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New A2 Order-2 FREE Message to Bush-3 BULK RATE U.S POSTAGE Spicy Metal-6 PA!D ANN AR3OR, M- Bi-Friendly-7 ERMIT NO. 736 Grassroots News-10 ANN ARBOR'S ALTERNATIVE NEWSMONTHLY Blueprint for War—From Korea to the Gulf Truman mustered all the hype and emotion he could and said: "Our homes, our nation, all the things that we believe in, are in great danger..." But we did hear othfr reasons very early goes to defense purposes or military pur- on. We did hear that our way of life was at poses is 26%? That was 26% for 1990. But stake here. I saw that on television in Madrid, that official figure does not factor in many and for days and weeks I kept watching for enormous expenses that are directly related news of the millions of Americans who would to the military such as interest on the national take to the streets here in joy and celebration debt for past military expenditures, the retire- that their way of life was going to change— ment program for tens of thousands of former that their poverty, their ignorance, their Department of Defense civilian employees, homelessness, their uncared-for illnesses and on and on. Analysts who have taken into would soon be over. But what we saw in- account all of these programs come up with a stead, of course, was George Bush's way of figure of well over 50% of the national bud- life—golfing, boating, fishing on the coastof get going in one way or another for military Maine, like any respectable member of the purposes. Gore Vidal, among others, puts the Eastern elite. figure at two-thirds or around 65% of the Ex-CIA agent Philip Agee greets the crowd and answers questions after We also heard that we were intervening in national budget. Clearly, military spending his April 20 talk on the U-M campus. the Persian Gulf in order to safeguard U.S. in this country dominates the economy. And and other Western access to the energy re- it has been that way ever since 1950. OnWednesday,April20,about350people paper editorials, then Vice-President George sources in the Gulf—the petroleum. We also The gulf crisis, in my opinion, was simply showed up at the Modern Languages Build- Bush called Agee "disgraceful and disgust- heard that we were in there to stop naked a crisis that was needed; it was manufactured; ing on the University of Michigan campus to ing." aggression and that naked aggression would it was made in the USA. And it was made so hear author, lecturer and former CIA officer, Agee now makes his home in Madrid, not be rewarded. And at one point, just when that we would have an international threat or Philip Agee speak. Spain and travels with a passport from the all the polls were showing concern with the international crisis to continue justifying this Agee left the Central Intelligence Agency World Service Authority, issued under the deepening recession and job security in the kind of war economy in the United States. in 1969 after serving 12 years in the agency Universal Declaration of Human Rights and United States, Baker made the comment that It's worth recalling, briefly, where this and participating in nearly every type of CIA the UN Charter. yes indeed, in the Persian Gulf crisis, jobs came from. In 1950, there was extreme con- operation—from recruitment of spies, to tap- Agee's talk, titled "The CIA, Central here in the States were at stake. None of those cern at the highest echelons of the Truman ping telephones and bugging bedrooms, to America, the Gulf War and American De- seemed to work too well so Bush, as I recall, Administration that the U.S. was on its way propaganda.politicalwarfare.andthe provo- mocracy," was sponsoredby the Latin Ameri- went back to the version in which we were back to the conditions of the Great Depres- cation of military coups. can Solidarity Committee. Due to space limi- there to stop naked aggression. sion of the 1930s. During those first five After he left the CIA, Agee became the tations, what follows is a transcript of those One of the things that we have not seen in years between the end of WWII and 1950, the first operations officer to reveal the agency s portions of Agee's talk which relate to the the mainstream media in the U.S. is an alterna- United States economy had declined by 20%. goals and methods with the publication of his Gulf War. tive explanation of where this Gulf crisis Unemployment, which was almost nothing first book in the early' 70s, "Inside the Com- •i came from and where it is likely to lead. I of- at the end of the war (700,000), had risen to pany: CIA Diary." As a result Agee was e all know the reason why the fer this as a suggestion; in my opinion, the 4.7 million. In early 1950, the decision was under constant attack from the U.S. govern- U.S., led by President Bush, Bush administration needed a crisis, a world taken to multiply, by several times, military ment, the "mainstream media," and other intervened in the Persian Gulf, crisis, to replace the East/West crisis in Eu- spending by rearming in the United States allies of the administration for what they killing between 100,000 and rope which had largely disappeared with the and by having the U.S. finance the rearma- viewed as Agee's damage to the "national 200,000 Iraqis; it was in order to restore to collapse of communism. That crisis in Eu- ment of Western Europe. security." These attacks resulted in the ex- power the Emir of KuwaiL Bush has restor- rope—the standoff between the United States The problem then was a so-called "dollar pulsion of Agee from five NATO countries ed the legitimate ruling authority in Kuwait, and the NATO countries, and the Soviet gap." There were not sufficient dollars in and the revocation of his U.S. passport. no question about that. And he's re-stored, at Union and the Warsaw PACT countries— Western Europe to generate the imports from When Agee returned to the U.S. in 1987 to the same time, the tried and true All-Ameri- had served since about 1950 to justify the the United States needed to sustain the U.S. promote his latest book, "On the Run," he can political principle of "one man, one vote." permanent war economy in the United States. economy. Everyone knows that we cannot was met with strong opposition as well as In this case, one man—the Emir-and one Do you know that the official figure for consume what we produce in this country, wide support. In addition to scathing news- vote—his. the proportion of the national budget that (see WARS R US, page 10) 2-AGENDA-MAY 1991 A New Ann Arbor Order If you are one of the many folks who serves your support. sent AGENDA money last month, we We fear that, because we have Perhaps you have felt that $20 or $10 would like to extend a giant thank-you for received a significant amount of or $5 couldn't make a difference. We your support. As of press time, AGENDA money and pledges, AGENDA'S want to assure you that it can—in fact has received about $2,300 in subscrip- readership will assume the crisis AGENDA started in 1986 by accumulat- tions and donations. While it's not the ing $5 trial subscriptions! $9,000 we need, it is enough money to is over. (After all, this is the issue Send $5 this month and we'll send keep the presses rolling while we work on we said might never get printed.) three issues of AGENDA—June, July, ways to raise the rest. and August—to anyone anywhere in the In addition to generous donations and sor its own AGENDA fundraiser, please USA. Introduce someone you know, love, pledges from many individuals (includ- call us at 996-8018. or perhaps disagree with often, to the ing a cabdriver who has pledged a day's We fear that, because we have re- mind-opening viewpoints found in wages to the cause), AGENDA has receiv- ceived a significant amount of money and AGENDA. Are you leaving town for the ed a number of pledges from the organiz- pledges to do fundraisers, AGENDA'S summer? Send $5 and we'll keep you in ed grassroots. readership will assume that the crisis is touch with Ann Arbor with a summer The Latin American Solidarity Com- over. (After all, you are reading a May subscription. you're invited to mittee. (LASC) will be coordinating a issue—the issue we said might never get Whether you donate $5, $50, $500, or fundraising bucket-drive for May 23-24 printed.) But to say that AGENDA still $5,000, you can be confident that your visit our to benefit AGENDA. The Homeless Ac- needs your help is an understatement. hard-earned money will be put to good tion Committee (H AC) is planning a sum- We still need to hear from those of you use building a needed community re- new & mer Hootenanny and Prism Productions who read the paper and appreciate its source. Though the newspaper is in the has pledged to help set up a musical event function, yet who, for whatever reason, survival mode at the moment, we hope improved to help AGENDA raise funds—perhaps a hesitate to send money to support it.

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