-League CIA By the Editors of Covert Action.

eorge H.W. Bush was the per- fect head of the CIA during Gtroubled times. According to his successor, Stansfield Turner, “The reason they had a great love for Bush [at the CIA] was that he let them do whatever they wanted. He came in and said: ‘What do you want to do?’ Then he said: ‘OK, go ahead and do it.’” A former Senator, as well as former Ambassador to China and the UN, Bush had credentials to impress the old boy network in Congress. He frequently testified before committee hearings and assured the overseers that the CIA was out of the assassination business for good. His deferential style made Members of Congress believe claimed that trees are a major source fice and that Gregg would later end that maybe he was telling the truth. of air pollution, that ketchup was a up as Ambassador to South Korea, In the 1988 Presidential cam- vegetable and who routinely dozed off where he had been CIA station chief paign, Bush faced the charge of in Cabinet meetings. Reagan was truly wimpishness. He needed to look tough. (1973-1976). The intelligence business “out of the loop” while the men and So, he paraded out a Black man named is a small world and the same players women around him played politics keep popping up again and again. Willie Horton and assured the public with Machiavellian vindictiveness. At the same time that Clines, that he would be tough against crime Bush was the CIA’s master Wilson and Terpil were making mil- and not let the bad guys out of jail. That when Edwin Wilson, Frank Terpil, lions selling arms and explosives to is not only toughness, it is racist. Tom Clines, Ted Shackley and Rafael just about anyone, right-wing extrem- He imitated Clint Eastwood and Quintero ran their arms and assassi- exclaimed, “Read my lips.” He beat up ists and CIA assets Orlando Bosch and nation business with special support on Dan Rather in a television inter- Luis Posada Carriles were plotting acts from CIA proprietaries. Bush helped of terrorism as revenge for Cuba’s view. Suddenly, had been stall the investigation of the 1976 revolution. In October 1976, a Cuban “spun” into a “real man.” Letelier/Moffitt murders [i.e., the Chil- airliner was blown out of the sky over Then, after the election hoopla ean diplomat and aid murdered in Barbados and all 73 passengers were had died down, Bush seemed to be Washington], and met time and time back to his nondescript, vague self. killed. A few days later, Bosch and again with CIA-asset Manuel Noriega. was no wimp. Posada Carriles were arrested and were Isn’t it ironic that Shackley, eventually convicted of the act. Bosch He was just plain stupid. He will be Clines, Quintero and Noriega show up later escaped from a Venezuelan remembered as the president who pro- less than ten years later in the thick of prison, some say, with CIA help. He The Covert Action Information Bulletin another CIA scandal? Isn’t it also then turned up in Miami, fighting ex- began in 1978. Now called Covert Action ironic that Donald Gregg, Vice Presi- tradition and seeking assistance from Quarterly, it is one of the best sources on dent Bush’s closest adviser on national Bush’s son Jeb and President Bush Sr. the CIA and its influence on U.S. foreign security issues, was caught running a policy. CAQ, 1500 Massachusetts Avenue Posada Carriles also escaped NW, Suite 732, Washington DC 20005. contra resupply effort from Bush’s of- from prison. He surfaced in El Salva- Are you willing to pay for war? DOUBLE HOOK BOOK SHOP Canada supports the rights of conscientious Specialists in Canadian books since 1974 objectors (COs) to not serve in the military. carrying books on Peace & the Environment. In the modern world, it is our money that SPECIAL ORDERS WELCOMED. goes to war and military through taxation. We send books anywhere in the world. COs think of this as “fiscal conscription.” For more information on redirecting mili- Would you OPEN: 1235A Greene Ave., tary taxes to peaceful purposes: Mon.-Wed. 9:30-5:30 be willing to serve Thurs., Fri. 9:30-8:00 Montreal, PQ, in the military and Conscience Canada Inc. Sat. 9:30-5:00 CANADA H3Z 2A4 possibly go into 901-70 Mill St., Toronto ON M5A 4R1 zones of conflict [email protected] Tel.: (514) 932-5093 • Fax: (514) 932-1797 and war? www.consciencecanada.ca 36 Press for Conversion! Issue # 54 August 2004 How Prescott Bush dor helping Felix Rodriguez in a CIA reportedly stole from the Filipino treas- “counterterrorism” operation. He later ury and also enriched Ferdinand Mar- Recruited Nixon compared this operation to the CIA cos. A few years later, in a toast to “pacification” program he took part in Marcos, Bush exclaimed, “We love By Russell S. Bowen under William Colby in Vietnam. your adherence to democratic princi- Rodriguez, as noted in the Iran/ ples – and to the democratic process.” ccording to Nixon’s biogra- contra hearings, is a good friend of When Reagan accepted the phy, his personal and politi- Donald Gregg. He and Gregg served blame for Iran/contra, we interpreted Acal ties with the with the CIA in Saigon when Theodore this to mean, “I didn’t really under- go back to 1946, when Nixon claims Shackley was station chief. stand what was going on, but I’ll take he read an ad placed in an L.A. news- How is it that George Bush, the the blame.” When George Bush claim- paper by the Orange County Republi- man appointed by Ronald Reagan to ed to have been out of the Iran/contra can Party and a group of wealthy busi- head the South Florida Task Force and loop, we knew that he was lying. nessmen led by Prescott Bush, the fa- the National Narcotics Border Inter- There is a great deal of evidence ther of George H.W. Bush. diction System, could be so tied-up to show that Bush’s vision of a “kinder, They wanted a young candidate with drug dealing? gentler America” was also a lie. If to run for Congress. Nixon applied and Besides his relationship with Bush was so interested in a “softer” won the job, becoming a mouthpiece Noriega, Bush had connections to image why did the CIA intervene in for the Bush group, progressing to the other alleged drug smugglers. Rodri- Nicaraguan elections? Why did Bush U.S. Senate and, in 1952, the vice guez, besides being Donald Gregg’s support El Salvador’s murderous gov- presidency. helper, allegedly passed money from ernment? Why is the Republican party In 1960, Vice President Nixon the Medellin cartel to the contras. Ri- [particularly the Republican Heritage was scouring the world seeking the chard Armitage was to be Bush’s Groups Council] littered with fascists? presidency. At his side was Prescott choice for Secretary of the Army, but If Bush was so interested in “a Bush. Congressman Gerald Ford was declined the nomination. There is thousands ,” why did he helping raise funds, as was George speculation that the confirmation hear- appoint ex-CIA officials as ambassa- H.W. Bush. ings would have brought up unpleas- dors to China and South Korea? If he It took Nixon eight more years ant questions about Armitage’s role in had such a great vision for the U.S., to reach his goal. The canny politician heroin smuggling in the Golden Tri- why does he belong to clubs which always remembered who helped him angle during the Vietnam war. openly discriminate against women to get there. It was payback time for What other secrets should we and subtly discriminate against Afri- George. Nixon appointed him chair- recall about George Bush? can-Americans and other minorities? man of the Republican National Com- Bush was brought in as head of And, if all this were not enough mittee [1972-1973], and later U.S. am- the Republican National Committee to demonstrate that George Bush bassador to China [1974-1975]. during the downfall of Richard Nixon. should not be viewed as a wimp, but By 1976, Gerald Ford, who suc- Bush immediately got tough and tried as a dangerous threat to world peace, ceeded Nixon after Watergate, paid his to stop the Senate Watergate Commit- his unconscionable invasion of due bill. He picked out a big job for his tee’s chief investigator, Carmine Hel- Panama [and Iraq] present powerful old crony, Bush: the CIA. But this time lion. The day after Archibald Cox sub- confirmations. He continued the Bush would not be an underling. Now poenaed the infamous “White House Reagan administration’s complete dis- he would be head man. tapes,” Bush jumped into the fray regard for international law. Source: Excerpt, Immaculate Decep- claiming that Bellion had himself tried He was a president with an old tion: The Bush Crime Family Exposed. to wiretap the Republican National agenda: Power politics, gunboat diplo- Carson City: America West, 1992. Committee 13 years before. macy and privilege for the wealthy but Robert Mosbacher, Bush’s alms for the poor. Retired Brigadier General Russell S. friend, business partner and campaign Bowen, a WWII fighter pilot, says he was finance chair has had his share of Source: Editorial, “George Bush: involved in major narcotics trafficking with shady dealings. He collected millions From Langley to the Oval Office,” the CIA and its precursor, the Office of from a Philippine business deal which Covert Action, Winter 1990. Strategic Services.

Diane Holmes City Councillor / Conseillère municipale Quartier Somerset Ward OO O 110, av Laurier Ave. O./W., Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1 tel: 580-2484 fax: 580-2524 [email protected] August 2004 Issue # 54 Press for Conversion! 37