military officer sent to the NSC staff in 1981.

29:02 But with the exception of Vice Admiral John Poindexter, North outlasted them all. He went on to be a political military affairs. He was assigned to the political military affairs section where arms deals and crisis were the daily job. North seemed a logical choice to handle terrorism where the administration had just begun defining a policy.

29:30 North marched into the vacuum, soon becoming the focal point on the staff. Another reason for North's longevity was Robert McFarlane. McFarlane had come to the NSC in 82. He had been hired by William Clark as Deputy National Security Advisor. When Clark moved on to the Department of Interior, McFarlane was promoted to be the Security Advisor. Himself a former Marine Colonel,

29:58 Robert McFarlane had a soft spot for North and thought of him almost as a son. He gave North the primary responsibility for Latin arms trading and later for Nicaragua. North remained oddly defensive as if he constantly felt the need to prove himself and rise above his rank. Or he could have been motivated from his experiences in Vietnam as well.

30:30 Appearing as a character witness in the court-martial of a Marine buddy, North misrepresented himself as a pre-med in college, where in fact he had earned D's in geometry. Other times he claimed that during his Okinawa tour that he had commanded a special operations training detachment, a unit that didn't even exist. Stolen valor? What?

31:03 Some remember North as a chronic name dropper. Others did not mind him so much. One woman who worked with North muttered public support for the Contras saw him as an occasional peacock among roosters. For a time, North's swagger seemed justified. He had a finger in every pie. It was North who in 1985 orchestrated the aerial interception of the Achille Laurel hijackers.

31:34 Referring to the World War II interception and shoot down of the Japanese Navy commander, North had said, we can do an Admiral Yokomoto. He was also involved in efforts against Gaddafi and a central figure in the secret arms sale to Iran. All of this plus his work with the Contras, an activity he called Project Democracy, overthrowing.

32:05 a democratically elected government. Oliver's Norse operations did not always come out perfectly. As a midshipman at Annapolis, he had used insurance money to buy a Shelby Cobra painted Marine Corps green. When the Academy had a field trip for midshipmen to Quantico, North disdained the bus and organized his own car convoy.

32:31 North's Shelby ran out of gas on the highway. He spent hours telephoning for emergency assistance. In the end, North's Project Democracy turned out very much like his Quantico trip. North did not work in isolation. McFarlane, responsible to President Reagan, gave the orders. Reagan had said that he had nothing to do with the arms shipment, but that he did support the Contras, and that, as president, he remained unaffected by the Boland Amendment.

33:00 Reagan certainly sustained the Contras in numerous speeches, in his address to Congress, in receiving Contra leaders at the White House, in diplomatic talks with Saudi Arabia, and in speaking at fundraising events for the Contras. Just like he sent a letter every year to the World Anti-Communist League. Robert McFarland's testimony is that he acted with the president's full authority. Reagan's order, as McFarland put it, to North and Donald.

33:31 Fortier, was to do anything necessary to win the next aid vote. Part of that amounted to keeping the Contra Force in B. That task went to North. McFarland himself performed a critical role. In meeting with counterparts from other countries, McFarland mentioned Contra funding as a dilemma facing the U.S. government. Help came from Saudi Arabia, which had never previously shown an interest in Central America at all. They had no diplomatic relations,

34:01 with any country in the region at the time, but had repeatedly invested in America's covert action programs. In the summer of 1984, North and Adolfo Calero in his office, when Oliver North asked for a bank account where money for the Contras could be deposited, Calero provided an account number at the Cayman Islands Bank, hoping for the best.

34:32 In July came a deposit of $1 million in UNO's favorite, followed by an equal sum at monthly intervals throughout the year. After the third deposit, Calero began to believe and they began to make plans. Seeing the president of Honduras on August 7th, Ambassador Negroponte told him that the FDN had funds from private sources. At the interagency level,

35:03 The policy fights in 83 had neutralized Reagan's crisis pre-planning group as a Nicaraguan secret war command. Central America policy fell to the restricted interagency group of senior officials. North represented the NSC at these meetings, chaired by a State Department representative, first Langhorne Motley and then Elliott Abrams. North also belonged to a three-person group.

35:32 a restricted RIG, RIG. The existence of this core group is disputed by Abrams, the purported chairman, though he admits its meetings took place. But the RIG figured widely in sworn testimony before Congress, a special prosecutor, and federal courts. The third member of the core group was Alan Fiers, chief of the CIA's Central Agency Task Force.

36:02 Abrams' logs show that these officials met seven times in 1985 and 86. They also show that there was at least 18 sessions of the rig that supposedly didn't exist. Where Oliver North pushed so hard that some saw him as a loose cannon, Alan Fiers remained a man of contradictions. Zealous and brash to a fault, presumably a good match for North,

36:36 He behaved with caution on Project Democracy. Fires knew no Spanish, though he had a reputation as a linguist. What? That's like one of the easiest languages to learn. He was a member of the agency's Middle East group. Fires was not entirely devoid of Latin experience. Having been a Marine officer,

37:02 during the 1965 U.S. intervention in the Dominican Republic. Colleagues credit him with sharp political instincts, yet on Project Democracy, not so much. The CIA chief knew his way out of a tight situation. Admiral Turner had selected fires as the station chief in Saudi Arabia just before Casey came on board. Reagan CIA director,

37:32 summoned Fires and demanded to know why he should get the post and why he was any good at all. Fires talked his way out of it. Over four years in Riyadh, he gained Casey's confidence, accompanying the CIA director when he visited, preparing points for Casey's talks with Prince Turkay as they coordinated the secret war in Afghanistan.

38:00 By the time Fiers was slated to take over the Afghan task force, instead Casey told Fiers he couldn't have the post. Casey would not say why. Fiers answered that he would serve wherever Casey wanted him. A couple of days later, Claire George phoned Fiers and put him in charge of the Nicaraguan project. Part of Fiers' caution can be attributed to the high politics of the Nicaraguan secret war.

38:31 Yeah, like the Pakistan-Afghanistan wasn't high politics. Just days after he took over, controversy over the psychological warfare manual exploded. Casey had fires up on the seventh floor to demand the damage be limited. Ronald Reagan had dropped six points in the opinion poll with the election weeks away. Something had to be done. Casey would issue reprimands. Fires defended the task force officers as best he could.

39:01 Because he didn't know too much about what was going on. The episode led to his first appearance before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Fires felt like a cat being thrown into a clothes dryer. Of course, by then, the CIA operation had been defunded as a result of the harbor mining. It fell to Fires to figure out how to move on. The bowling amendment seemed clear enough, but Fires soon discovered Oliver North's private operation. When North asked for CIA help,

39:32 He was originally refused. Right. Where does this guy get this information? The CIA never refused to help the NSC. Claridge called fires to say things were afoot and that fires had not been in briefed about. Then he advised him to collaborate with North. As far as fires could tell, the law restricted the NSC staff as much as the agency. And he took the issue.

40:06 to Al Wiedemeyer. Both went to see the deputy DO, George. Within a day or so, the full group assembled in Casey's office where the CIA director held the meeting. By then, Reagan had been reelected. The problem of aiding the Contras had acquired a long-term aspect. The episode documents that Casey remained highly secretive.

40:35 North sat to the side. Casey turned to North and said, Ollie, Alan tells me that you are operating in Central America. Is that true? He looked at Fires. Alan, tell Ollie what you told Claire. Fires did so. Then Casey turned back to North. Ollie, are you operating? North said, no, sir, I'm not operating. Casey then intervened. Good. I want you to understand that you are not to operate in Central America.

41:06 Alan Fiers emerged incredulous. He looked at Claire George for enlightenment. The DDO warned Fiers. George interrupted. Something in the dark of night, Bill Casey has said, I will take care of Central America, just leave it to me. And what you saw go on there was a charade. Fiers said, what? If that is true, then this will be worse than Watergate.

41:38 Fires determined that he was a buffer between the task force officers and the controversies he expected on the project. Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams noticed rivalry between North and Fires. That may have been for Casey's ear. North clearly had a personal relationship with Casey, the first CIA director to have a hideaway office in the executive office building just down the hall.

42:09 from Oliver North. On at least two occasions, Casey visited North another time he sent a friend who wanted to make a contra donation. And who was that friend? None other than Joseph Coors, the beer magnet. Coors beer. North talked the man into giving $60,000 so they could buy an airplane. How often North popped up in the

42:40 Casey's office would never be known. In sworn testimony, Robert McFarland could not say whether Oliver North followed his orders or Casey's. North's precise function for Casey remains a mystery. But reports over 1984 and 5, Bill Casey and Oliver North met UNO officials at CIA safe houses throughout Washington, D.C.

43:11 Safe houses? In America, where you're not supposed to be? Always the back alley brawler, Casey maintained a wide range of personal contacts. Milt Bearden and Dewey Claridge, the Afghan and Central American secret war bosses, both had lines to Casey. Similarly, Casey brought back CIA station chief in Monagua from 82 to 84, Benjamin Wickham Jr. as a special assistant.

43:41 even working outside the agency on different aspects of the Contra activity. North formed another such link outside the purview of Fires. Because the Boland Amendment expressively prohibited the CIA assisting the Contra, a channel such as North's was essential. Casey built his bridge to Allen Fires in November of 84. The task force chief was at home at dinner when

44:09 Casey called and inquired how things were going. Fires asked Casey if he wanted the story plain or gilded. When Casey said he wanted it straight, Fires told him his prospects were terrible. They agreed to meet the next morning. At Langley, Fires reiterated his conclusions. Negotiations with Managua would go nowhere, and the CIA had no strategy. Casey asked for a policy paper.

44:37 Fires came back. Casey read the memo, then said he would take care of policy and Fires should focus on the operation. After that, Fires, too, had a direct line to Casey. Fires saw their relationship akin to that of a father and son. Fires, far from being the only CIA official concerned about strategy, actually joined a long line of cadre.

45:01 John McMahon had told the Senate Intelligence Committee in 91 that he had recommended the CIA hand off the Contra project to the Pentagon even before the harbor mining. McMahon felt the secret war exceeded CIA capability. Sure. Similarly, about a month after fires exchanged with Casey.

45:22 Intelligence Deputy Robert Gates took a hand with a memo to Casey in which he began, it is time to talk absolutely straight about Nicaragua. Gates accepted the rationale for the war but noted that the Contras, even with American supports, cannot overthrow Nicaragua. Gates advocated creating a Contra provisional government which the U.S. could assist openly, including a blockade.

45:54 like the Cuban Missile Crisis, economic sanctions, and airstrikes to destroy Sandinista's capability. But Robert Gates conceded that the hard measures he favored in this paper probably were politically unacceptable. Ya think? Adolfo Calero wanted Norse help, whether or not that included Casey. Calero would take help anywhere.

46:22 The Cayman Islands account number he gave North also went to retired General John Singlum and Richard Secord. Singlum had been to Honduras in March, impressed by the FDN camps and their need for modern anti-aircraft weapons. Singlum would help raise cash for the rebel umbrella group UNO and later became Calero's best arms source. General Secord got the number when his company also made a donation.

46:52 In addition to the secret means there existed for opening funding mechanisms through conservative fundraiser Carl Channel, whose National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty, talk about an oxymoron, collected more than $6 million for the Contras. Spitz Chanel courted donors quite successfully. With the White House, he arranged a series of NSC

47:23 Briefings for their donors. President Reagan appeared twice to meet the donors, the private donors of a covert war. On one occasion in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Reagan's appearance came neatly sandwiched between talks by Elliott Abrams on general U.S. policy and a military briefing from Oliver North. Chanel developed a one-two punch. He followed the gloom and doom with an appeal.

47:55 for a specific item the donor could contribute. The White House Office of Public Liaison complimented Chanel's effort with its own, with North as the preferred speaker. North asserted that those who opposed contrafunding were mounting the most sophisticated disinformation and active campaigns campaign that we have seen in this country since Adolf Hitler. So if you oppose

48:26 funding Contras to overthrow a democratically elected government, you're acting like Adolf Hitler. Elliott Abrams critiqued the storyboards for Chanel's TV ad. Chanel's consumed 35% or more of the donations on overhead for propaganda. Ronald Reagan set the accent for the entire network with constant exhortations about the Contras.

48:57 In February of 85 and again later, Reagan called the Contras our brothers. In March, he termed Calero's crew as morally equivalent to the founding fathers. And he declared that we owe them our help. Later, he spoke of a Soviet beachhead in Nicaragua and called the Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, that July, a little dictator.

49:29 who went to Moscow in his designer glasses. In case Managua missed the signal on May 1st, Reagan slapped a total trade embargo on Nicaragua. The overriding question was money to sustain the Contras through the next appropriation, so-called bridging funds. Here too, Reagan played a role. Robert McFarland took the cash problem to the Saudis during preparation for a visit by King Fahd.

50:01 The Saudi king accorded a private meeting with Ronald Reagan, saw him in February of 85. No record exists of what they talked about, but shortly thereafter, the NSC staff learned the Saudis would renew and even double their contributions to UNO. Within a month, the Contras were receiving $24 million in three large deposits, bringing aggregate Saudi aid to roughly $32 million.

50:30 million. Truly, the Saudis at this moment permitted the Contras to maintain their strength. Beyond these connections, private sources helped Calero. A key operator was John Singlum, who now headed the World Anti-Communist League and the United States subsidiary, the U.S. Council for World Freedom. Singlum had been a deputy commander of U.S. forces.

51:03 in Korea during the Carter administration and had publicly criticized the president for considering withdrawals of U.S. troops from Korea. The confrontation had led to Senglib's transfer, which he retired as a result of that. General Senglib, veteran of a long career, almost all of that in service to the CIA, had been detached to the CIA in its early days.

51:33 Where did we find him? Oh, we found him in the Philippines. We found him in China. We found him in Thailand. We find him all over the place. Vietnam. He had forged a significant relationship with Taiwan and the nationalist Chinese, Chiang Kai-shek. He then would solicit funds and material aid for the Contras from them. In the Korean War, Singlem had been the CIA's...

52:03 Deputy Chief of Station. Might I add that he was in the military while serving as the CIA's Deputy Chief of Station? He is one of the guys that is CIA wearing a uniform. For the Army in Vietnam, Singleton had commanded the MAC SOG, Special Operations Group, during 66 to 68. He was also serving as a Pentagon advisor later in life.

52:37 At least once, he presented Casey with a proposal for a round-robin arms deal involving North Korea to provide the CIA with Soviet-style weapons. Yeah. So the World Anti-Communist League director is going to go to a communist country to buy Soviet weapons so they can implicate the Nicaraguans by...

53:03 Oliver North and McFarland, sending other NSC staff members Gaston Segor. That brought UNO two donations of a million dollars each. Singlab would have gone for more, save the intervention of Elliott Abrams. The general's highly publicized private funding efforts in the U.S. proved much less lucrative, yielding $400,000 over two years.

53:30 Siegleb gave Oliver North a Contra weapons wish list, which the Chanel group used for fundraising. At least John Siegleb had the contacts to bring Adolfo Calero the cheapest weapons and ammunition that could be bought. Langley was aware of these developments, because of course they were. They were involved. In February of 85, North discussed South Korean contributions to Claire George.

54:01 George also spoke with Alan Fiers about weapons being bought in China by Richard Secord. A year later, in April of 86, the CIA reporting from Europe picked up indications of purchases on behalf of the Contras by Secord and his agent, CIA Thomas Klein. Finally, a constellation of minor benefactors

54:30 were conjured up by Reagan's appeals. The president likened them to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. These included Refugee Relief International. Yeah, Refugee Relief International, which donated medical supplies for covert operations and civilian military assistants whose members went to Honduras as trainers.

55:00 They were basically fronts. These were quote unquote private organizations. As General Siegel told North, all the precedent attention that went to him and the groups like civil military assistance drew eyes away from what was actually going on. Yet though Siegel and others prided themselves on patriotism, their services were not fundamentally different, say Ed Wilson in Libya.

55:32 The secret war spawned a generation of freelance cowboys. Project Democracy then brought the ultimate distortion, the office of the president working directly with private citizens to fund covert action. It became apparent almost immediately in mid-84 that the Nicaraguan War had a new character. Colonel Bermudez's FDN columns disappeared from the field. Pastora took 8RE out of the fight.

56:03 Not only did the single front line fail to materialize, they basically were not there at all. The Contras shifted to subsistence mode while reliance on the benefactors injected private agendas. Benefactors' aims were not necessarily identical to FDN's, President Reagan, or even the NSC staff. The Hondurans were more skittish, worried not only about the presence of Contra's base camps,

56:32 but the openness at which FDN paraded around Tegu. Fortunately, Honduran commander General Alvarez left the scene, deposed by internal maneuvers, and his successors renewed their commitment to the Contra. There's a lot of stories about him actually being removed, but whatever. Ambassador Negroponte again mid-blibed this evolution, promising the FDN would be more discreet.

57:01 The Boland Amendment took effect on October 1, 1984, the first day of the new fiscal year. The final contingent of 73 CIA trainers left Honduras. Langley's orders to its station were explicit. Field stations are to cease and desist with actions that can be construed as providing any type of support, either direct or indirect, to the various entities with whom we dealt under the program.

57:28 All future contact with these entities are, until further notice, to be solely, repeat solely, for the purpose of collecting positive intelligence information in the interest of the U.S. That's just a cover story. Now, supposedly, there were narrow limits on what the CIA could do. Langley's top analysts, Robert Vickers and Alan Fiers, could no longer even know certain things. Again, that's a lie.

57:57 Soon after Boland took effect, Fires rejected North's invitation to a meeting with Calero. Bill Casey, however, continued to march to the beat of his own drum. Casey would not discuss the contra aid with friend Joe Kors, but had no hesitation sending him down the hall to donate money. Casey joked to North about contributing a million dollars of his own money. He saw Bud McFarlane in March of 85, specifically about third.

58:27 country funding. Several months earlier, Casey had certified to Congress that the CIA had had no involvement in Contra lobbying whatsoever because they were doing it through third parties. When the time came for Project Democracy to mount an airlift, Casey met with General Richard Secord and North later took Secord to see Casey as well. The CIA director

58:57 ought to have been on warning. Not only did Robert Gates send Casey personal advice to give the Nicaraguan project away, Vickers produced an intelligence estimate in February of 85 on the prospects for Sandinista's consolidation that warned of deficiencies in contra potential and even forecast declining effectiveness. They weren't effective at all. You don't get any lower than zero. Sorry.

59:25 articles in the National Intelligence Daily, which Robert Gates published, continued to highlight problems. Years later, analysts accused Gates of slanting the books in favor of the rebels. But a 1990 IG study found that the products had been objective. Instead, the IG faulted the small analytical unit within FIRE's task force, tarring it with warping and hyping the data, basing claims on deductions rather than evidence, and inferring

59:54 with circulation of intelligence reports. In any event, Casey and Fires had to be engaged in wishful thinking to believe the Contras were doing well. At best, as we can discern, Casey led Project Democracy. He used North and his field commanders juggling the pieces, carrying orders to the Contras from the private benefactors. Casey separately called on Fires.

1:00:23 who supposedly was handcuffed by the Boland Amendment for intelligence and technical support. When diplomacy became necessary, North and Fires could sway Elliott Abrams at the rig group, but both the Contras and benefactors had their own agenda and scheme was doomed from the start. In late 84, North asked Secord, partners with Iranian-American Albert Hakim,

1:00:52 to help with arms too. Secord told Hakeem, the president of the U.S. wanted their aid. Hakeem accepted after assurances they would earn standard profits, a markup of 20 to 30%. Energy Resources, one of their webs of companies, then brokered the biggest deal, $11 million at the end order for 10,000 rifles of Soviet design, rocket prepared grid.

1:01:23 propelled grenades, mortars, and other equipment. The company managed to get Guatemalan end-user certificates and in December of 84 began buying arms in Portugal and Poland. Secord gave Calero the impression that weapons were being sold to him at cost. The best of Calero's deals by far was with General Singlet, who worked with Barbara Studley of Geomiltech.

1:01:53 Again, another CIA front. Singlib arranged the deal early and took a long time to put it together. But for his $5 million, Calero received another 10,000 assault rifles, munitions, and SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles. Purportedly, these weapons were bought from North Korea. When Secord's prices were slightly less than other competitors, Singlib were cheaper by almost half.

1:02:24 Barbara Stoodley may have lost money on the transaction. When his shipment reached Honduras in July of 85, a local representative of the competition met the vessel. Claiming to act for the officer to whom the cargo was consigned, the competitor was able to see the documents that showed how little Singlib had paid for the arms. He then tried to get Singlib to sell him weapons at those same prices. When Singlib refused, the man threatened to block.

1:02:53 future shipments. Uh-huh. Infighting among arms dealers eventually sullied the White House. At a meeting with North, Secord, Singlib, and Calero to discuss anti-aircraft weapons, desperate to get SAMs, Bermudez had a Secord offer of $180,000 per set for British blowpipes. Singlib thought he could get the same missiles for $165,000.

1:03:22 though he could not offer trainers. The deal went to Secord. When Singlib complained, North conceded that he had better prices, then went ahead and cut Singlib out of future Contra arms deals. Actions prohibited by the Boland Amendment became a prominent feature of the North-Colero relationship. An important instance occurred in November of 84 when the arrival of Soviet-made gunship helicopters posed a new threat to the FDN.

1:03:54 Colero wanted to attack El Bluff, an Atlantic port where the gunships arrived and were being assembled. He called North on a secure line on November 5th and asked the NSC aid. In addition to a political strategy for coalition with Alfonso Robledo and Arturo Cruz,

1:04:18 Calero talked to North about borrowing a T-33 jet from the Honduran Air Force that could hit the port. A single plane strike would have been too limited. And Honduran cooperation was also a factor. So they dropped the plan. Okay, this is a good place to start or stop because we're going to get into a little bit of South Com.

1:04:49 getting into this fiasco, crazy shit. And that's another point that I wanted to bring up. Do you think that the J2 shop at Southcom, meaning the intelligence and their special operations branch, don't know any of this stuff is happening? It's in their theater. All of these weapons coming and going, DIA, NSA.

1:05:26 They have all of this information. What the hell was Southcom doing during all of this? All of this shit could not be going on in your area of responsibility without the senior generals and the senior intelligence people knowing all of it. We have massive amounts of satellites. We're watching all of this shit from a military's perspective.

1:05:58 And not anything was done about it. No whistleblowers, no nothing. Like they can monitor somebody's heart over in that. Well, we weren't quite that good in the 80s, but yeah. They can't track the kids that come across the border. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's modern technology. But in the 1980s, we were transitioning.

1:06:30 to mobile satellite capability, like having the reception on mobile vehicles. We had long had, from 1962 when Pine Gap went active, we had long had satellite overhead capability. We have U2s, we have the...

1:06:56 RC reconnaissance 135s. We have all of these military capabilities that are working in this particular area every day. They're up flying because supposedly we're in the middle of a drug war too from as early as we know, 1970s. So the entire Latin American area.

1:07:25 is swarming with military activity. We talked about the military being off the coast of Nicaragua. Do you think we were off the coast of Nicaragua without satellite coverage and reconnaissance aircraft? No, no, we weren't. The military knew all about this. They also knew that no US officials were supposed to be doing any of this. Do you think they're not tracking?

1:07:56 The CIA meetings, what was going on in Costa Rica, all of that shit. It's just mind-blowing to me. But it, yeah, it's just crazy to me. Again, I was bringing it into the now term. It's rinse, wash, repeat, you know. What they claim, if you sit down and think about some of the claims that they make, it's easy to spot the holes, you know. Absolutely.

1:08:33 But the Boland Amendment- With our gladio glasses on. Yeah, well, even without it. And I want to harp on this because it's very, very important. In the 1980s, I specifically remember the Boland Amendment. It, during, especially in, because we're in 85 right now.

1:09:02 I had just started my ROTC assignment at Indiana University and the political science professor was talking about how important it was in relationship to, you know, supposedly Congress being in control and having oversight over the intelligence function.

1:09:30 This is something that at the four-star level, which the South Com commander was, I mean, he's in Panama. He's right down the road. He knows all of this shit's happening. And it's just mind-boggling to me. Even if you didn't have Gladio glasses on, you have a political military affairs officer that is your aide.

1:09:59 They have advisors. They have in-country advisors for the South Com commander. So none of this was news to that guy. Why are you so mad? Go ahead. Talking about the 80s, I'm pretty sure we had some pretty sophisticated satellites, DMSP weather satellites back then. So I'm pretty sure they were very aware.

1:10:29 Of what was going on. Yeah. I mean. DMSP is one. But we had. About 20. Because when I got to. Space systems division. In 1987. We had 23. Satellite offices. They called them SPOs. Satellite program offices. That were managing. The acquisition.

1:10:59 and operational capability enhancements to all of the satellites to include NAVSTAR, which we all know now as GPS. We had DMSP, you just mentioned. We had MILSTAR. We had, like I said, 23, all of which had at least a colonel or a one-star general in charge of them.

1:11:25 We had 3,500 engineers and acquisition officers out there that purchased all of those satellites and maintained the requirements and enhancements to them that were all being done in Southern California primarily.

1:11:39 I'm very very knowledgeable about the satellite capability post 1987 and through this research you go back to Pine Gap opening in 1962 and it talks about the satellite capability in the 1950s in relationship to the U-2 and the SR-71 when I did that research. It's just unfathomable.

1:12:07 that you're not overloaded with intelligence in the 1980s as to what these operations were in your area of responsibility. Sean, go ahead. Hi, Colonel. Thank you very much for letting me speak. Yeah, I was very interested in what you had to say about how the CIA in the 70s and 80s, they preferred right-wing dictatorships over left-wing dictatorships, right?

1:12:40 How would that serve their purpose better at that time? Seems to me, though, that things have changed, you know, have shifted. Now in the 2020s, it seems like it's the reverse, that they prefer the left wing rather than the right wing. You know, the right wing has been demonized in the West at the moment as being, you know, far right in inverted commas and fascist.

1:13:08 Whereas all the media, all the structures of society are left wing. What do you think? Well, it's interesting you say that because who it depends on who the boogeyman is. Right. So the boogeyman is the Soviet Union. So propaganda wise, they position them on the left. So, of course, you're going to prefer the right dictators. And now the nationalist.

1:13:37 are the people like Hungary and Slovakia. They're all nationalists. So propaganda-wise, we've dubbed them the far right or Hitler's. So of course we prefer the left. It's all a propaganda war. It's all bullshit. They love dictators. That's the end of the story. And they only love a dictator if they're pro-West.

1:14:07 They don't really care about where they fall on an ideological spectrum. They just want them to support their one world agenda or allow access to the resources. It's all a propaganda bullshit spectrum to begin with. There is no such thing as far right and far left. That's an oxymoron. It's pro-West.

1:14:35 or anti-West. You're either with us or you're against us. And if you're for NATO and all their bullshit, then you're fine. It doesn't matter what kind of government you have, you're fine. We've been doing business with China forever and they're still labeled a communist country. We don't have any problem with a government as long as we can get whatever shit from that government we want.

1:15:06 Yeah, that ties into the point about why the West outsourced all of its manufacturing to China, you know? Yeah. If it, you know. Yeah. I mean, like, if we are, well, that predisposes that we have a globalized capitalist economy, right?

1:15:39 that um it's good for everyone i mean francis fukuyama wrote that book the end of history after the fall of the berlin wall right and we're all supposed to be happy capitalists just doing business with each other but it hasn't turned out that way has it i mean you know we also all of our manufacturing to china and now china is our big enemy but what the hell is that about okay so just to um

1:16:10 make my point here even more. Listen to this. I just looked up who the South Com commander was in 1985. It's a guy by the name of John Galvin. Now, I know this name. He's one of the West Point Mafia guys. And interestingly, he gets his master's degree from Columbia University. And he becomes immediately

1:16:42 he's selected for a fellowship at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Well, 10 years later from his Columbia time. And he becomes the military assistant to SHAPE, which is kind of like a subunit of NATO. And he also,

1:17:08 becomes the NATO commander, where all of the Gladio shit is ran out of. And interestingly enough, he was there, and listen to what it says on his wiki page, during his time as SACYOR, which is the NATO commander, many stay-behind networks in Europe were dismantled.

1:17:35 a process that started with the revelations of Italy's Prime Minister Andriotti, who disclosed to the Italian Parliament the existence of NATO stadium units headed by NATO. Sure, sure, he helped dismantle them. That's hilarious. So you want to tell me this guy didn't know what the hell was going on? Yeah, I'm going to call bullshit on that one. That's hysterical.

1:18:12 Okay, I made my point. Okay, I can't believe that. Oh my, I mean, I can. At this point, I'll believe anything. Gosh, dang it. That's hilarious. All right, well, I'm going to continue this weekend digging into this Pakistan thing. I ran across this treasure trove of articles on

1:18:48 how basically, I mean, we knew when we read Pete Bruton's book about the savings and loan, about the arrest that was made in Houston of the guys trying to take the trigger systems for nuclear weapons out of the country. It was actually mentioned in his book.

1:19:10 And that the same people that were involved with this mafia CIA and George H.W. Bush was all behind all of that. And so just on a whim, I started looking and ran across this treasure trove of information about how the CIA was siphoning off money that was...

1:19:37 going over to ISI to fund the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. And basically, we were backdooring funding with military aid to ISI. We were funding their nuclear program. And it's very evident that a lot of the supplies for their nuclear program came from Europe, particularly the Netherlands.

1:20:06 the UK as well, there were kind of fake attempts for them to like arrest people. But then if you follow their arrest, they were either slapped on the wrist or basically the charges were dropped because of the implications of MI6 in the case of the UK or the CIA. And so really there was no accountability.

1:20:34 to them having supplied all of the equipment to Pakistan. And then of course, you know, and you find right in the middle of all of that, the BCCI, who were falsifying.

1:20:54 bills of laden, the things that you need in order to, so there's letters of credit that they need. And from Luxembourg, which is where they were registered as a company, the BCCI was, there's companies in Luxembourg that produce these fake invoices and all of this other stuff. So if no one actually looks at what's transiting

1:21:22 And actually opened something. They were all mislabeled based on BCCI's letters of credit and all this other stuff. And it's a very interesting trail. And I will continue to post about that this weekend. But yeah, as it turns out, we were funding Pakistan's nuclear program. And China.

1:21:51 was on site at the Pakistani location. And they knew that the money, so it was a joint effort. I mean, everybody was involved in making sure that Pakistan became a nuclear country. And then of course, there's proliferation of those nuclear capabilities in that entire area, namely Iran.

1:22:19 So yeah, in effect, we funded Iran's nuclear program as well. And it just goes to the heart of everything that we've been uncovering in this strategy of tension. So you can hold India in check by Pakistan having nuclear weapons. And it's just, it's an amazing area.

1:22:48 of information that is all out there. But if you don't understand the principles of Operation Gladio and how this whole thing, this whole network operates, you can't do due diligence in a search because you frame things differently. And it's quite amazing, actually. Okay.

1:23:16 If no one has anything else, I'm going to jump off here. And I will do over the weekend another couple of segments on our Federal Reserve and the Rockefeller fingers being in that pie as well. So we are getting towards the end of this monster book. We have about 100 pages left.

1:23:44 probably three shows. So we will be hitting a new book. I'm not sure what that book is going to be. I do want to go over the highlights. Again, it's not going to be this in depth of what I have found in that Anglo-American book that I just finished again for the second time, because reading it now that I have my Gladio glasses on, it kind of strikes completely different.

1:24:14 It's really kind of the foundational piece. And I like to keep going back to show you just how managed all of this has been. And it really sets the stage for the series that Warhamster, he's out in San Diego, which is why we didn't do our show today at noon. I was hoping to join him out there. I was unable to make it because our alternate.

1:24:42 babysitter for my grandson didn't pan out. But we're going to go over the Pilgrim Society and the Fabian Society, as well as the Milner Group in depth during that show. And you will see how all of the basis for where we are today was set in stone. And, you know,

1:25:10 again, it goes back to the late 1800s where they, in their own words and repeatedly through the Milner group, the Rhodes Scholars, that's another one. So those bridges like the Pilgrim Society and the Rhodes Scholar is how they seeded and coordinated all of these events inside of America. And just to give you an example, during World War II, the entire

1:25:41 British entourage that they had an office in New York that basically was a propaganda office for the UK. Number one, to ensure we got into the war. And then number two, to position the history that we now have of World War II based on propaganda. They were feeding the New York Times talking points.

1:26:07 all of the major media during World War II out of that propaganda office that was basically manned by Rhodes Scholars, Milner Group people, blah, blah, blah. And then when you go to Washington DC, you find out that almost everybody in the embassy there was from that same group of people. It's just fascinating to look at the network and how it was set up.

1:26:34 And as I just posted, one of the recent, I'm trying to, I've been all over the map today. One of the recent people that was in the news is originally from India and was making, there was a lot of being said about it and come to find out.

1:27:02 their Indian roots, I think it had to do with the whole Pakistan thing, was from the Milner group. And they just had their fingers in everything. It's just crazy. But anyway, we'll get through that one fairly quick. I'll probably only take two or three days just to give you the highlights, but it's mind-blowing.

1:27:32 just how much of a network that they created through the educational and political ties that all of, and familiar, however you say that, family ties, the intermarrying of each other, the marrying of those people to Americans. It's just, it's crazy. But we'll just highlight that and then get on to our next book. Okay, so you guys have a nice.

1:28:02 One quick caveat. Tunk New York over on Rumble made a donation of $50 and said, thank you for what you do. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. That's awesome. Yeah. I've got already three books ordered about this whole Pakistani thing because there's actually been a lot written about it. I'm shocked.

1:28:29 And I had no idea that we actually, I mean, I know we contributed just from the bits and pieces that I've picked up through these books that we have done, like Pete Bruton's book. But I didn't know that we funded almost the entire fucking thing. It's crazy. And we did it in the 80s during Ronald Reagan with the Afghan war. That was kind of the cover for shuttling them, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars.

1:28:57 out of our taxes. And you guys, I have to tell you how devastating this is to me. The whole time, I cannot tell you, if I had a dollar for every time I was in some type of professional military education and was told how diligent the United States had been in the non-nuclear proliferation, nuclear proliferation.

1:29:29 area. We were the guys that kept insisting, nobody else can have nuclear weapons. Nobody can get them. They're so dangerous, blah, blah, blah. And we had so many people come to Air War College and talk to us about how we're such the good guys. We're the standup guys. We're the ones that make sure that rogue elements don't get nuclear weapons. And I'm like, we had an entire cadre.

1:29:56 of people at Air War College that did nothing but write about non-proliferation. And I'm like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it makes my head hurt. Come to find out, not only did we do it, but we were funding it all. So anyway, crazy. All right, you guys have a nice weekend. And I will be on and off Rumble throughout the weekend. Take care, everybody.

Entities here

CIA26 William Casey25 Contras25 Iran-Contra affair25 Nicaragua25 Oliver North25 Ronald Reagan23 Alan Fiers23 Adolfo Calero20 United States16 Robert McFarlane15 Honduras14 U.S. Congress13 John Singlaub12 Jean Kirkpatrick10 Costa Rica9 Boland Amendment9 Richard Secord9 Sandinistas9 National Security Council8 Saudi Arabia8 Dewey Claridge7 China6 Robert Gates6 Korea6 United States Central Command6 Claire George6 Armed Resistance Democratic Force6 Eden Pastora6 Elliot Abrams6 Washington, D.C.5 Carl Chanel5 United States Marine Corps5 Joseph Fernandez4 Miami4 Milner Group4 Iran4 Operation Gladio4 Soviet Union4 Pakistan4

Claims made here

Stedman Muller overthrew Missouri book_quoted ▶ 1:13

“Brooklyn Rivera's faction of the indigenous Indians reached an accommodation with Managua. Stedman Muller lost control over Missouri, which stopped receiving supplies. Fagoth himself was expelled from…”

Fagoth removed_from_power Honduras book_quoted ▶ 1:13

Honduras funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 1:40

“Bermuda's Air Force was set back when one of its C-47 transports went down on a flight out of El Aquacate. All that was left was a C-54 that couldn't fly for lack of spare parts and one last C-47 that…”

Bermuda's Air Force carried_out_attack El Aquacate book_quoted ▶ 1:40

Costa Rica covered_up John Holliday host_asserted ▶ 3:38

“That Costa Rica guarded its neutrality in the Nicaraguan War and made some efforts to enforce it. Minimum efforts. Because that's where John Hollis got his ranch and they're flying drugs and weapons t…”

Sandinistas overthrew Eden Pastora book_quoted ▶ 5:23

“not the fat slobs from the National Guard. In 84, Pastora did invade Nicaragua, capturing a small town of San Juan del Norte. The Sandinistas redeployed and ejected him. On May 30th, he had a brush wi…”

Eden Pastora carried_out_attack San Juan del Norte book_quoted ▶ 5:23

Sandinistas targeted_for_regime_change Eden Pastora book_quoted ▶ 5:52

“Both the FDN and the Sandinistas had motive for the assassination. So did the CIA. By the time Pastora had recovered, ARDE had lost steam. Then Pastora again fell victim, this time to injury, suffered…”

Robert McFarlane supplied_arms_to Israel book_quoted ▶ 7:23

“The 21 million supplemental appropriation had been the first gambit to evade the restrictions. A second, February 84, was National Security Advisors McFarland's approach to the Israelis to see if they…”

William Casey ordered_assassination_of Robert McFarlane book_quoted ▶ 7:54

“The Israelis were providing weapons and all kinds of other things. At the height of the mining controversy, on March 27, 1984, Director Casey handed McFarland a memo expecting failure to obtain the mo…”

Israel supplied_arms_to Contras host_asserted ▶ 7:54

John McMahon removed_from_power Dewey Claridge book_quoted ▶ 8:22

“Casey sent Claridge to South Africa, leaving immediately after the disastrous Senate hearing on April 10th to solicit aid. But Deputy Director McMahon canceled the approach amid controversy. Instead, …”

South Africa supplied_arms_to Southern Air Transport book_quoted ▶ 8:22

William Casey appointed Dewey Claridge book_quoted ▶ 8:22

Saudi Arabia funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 8:50

“In May came a breakthrough. McFarlane met with Prince Bandar, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia, already enmeshed with the CIA in Afghanistan. Saudis agreed to contribute $1 million a month to the Cont…”

Castle Bank & Trust laundered_money_for Contras host_asserted ▶ 8:50

Robert McFarlane funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 8:50

Jean Kirkpatrick member_of National Security Council book_quoted ▶ 9:20

“I don't know why the author didn't include the name of it. The money was in the name of Esther Morales, wife of a lawyer friend of Aldolfo Calero, and went to the FDN account at the CIA front bank. In…”

Esther Morales front_for Adolfo Calero book_quoted ▶ 9:20

James Baker member_of United States book_quoted ▶ 10:21

“talks in case he construed the 1983 finding as encouraging third country participation and support of this entire effort. Ambassador Kirkpatrick insisted the U.S. find the money for the Contras so as …”

Ronald Reagan funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 10:48

“The secretary wanted an opinion from the attorney general, but others talked right past him. Casey agreed to a legal opinion, but one that made it clear that the U.S. could seek the money. We don't wa…”

George H.W. Bush funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 11:16

“Vice President Bush wondered how anyone could object to the U.S. looking for money to support the rebels, not the guerrillas, the rebels. You see the change in anybody that tries to attack a CIA dicta…”

Robert McFarlane funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 11:41

“Robert McFarland wound up by proposing that no one do anything about a third party support until the administration had a legal opinion. Reagan's last words, quote, if such a story gets out, we'll all…”

Robert McFarlane funded Iran-Contra affair book_quoted ▶ 12:12

“effectively shut down the diplomatic track. McFarland, who contrary to his own proposal at the meeting, had already solicited third-party cash from Saudi Arabia, had laid the basis for what became the…”

Jean Kirkpatrick member_of Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board book_quoted ▶ 23:09

“By then, Jean Kirkpatrick had left the administration just to ensure the doctrine's author kept her hand in. Reagan appointed her to the Presidential Intelligence Advisory Board. Ambassador Kirkpatric…”

Ronald Reagan appointed Jean Kirkpatrick book_quoted ▶ 23:09

Oliver North funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 25:37

“Calero had the declaration of U.S. officials from the CIA and national security staff who met with him in Honduras in April at the height of the mining controversy. One of those in attendance was Dewe…”

Dewey Claridge appointed Oliver North book_quoted ▶ 25:37

Oliver North member_of United States Marine Corps book_quoted ▶ 25:37

Donald Fortier funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 26:04

“Little more than a wish at the time, but the wish was Ronald Reagan's and a president's desire carried a lot of weight. North had called in to see his boss, National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane,…”

Robert McFarlane appointed Donald Fortier book_quoted ▶ 26:04

Brigade 2506 funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 26:33

“Adolfo Calero threw himself into fundraising. Cuban exiles were a major target. Restaurants and community centers in Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico, became locales for Calero and others to whip up se…”

Adolfo Calero funded Contras book_quoted ▶ 26:33

Rob Owens member_of Gray and Company book_quoted ▶ 27:33

“And the CIA front called Gray and Company actually developed their PR campaign. But Calero judged that that was too high of a price, although nothing developed. Gray employee Robert Owen became so ded…”

Oliver North appointed Rob Owens book_quoted ▶ 28:03

“tax-exempt entities, one for education and the other to raise money. He showed this plan to North, whom he had met while working in the Senate in 1982. North encouraged Owen to visit Central America a…”

Adolfo Calero provided_bridge_financing_for Contras documented ▶ 34:01

“with any country in the region at the time, but had repeatedly invested in America's covert action programs. In the summer of 1984, North and Adolfo Calero in his office, when Oliver North asked for a…”

Oliver North member_of Restricted Interagency Group documented ▶ 35:03

“The policy fights in 83 had neutralized Reagan's crisis pre-planning group as a Nicaraguan secret war command. Central America policy fell to the restricted interagency group of senior officials. Nort…”

Alan Fiers member_of Restricted Interagency Group documented ▶ 35:32

“a restricted RIG, RIG. The existence of this core group is disputed by Abrams, the purported chairman, though he admits its meetings took place. But the RIG figured widely in sworn testimony before Co…”

William Casey appointed Alan Fiers documented ▶ 38:00

“By the time Fiers was slated to take over the Afghan task force, instead Casey told Fiers he couldn't have the post. Casey would not say why. Fiers answered that he would serve wherever Casey wanted h…”

Francis Fukuyama founded The End of History and the Last Man documented ▶ 1:15:39

“that um it's good for everyone i mean francis fukuyama wrote that book the end of history after the fall of the berlin wall right and we're all supposed to be happy capitalists just doing business wit…”

John Galvin member_of Columbia University documented ▶ 1:16:10

“make my point here even more. Listen to this. I just looked up who the South Com commander was in 1985. It's a guy by the name of John Galvin. Now, I know this name. He's one of the West Point Mafia g…”

John Galvin member_of United States Military Academy host_asserted ▶ 1:16:10

John Galvin member_of United States Central Command documented ▶ 1:16:10

John Galvin member_of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy documented ▶ 1:16:42

“he's selected for a fellowship at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Well, 10 years later from his Columbia time. And he becomes the military assistant to SHAPE, which is kind of like a subunit…”

John Galvin member_of Supreme Headquarters Allied Europe documented ▶ 1:16:42

John Galvin headed North Atlantic Treaty Organization documented ▶ 1:17:08

“becomes the NATO commander, where all of the Gladio shit is ran out of. And interestingly enough, he was there, and listen to what it says on his wiki page, during his time as SACYOR, which is the NAT…”

Francesco Cossiga exposed Operation Gladio documented ▶ 1:17:35

“a process that started with the revelations of Italy's Prime Minister Andriotti, who disclosed to the Italian Parliament the existence of NATO stadium units headed by NATO. Sure, sure, he helped disma…”

Netherlands supplied_arms_to Pakistan host_asserted ▶ 1:19:37

“going over to ISI to fund the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. And basically, we were backdooring funding with military aid to ISI. We were funding their nuclear program. And it's very evident that a lot of…”

BCCI laundered_money_for Pakistan host_asserted ▶ 1:20:34

“to them having supplied all of the equipment to Pakistan. And then of course, you know, and you find right in the middle of all of that, the BCCI, who were falsifying.…”

China funded Pakistan host_asserted ▶ 1:21:51

“was on site at the Pakistani location. And they knew that the money, so it was a joint effort. I mean, everybody was involved in making sure that Pakistan became a nuclear country. And then of course,…”

Milner Group member_of Pilgrims Society host_asserted ▶ 1:25:10

“again, it goes back to the late 1800s where they, in their own words and repeatedly through the Milner group, the Rhodes Scholars, that's another one. So those bridges like the Pilgrim Society and the…”

Milner Group member_of Rhodes Trust host_asserted ▶ 1:25:10

Milner Group carried_out_attack World War II host_asserted ▶ 1:25:41

“British entourage that they had an office in New York that basically was a propaganda office for the UK. Number one, to ensure we got into the war. And then number two, to position the history that we…”

Milner Group covered_up World War II host_asserted ▶ 1:25:41

Ronald Reagan funded Afghanistan host_asserted ▶ 1:28:29

“And I had no idea that we actually, I mean, I know we contributed just from the bits and pieces that I've picked up through these books that we have done, like Pete Bruton's book. But I didn't know th…”