Copyright (c) 1991 by Chip Berlet. All rights reserved.
RIGHT WOOS LEFT:
Populist Party, LaRouchian, and Other Neo-fascist Overtures To Progressives, And Why They Must Be Rejected
by Chip Berlet
Political Research Associates
December 16, 1991
"Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite."
(George Seldes )
Political Research Associates 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 205 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 661-9313
------------------- Part 1 begins here ---------------------------------
Introduction
"...fascism is not confined to any specific era, culture or countries. Far from being a phenomenon limited to the European states which have experienced fascist regimes, movements of this type are to be found in practically every western country, and indeed are growing more strident in the leading democratic societies which have never experienced fascist rule--Britain and America."
(Paul Wilkinson )
Fascist political movements are experiencing a resurgence around the world. In Eastern Europe, racial nationalism, a key component of fascism, has surfaced in many new political parties. In the United States, the presidential campaigns of David Duke and Patrick Buchanan echo two different strains of historical fascism. Duke's neo-Nazi past resonates, in a consciously sanitized form, in his current formulations of white supremacist and anti-Jewish political theories. Buchanan's theories of isolationist nationalism and xenophobia hearken back to the proto-fascist ideas of the 1930's "America First" movement and its well-known promoters, Charles Lindbergh and Father Charles Coughlin. Both Duke and Buchanan blame our societal problems on handy scapegoats, and both feed on the politics of resentment, anger and fear. Most progressives vigorously reject Duke and Buchanan, and are not reluctant to point out fascist elements in both candidacies.
But there are other strains of domestic fascism active today, and the siren calls of those movements may mesmerize progressives whose anti-government fervor blinds them to historical lessons. Since the early 1980's, persons from far-right and fascist political groups in the United States have attempted to convince progressive activists to join forces to oppose certain government policies. The fascist right has wooed the progressive left primarily around opposition to such issues as the use of U.S. troops in foreign military interventions, the CIA and covert action, and domestic government repression and civil liberties.
As the far right made overtures to the left, some of the classic conspiracy theories of the far right began to seep into progressive, and even mainstream, analyses of foreign policy and domestic repression. An audience was created for these conspiratorial assertions through public speaking, radio interviews, sales of audiotapes and published articles. This audience elevated to leadership roles those persons who were willing to make the boldest and most critical (albeit unsubstantiated) pronouncements about the U.S. government and U.S. society. As a result, some progressives now confuse demagoguery with leadership, and undocumented conspiracism with serious research, and are unable to determine when an analysis supports or undermines the progressive goals of peace, social justice and economic fairness. This is primarily a problem within the white left, but in some Black nationalist constituencies the same dynamic has also popularized conspiracy theories which in some cases reflect anti-Jewish themes long circulated by the far right.
While there is inevitable overlap at the edges of political movements, the far-right sector being discussed in this study is separate and distinct from traditional conservatism, the right wing of the Republican Party, libertarianism, anarchism, and other political movements sometimes characterized as right wing. The John Birch Society, discussed here, is a far-right reactionary political movement, but it attempts to distance itself from racialist and anti-Jewish theories. Other groups analyzed in this paper, such as the Populist Party, Liberty Lobby, and the LaRouchians, on the other hand, represent a continuation of the racialist, anti-democratic theories of fascism.
The phenomenon of the right wooing the left became highly visible during the Gulf War. Followers of Lyndon LaRouche attended antiwar meetings and rallies in some thirty cities, and other right-wing organizers from groups such as the John Birch Society and the Populist Party passed out flyers at antiwar demonstrations across the country. While these right-wing groups undeniably opposed war with Iraq, they also promoted ideas that peace and social justice activists have historically found objectionable. Many people seeking to forge alliances with the left around anti-government and anti-interventionist policies also promote Eurocentric, anti-pluralist, patriarchal, or homophobic views. Some are profoundly anti-democratic; others support the idea that the U.S. is a Christian republic. A few openly promote white supremacist, anti-Jewish, or neo-Nazi theories.
The John Birch Society, for instance, is highly critical of mass democratic movements for social change, including those that seek equality for women, gay men and lesbians, Blacks, Hispanics, and recent immigrants from Asia and Central America. The Birchers believe most world governments, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union, are secretly controlled by a handful of conspirators they dub "The Insiders."
The Populist Party (and groups to which it has historically been
related such as the Liberty Lobby and its
The LaRouchians have supported foreign dictatorships such as the Marcos regime in the Philippines and the Noriega regime in Panama. LaRouche has written that history would not judge harshly those who beat homosexuals to death with baseball bats to stop the spread of AIDS. For LaRouchians the conspiracy consists of secret elite groups engaged in an epic battle between moral forces who want order, and sinister forces who champion chaos. LaRouche claims he can trace the key players in these secret conspiracies decade-by-decade back to Plato and Aristotle--and beyond. A remarkable number of the sinister conspirators turn out to be Jewish.
This study seeks to sharpen the debate over how to handle the phenomenon of the right wooing the left, and is not meant to divide or attack the left, which is being victimized by these approaches. As anti-fascist author George Seldes pointed out over fifty years ago, "The enemy is always the Right. Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite."
There is considerable evidence to show that far-right groups are serious about wooing the political left and that their conspiracist theories have been taken seriously in some quarters. Consider the following, all of which will be discussed in greater detail later:
*** Several far-right commentators affiliated with the Liberty
Lobby and its
*** A catalog from Prevailing Winds Research mixes material from mainstream, progressive, and far-right sources. One can order material from the Christic Institute (a public-interest law foundation based in Washington, D.C.) and dozens of other left and liberal organizations and writers (including this author). Also available is material from persons affiliated with the fascist Populist Party or the Liberty Lobby network, and information on how to order a tape of a speech by Eustace Mullins, one of the world's most notorious anti-Jewish conspiracy theorists. Mullins envisions a world where Jews have been exterminated by Christians.
*** A West Coast affiliate of the Christic Institute sells <The Guns and Drugs Reader>, edited by Prevailing Winds. Prominently featured in the publication is material by Bo Gritz, presidential candidate of the Populist Party, and David Duke's original vice-presidential running mate in 1988. Gritz, one of the most decorated veterans of the Vietnam war (his exploits were used in scripting the popular Rambo movies) has told his constituents to reach out to recruit from the left. Gritz himself invited Father Bill Davis of the Christic Institute to speak at a 1990 Las Vegas conference organized by Gritz's Center for Action.
*** At the April, 1991 conference of the respected Latin American Studies Association in Washington, a panel on Panama included Carlos Wesley, the LaRouche organization's Central America operative. The LaRouchians have been involved in the Panamanian anti-intervention movement for years.
*** More than 6 percent (49 out of a total 771) of the footnotes
in Barbara Honneger's widely-popularized book
*** The current issue of
Further confusing matters is the rebirth in Europe of the national socialist wing of fascism, with adherents calling themselves Strasserites or Third Positionists. These groups, which now operate in the U.S., are critical of Hitler's Nazi brand of fascism; they support the working class and encourage environmentalism. They also, however, promote racially segregated nation-states. Third Position groups claim to have evolved an ideology "beyond communism and capitalism," and actively seek to recruit from the left. One such group is the American Front in Portland, Oregon, which runs a phone hotline that in late November, 1991 featured an attack on critics of left/right coalitions.
Conspiracism and demagoguery feature simplistic answers to complex problems. During periods of economic or social crisis, people may seek to alleviate anxiety by embracing simple solutions, often including scapegoating. This scapegoating often manifests itself in virulent attacks on persons of different races and cultures who are painted as alien conspiratorial forces undermining the coherent national will.
In part, the fascist right has been able to forge ties to the left due to a serious lack of knowledge on the left regarding the complex history, different forms, and multiple tactics of fascism. Among those tactics are the use of scapegoating, reductionist and simplistic solutions, demagoguery, and a a conspiracy theory of history.
Theories of racialist nationalism and national socialism are not widely known in the United States. If they were, it is unlikely that any serious progressive would be seduced by the right's idea of an alliance to smash the powerful corrupt center, based on a shared agenda critical of government policies. This concept has an unsavory historical track record. The European fascist movements in the 1930's flourished in a period of economic collapse, political turmoil, and social crisis. The German Nazi party, during its early national socialist phase, openly enlisted progressive support to smash the corrupt and elitist Weimar government. But when the government began to collapse, powerful industrial and banking interests recruited Hitler to take control the government in order to prevent economic chaos, which would have displaced them as power brokers. In return for state control, Hitler quickly liquidated the leadership of his national socialist allies in a murderous spree called the "Night of the Long Knives." Once state power had been consolidated, the Nazis went on to liquidate the left before lining up Jews, labor leaders, intellectuals, dissidents, homosexuals, Poles, Gypsies (the Romani), dark-skinned immigrants, the infirm, and others deemed undesirable.
While conditions in the United States may only faintly echo the financial and social turmoil of the Weimar regime, the similarities cannot be dismissed lightly, nor should the catastrophic power of state fascism and the repression of an authoritarian government be confused.
Some people who consider themselves progressive even argue that a fascist government could not be any worse than the Reagan and Bush Administrations, with their devastating effects on the poor and persons of color. Because current policies are nearly genocidal, they say they will work with any ally to smash the status quo. This view dangerously underestimates the murderous quality of fascism. Similarly, other progressives argue in favor of supporting Duke or Buchanan for President in order to draw votes away from Bush and thus elect the Democratic candidate. While Duke and Buchanan currently have little chance of election, any progressive support for their candidacies minimizes the dangers involved in supporting a national political movement which uses fascist themes.[f-1]
The largest problem, however, remains the unnerving ability of fascist and right-wing conspiracists to attract a left audience through attacks on the government and its policies. There are four separate but related dilemmas posed by the phenomenon of the fascist right wooing the left:
*** How to educate progressive forces about the history of fascism, so the left is not lured into a repetition of past mistakes, and can more readily identify anti-democratic theories.
*** How to reject unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, demagoguery and scapegoating (from the right or the left), while at the same time promoting a vigorous critique of government repression, covert action, and social injustice.
*** How progressive journalists and researchers should handle contacts with the political far right, and how rightists should be identified by journalists when they are used as sources.
*** How progressive political coalitions should handle overtures by the political right which suggest tactical or strategic alliances around issues of common concern, and to what extent it is necessary for groups and individuals to distance themselves publicly from fascists who imply an alliance when one does not exist.
In some cases progressive groups have begun to address the problems
created by this courtship by the right. Radio station WBAI aired
several hours of programming within a week of discovering that
their broadcasts had included interviews with persons whose right-wing
affiliations were not disclosed to the listeners. The progressive
periodicals
Conspiratorial Roots
While some information provided by the far right may be factual,
other material is unsubstantiated rumor or lunatic conspiracy
theories. Some material is bigoted. Widely publicized examples of
right-wing conspiracism creeping into popular critiques of government
misconduct can be found to varying degrees in the "October Surprise"
story, the Christic Institute's "Secret Team" theory, and the late
writer Danny Casolaro's "Octopus" theory. While some of these
conspiracy theories are very attractive on the surface, and are
undeniably entertaining, they ultimately serve to distract people
from serious analysis. All of these theories share elements of
traditional right-wing conspiracy themes in which sinister global
elites secretly manipulate world events. The theories echo themes
promoted by the LaRouchians, the John Birch Society and the Liberty
Lobby and its
Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories usually start with a basis in fact and relate to a legitimate issue. The current phenomenon traces back to the rise of counterinsurgency as an arm of U.S. foreign policy, and the role it played in the Vietnam War. The public debate over this issue expanded in 1973 with publication of <The Secret Team: The CIA and its Allies in Control of the United States and the World> by retired Air Force Colonel and intelligence specialist L. Fletcher Prouty. In the book, Prouty criticized the CIA's penchant for counterinsurgency and clandestine operations, which he argued prolonged the war in Vietnam and resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many U.S. soldiers.
The Liberty Lobby's
While the Liberty Lobby network was recruiting Fletcher Prouty, Bo Gritz, longtime CIA critic Victor Marchetti, and assassination conspiracy researchers Mark Lane and Dick Gregory, the LaRouchians were probing government misconduct and linking U.S. political elites to their global conspiracy theory.
The LaRouchians were among the beneficiaries of the information flow from right-wing anti-CIA circles. LaRouche's periodicals mix anti-Israel views with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, but they also were among the first publications in the U.S. to cover aspects of the covert Contra aid network, although their coverage included typical LaRouchian distortions. Many reporters in the mid 1980's were contacted by LaRouchians who offered assistance and documents to help research the Iran-Contra story.
Critics of the Christic Institute say undocumented conspiracy
theories, perhaps first circulated by the LaRouchians and the
Dr. Diana Reynolds, an assistant professor of politics at Bradford College in Massachusetts, read thousands of pages of depositions taken during the Christic case and has concluded, "Leaving out the circumstances of the La Penca bombing and the specific Iran-Contra material, I think it is fair to say that some right-wing conspiracy theories were woven into the theory behind the Christic case."
Author Jane Hunter, editor of
Hunter and some two-dozen other progressive researchers (including the author) have been discussing these issues for several years. The one point of agreement is that this is a problem long overdue for debate. As Hunter explains, "In my speaking engagements I have found in audience questions an alarming increase in conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism." She also is worried that as conditions for African-Americans in the U.S. have continued to deteriorate, there has been an increase in the scapegoating of Jews by African-Americans. While scapegoating and turning to conspiracy theories is a common phenomenon in communities experiencing financial or social stress, it should never be tolerated.
It is important to differentiate between the fascist right and persons on the left who in a variety of ways have been lured by the overtures of the fascist right and its conspiracist theories, or who have ended up wittingly or unwittingly in coalitions with spokespersons for the fascist right, or who have contact with the fascist right as part of serious and legitimate research into political issues.
Nonetheless, there is substantial evidence to suggest that the circulation and tolerance of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories by groups such as the Christic Institute and Pacifica Radio stations has created a large audience, especially on the West Coast, that gullibly accepts undocumented anti-government assertions alongside scrupulous documented research, with little ability to tell the two apart. In some cases, people who believe themselves to be progressive activists see no moral problem with alliances with the fascist right, so long as the shared enemy is the Bush Administration. Furthermore, rightists such as Bo Gritz and Craig Hulet continue to imply that they work closely with Daniel Sheehan and Father Bill Davis of the Christic Institute, while the response from the Christic Institute has been tardy and equivocal. The most troublesome and widespread aspects of this phenomenon have occurred in California where some radio hosts have promoted Sheehan and Davis of Christic along with right-wing persons in Liberty Lobby and the conspiratorial right as jointly working together to expose the government's corrupt maneuverings. Radio personality Craig Hulet has encouraged this belief in interviews by warning of attempts to criticize those who are "kicking George Bush." Hulet, in fact, specifically named Sheehan, Davis, Marchetti, Prouty, Gritz, and himself as researchers who needed to be defended against those who criticized coalitions between the left and the right.
There is little agreement among progressive researchers and journalists on how material from far-right sources should be handled. Some progressive researchers are suspicious that government intelligence agents and rightist researchers may leak information to progressive journalists to achieve a right-wing political goal, perhaps as part of a faction fight over government foreign policy strategies.
Journalist Russ Bellant is highly critical of those who tolerate or apologize for people who work with the LaRouchians, the Populist Party or the Liberty Lobby network. "I think you discredit yourself when you work with these bigoted forces," says Bellant, "and mere association tends to lend credence to these rightist groups because people assume the group can't be that bad if a respected person on the left is associated with them."
This study begins with a brief overview of several paranoid conspiracy theories prevalent in contemporary right-wing circles.
It then examines the right wing's anti-government critique and rightist influences on Christic Institute's theories of Iran-Contragate.
There is an extensive examination of the LaRouchians' attempts to penetrate the progressive antiwar movement, as well as a brief look at the activities of other far-right groups (both pro-war and anti-interventionist) during the Gulf War. This section includes a discussion of the surprising involvement of some formerly prominent civil rights leaders with LaRouchian and other neo-fascist groups.
This is followed by a discussion of how prejudice, racism and anti-Jewish theories are enmeshed in a variety of political movements in the U.S., especially the Populist Party. The next section examines the emergence of anti-Jewish bigotry within Black nationalist movements.
A discussion of left/right coalition building is followed by a preliminary attempt to establish some criteria for discussion of these complex political issues, including sections on logical fallacies and the pitfalls of unsubstantiated conspiracism.
Finally, there is a brief discussion of the overall dilemma and a suggestion that further study and open discussion are needed to sort out the complex and confusing issues raised by but, alas, not answered by this report.
Right-Wing Critics of U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Foreign Policy
Populist Party/Liberty Lobby Recruitment of Anti-CIA Critics
It was the casualties of the Vietnam war that crystallized a right-wing critique of U.S. foreign policy for its reliance on covert action, counterinsurgency and political deals as tactical alternatives to military confrontation to achieve geo-political goals. The right-wing analysis raised questions that many citizens were asking. If we didn't want to fight a war to win in the traditional sense, then why did all those soldiers have to die? What was the purpose? Where was the benefit to the U.S.? Who gained from this process? These questions were not asked only by persons on the right, but the answers and theories the right developed were far different than those proposed by the left.
Fletcher Prouty's 1973 book
Liberty Lobby and the
In 1974, Marchetti, a former executive assistant to the deputy
director of the CIA, co-authored
Marchetti describes himself as a person whose "intelligence expertise
and well-placed contacts have provided me with a unique insight
into the subversion of our democratic process and foreign policy
by those who would put the interests of Israel
Marchetti was co-publisher of the
While concern over Reagan Administration participation in joint
intelligence operations with Mossad is legitimate, the use of
anti-Zionism as a cover for conspiracist anti-Jewish bigotry can
be seen in an article in the August 24, 1981 issue of
"A brazen attempt by influential "Israel-firsters" in the policy echelons of the Reagan administration to extend their control to the day-to-day espionage and covert-action operations of the CIA was the hidden source of the controversy and scandals that shook the U.S. intelligence establishment this summer. "
"The dual loyalists, whose domination over the federal executive's high planning and strategy-making resources is now just about total, have long wanted to grab a hand in the on-the-spot "field control" of the CIA's worldwide clandestine services. They want this control, not just for themselves, but on behalf of the Mossad, Israel's terrorist secret police. "
The LaRouchian Critique
While the Carto empire was recruiting Prouty, Marchetti and other critics of the CIA, the LaRouchians were probing government misconduct and linking U.S. political elites to their worldview in which the oligarchic families of Great Britain are the font of all world evil. Over the years LaRouchian literature has maintained that political leadership in Great Britain is really controlled by Jewish banking families such as the Rothschilds, a standard anti-Jewish theory that influenced such bigots as Henry Ford and Adolph Hitler.
In their book [f-2] first published in 1978, the LaRouchians assert that the oligarchy in Great Britain is in league with Jewish bankers to control the smuggling of drugs into the United States. Arch-rightist and former U.S. intelligence operative, the late Mitchell WerBell said the book was of "outstanding importance," because it told "the history of a political strike against the United States in an undeclared war being waged by Great Britain."
LaRouche's publications were among the first periodicals to run
articles exposing aspects of the covert Contra aid network, well
before a fateful plane crash first tipped off the mainstream press
to the full extent of the story. Right-wing coverage of government
intelligence abuse is not unique to the LaRouchians. Other far-right
groups such as Liberty Lobby and its
Herb Quinde, an intelligence policy analyst for the LaRouchians, says that in the 1980's the LaRouchians were contacted by a group of disaffected former and current intelligence specialists who Quinde referred to as "the Arabists." Both government and private sector analysts confirm that there are persons critical of current U.S. foreign policy reliance on Israel whose ideas are discussed in policy meetings. These persons are sometimes referred to as "Arabists." They represent a minority viewpoint in government circles that needs to be factored into political equations. Most of these persons are geo-political pragmatists who think that oil is the key to the Middle East and so support for Israel is misguided since Israel doesn't have oil. Others simply support a more even-handed policy in the Middle East, especially concerning Palestinian rights. The so-called "Arabists" are more accurately seen as a diffuse and broad theoretical tendency rather than an ethnic group, pro-Arab faction, or specific political organization.
Some of these persons, however, have fierce anti-Jewish views and have sought alliances with overt bigots and persons who circulate paranoid conspiracy theories in which Jews are believed to control the world. Their theory at its most paranoid believes Great Britain's intelligence services have influenced U.S. intelligence agencies since the inception of the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the CIA. Great Britain's intelligence empire is seen as predominantly Jewish, riddled with communists and homosexuals, and with an open line to Moscow. Mossad is believed to manipulate U.S. foreign policy and direct much of U.S. intelligence activity. The CIA is believed to be full of moles, probably inserted by a Anglophile/Jewish/Communist network. True patriots are urged to try to expose this "dual loyalist" reality and push the U.S. to ally with its real friends in the Middle East, the Arab monarchies and familial oligarchies.
These theories have little to do with democracy, social justice or peace in the Middle East, and they use legitimate criticisms of Israeli policies and U.S. pro-Israel policies as a screen to cover prejudice against Jews.
Many reporters were contacted by the LaRouchians offering assistance
and documents to help research the Iran-Contra story. LaRouche's
Peter Dale Scott, Jonathan Marshall and other authors who researched the Iran-Contra story say that in the mid to late 1980's, LaRouchians such as Herb Quinde, who had researched the Oliver North network, were involved in the traditional game of the Capitol press corps--circulating documents and trading theories.
The LaRouchians as Anti-Interventionists
During the late 1980's the LaRouchians covertly sought to expand their contacts with the left and attempted to link up with progressive groups over issues such as anti-interventionism, covert action, government domestic repression, civil liberties and Third World debt. Many progressive researchers report that during this period they began to receive telephone calls from LaRouchian operatives suggesting joint work or offering documents or story ideas.
Progressive activists also were targeted. For instance, LaRouche organizers involved themselves in an international anti-interventionist conference held in Panama, and have worked behind the scenes around the issue of U.S. involvement in Panamanian affairs ever since. Although conference organizers say they tried to isolate the LaRouchians at the conference, there is little doubt that the LaRouchians managed to leave the impression with some activists that they were a key component in the alliance against U.S. intervention in Panama.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has become a vocal opponent of U.S. intervention and was a major critic of the U.S. invasion of Panama. Clark has regularly worked in the same anti-intervention projects as the LaRouchians, where their presence would have been difficult not to notice. While there is no evidence (or even a reasonable suspicion) that Clark willingly works with the LaRouchians or shares any of their bigoted views, it is clear the LaRouchians delight in implying that just such a relationship exists between themselves and Clark, especially since Clark agreed to represent the LaRouchians in filing legal appeals flowing out of a series of federal criminal convictions of LaRouchian fundraisers and LaRouche himself.
The ability of the LaRouchians to inject themselves into mainstream
debate around the issue of Panama is astonishing. For instance, at
the April, 1991 conference of the Latin American Studies Association
in Washington, D.C., a panel on Panama included LaRouchian expert
Carlos Wesley. Wesley was not the first choice. Two panelists from
Panama who were originally scheduled to appear did not receive
funding to attend the conference, so panel co-coordinator Donald
Bray from California State University in Los Angeles then called
a person he respected as an expert on Panama for advice on a last
minute replacement. "I called Carlos Russell, a Panamanian who now
teaches in the U.S., and who was a former Ambassador to the OAS
for a former Panamanian government," explains Bray. "He said 'you
are not going to believe this, but I am going to recommend a
LaRouchite, Carlos Wesley.'" A slightly bemused Bray says he knew
Wesley from long ago and knew he was a reporter for LaRouche's
Wesley was identified as a correspondent for <Executive Intelligence
Review> (
The ties between LaRouche and Panama go back several years to when
LaRouche intelligence collectors began trading tidbits of information
with Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Following Noriega's indictment
for conspiracy in drug deals, journalist William Branigin, writing
in the
According to a January, 1990
Another example of ideological cross-fertilization involves Cecilio Simon, a Panamanian who is an administrator at the University of Panama. Simon spoke along with Ramsey Clark and others at the April 6, 1990 "Voices from Panama" forum held at New York City's Town Hall auditorium. Simon later spoke at the LaRouchian "Fifth International Martin Luther King Tribunal of the Schiller Institute," on June 2, 1990 in Silver Spring, Maryland. These incidents demonstrate how the LaRouchians continue to insert themselves into anti-interventionist work and gain credibility on the left.
Rightist Influences on the Christic Institute Theories
The problem of conflating documentable facts with analysis and conclusions and then merging them with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories popular on the far right has plagued progressive foreign policy critiques for several years. The Christic Institute's "Secret Team" theory is perhaps the most widespread example of the phenomenon. While many of the charges raised by Christic regarding the La Penca bombing and the private pro-Contra network are documented, some of their assertions regarding the nature and operations of a long-standing conspiracy of high-level CIA, military, and foreign policy advisors inside the executive branch remain undocumented, and in a few instances, are factually inaccurate.
There are two related questions in this matter. One is whether or not the case was handled properly with regard to the actual clients, Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan. The other is how much unsubstantiated conspiracism was made part of the case and its surrounding publicity. This paper will focus on the issue of the undocumented conspiracy theories.
It is arguable that while Christic pursued the broad conspiracy of the "Secret Team", the bedrock portions of the case involving the actual La Penca incidents took a back seat. A few weeks before the case was slated for trial, the Christic Institute still had not diagramed the elements of proof, a legal procedure where the text of the complaint is broken down into a list of single elements that have to be proven with either valid documentation, a sworn affidavit, or a live witness. This had created problems for researchers and lawyers who had no master list of what needed to be proven when devising questions for depositions and witnesses.
When a special meeting was convened shortly before trial, it turned out that for some of allegations concerning the alleged broad "Secret Team" conspiracy, the only evidence in possession of the Christic Institute was newspaper clippings and excerpts from books--and in a few instances there was no evidence other than uncorroborated assertions collected by researchers.
Raised at the meeting was the issue of whether or not the case had unwittingly incorporated unsubstantiated conspiracy theories from right-wing groups such as the LaRouchians. The staff was warned that some defendants would likely prevail at trial due to lack of court-quality evidence and would then likely pursue financial penalties (called Rule 11 sanctions).[f-3]
These matters are important because Christic press statements have fueled the idea, and many Christic Institute supporters believe, that the dismissal of the case was just another example of a massive government conspiracy and cover-up. It is undeniable that the presiding judge was hostile to Christic and stretched judicial discretion to the breaking point in dismissing the case. The dismissal was unfair. However, according to a statement issued by Christic client Tony Avirgan, the Institute must share at least "partial responsibility for the dismissal of the La Penca law suit."
"It's sad that these issues have to be raised by 'outsiders' such as Berlet. But the truth is that criticism-self criticism, an essential tool in any social movement, has never been tolerated by the leaders of the Christic Institute. Those who criticized the legal work of Sheehan were labelled as enemies and ignored. "
"There were, indeed, numerous undocumented allegations in the suit, particularly in Sheehan's Affidavit of Fact. As plaintiffs in the suit, Martha Honey and I struggled for years to try to bring the case down to earth, to bringing it away from Sheehan's wild allegations. Over the years, numerous staff lawyers quit over their inability to control Sheehan. We stuck with it--and continued to struggle--because we felt that the issues being raised were important. But this was a law suit, not a political rally, and the hostile judges latched on to the lack of proof and the sloppy legal work. "
"The case, before it was inflated by Sheehan, was supposed to center on the La Penca bombing. On this, there is a strong body of evidence here in Costa Rica. It is enough evidence to get a reluctant Costa Rican judiciary to indict two CIA operatives, John Hull and Felipe Vidal, for murder and drug trafficking. Unfortunately, little of this evidence was successfully transformed into evidence acceptable to U.S. courts. It was either never submitted or was poorly prepared. In large part, this was because Sheehan was concentrating on his broad, 30-year conspiracy. "
"The exercise Berlet suggested--breaking each allegation down and compiling evidentiary proof for it--was indeed undertaken by competent lawyers on the Christic Institute staff. But it was an exercise begun too late. The case had already been spiked by Sheehan's Affidavit. "
"We feel that it is important to openly discuss these things so that similar mistakes are avoided in the future. "
Jane Hunter of
Dr. Diana Reynolds is one of the many critics of portions of the Christic thesis. Reynolds thinks undocumented conspiracy theories hurt the case. She believes there is much solid evidence concerning the actual La Penca bombing and aftermath, and some specific Iran-Contra material, but she thinks "it is fair to say that some right-wing conspiracy theories were woven into the theory behind the Christic case." Reynolds read thousands of pages of depositions taken by the Christic Institute while she was researching a story on federal emergency planning, later published in <Covert Action Information Bulletin>. According to Reynolds:
"It is clear to me from the depositions of Ed Wilson and Gene Wheaton that the notion of a broad conspiracy conducted by the so-called Enterprise, beyond the La Penca bombing and the specific Iran-Contra scandal, has many holes. I am thoroughly convinced that those two depositions contain the nub of the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, and I have said this for a very long time. When we get into the Christic allegations regarding the Middle East and Asia and the Camp David accords and forty years of conspiracy, their thesis falls apart. "
Reynolds suggests it is fair to ask whether or not Christic was manipulated by right-wing persons associated with factions in the intelligence community. "It is curious that Wilson is a former intelligence operative, and that Wheaton, at the same time he was working for Christic, was also alleged by Mr. Owen in his Christic deposition to be passing information to Neil Livingston at the National Security Council to protect some of the people who were implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal," says Reynolds. At least two former Christic investigators say they warned Sheehan not to rely on conspiratorial analysis and to be suspicious of material from right-wing sources. Nevertheless, Sheehan was rebuked by his own staff and others in Christic leadership for repeatedly lapsing into an overly conspiratorial analysis in public appearances, and for making claims that the Christic staff could not document or otherwise support when responding to follow-up inquiries by reporters.
While the allegation that right-wing conspiracy theories were woven into the case is hotly denied by Christic, the contacts by the LaRouchians during the mid and late 1980's are not disputed. According to a Christic spokesperson:
"In conducting investigations historically we have sometimes had to get information from persons with whom one would not normally associate. People like drug dealers, mercenaries and intelligence agents. During our investigation, there were some meetings with LaRouche staffers conducted by Lanny Sinkin and David MacMichael. The information was always viewed very skeptically and none of it found its way into our casework or courtroom materials. All those contacts were stopped by 1989. We take seriously the view that the LaRouche organization is an organization with whom progressives should be very wary. "
David MacMichael and Lanny Sinkin are no longer affiliated with the Christic Institute. Sinkin says his contact with the LaRouchians while at Christic was limited to a few brief conversations. MacMichael, a former CIA analyst turned agency critic who now writes and lectures on covert action, has had a more extensive relationship to the LaRouchians. MacMichael and Sinkin, however, were not the only Christic investigators who received information from the LaRouchians. Christic investigator Bill McCoy also received information from the LaRouchians as did at least one other Christic researcher, according to former staffers.
Sheehan was warned by his own staff in 1988 that contacts with the
research circles around LaRouche and Liberty Lobby were a problem
on both factual and moral grounds. Later Danny Sheehan appeared on
the
- The Right-Wing Roots of the "Secret Team" Theory -
Christic no longer uses the "Secret Team" slogan, but for the first several years of the case, the Christic Institute used the term "Secret Team" to describe the legal conspiracy they alleged in court (a copy of the Prouty book sat in Sheehan's personal bookshelf in his Christic office). There is no dispute that the "Secret Team" theory came from the political right. The "Affidavit of Daniel P. Sheehan" filed on December 12, 1986 and revised on January 31, 1987, refers frequently to the "Secret Team," and states explicitly that the term came from right-wing sources.
"...I was contacted by Source #47, a right-wing para-military specialist, former U.S. Army pilot in Vietnam and military reform specialist in January of 1986. "
"Source #47, the Specialist, who was unaware of my investigation, informed me that he had met--at a right-wing function--a former U.S. military intelligence officer, Source #48...this source began to discuss with Source #47 the existence of a "Secret Team" of former high-ranking American CIA officials, former high-ranking U.S. military officials and Middle Eastern arms merchants--who also specialized in the performance of covert political assassinations of communists and "enemies" of this "Secret Team" which carried on its own independent, American foreign policy--regardless of the will of Congress, the will of the President, or even the will of the American Central Intelligence Agency. "
Critics of the Christic thesis say the "Secret Team" was not a
cabal operating against the will of the president or the CIA, but
was an illegal, secret government-sponsored operation established
by CIA director William Casey and coordinated by White House aide
Oliver North, with assistance from a network of ultra-right groups
who were determined to circumvent the will of Congress. This
"Enterprise" at times worked closely with the Mossad and carried
out clandestine counterinsurgency missions. Some of these
counterinsurgency missions were based on the same model of pacification
used by U.S. Special Forces and clandestine CIA operations in
Vietnam. It is just this emphasis on counterinsurgency and clandestine
operations rather than direct military battles that forms the basis
of criticism in Fletcher Prouty's book
Some of the undocumented conspiracy theories regarding the CIA and
U.S. foreign policy that were widely circulated in progressive
circles before the Iran-Contragate scandal hit the headlines seem
to have appeared first in the LaRouchian's <Executive Intelligence
Review> or
The
The April 23, 1984
Many people believe that Christic was the first group to reveal the "Rex 84" story. According to the 1986 Sheehan "Affidavit" revised in 1987:
"During the second week of April of 1984, I was informed by Source #4 that President Ronald Reagan had, on April 6, 1984, issued National Security Decision Directive #52 authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency director Louis O. Giuffrida and his Deputy Frank Salcedo to undertake a secret nation-wide, 'readiness exercise' code-named 'Rex 84....' "
The impression left is that a Christic source exclusively developed
this information and quietly handed it over to Sheehan. In fact,
the second week of April 1984, the "Rex 84" story was bannered on
the front page of the
Sheehan has told reporters that the "Rex 84" story did not come
from
"In early May of 1984, I was supplied by Source #4 with a number of documents describing, in some detail, a project supervised by then Special Assistant California State Attorney General Edwin Meese code-named "Project Cable Splicer"...part of a larger program, code-named "Project Garden Plot"--which was a nation-wide war games scenario...to establish a nation-wide state of martial law if Richard Nixon's "political enemies" required him to declare a State of National Emergency. "
While the descriptions of Cable Splicer and Garden Plot are accurate,
the source is deceptively obscured. The original story of Cable
Splicer and Garden Plot broke in the alternative press in 1975 in
an article by Ron Ridenhour with Arthur Lublow published in Arizona's
Several former Christic staffers, who asked to remain nameless, suggest that, at the very least, a critical reevaluation of some allegations made in the Christic case would be beneficial in light of the possibility that material from far-right, conspiracist or anti-Jewish sources was uncritically woven into the original "Secret Team" Christic thesis. They say that the Christic theories need to be reassessed with the ulterior motives and credibility of those sources in mind.
The Christic Institute was supplied with the text of the criticisms raised in this section of the report, as well as an extensive list of written questions. With the exception of the quote regarding the LaRouchians, they chose not to respond.
Barbara Honneger, The October Surprise & The LaRouchians
In many way the LaRouche organization, with its slickly repackaged conspiracy theories, serves as a nexus for a number of tendencies on the political right, ranging from ultra-conservatives to outright fascists and white supremacists. LaRouchian material on AIDS, for instance, is cited by homophobic organizations such as the fundamentalist Christian group Summit Ministries. It seems clear that the LaRouche network reaches out to many constituencies, including some that seem improbable on the surface, including some on the left.
Over the past few years the LaRouchians have solicited contacts with a number of critics of U.S. foreign policy and intelligence agency practices, sometimes with surprising success. In many cases, it is the LaRouchian intelligence network that serves as a broker for information flowing between left-wing and right-wing groups. LaRouchians appear to have first penetrated the left in recent years when they began to trade information on covert action and CIA misconduct. The LaRouchians were early critics of the Oliver North network. In the early 1980's, LaRouche intelligence operatives such as Jeffrey Steinberg maintained close ties to a faction in the National Security Council which opposed Oliver North's activities. At the same time the LaRouchians quietly began providing information to mainstream and progressive reporters and researchers.
The Christic Institute and the Empowerment Project which distributes the film "CoverUp: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair" are major promoters of Barbara Honegger's theories regarding an alleged "October Surprise." The October Surprise was the term used among Reagan campaign aides to describe the possibility that the Iranian government might arrange for the release of U.S. hostages prior to the election which pitted incumbent Jimmy Carter against challenger Ronald Reagan. Barbara Honneger alleges in her book <October Surprise> that Reagan campaign aides did negotiate with representatives of the Iranian government to delay any hostage release until after the 1980 election. Substantial circumstantial evidence exists to suggest such a charge might be true, but there is little incontrovertible proof.
Honneger's research and analysis are questionable. In the 1989
edition of her book
While Honneger sometimes cites to progressive periodicals such as
Honneger also makes assertions that strain credulity. She quotes without comment the claim of Eugene Wheaton that the CIA is actually secretly controlled by a group of retired members of the OSS.
In the July/August 1991 issue of
"It was no big surprise that there was a problem getting 'Coverup' on PBS. Programs that address U.S. foreign policy in particular and are not in agreement with the policies of the sitting president rarely get much of a chance on TV. "
In fact, PBS has aired on the "Frontline" series programs about the October Surprise and CIA involvement in drug trafficking. PBS has also aired two Bill Moyers specials on Iran-Contragate that concluded that Reagan lied repeatedly and may have committed impeachable offenses, and that evidence exists to suggest that Bush's role in the Contra resupply operation was far more direct than he has admitted. The primary difference between the shows broadcast by PBS and "Coverup" is the reliance in "Coverup" on Barbara Honneger and Danny Sheehan and their unsubstantiated and undocumented charges. It would have been difficult for PBS to justify running Honneger's assertions given her reliance on material supplied by neo-Nazis with a history of circulating unreliable information.
"Coverup" also promotes the Christic theme that Iran-Contragate was caused by a long-standing conspiracy of individual agents. In contrast to this individualistic formulation, the Moyers programs stress a systemic failure: that the lack of congressional oversight over foreign policy and covert action has created a Constitutional crisis where the balance of powers between branches of government has been skewed toward the executive branch.
The Gulf War
The right's attempt to influence and recruit the left became highly visible during the Gulf War crisis in late 1990 and early 1991. As the movement against the war in the Middle East began to build, a handful of far-right and anti-Jewish groups began to seek alliances with liberal, progressive, and left antiwar coalitions. It is important to recognize that as a whole the antiwar movement overwhelmingly rejected these overtures by the political right, while recognizing that the attempt reflects a larger ongoing problem.
Sowing Confusion
The rightist efforts caused problems across the country, especially attempts by followers of neo-fascist Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. to forge ties with liberal and left antiwar coalitions. Other fascist groups organizing against the war included the Populist Party, Liberty Lobby, and some elements of the white supremacist movement. Other far-right and ultra-conservative groups opposing the war included some factions in the Libertarian movement, the John Birch Society, and groups purveying general rightist conspiracy theories.
Most persons in the antiwar movement seemed unaware of the backgrounds and ideology of the several rightist groups that sought alliances during the Gulf War period, and merely were hoping to build a broad-based alliance. Still, some activists fear that in the future, fragile coalitions around peace and social justice issues could be seriously damaged by the presence of bigoted ultra-right forces, and argue that on moral grounds alone, coalitions with fascist, racist, and anti-Jewish groups are not acceptable.
Some of the rightist and anti-Jewish groups that opposed the Gulf War also have a racialist white supremacist ideology that not only considers persons of Jewish and Arab heritage to be inferior, but believes no person of color has a legitimate claim to citizenship in the United States. Within weeks of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, there were reports of physical attacks on and threats against both Arab and Jewish institutions and persons of Arab and Jewish descent. Left groups which tolerate or apologize for persons who have allied themselves with the racialist ultra-right send a message that such views, which motivate acts of discrimination and assault, are an acceptable part of political debate in our society.
Most conservatives and rightists supported the U.S. involvement in the Gulf War. The actual attempts by the sectors of the political right who opposed the war were varied by both locale and method.
The antiwar rightist groups generally did not seek actual coalitions with the left, but instead passed out handbills at large antiwar demonstrations as a recruitment mechanism. For example, the ultra-conservative and conspiracist John Birch Society distributed antiwar flyers at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, and at a downtown Boston antiwar rally.
For many on the left, this was their first experience with a
courtship by the ultra-right. Author Sara Diamond urges left
activists to be suspicious of the motives of the opportunistic
right which approached the left during the Gulf War. Diamond, whose
book
One danger posed by the right wing's recruitment attempts is that the widespread conspiracism in some sectors of the far right has found fertile ground among naive or uncritical forces on the left. The problem is exacerbated when rightists put forward their paranoid and sometimes anti-Jewish theories in progressive circles where conspiracist or prejudiced sentiments have been tolerated rather than routinely confronted. Within the U.S. progressive movement, the issue of an undercurrent of anti-Jewish bigotry among some pro-Palestinian, Black nationalist, and left groups has been under discussion for several years.
What the left faces is the task of carefully drawing distinctions between views that are solely anti-Zionist or critical of the state of Israel's policies, and views that reflect bigoted conspiracy theories about persons of Jewish heritage. If peace and social justice forces do not publicly reject anti-Jewish bigots, this task becomes impossible, and the charge of anti-Semitism will taint the entire progressive movement.
The utilization of scapegoating conspiracies is by no means limited to the fascist right, but during the Gulf War some antiwar activists became attracted to scurrilous conspiratorial theories of elite control circulated by right-wing researchers. One conspiracy theorist who gained high visibility during the Gulf War was Craig Hulet. Another conspiracy theorist, Antony Sutton, avoids explicit anti-Jewish rhetoric, but pursues a line promoting arcane banking conspiracies (often involving Jewish banking families traditionally scapegoated by bigots). Sutton also has supported racial separatism between Blacks and whites in South Africa. Another theorist, Eustace Mullins, is a notorious anti-Jewish bigot who focuses on anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in which the Rothschilds and other Jews control the world economy. Mullins' work is promoted by U.S. white supremacist and neo-Nazi circles. Persons supporting the neo-fascist Populist Party used Hulet's radio appearances on progressive Pacifica network radio station KPFA in San Francisco to organize study groups where the theories of Mullins and Sutton were promoted.
The LaRouchians and the Gulf War
The most disruptive rightist penetration of antiwar groups was by the LaRouchians. The LaRouchians generally operate under front groups such as Food for Peace, Schiller Institute, and <Executive Intelligence Review>. Some local antiwar groups have worked with the LaRouchians, while others have not. While often described merely as conservative or extremist, the LaRouche organization and its various front groups are a fascist political movement with echoes of neo-Nazi ideology. The group's ultimate leader, Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., is currently in jail because his fundraisers sold unsecured securities to the elderly and because LaRouche paid no taxes while living in a Virginia mansion. LaRouche was sentenced in January, 1989 to fifteen years in prison after a federal court found LaRouche and six codefendants guilty of a mail fraud conspiracy related to fundraising. LaRouche was also convicted of tax evasion. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court let the convictions stand without comment.
LaRouche's lawyers have repeatedly sued activist critics who describe him as a fascist, racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Jewish bigot, lunatic cult leader, neo-Nazi racial theorist, crook, and demagogue. LaRouche has lost every case. One jury in Virginia found that calling LaRouche a "small-time Hitler" was not defamatory and then awarded damages to the news organization sued by LaRouche.
During the Gulf War the LaRouchians appeared at antiwar rallies and meetings in thirty cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Ann Arbor, St. Louis, Omaha, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
At the University of Ottawa in Canada, LaRouche's Schiller Institute co-sponsored an antiwar event with an organization of Middle Eastern students. At an October 20, 1990 antiwar demonstration in New York City, the Schiller Institute had four people carrying a large banner and a small group of supporters organized in a contingent. The LaRouchians have passed out petitions at antiwar rallies, and then called the persons who signed the petitions to solicit money for the LaRouche organization. Other fundraising pitches are made at antiwar rallies.
In a flyer announcing a December 15, 1990 rally, a group called simply the "LaRouche Organization" was originally listed as a coalition member. The presence of the LaRouchians, as well as other anti-Jewish bigots, in the St. Louis antiwar coalition originally caused consternation, especially among members of New Jewish Agenda, a group which supports a democratic Israel, Palestinian rights, and a Palestinian homeland. When coalition leaders were provided with documentation of LaRouchian attacks on Jews, Blacks and other minorities, including LaRouchian support for the apartheid government of South Africa, the LaRouche supporters were booted out of the coalition.
In Los Angeles, several LaRouchians were dismayed when the local antiwar coalition pointed to its principles of unity, which included a call for a sensible non-nuclear energy policy. The LaRouchians are vocal supporters of nuclear power. In Richmond, Virginia, local antiwar organizers simply kept shouting at the LaRouchians to "shut up" when they began their bizarre spiels and for a time the LaRouchians stopped coming to meetings. The LaRouchians soon returned, but attempted to keep a low profile while persistently circulating their literature.
During December, LaRouche's followers held vigils on a number of campuses to build support for a touted "National Teach-In to Stop the War" held December 15-16 in Chicago. The Chicago conference, titled "Development is the New Name for Peace," turned out to be the annual LaRouche-sponsored Food for Peace Conference, repackaged to attract antiwar activists. The conference drew over 350 attendees. Several persons active with the St. Louis African-American Anti-War/Peace Coalition who attended the conference were later asked to leave the Coalition for being disruptive and spreading anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, according to several St. Louis activists who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Only three dozen students were sprinkled among the crowd which drew persons from California, Oregon, North and South Dakota, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nebraska, and the Canadian province of Quebec. Many in the audience were farmers. Close to one-third of the conference attendees were African-Americans.
While the number of students was small, the emphasis on the situation in the Middle East was not neglected. LaRouche regulars Mel Klenetsky and Nancy Spannaus moderated the program which included a videotaped message and live phone patch from the cultural attache for the Iraqi embassy, Dr. Mayser Al Mallah. The LaRouche organization has maintained ties with the Iraqi Ba'ath Party for many years, according to several former LaRouchian intelligence gatherers who have left the group.
Other panelists at the LaRouchian conference included the Rev.
James Bevel, an early civil rights leader now active in several
LaRouchian front groups; a representative from Minister Louis
Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, editor of
the
How The LaRouchians Exploited Antiwar Organizers
A long-time political activist who marched with the Cleveland
contingent in the January 19th antiwar demonstration in Washington,
D.C. was more than a little surprised when he noticed that people
in the contingent next to him were passing out literature from
Lyndon LaRouche's political front groups. "They were beating a drum
and chanting 'George Bush, You Can't Hide, the New World Order is
Genocide,'" he reports. "There were about 100 people, many elderly,
some Black," he says, and one flyer they handed out carried a
headline scolding, "U.S. Citizens Must Recognize Their Past Mistakes
and Support LaRouche." There was a large banner and some people
carried signs that said "Free LaRouche, Jail the ADL." At the march
the LaRouchians passed out their
According to Gavrielle Gemma, coordinator of the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East (the group that sponsored the January 19th antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C.), the official policy of the Coalition is to reject any work with the LaRouchians. Although the LaRouchians and their supporters involved themselves in Coalition activities during the Gulf War, these incidents did not reflect the official policy of the Coalition, according to several Coalition spokespersons, but were attempts (sometimes successful) by the LaRouchians and their allies to portray themselves as part of the Coalition.
Specifically, in interviews with several Coalition spokespersons the following picture of how the LaRouchians manipulated and exploited the Coalition emerged:
*** The Rev. James Bevel had not been invited to the January 4th Coalition press conference featuring former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark which was aired on the C-SPAN cable channel. Bevel arrived with an invited speaker, a Black serviceman resisting assignment to the Gulf. Although Bevel had worked with the LaRouchians for many months prior to the press conference, it was not until weeks after the press conference that Coalition leadership became aware that Bevel had ties to the LaRouche organization.
*** People affiliated with the Coalition, who defended the appearance of Bevel, were reacting to Bevel's past history as a respected civil rights leader, and were not aware, or found it impossible to accept, that Bevel had now aligned himself with far-right groups.
*** A contingent of LaRouchians who marched in the Coalition's January 19th demonstration in Washington, D.C. did so against the expressed wishes of Coalition leadership.
*** A security marshal who told demonstrators on January 19th not to continue a chant critical of the LaRouchians was unaware of who the LaRouchians were, and was merely trying to enforce the policy of ensuring peaceful relations among contingents.
*** Although Ramsey Clark has chosen not to say anything critical of the LaRouchians due to his representation of them in legal matters, the Coalition does not hesitate to criticize roundly the LaRouchians as fascists and anti-Semites.
*** The apparent reluctance among some persons affiliated with the Coalition to discuss charges of LaRouchian involvement with reporters did not reflect the views of the leadership of the Coalition, and in some cases appears to reflect a disbelief among these persons that the LaRouchians had managed successfully to portray themselves as part of the Coalition.
*** December, 1990 and January, 1991 were chaotic and confusing months and the official position of the Coalition regarding a refusal to work with the LaRouchians was perhaps not made clear to all persons actively organizing Coalition events around the country.
*** While the LaRouchians appear to abuse their legal relationship to attorney Clark by using his name in their publicity and implying his political support, it is the firm belief of the Coalition that Clark's refusal to comment on this circumstance reflects a personal ethical position, and in no way implies any connection between Clark and the political work of the LaRouchians.
Leaders of the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East are aware that the LaRouchians continue to attempt to penetrate their organization, and urge persons who find LaRouchians portraying themselves as official members of the Coalition to challenge that claim. Anyone who continues to claim the Coalition tolerates the presence of the LaRouchians should be referred to the national office of the Coalition for a short and clear rejection of that contention.
"We do not work with fascists or anti-Semites," said Coalition coordinator Gavrielle Gemma, "and that includes the LaRouchites." Gemma says this is not only the Coalition attitude, but her own as well, noting that she once personally threw some LaRouchians off a picket line during the Greyhound strike.
Apparently the position of the Coalition leadership against working with the LaRouchians, now clearly unequivocal, was slow to reach all organizers during the chaotic months of December, 1990 and January, 1991. This lack of clarity among rank-and-file organizers, some of whom were inexperienced, coupled with the LaRouchians' manipulative opportunism, the Coalition's uncertainty over Bevel's tie to the LaRouchians, and Ramsey Clark's silence on the LaRouchians' use of his name, created enough confusion so that some organizers for the Coalition at first defended Bevel's appearance at the January 4th press conference, and defended the participation of various LaRouchian front groups in Coalition events. It also turns out that a report issued by the LaRouchian Schiller Institute, and cited at the January 4th press conference was in fact introduced by a LaRouchian attending the press conference as a reporter.
Chicago antiwar organizer Alynne Romo reports the local Emergency Coalition for Peace in the Middle East has "asked the LaRouchians not to participate when they have appeared at our demonstrations." According to Romo, "The LaRouche people called us several times. They told us Margaret Thatcher was behind the situation in Iraq and that she put George Bush up to it." Romo adds that "they also said they were working with Ramsey Clark as a way to get us to cooperate."
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is the lead legal counsel for an appeal filed by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. and six followers convicted of loan fraud. On October 6, 1989, Clark appeared and gave oral arguments in the case before a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia to argue for the reversal of the convictions.
The right of Mr. Clark to represent the LaRouche organization is not disputed, but when the LaRouchians use his name in a political rather than legal context, problems arise. Based on several dozen interviews with antiwar activists in twenty cities, it appears that sometimes LaRouchians fundraisers and organizers mention they work with Ramsey Clark, while other times they do not. The use by the LaRouchians of Clark's name has been very effective at college student government meetings where many students have never heard of LaRouche, and tend to be sympathetic to his claims of government harassment. After gaining an audience, the LaRouchians encourage the student leaders to join their "coalition" and to authorize college funding.
Sam Schwartz, a faculty member at Bronx Community College in New York, received a phone call from a LaRouche attorney threatening to sue Schwartz penniless unless he stopped telling students that LaRouche was an anti-Semite and fascist. Several African-Americans active in St. Louis who objected to the presence of the LaRouchians in a local antiwar coalition were also threatened with lawsuits for their critical characterization of the LaRouche movement. Clark has not been involved in these threats of lawsuits.
Since Clark took on the LaRouche appeal, the LaRouchians have blazoned Clark's name across a substantial amount of propaganda used both in fundraising and in coaxing persons into consideration of the political message of the organization. Sometimes the LaRouchian references to Clark simply cause confusion. One antiwar activist who was handed a LaRouchian pamphlet mentioning Clark was at first convinced the LaRouchians were cleverly trying to smear Clark by using his name.
The LaRouchians frequently attempt to build coalitions in a sly
manner. For instance activist Lanny Sinkin, a former attorney for
the Christic Institute, appeared at a March, 1991 post-war panel
sponsored by a Washington, D.C. group called The Time is Now. Also
on the panel were two key LaRouche operatives and a leader of The
Time is Now. According to a staff member of the Washington Peace
Center, members of The Time is Now worked closely with the LaRouchians
and thoroughly disrupted the political work of the Washington Area
Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East during
January and February, 1991. When members of The Time is Now passed
out LaRouche's
Sinkin says he was unaware when invited that LaRouchians would also be on the panel, and he vigorously denies that he has ever had any ongoing relationship with the LaRouchians or that his actions were improper. Sinkin says that his appearance reflected his commitment to speaking to broad audiences. Organizers at the Washington Peace Center counter that Sinkin's presence at the meeting lent credibility to two groups that were disrupting their work.
The issue here is not one of implying any type of ongoing relationship
between Sinkin and the LaRouchians. No such relationship exists.
But for the Washington Peace Center, Sinkin's appearance on the
same platform with the LaRouchians served as an implicit endorsement,
suggesting by example that joint work with the LaRouchians was
acceptable at the same time that the Peace Center was telling
members of the local antiwar coalition that joint work with the
LaRouchians was unacceptable.A number of experienced antiwar
activists warn that working with the LaRouchians and other far-right
and bigoted forces will only discredit serious work towards peace
in the Middle East. Jon Hillson is a seasoned political organizer
and peace activist based in Ohio who already knew the history of
the LaRouchians. Hillson reported LaRouche organizers at events
sponsored by the Cleveland Committee Against War in the Persian
Gulf. At one meeting, "Two people went through the crowd handing
out LaRouche's
How the LaRouchians Exploit Ramsey Clark
An
The Fourth Circuit ruled against LaRouche, saying LaRouche's original
attorneys had waited eighteen days before asking for a continuance.
An
On further appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court let the convictions stand without a hearing or comment.
In fact, more than a few civil libertarians agree there was evidence
of misconduct in the government's investigation of LaRouche, and
the closing of LaRouche's newspaper
When Clark has spoken at LaRouchian-sponsored press conferences
concerning the case, there has been extensive coverage in the
LaRouchian press. One such story featuring Clark appeared in
LaRouche's
Ramsey Clark has steadfastly refused to disassociate his legal work for the LaRouchians from the political work of the LaRouchians, despite the fact that the LaRouchians imply Clark's support in numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Most critics of Clark's silence regarding the LaRouchians say they understand he has a duty as an attorney to represent the LaRouchians fully and vigorously, but feel he has not been sensitive to the ways in which the LaRouchians are using his name in the political arena. These critics point out that the ethical imperatives for an attorney are different than the moral obligations of a leader of an antiwar movement. They say Clark has a political responsibility to distance himself from the LaRouche organization, which is separate from his role as their attorney.
Sometimes it appears that Clark's support of the LaRouche cause
has moved beyond mere legal representation. According to the July
6, 1990
In his CSCE speech, Clark is reported to have said he had reviewed a random selection of sixty-five published articles on LaRouche appearing in the several years prior to LaRouche's prosecution. Clark reportedly said "here you see that he's called every bad thing you can imagine--Nazi, anti-Semitic, violence-prone, thief--over and over again. Vilification...it was absolutely astounding."
The
At a February 28, 1991 international conference in Algeria to oppose U.S. intervention in the Gulf, Clark shared the podium with long-time LaRouche associate Jacques Cheminade, president of the Schiller Institute in France.
- Clark Responds -
Clark confirmed in an interview that he had spoken about the LaRouche
case in Europe at the CSCE conference, but said he had not seen
the transcript of his speech that appeared in LaRouche's <New
Federalist>, and said his speech was not written in advance so he
had no copy. If the report of Clark's comments in
Clark said he had not seen any materials suggesting the LaRouche people were using his name to organize students and others into their antiwar work but he would like to see that material or any other related information. But Clark seemed relatively unconcerned that the LaRouchians might be using or abusing his name in their political work. "That's a risk you always have," as a defense counsel, said Clark.
Clark said that the somewhat glowing description of the LaRouche political movement in the appeals brief he signed reflected the right of any defendant to portray itself in a positive light.
According to Clark, the prosecution of LaRouche in Virginia was a travesty of procedure and a clear violation of the Constitutional right to a fair trial. Clark said the issue was not whether or not the LaRouche people were guilty of crimes, but whether or not they had received a fair trial. On the question of representation of controversial clients on legal appeals, Clark said:
"It's a question of rights, not a question of facts. I remain focused on the legal rights and not the nature of the person involved. I oppose the death penalty on principle, I assume many of the people who I represent on death penalty appeals are in fact guilty, but that is not the point. If you have to apologize first you have a done a disservice to the case. I resist government abuses of people's rights. The government demonizes people...once you have conceded the demon you have lost the principle involved in the defense. By prefacing a defense by first saying 'of course, he is a terrible person' it disables people from considering the matter fairly. "
Clark said the government had demonized people like Saddam Hussein and Lyndon LaRouche and that he felt it was not appropriate to give in to the pejorative labeling of such persons when discussing their activities. This is the same rationale used by Clark in 1986 when he was criticized for not distancing himself from his client Karl Linnas, a Nazi collaborator who was eventually deported because he had lied about his past to gain entrance to the U.S. after World War II. Clark represented Linnas in an appeal which objected to the procedures followed in the deportation. Critics of Clark, including Daniel Levitas of the Center for Democratic Renewal, said Clark was insensitive to the fact that anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi groups were using Clark's appeal to buttress their claims that Linnas was innocent or that the Holocaust was a hoax.[f-5]
Rev. James Bevel
The Rev. James Bevel is an African-American minister from Chicago with a long history of civil rights work but a recent reputation as an opportunist who has swung far to the right. Rev. Bevel now works closely with groups controlled by two neo-fascists, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. The Moon network supported the war effort, while the LaRouchians did not. Bevel focused his energy in opposing the Gulf War, primarily through an alliance with the LaRouchians. Bevel's ties to the LaRouchians go back several years. Bevel not only appeared as a panelist at the LaRouchian antiwar conference in Chicago, but he also has endorsed LaRouche's congressional candidacy, and speaks regularly at LaRouchian forums. Bevel has served on committees created by several LaRouchian front groups, and writes a column for the LaRouchian newspaper <New Federalist>. Bevel has been an effective organizer for the LaRouchians, and took a high profile in their antiwar organizing.
Dr. Manning Marable, in a 1986 column, listed Bevel among a small group of "prominent civil rights spokesmen [who] have gone so far as to form alliances with ultra-right groups, which might give lipservice to blacks' traditional interests." The LaRouchians have sought coalitions with local African-American community activists for many years, often working through religious leaders. A recent example was the LaRouchian support for then Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. During Barry's trial on drug charges, the LaRouchians and the Nation of Islam helped organize protests on behalf of Barry. The LaRouchian representative during these protests was Bevel.
When Bevel endorsed Lyndon LaRouche's congressional candidacy (in Virginia's 10th Congressional District), he signed a statement which included the claim, "Lyndon LaRouche is known and respected in every nation of the Third World as the primary opponent of the genocide policies of the IMF and as the architect and principal spokesman for a new and more just world economic order that guarantees the inalienable rights of all people." The statement speaks glowingly of LaRouche's early theorizing about the AIDS virus and his recommendations for fighting the spread of the virus. In fact, as mentioned before, LaRouche has written that history would not judge harshly those persons who took to the streets and beat homosexuals to death with baseball bats to stop the spread of AIDS.
Bevel represented the LaRouchian Schiller Institute in Omaha,
Nebraska. The
""Bevel was one of 10 people who came to Nebraska in October as
members of a group calling itself the Citizens Fact-Finding Commission
to Investigate Human rights Violations of Children in Nebraska.
That group was organized by the Schiller Institute of Washington,
D.C., and Wiesbaden, Germany. The institute was founded in 1984 by
Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She is the wife of Lyndon LaRouche, who is
serving a 15-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion....The Schiller
group's printed statement disputed the findings of two grand juries
in the Franklin case. A check by the
While Rev. Bevel's historic role as a valued civil rights leader is unquestioned, he has in recent years lost his constituency and his political moorings. Dr. Manning Marable noted noted in 1986 that Bevel, had become "a Republican party leader in Chicago's Black community, and soon earned the reputation as an extremist of the right."
Some time after the LaRouche conviction in January 1989, Bevel
began to appear as a featured speaker at LaRouchian conferences,
and began to write a column in the LaRouchian
"The right-wing sect of Lyndon LaRouche has also initiated a campaign to recruit black supporters. As in the case of the Unification Church, the LaRouchians work primarily through several fronts, the Schiller Institute and the National Democratic Policy Committee. Again, the LaRouchians have been linked to a number of racist and extremist groups, including the Liberty Lobby, the Klan and neo-Nazis. Currently, the LaRouchians are vigorously opposing sanctions against South African apartheid. "
While in Chicago, Bevel regularly broke ranks with the African-American-led coalition behind the late Mayor Harold Washington. At the same time, Bevel was working with Moon's front group CAUSA. In an interview with Bevel at an Illinois CAUSA meeting, I asked him why he would ally himself with a religious/political movement such as that run by Rev. Moon. Bevel replied that it was a tactical coalition based on agreement that the main danger in the world was communism. Bevel argued that communism was a godless philosophy, and that as a Christian, it was his obligation to fight godlessness.
Bevel's CAUSA ties garnered him some unflattering publicity.
According to the December 12, 1987
Bevel has also worked with other Moon fronts. In the October, 1990
issue of
These are the fascist forces with which Bevel has allied himself, and is a striking example of the opportunistic flexibility of fascism as a political ideology, able not only to embrace Nazi-collaborators but also to entice Black civil rights activists. Bevel's ties to the fascist Moon circles are through a shared loathing of communism as a godless ideology, an issue which resonates with many Black church-based constituencies. Another congruent theme that fascism can employ to seek alliances with African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans is the opportunistic manipulation of the issues of nationalism and self determination.
Other Black leaders such as Roy Innis and the late Ralph David Abernathy have forged alliances with the fascist right. Innis has worked in alliance with the LaRouchians. Abernathy worked with Moon's Unification movement until his death.
Other Right-Wing Groups and the Gulf War
Conservative groups overwhelmingly supported sending U.S. troops to the Gulf. Right-wing forces aligned with Rev. Sun Myung Moon and those supportive of the Israeli political right forged a pro-war coalition that placed ads in newspapers and purchased television commercials.
Other rightists, primarily those who have politics that are more accurately termed reactionary than conservative, staked out an isolationist or "America First" position, and opposed sending U.S. troops to fight the Gulf War.
The LaRouchian antiwar theories parallel many of the themes promoted by the Liberty Lobby, the Birch Society, and author Fletcher Prouty. According to one flyer issued by the LaRouchians, "If war is to come, it will be the result of deliberate 'geopolitical' plotting by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Lord Carrington, and other London friends of Henry Kissinger."
Some white supremacists outlined a frank racist agenda in their
Gulf War publications. The Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan, in the January/February, 1991 issue of
At the 35th Anniversary Liberty Lobby convention held in September, 1990 there was considerable antiwar sentiment expressed by speakers who tied the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia to pressure from Israel and its intelligence agency, Mossad. No matter what actual political involvement, if any, forces that support Israel may have had in shaping the events that led to the Gulf War, the history of Liberty Lobby is to circulate lurid anti-Jewish propaganda, not principled factual criticisms.
At the conference Fletcher Prouty released the new Institute for
Historical Review's Noontide Press edition of his book on CIA
intrigue,
Other conference speakers and moderators at the September 1990 Liberty Lobby convention included attorney Mark Lane, who has drifted into alliances with Liberty Lobby that far transcend his role as the group's lawyer, and comedian and activist Dick Gregory, whose anti-government rhetoric finds fertile soil on the far right. Dick Gregory also spoke in 1991 at the January 19th antiwar rally in Washington, D.C. Organizers of the antiwar event say they were unaware of Gregory's previous appearance at the Liberty Lobby meeting.
Mark Lane and Dick Gregory co-authored a 1977 book on the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and both have circulated complex conspiracy theories about other world events which could account in part for their drift towards the conspiratorial Liberty Lobby network.
The attempts by some of the rightist groups who opposed the war to penetrate the progressive antiwar movement came during a period of significant realignment among U.S. right-wing and conservative political groups. In some rightist groups, long hidden racialist theories are being dusted off and recirculated, which has caused further splits. One of the most significant historical divisions on the American political right is between those groups that espouse racialist (race-based) theories--generally anti-Jewish and white supremacist--and those that do not.
People associated with Liberty Lobby and the historically-related
Populist Party circulated antiwar and pro-isolationist literature,
including Liberty Lobby's weekly newspaper
"The Florida Populist Party attended [the Florida] anti-war rally...handing out a leaflet that read in part: 'The most conspicuous foes of war have been on the left, and we in the Populist Party support their efforts.' Don Black, a former Klan leader, had a taped message on the Party's phone line: 'Make no mistake, this is Israel's war, and American sons and daughters are fighting it for them.' "
In its January 7-14, 1991 edition,
An advertisement in the same issue of
"If you are like most Americans you will react as the pro-Zionist
media has
"But if you have read "Israel: Our Duty...Our Dilemma" you will
see the
"Power in America. Power in the Middle East. Power in the world. "
"Distilling 14 years' research in semi-secret Jewish sources, evangelical writer Theodore Winston Pike demonstrates that through Kabbalistic occultism, international banking, communism, liberalism, and media control, Israel is doing exactly what the Bible prophesies: establishing a power base in the Middle East upon which her false messiah, AntiChrist, will someday rule. "
- The Buchanan Controversy The issue of anti-Jewish rhetoric over
the Gulf crisis first surfaced in September, 1990 as part of a long
simmering feud within the political right in the United States.
Ultra-conservative columnist Pat Buchanan fired the first salvo to
reach the mainstream media when he declared on the McLaughlin Group
roundtable television program that the two groups most favoring
war in the Middle East were "the Israeli Defense Ministry and its
amen chorus in the United States."
To unravel the background of the dispute takes a political scorecard. Buchanan is allied with reactionary and hard-line rightist forces in the U.S. who sometimes are called paleo-conservatives or "Paleocons" due to their ties to the "Old Right" in the United States. Racism and anti-Jewish bigotry were common themes in some (although not all) Old Right groups. ADL is a Jewish human rights group often allied with the "Neocons," the neo-conservative movement in the Unites States. ADL leaders are also frequently ardent and uncritical supporters of Israeli government policies, as are many Neocons. ADL has produced some excellent material on bigotry and prejudice, but its leaders have labeled as anti-Semitic statements which are solely political criticisms of Israel or Zionism. Since there are some high-profile Jews in the intellectual leadership of the neo-conservative movement, some persons have concluded that neo-conservatism is a Jewish ideology. This is as prejudiced an assertion as the claim that communism is a Jewish ideology because of the role played in it by some Jewish intellectuals.
Buchanan's statement in and of itself was not necessarily anti-Jewish, but in the context of Buchanan's long record of insensitivity when writing about Jews, the contention that Buchanan is an anti-Semite is not without foundation. Buchanan has not only defended those who say the Holocaust was a hoax, but implied their views have some merit. Buchanan endorsed the work of the Rockford Institute after other conservatives criticized it for its tolerance of apparently anti-Jewish sentiments. In his January 25, 1990 newsletter, Buchanan penned what was in essence an ode to fascism which celebrated the efficiency of autocracy, and concluded with the line, "If the people are corrupt, the more democracy, the worse the government." The column also echoed historically racialist themes.
Actually, the Neocons for ten years quietly have tolerated more than a little anti-democratic authoritarianism, anti-Jewish bigotry, and racism from their tactical allies on the Paleocon right. Their alliance was based on shared support for militant anti-communism, celebration of unfettered free enterprise, calls for high levels of U.S. spending on the U.S. military, and support for a militarily strong Israel dominated by hard-line ultra-conservative political parties that would stand as a bulwark against communism in the Middle East.
Author Sara Diamond (who covered the Buchanan/Rosenthal feud in <Z Magazine>) notes "the Buchanan forces explicitly rejected coalition with the left on the issue of opposing intervention in the Gulf."
The Courtship Continues
"Reactionary concepts plus revolutionary emotion result in Fascist mentality. "
(Wilhelm Reich)
Craig Hulet's Reductionist Gulf War Critiques
One critic of government policies who draws from both left and right sources and perspectives is Seattle-based analyst Craig B. Hulet. During the past year, progressive radio stations including KPFA in San Francisco and KPFK in Los Angeles aired compelling condemnations of the Gulf War produced by Hulet, also known as K.C. DePass. A number of study groups were formed in California following Hulet's radio and personal appearances. Hulet claimed in an interview that his theories have no relation to conspiracist theories such as those circulated by the John Birch Society, and he is quick to distance himself from the racialist and anti-Jewish theories of far-right groups such as Liberty Lobby. Still, Hulet's analysis, which exaggerates the role of the Al Sabah family in world affairs, has many of the hallmarks of other oversimplified conspiracist theories which reduce complex issues to simple equations; and it seems to scapegoat one family of Arabs, albeit one with powerful financial holdings, in a way that would be equally unacceptable if their name was Rothschild rather than Al Sabah. No matter what his actual affiliations, Hulet essentially employs a variation on the elite financial insider conspiracy of the John Birch Society.
Hulet has a smooth style and self-confident tone, but in essence, Hulet's analysis reflects a cynical right-wing libertarian perspective laced with conspiratorial theories. The basic theme of his Gulf War analysis boils down to an assertion that Kuwait's ruling Al Sabah family dictated U.S. policy in the Gulf War in concert with ruling financial elites in the United States. According to Hulet, the Al Sabah family could do this because they controlled vast financial holdings in the U.S. and they threatened to withdraw those holdings and collapse the U.S. economy unless the U.S. pushed Iraq out of Kuwait. Hulet also maintains that the investments of George Bush and his father Prescott make George Bush vulnerable to manipulation by the Al Sabah family.
A Hulet promotional brochure reveals a pattern of similar reductionist statements and unsubstantiated conspiratorial claims. According to the brochure:
"Hulet outlines the actual political objectives of the Bush administration regarding the Middle East...why we gave Hussein the green light to invade Kuwait and why Bush will disallow any legitimate cease fire overture by Hussein....volatile...material concerning George Bush's connections as well as those of his father, Prescott Bush...Middle East and the New World Order discussed in detail... "
The brochure claims that the Hulet report <Overview of Government Corruption and Manipulation> provides "an excellent understanding identifying the elite and how and why they control society". In a similar vein, the brochure claims the Hulet report <The Gnomes of Zurich> provides, "...an overview identifying the elites who manage this country and how and why they control it's aim...."
The text of
"Keeping the left wing grass roots at the throat of the right wing
grass roots, serves the purpose, the means, and ultimately..., the
END, of these quite powerful elitists. As each side at the basic
root level; the grass roots level if you will, are both being used,
duped, and manipulated by the Elite...They are quite simply, these
sincere yet almost silly at times local people, unwittingly part
of an ingenious plan to create a <synthesis...ingenious because of
its simplicity...For you see the Elite in the Kremlin>, and the
These are just a few examples of Hulet's conspiracist style. Most of Hulet's work concerns conspiracies of the "elites." Actually, much of Hulet's thesis is an echo of the book "Call it Conspiracy" by Larry Abraham, which is itself a rewrite and expansion of the book "None Dare Call it Conspiracy" by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham. Allen's writings were widely popularized by the John Birch Society. Hulet's intellectual tradition can clearly be shown to be congruent with that of the John Birch Society.
In at least one case, Hulet moves beyond conspiracism into elevating
a satire to documentary status. Hulet labels as fact material from
the book
Hulet also plows the ground of left/right coalition. Hulet says that he works closely with former Christic Institute attorney Lanny Sinkin to buttress his credibility on the left.
On one radio interview, Hulet responded to a question regarding third parties in the U.S. by saying:
"The problem with those third parties is that they are such a tiny, tiny minority of the intelligentsia. Many of them like the Libertarian Party is splintered between factions. They are fighting amongst themselves. They still see it as a left-wing right-wing dialectic that they must oppose. And all I'm trying to make very clear to the American people, including the ones that read all the right books, is that the enemy is our government. The enemy is not part of our society. It has always historically been them versus us. The government versus the people. And the American people have to stop fighting amongst themselves. "
Hulet recommends the research on Trilateralism of Antony C. Sutton,
a far-right theorist who publishes the <Phoenix Letter: A Report
on the Abuse of Power>, and
Sklar, who has written progressive critiques of the Trilateralists, warns antiwar activists that "there is a big difference between understanding the influence of the Trilateral Commission on world affairs and the paranoid right-wing fantasy that the Trilateralists and their allies are an omnipotent cabal controlling the world. It's important for people to base their political decisions on facts, not lazy catch-all conspiracy theories."
Journalist David Barsamian interviewed Hulet for a Boulder, Colorado
radio station and his Alternative Radio tape series which is aired
on numerous local radio stations nationwide. The
Barsamian is troubled by some of Hulet's assertions regarding the genesis of the Gulf War, and Hulet's apparent claim that the Kuwaiti royal families control of $300 billion in U.S. investments was the key issue in prompting the war. (Most newspapers and financial reporting services place the Kuwaiti/U.S. investment figure in the range of 30-50 billion dollars, with a low of 15 and a high of 80 in current documented mainstream and alternative press accounts.) Barsamian and other progressive researchers and journalists have been unable to document some of Hulet's claims, which may represent legitimate suppositions, but were presented by Hulet in numerous radio interviews as facts. Hulet argues that the integrity of his research should not be judged on the basis of radio interviews where discussions are often hectic and condensed. On the other hand, Hulet gained his influence as a Gulf War critic and his largest audience through radio talk shows.
Barsamian warns progressives of falling for the type of "left guruism" where sensational anti-government theories are accepted without any independent critical analysis. He notes that during the Gulf crisis Craig Hulet was elevated to expert status by progressives who accepted his pronouncements as fact without seriously examining his credentials, which he sometimes inflates.
For instance, one Hulet brochure describes him as a "Published columnist and political cartoonist. Articles frequently appear in national publications: <Financial Security Digest, International Combat Arms, Seattle Times, LA Weekly, SF Examiner, Oakland Tribune> and more." In fact, while the phrasing strongly suggests Hulet has written for the latter four publications, Hulet admits those cites actually refer to instances when he was quoted or his research used in preparing the article. Most journalists and academics would consider that a misrepresentation. In the long run, whether or not Hulet's analysis stands up to intellectual criticism will be determined by his ability to defend his thesis--a defense that can only take place if his views are vigorously debated, not uncritically accepted as gospel. That is the same critical standard to which all researchers should be held.
An especially useful book in understanding how Hulet's conspiracy theories of oligarchic manipulation, anti-government demagoguery, and appeal to individualism fits into the fascist tradition is "The Fascist Ego" by William R. Tucker.[f-7] The book is a study of the French intellectual fascist, Robert Brasillach, whose egocentric flirtation with fascism ended with his execution as a collaborator at the end of WWII.
Author Tucker, as the jacket blurb explains:
"...sees in Brasillach's involvement in fascism a form of anarchic individualism or 'right-wing anarchism.' He suggests that, far from being a form of social or moral conservatism, Brasillach's fascism was inspired by an anti-modernism that placed the creative individuals sensibilities and his ego at the center of things. Brasillach's fear that the individualist prerogatives of the creative elite would be submerged in the industrialized and rationalized society that loomed on the horizon was important as a basis for his thoughts and actions. "
To understand Brasillach and his soul-mates is to understand Craig Hulet, and his followers.
How the Populist Party Uses Hulet
While Craig Hulet, featured on the California Pacifica radio stations, is careful to distance himself from views that are racist or anti-Jewish, not everyone who champions Hulet as an commentator on the Gulf War or Bush's New World Order makes those distinctions. Some persons, wittingly or not, use Hulet's theories to introduce others to the more bigoted theorists. Hulet helped spark a political movement in California following the Gulf War that, according to persons attending the meetings, fed scores, perhaps hundreds, of political activists into a far-right, racist, and anti-Jewish political organizing drive supporting the Presidential candidacy of Col. James Bo Gritz of the Populist Party.
The story of one person living in the Bay Area, called here Dana Pierce, illustrates the study group phenomenon sparked by Hulet's presentations. The story shows an organizing dynamic in action, and is not meant to imply that Hulet is a party to the dynamic, merely that others opportunistically use Hulet as bait.
Dana Pierce had become critical of domestic U.S. financial policies, and attended a meeting of others who shared that view. Pierce was invited by the leader of the group, an older man with "a pro-democracy demeanor," to a meeting in the San Rafael area to meet someone who might assist with a particular financial problem.
At that second meeting, the facilitator announced the group was trying to understand George Bush and the New World Order. They were studying history and political science, and were reading material by Noam Chomsky. It was explained that the group had formed after several core persons, who opposed sending U.S. troops to the Gulf, had heard Craig Hulet's speeches in the Bay Area, primarily on radio station KPFA, both in live interviews and on tape. Some people had seen Hulet on videotape. They had responded to Hulet's call for people to educate themselves by forming the group.
The group consisted of at least thirty people and had met about four times when Pierce attended the meeting. For the main program of the meeting, the group watched a videotape of Eustace Mullins talking about the sinister aspects of the Federal Reserve system. As the tape progressed, Pierce became increasingly uneasy.
"Mullins was jumping back and forth, claiming bankers supported both the Bolshevik revolution and the Nazis, he praised the right-wing Hunt brothers, and then began to mention the Rothschild family. He said the CIA was part of the plot, and William F. Buckley is CIA which was why some conservative groups dismissed his theories. All the while I watched people smiling and nodding their heads and I began to wonder if I was the only one to catch the reference to the Rothschilds and wondered if I was being over-sensitive because I was Jewish. "
After the tape, according to Pierce, "the host stood up and praised Mullins and said he was a close associate of Ezra Pound. The host also said that the banking system is communistic because both are monopolistic."
Pierce went to the local library and looked up a biography of Ezra Pound and discovered that Mullins had been associated with Pound, and that Pound was a virulent anti-Semite. Pierce then read Hannah Arendt's treatise on the origins of anti-Semitism, and pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
Pierce had not heard Hulet before and so went to hear a July 1991 speech at the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco. Admission was ten dollars and the audience numbered at least 100.
"He was a glib speaker, and he presents concerns all of us have--concerns many people on the left certainly have about the Bush administration and how there is no effective congressional oversight. I can listen to him and agree he is focused on some real problems in this country. What he does is bring into the open a lot of concerns and he discusses issues succinctly and in ways that people can follow. If I had just gone to hear him I probably would have been quite taken with him, but in the context of the first meeting, I listened with skepticism, and am worried. People want so much to believe in him they don't want to hear any criticism. I saw how people can hear Hulet and then be led to Mullins. If you look at the origins of anti-Semitism described by Arendt, you can see how a self-confident person who provides simple explanations can offer comfort to people who sense that something is wrong with our society and that they are being lied to, which is true. But it was scary to see how easily people were then led into accepting the scapegoating of Jews and the other conspiracy theories discussed by Eustace Mullins on the videotape. At first I thought there was something wrong with me, but now I think there is a serious problem that people on the left need to talk about. "
Hulet was listed in a 1986
Left/Right Critiques and Coalitions
It would be grossly unfair to suggest that all information from
the political right is inaccurate conspiracism. Right-wing groups
are quite capable of producing factual investigative material and
persuasive journalistic stories. For instance, every year "Project
Censored" runs a contest to pick the ten top stories not adequately
covered by the mainstream press. On a 1991 PBS television program
reviewing the 1990 Project Censored stories, commentator Bill Moyers
held up a copy of the
At the same time the right has been wooing the left, right-wing groups have been promoting a number of left resources such as books and videos that criticize certain aspects of government policy or ruling elites. For instance, Noam Chomsky's critiques of U.S. foreign policy, Holly Sklar's studies of the Trilateral Commission, and Brian Glick's manual on domestic repression are praised and distributed by right-wing book peddlers.
These cross-ideological pollinations do not imply any ideological connection between the left researchers and the right--any group can distribute a book--but demonstrates that the political right sees points of alliance with the left, especially around issues relating to government abuses of power.
Government repression and intelligence abuse are not the only areas of research on the left where convoluted theories are circulated. Unsubstantiated conspiracist theories, claiming secret circles of corporate influence in the United States, also flow between left and right pro-environmentalists. One Massachusetts environmental activist researches alternative energy sources, circulates materials on elite control of energy policy, and refers interested environmentalists to the work of Eustace Mullins who writes about the so-called Jewish international banking conspiracy. In his worldview, Mullins' research unraveling powerful industrial and banking conspiracies can help explain government antagonism toward environmental reform[f-8]
On one forum for activists on a national electronic computer based network, excerpts from LaRouchian and Liberty Lobby publications have been uncritically posted by persons who primarily circulate information from left and progressive sources. This builds the credibility of the LaRouchians and Liberty Lobby circles and implies that they are natural allies.
An example of one left/right information alliance involves Dan Brandt, creator of the Namebase software program, an immensely useful computer tool which searches a huge index of CIA-related publications and documents. Brandt has created a non-profit group with a board of advisors composed of both left and right critics of U.S. intelligence agencies, including LaRouche-defender Fletcher Prouty who joined the advisory board of Liberty Lobby's Populist Action Committee. On the other hand, Brandt is highly critical of the LaRouchians.
True Gritz
In 1991, ultra-right political groups began organizing a nationwide
campaign to build support for Populist Party candidate Bo Gritz.
Gritz was named in 1991 to the advisory board of the Populist Action
Committee created by the quasi-Nazi Liberty Lobby, publisher of
the weekly newspaper
Also named to the Liberty Lobby Populist Action Committee was
retired Air Force Colonel and intelligence specialist Fletcher
Prouty, author of the 1973 book
Others named to the Liberty Lobby Populist Action Committee were
Abe Austin, described as an Illinois businessman and expert on
money; Mike Blair,
The Populist Party has long been a meeting ground for segregationists, anti-Jewish conspiracy mongers, white supremacists and former members of the Ku Klux Klan. The formation of the Liberty Lobby Populist Action Committee comes at a time when some right wing groups are attempting to build bridges to the left around shared critiques of government misconduct, a process that was accelerated during the Gulf War.
In the June, 1991 issue of
Gritz's call for the left/right coalition apparently first surfaced publicly at his Freedom Call '90 conference held in July, 1990 in Las Vegas. Speakers at that conference included Gritz and anti-Semite Eustace Mullins, as well as Father Bill Davis of the Christic Institute, ex-CIA official (now critic) John Stockwell, and author Barbara Honneger. This fact of attendance is not meant to imply that all these persons share the same views. It is meant to demonstrate that Gritz is attempting to draw a broad range of government critics into a coalition. Stockwell, Honneger, and Davis have all said their appearance at the conference should not be interpreted as an endorsement of Gritz's research or political views. Gritz's Center for Action still sells a set of tapes from the conference, including speeches by Gritz and Mullins, along with Father Davis, Barbara Honneger, and John Stockwell. This set of tapes is advertised in the Prevailing Winds catalog.
John Stockwell has expressed concern over the the way Prevailing Winds has lumped his research together with research he finds problematic. In the past, Stockwell has been highly critical of Honneger as a reliable source of information, and has had criticisms of some aspects of Christic research as well. Stockwell says he "met Gritz there on stage" at the 1990 conference and "came away greatly unimpressed," and he was quick to distance himself from the Populist Party.
After the controversy broke in the left press, a spokesperson at Prevailing Winds (who asked to be identified simply as Patrick) said they were now considering at least including a warning in their catalog about Bo Gritz's ties to the Populist Party and other rightist and anti-Jewish groups and individuals. Patrick said their catalog came out before Gritz accepted the Populist Party presidential nomination, but defended the inclusion of the Gritz material, saying that "middle America needs this kind of information" because "Bush is basically a dope-peddling Nazi."
Patrick said the appropriateness of carrying Gritz's material, given his ties to the anti-Jewish far right, has been discussed by the Prevailing Winds staff, and also discussed with Bo Gritz and with Father Davis of Christic.
According to the Prevailing Winds representative:
"Its an argument we've gone back and forth on, it's a tough question, whether or not to make it available and to preserve it for research. We are interested in getting the information to the people. The good thing about it is no one else is trying to build these bridges between groups. We need to reach a rainbow of people." "
Christic's Father Bill Davis walked out of the 1990 Gritz conference when Mullins gave his speech. Yet over a year after the event, Christic still had made no public statement distancing itself from Gritz or Mullins. In the meantime, Gritz was touring the country promoting Christic's Iran-Contra research and implying a friendly working relationship between himself and key Christic figures, especially Danny Sheehan. Sheehan is featured in a privately-distributed videotape program focusing on Gritz's research which takes a critical look at the Reagan and Bush Administrations' intelligence and drug policies. That videotape, circulated by Gritz and his allies, also uncritically shows a headline from the LaRouchian newspaper <New Federalist> to illustrate a point.
Christic's national director, Sara Nelson, told
In
"Christic should join the campaign to expose Bo's campaign for the fascist vehicle it is. Christic should take the lead in condemning the Gritz campaign, rather than demanding retractions from those who have raised criticisms and concerns. It should share frankly and self-critically with its followers the process of deception and rationalization by which it was hoodwinked, so that others can escape the same fate.
It is the failure of alternative and left critics of government policy to take responsibility for clarifying the confusion being intentionally sown by the far right that is the key issue. If the problem is turned on its head, it is easier to understand why the issue of public statements by groups such as Christic is so important. In the course of preparing this study scores of persons were interviewed in a dozen cities. Here is a summary of some of the questions raised by persons who reject the criticism.
On the LaRouchians:
"Were they not victims of government repression and FBI harassment
just like CISPES? Wasn't that what James Ridgeway said in the
"Are they not our natural allies? "
On the Liberty Lobby/Populist network:
"Didn't
"Are they not our natural allies? "
On Craig Hulet:
"Isn't he on KPFA and KPFK? Can't we order Hulet tapes from the Pacifica Archive? Doesn't he say he works with Lanny Sinkin who was an attorney at Christic? Doesn't he say he isn't a right-winger? Didn't the San Francisco Mime Troupe thank Hulet for his research? "
"Is he not our natural ally? "
This raises a question for every progressive political leader, journalist and attorney whose name has been used by the fascist right to build their movement. If hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people have come to believe there is a coalition or alliance that involves the left and fascist right, is there not an an obligation to speak out publicly and deny what the right is suggesting publicly?
In fact, some of the above questions clearly represent misunderstandings and erroneous assumptions. But when the right is making the assertion, silence implies consent, or as the button says: "Silence is the voice of complicity."
The Fascist Response
Telephone call to 503-796-2124
November 20, 1991 10:00 PM
[Man's voice:]
"Greetings, you have reached the American Front Ministry of Information hot line. COINTELPRO, the counter-intelligence agency of the Jew S. of A., or ZOG [Zionist Occupational Government], is a group of well financed government agents who have not only infiltrated but absolutely control a great portion of the so-called left wing in America. Their purpose is to make sure that these self-styled progressive organizations don't actually take any action against the true enemy of the people, the U.S. government. "
"They have been doing a very good job at keeping radical elements of the supposed left and right fighting each other, thereby nullifying a great deal of revolutionary activity, and keeping the fat-cat warmonger capitalists who run this government safe from the bloody tide of reprisal they so richly deserve. "
"No matter where you stand on the political spectrum this abhorrent undertaking affects you. ZOG is bound and determined to make sure the trend of increasing anti-government unity of radical factions in Europe doesn't take effect here. "
"For local evidence of this lefty alliance with Big Brother, you need go no further than Jonathan Mozzochi of the Coalition for Human Dignity. He's an avid follower of renowned COINTELPRO guru Chip Berlet. Mozzochi has even been known to plagiarize the writings of Mr. Berlet, and as is very evident by the CHD's activity, Mozzochi has completely dedicated himself to the government program of keeping the radicals fighting each other instead of Big Brother. Just because he serves you cappuccino at La Patisserie and pretends to be a so-called progressive, the fact remains that he is nothing but the CIA in alternative geek clothing. This further illustrates the fact that the anti-racist movement as a whole is nothing but a tool of the capitalist regime, designed to destroy the self-determination of all races and keep ZOG as the ruler of all. "
"For more information, contact American Front at P.O. Box 68333, Portland, Oregon, 97268. White Victory. "
[Woman's voice:]
"You may start your message now. "
Anti-Jewish Scapegoating & Black Nationalism
Unraveling the overlapping tendencies of reactionary politics, conspiracism, scapegoating, opportunism, demagoguery, nationalism, racism, anti-Jewish theories, and fascism is a difficult but necessary task. This section will discuss several situations and trends where these issues are involved, focusing on the rise of right-wing anti-Jewish theories in some nationalist sectors of the African-American community.
Any serious discussion of these issues needs first to be grounded on at least a working knowledge of the theories of racialism and nationalism, as well as familiarity with the characteristics of mass fascist political movements prior to their ascendancy to state power. Especially useful is a study of the nationalist movements of Europe at the beginning of this century. The nationalism of pre-World War II Europe included movements based on racialist theories. This racial nationalism took several forms, including the heroic mythical racial nationalism of Italy and Spain which glorified the organic leadership of autocratic father-figures, the ego-centric anti-modernist intellectual fascism of France, the religious/racial clerical fascist movements of Croatia and Rumania, and the scapegoating demagogic movement of German Nazism with its anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.
Nazism was a fascist movement, but not all mid-century European fascist movements employed a master race theory. Nevertheless, fascism as a political form is premised on racial or cultural nationalism.
As scholar Barry Mehler, a leading researcher on the history of racial eugenics, points out:
"Classical eugenic theories of the nineteen-twenties and thirties emphasized that nations were biological entities and that political ideologies emerge from racial characteristics which in turn have developed out of evolutionary changes in racial groups. The classic expression of these theories can be found in Madison Grant's <The Passing of the Great Race>. This was, of course, the foundation of both Nazi racism and American white supremacism. It is not surprising, therefore, that white supremacist organizations continue to reprint and sell these expressions of American racism. "
In fact, the white supremacist movement is the largest and most significant purveyor of theories of racial nationalism in the U.S., and its threat to democracy and pluralism far outweighs that posed by the misguided participants in the tragic and counterproductive current dispute between Blacks and Jews. Further, the single greatest impediment to racial justice in the U.S. is not the policies and practices of any one political group or individual, but the institutional racism in the government and business sectors that is still so widespread yet so invisible in our society, and which has deeply undermined the ability of African-Americans, Hispanics, North-American Indians, and other racial groups in this country to share in the bounty and freedoms described in school textbooks as a birthright in our country. It is within that framework that the following discussion must be set.
Black Nationalism and Anti-Jewish Conspiracy Theories
Some members of Black nationalist groups in the U.S. circulate conspiracist theories about Black oppression where discredited ultra-right theories of exaggerated Jewish power and manipulation have found new life and a new audience. While in the past some pro-Palestinian and even anti-Israel sentiments made by African-Americans have been mislabeled as anti-Semitism by groups promoting pro-Israel policies, there is still plenty of evidence that anti-Jewish conspiracy theories are discussed openly in some segments of the Black community
For example, in Chicago, during the late 1980's, Black activist Steve Cokely taught classes at a Nation of Islam center where he alleged that Jewish doctors were injecting Black children with the AIDS virus. When Cokely was exposed, NOI leader Louis Farrakhan, rather than rejecting Cokely's assertions as bigoted lunacy, issued a statement saying that if Cokely could document his charges, the Nation of Islam would provide a public forum for the discussion.
At a February 28, 1991 anti-abortion lecture by Barbara Bell, founder of Massachusetts Blacks for Life, Bell asserted that "it is the Jewish doctors that are the ones that are the ones trying to wipe out the black society." The statement came in the context of an assertion that Planned Parenthood wanted to wipe out all minority populations.
The Detroit magazine
At a July, 1990 meeting in Cairo, Illinois, several Black nationalist groups under the leadership of the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) proposed the formation of an "Afrikan Anti-Zionist Front." Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) of AAPRP was elected chairperson of the front. At the time, several spokespersons made careful distinctions concerning their criticisms of Israel and Zionism. For instance, a statement issued by the Front at a planning meeting held in Tripoli, Libya included the disclaimer that, "The founders of the Front state that the struggle against zionism is not a struggle against Jews or Judaism but rather a struggle against zionism as a racist and imperialist ideology and movement."
Although extreme, and implying objection to the state of Israel itself, the statement by the Front is not fairly characterized as anti-Jewish. However, the careful distinctions in the Front's statement are missing in a current educational brochure by the All African Peoples Revolutionary Party.
The brochure starts out criticizing Zionism and Israeli politics but soon descends into rampant anti-Jewish conspiracism. "ZIONISM is a well organized and financed, international conspiracy which controls the economic and political life of the United States and Europe," says the brochure. Although accurately noting, "All Jews are not Zionists," the brochure goes on to claim, "The international Zionist movement exerts an almost total strangle-hold over the economic, political, social and cultural life of the African community." It also claims that Zionism, "controls...all of the banks, businesses and financial institutions in our community," as well as the mass media and the entertainment industry. According to the brochure, the international Zionist movement controls:
"The political, social, cultural, educational and legal institutions, agencies and organizations in the African community. Almost all of the civil rights and political groups in our community are controlled by zionists and Jews. They use their money, their power, the FBI, CIA, IRS, the courts and prisons; and many other ways to control and destroy our movements, leaders and people. "
Many of these sentiments regarding Jews are virtually identical to charges in white supremacist publications which claim that Jews play a similar role in oppressing white christians. One mail order videotape lecture by a leading Christian Identity pastor is a lengthy exposition of his theory that slavery was the result of the usury employed by Jewish bankers in Britain when financing colonial enterprises.
Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam
Although the Rev. Louis Farrakhan denies he is a bigot, and some of his critics have themselves used racist appeals, Farrakhan has in fact made a number of statements concerning Jews over the past few years that reflect disdain and prejudice.
Yet the most troubling aspect of Farrakhan is not his demagogic
bigotry. Writing in the January 28, 1991 issue of
Equally dangerous, however, are the themes of authoritarianism and racial nationalism which underlie racial organicism. Reed warns that "because of his organization and ideology, however, Farrakhan more than his predecessors throws into relief the dangerous, fascistic presumptions inscribed at the foundation of that model."
In July, 1990 Farrakhan granted an extensive exclusive interview
to
The idea of racial or national organicism, that leaders emerged from homogeneous national groupings and metaphysically expressed the collective will of the people, was a basic tenet of fascism, especially the form of fascism called national socialism. In the 1988 report of the small American Nazi Party in Chicago, the term national socialism was defined as "the organized will of the race, in its quest for racial survival, and physical, mental, and spiritual self betterment." One modern offshoot of national socialism, called the "Third Position," has adherents in both Europe and the United States, and is known for its attempts to build bridges to the left, especially around the issues of protecting the environment and support for the working class.
Racialist nationalism, anti-Jewish bigotry, and fascist principles
have provided a basis in the past for white supremacists and
anti-Jewish bigots such as Tom Metzger to voice support for Farrakhan.
The October 12, 1985
The beginning of the 1990's saw increasing joint political work
between various LaRouchian front groups and Rev. Farrakhan's Black
nationalist Nation of Islam (NOI). For instance, the NOI's newspaper
Another group allied with Farrakhan that promotes the idea of racial or national organicism is the political organization run by Dr. Fred Newman, a former protege of LaRouche. Persons who extol Newman's idiosyncratic form of "social therapy" control a variety of political organizations under Newman's influence, including the New Alliance Party (NAP), Rainbow Lobby, New York's Castillo Cultural Center, and various Centers for Short-Term Therapy. NAP promotes the political theories of Farrakhan, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Dr. Lenora Fulani, presidential candidate of the New Alliance Party. The Rainbow Lobby has forged a working coalition with the Libertarian Party and the racialist Populist Party to challenge state laws limiting ballot access. At the same time NAP's Lenora Fulani stood side-by-side with Al Sharpton and other Black nationalists in the summer of 1991 as they inflamed an already tense and tragic situation in the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, which has seen a long-simmering dispute between Blacks and a sect of Orthodox Jews.
Sorting out the Dilemma
We are all aware that there are shifting factions in political groups, government bureaucracies, and intelligence agencies. Even though there is an historic overlap of government repression and reactionary politics, at the same time, factions of the right have from time to time made a tactical decision to expose government wrongdoing to smash an opposing faction on the right or derail a bothersome government project.
Around the world the right has adopted a strategy of tension to smash the center, and one part of that strategy is to seek temporary tactical alliances with left groups in attacking government policies. The left/right alliance seeks to displace the center, but historically the right always triumphs and then smashes the left. This is certainly one lesson of Italian fascism and German national socialism. Do we really think a corrupt wealthy anti-labor repressive centrist power is worse than fascist power? As the health of the American economy declines, it will generate a move towards alternative political viewpoints and either new political parties or realignment of current parties. A left/right alliance under such circumstances would be precarious and dangerous.
Serious anti-repression researchers frequently find themselves in
contact with elements of the ruling center, opposition centrist
parties, and far right in the normal course of their research.
The mere contact between left and right is not the issue, but when
left researchers become
The Problem of Fascists as Research Sources
Herb Quinde is one of the main LaRouchian intelligence contacts for reporters in the Washington, D.C. area. Quinde boasts that the LaRouchians maintain ties with a network of current and former intelligence agents and military specialists who oppose current U.S. foreign policy and its reliance on covert action over direct military engagement.
Quinde confirms that he and his fellow LaRouchian investigators are in constant touch with journalists and researchers across the political spectrum. In several interviews in 1990 and 1991 Quinde refused to go on the record with the names of any of his regular contacts among left political groups and critics of government repression, although he bragged that such contacts are a regular part of his work.
While Christic now says they no longer have any contact with the LaRouchians, some former Christic staff seem willing to keep some doors open. Investigators formerly connected to Christic have maintained information ties to the LaRouchians, and advised progressive researchers to rely on the LaRouchians as experts in the area of government intelligence abuse. These referrals have over a period of several years helped forge an information exchange network that has drawn some left researchers, journalists and radio talk show hosts further into unsubstantiated conspiracy theories and into ongoing relationships with fascist and anti-Jewish groups and individuals.
David MacMichael still maintains close ties to Herb Quinde, meets with him personally, and advises researchers probing government intelligence abuse to contact Quinde for help. MacMichael defends his association with Quinde as legitimate, albeit sometimes embarrassing.
Russ Bellant is the author of <Old Nazis, The New Right and the Republican Party> and has extensively studied Nazi-linked emigre intelligence and political networks. In the course of his research, he has found several authors in this field who have developed a working relationship with LaRouchians. Bellant says he raised the ethical problems of working with the LaRouchians with these authors, generally to no avail. To be sure, there is no consensus among reporters, mainstream or progressive, on what is an ethical way to deal with information from groups such as the LaRouchians.
According to Peter Dale Scott, "My own ground rules are that until
something happens where I feel someone is manipulating me or they
have
Author Jonathan Marshall, now with the
"If you look across the board at cultish groups that do 'research' you find sometimes that they have found amazing documents that do in fact check out," says Marshall. But he hastens to add that "documents are one thing, but accepting their analysis is simply not responsible."
In the late 1980's author Carl Ogelsby considered working with LaRouchian Herb Quinde to unravel the story of the recruitment of the Gehlen Nazi spy apparatus into U.S. intelligence. Ogelsby comments:
"If Quinde had been able to provide even a single scrap of useful information I would have turned a cartwheel in excitement, but he never did. Everything he sent me was bullshit. He was trying to convince me to depend on the LaRouche information network. He was always boasting about the documents he could send me, but he never gave me a useful thing about Gehlen or anything else about the Nazification of U.S. intelligence. "
During the Gulf War, Quinde asked Ogelsby to speak at a LaRouchian antiwar conference, but Ogelsby declined, "because whatever Herb's essential charm and persuasion, I would never publicly associate myself with them, primarily because my friends warn me it would damage my credibility. In fact, I've never initiated a contact with them." Putting up with an occasional phone call from Quinde is one thing, said Ogelsby, but appearing at a conference is another. Still, Ogelsby isn't convinced that they are really a neo-Nazi outfit. "My advice is not to make such a big deal about this guy. I think that he is basically comic relief." Ogelsby, however, is suspicious of the actual purpose of the LaRouchians:
"I think it's an intelligence operation, and the only question is what's animating it. I don't think it is, strictly speaking, an organization representing one individual--LaRouche. I believe it has access to sources of information that reflect official circuits, most likely European, but I don't think he's officially CIA or FBI. I think U.S. intelligence is a little baffled by them too, although in the first few years of the Reagan Administration they clearly allowed them privileged access. "
Journalists James Ridgeway and David MacMichael have defended their contacts with the LaRouchian network as part of the standard journalistic practice of cultivating a wide range of sources of information. They and other journalists argue that taking information from someone in no way implies any agreement whatsoever with the information provider. In fact, reporters at a number of mainstream daily newspapers admit off-the-record that they frequently receive material from the LaRouchians, and in some cases develop stories from the documents supplied by the LaRouchians. Ridgeway, however, acknowledges that the LaRouchians are a "neo-Nazi or fascist movement." and warns that journalists need to exercise extreme caution when contacting them for information.
This is a real issue since a score of progressive researchers and journalists report that in the past two years, operatives from the LaRouchians and the far-right have stepped up their attempts to forge working relationships with them over the basis of shared criticism of the government.
A West Coast journalist, Ed Connolly, recalls an incident in the fall of 1990:
"I was tracking a story on Air Force Intelligence and I called
everyone I could think of. Two weeks later Gene Wheaton called me,
which was odd because I hadn't called him. Wheaton tells me, "You
know the people who have very good intelligence on these things
are the LaRouche people, you should call the people that put out
Eugene Wheaton, an early adviser to the Christic Institute, accepted an invitation to speak at the December, 1990 LaRouche antiwar conference in Chicago.
Journalist Jim Naurekas of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
bemoans the fact that LaRouchian Herb Quinde has followed him
through three jobs trying to pester him with tidbits of information.
One academic who wrote a 1990 article on government civil liberties
infringements in a left journal says she was quickly contacted by
several persons who recommended she share her material with
Russ Bellant, who is critical of persons who accept material from
the LaRouchians, also warns that some of the LaRouchian documents
may be forged. "They did create a passable bogus copy of a section
of the
Bellant and others say they are not troubled by intellectual curiosity and open-mindedness that bridge ideological lines, but they do have concerns when left and right groups and individuals forge covert relationships. There is a big difference between reading books by or interviewing members of far-right and racialist groups, and working in what amounts to an ad-hoc investigative coalition with members of these groups. There is a serious difference of opinion among progressive researchers as to the propriety of working with the LaRouchians or other ultra-right groups, especially those that preach bigotry. Some say they cannot, in good conscience, even accept unsolicited information from such groups, while others argue they need to interview members of these groups for their research.
Journalist Jane Hunter says she has consistently rejected overtures from the anti-Jewish far right. Hunter is highly critical of anyone who would covertly or overtly work with racists, anti-Jewish bigots, or neo-Nazis. She notes that even on a pragmatic level, "Any information that these people have is bound to show up someplace, free for the taking, for what it's worth. Our energies need to be spent in reaching out to people who are victims of the system--the people with whom we share a common interest in changing it."
Not all the rightist groups seeking an alliance or information exchange with the left are bigoted or fascist. Some are principled conservatives or libertarians seeking an open debate. However, some of the groups seeking to link up with the left have openly neo-fascist or neo-Nazi agendas, including some that call themselves conservative or libertarian. The ethical parameters on these questions for journalists and researchers need further debate.
It is important to recognize that the moral issues for persons building coalitions in the movement for peace and social justice are different than those for lawyers, academics, and reporters. For organizers the principles of unity seldom (if ever) are such that working with fascist, racist and anti-Jewish groups is appropriate.
Most people agree that uncritical reliance on either right-wing or left-wing material can lead to the recirculation of misinformation or disinformation. When working with the political right, there is the additional possibility that the left could unintentionally end up letting the right set its agenda. Some progressive researchers also argue that it is unethical for progressive groups to take information covertly from the political right and repackage and recirculate it without disclosing the source. That issue, however, remains unsettled, and needs to be debated openly.
A good illustration of the problem came up in an October 15, 1991
Ridgeway and Vaughan do report that Casolaro, in the course of his research, would "head into Washington for a congressional hearing or a meeting with, for example, Danny Sheehan of the Christic Institute--whose 'Secret Team' could just as easily have been called the Octopus." They also mention that Casolaro was working with the LaRouchians in gathering information.
Not mentioned in the article is that the LaRouchians funneled
information to the Christic Institute, Barbara Honneger, and the
Ridgeway and Vaughan do mention LaRouche's criminal conviction and the LaRouchian obsession with conspiracy theories and report, "The LaRouchies had ties to the Reagan White House and have long run a surprisingly elaborate intelligence-gathering operation of their own." They do not, however, characterize the LaRouchians as fascists or anti-Semites.
In the course of the article a LaRouchian intelligence operative
is cited along with other sources. Should LaRouchian sources be
treated differently than any other journalistic source? Again,
there is no agreement even among alternative journalists. "I have
great respect for Jim Ridgeway, but to put any credence in anything
a LaRouchite has to say is a leap into faith that I can't make,"
says
LaRouche as Victim of Government Repression
Lyndon LaRouche has picked up support for his campaign to get released from prison from a number of right-wing extremists, including retired Air Force Colonel and intelligence specialist Fletcher Prouty, a leading light among ultra-right researchers, who also works with the quasi-Nazi Liberty Lobby. Prouty has issued a statement declaring that "instrumentalities of the government have hounded" LaRouche and "created wrongs where none existed before." The LaRouchians, however, have picked up support for their theory of a government conspiracy against LaRouche from a broader spectrum than the political right.
Both James Ridgeway and David MacMichael have reported the allegations of the LaRouchians that they are not guilty of financial crimes, but the victims of a massive government conspiracy aimed at crushing them politically.
Ridgeway, in the preface to his book on the U.S. white supremacist
movement,
Critics of Ridgeway's view of the LaRouchians, including this author, argue that LaRouche is in fact a neo-Nazi ideologue who should be discussed along with the Ku Klux Klan and the other white racist groups with whom the LaRouchians have associated for years. No one is suggesting that Ridgeway, who has a prodigious track record of sound investigative reporting, shares any of the LaRouchian viewpoints. But it is legitimate to ask whether or not Ridgeway's analysis and treatment of the LaRouchians has perhaps unconsciously been influenced by their value to him as a journalistic source of information on government misconduct and other issues. Ridegway, like other reporters who cover government repression, received packets of information from the LaRouchians for many years and sometimes relied on the material to develop a story. [f-9] This in itself is hardly unique and not necessarily questionable--other reporters do likewise.
In one case, however, Ridgeway appears to have relied on LaRouche material without independently verifying the accuracy of the material.
On May 17, 1988 James Ridgeway penned a lengthy article in the
Even a careful reading of the Ridgeway article leaves the impression that when a federal judge declared a mistrial in the Boston fraud case against LaRouche and several colleagues, it was caused by government misconduct. This is what the LaRouchians contend--but not what the judge said. Lyndon LaRouche and his associates were on trial in Boston for an alleged credit card scam. The mistrial declared by U.S. Federal District Court Judge Robert E. Keeton came after complaints of hardship were voiced by more than one third of the jurors who had been told the trial would end in early summer, and then learned it could stretch through the end of the year. The judge declared the mistrial because he feared a continuation of the trial would be a waste of time and money due to the real possibility that the number of jurors would fall below the legal limit before the trial ended.
While there was substantial evidence that the Justice Department may have improperly withheld documents relating to LaRouche in pre-trial discovery, a lengthy hearing resulted in a ruling that the documents had no bearing on the criminal charges. According to Ridgeway, "the proceedings had revealed...FBI agents planting obstruction of justice evidence on LaRouche." This is what the LaRouche attorneys sought to prove--and given the history of the FBI, Justice Department and other government bureaucracies, such an allegation was not far-fetched--but no hard evidence to prove that claim had been introduced in court at the time of the mistrial. In fact, the prosecution was still presenting its case. Further, the delay of the trial which caused the juror hardship was caused not only by lengthy side hearings into the document and informant questions, but by numerous challenges and extended cross examinations by the phalanx of defense attorneys representing LaRouche, his associates and their organizations.
Legal actions by both federal and local agencies against LaRouche for questionable fundraising and financial practices commenced years before the flap over Iran-Contragate and the well-publicized airport assault involving LaRouche partisans and Henry Kissinger, who was traveling with his wife. Furthermore, there is a virtual army of persons who claim to have been swindled and victimized by LaRouche-related organizations. Ridgeway offers no evidence the Boston criminal case was a result of the government being out to get LaRouche any more than it is out to get any person accused of being a common crook.
The "seeds of the government's investigation" were not planted by a petulant Henry Kissinger, as Ridgeway asserts, but by hundreds of persons who claimed to have found unauthorized credit card charges on their monthly statements at a time in 1984 when LaRouche was buying half-hour presidential campaign spots on network television. The grand jury which indicted LaRouche heard evidence from angry credit card holders, not Henry Kissinger.
Yet Ridgeway is correct is asserting that there was government misconduct against the LaRouchians which surfaced as part of the case. That the government shut down the LaRouchian publications as part of its probe into loan fraud and tax evasion was a civil liberties outrage, and the action was later rightfully declared unconstitutional. This abuse of government power, however, had no bearing on the evidence which convicted LaRouche and his followers of the charges in the Virginia indictments.
There is no debate that LaRouche was a little fish in the cloudy waters trolled by U.S. intelligence agencies. But when LaRouche hired informants and self-styled intelligence operatives such as Ryan Quade Emerson, Mitchell WerBell, and Roy Frankhouser, he was aware he was opening a Pandora's box filled with smoke and mirrors, double-dealing, and betrayal. WerBell, for instance, was a former OSS officer and international arms merchant. Frankhouser was a well-known government informant and Ku Klux Klan organizer. While LaRouche may have been belatedly frozen out of an active role in Reagan Administration intelligence functions, to conclude that his former allies turned up as government witnesses through a conspiracy to isolate LaRouche the "Spymaster" was a fanciful but unsubstantiated charge. A more likely explanation is that they turned up as witnesses against LaRouche in an attempt to keep themselves out of jail.
Ridgeway also describes LaRouche without mentioning LaRouche's notorious anti-Jewish sentiments. LaRouche, for instance, has claimed there is no such thing as Jewish culture, and that "only" a million and a half Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis, and then primarily due to illness and overwork.
A letter criticizing Ridgeway for publishing LaRouchian assertions
as fact was published in the May 31, 1988 issue of the
David MacMichael is the editor of
In the October-November 1990 issue of
It is true that the Oliver North network targeted the LaRouchians for investigation, when LaRouche fundraising, especially to rich older conservatives, was found to be hampering private fundraising efforts for the Contras. There is, however, no conclusive evidence that the North/Secord political investigation of LaRouche influenced the Boston or Virginia criminal investigations or indictments.
Numerous criminal and civil actions against illegal LaRouche financial activities were launched as early as the late 1970's. One such probe was initiated by the Illinois State Attorney General on the basis of an article by this author charging irregularities in LaRouchian financial activities. The article was based on several boxes of original office and bank records. [f-10] In 1979 and 1980, Dennis King published documented charges of widespread LaRouchian financial misconduct in a series of articles in New York's <Our Town>, a neighborhood newspaper. Several articles were based on secret internal LaRouche memos and financial records obtained by King from sources close to the LaRouche operation.
On December 16, 1981, Dennis King, Russ Bellant, and this author held a press conference in Washington, D.C. charging the LaRouchians with "a wide variety of potentially illegal activities," including: carrying out intelligence tasks for several foreign governments, including Iraq and South Africa; conducting a pattern of "illegal, deceitful and fraudulent activities by non-profit corporations, foundations and fundraising front groups controlled by Lyndon LaRouche."
The Boston grand jury was already investigating illegal LaRouchian fundraising practices well before conservatives and neo-conservatives forced the Reagan Administration to stop access by LaRouchians to the staff at the National Security Council and CIA. It is not likely that LaRouche was the victim of a conspiracy to indict him falsely for crimes. What is more likely is that after LaRouche was forced out as a marginal player in Reagan intelligence circles, his immense criminal fundraising schemes could no longer be ignored, and some of the numerous probes into his many frauds finally were allowed to proceed to court.Certainly both MacMichael and Ridgeway have a right to report what they wish, and draw any conclusions they feel are warranted by the facts. But to report the LaRouche side of the story of the government's criminal indictments without historical context is to give an imprimatur to the unsubstantiated--and widely disputed--LaRouchian allegations claiming that LaRouche's conviction was the result of a government conspiracy to deny him his political rights. This in turn is used by the LaRouchians to gain sympathy and worm their way into left political circles, especially among students, where the LaRouchians' long history of fascist attacks on left groups is unknown.
Some Criteria for Discussion
Circulating information from (and in essence for) the right without an accompanying principled criticism and analysis of intent accomplishes several things. It:
*** Builds the left group's reputation as an independent and resourceful information gatherer;
*** Gives information credibility as being from the left rather than the right by laundering original sources;
*** Advances often unstated implicit rightist agendas;
*** Protects the rightist group from punitive attack by the right or the government since information is perceived as coming from left;
*** Results in a conscious or unconscious reluctance by the left group to criticize the right group for fear of having information flow cut off.
It is important both journalistically and politically to know the source of information in order to consider the ulterior motives and possible implications of the information being circulated.
We certainly shouldn't let the right set our research agenda through leaks but contact with the right seems inevitable and often proper and useful. Since persons on the left have contacts with the right for varied and complex reasons, one blanket criticism is neither sufficient, nor helpful. We do need to think through policies. What then are the principled conditions for contact with the right? Keep in mind that we all need to work in coalitions while maintaining independent political analysis and ability to criticize freely.
Some suggested points of principle might include:
*** Do not trade potentially harmful information on left groups with the right. Only trade information on government abuses and on other right groups;
*** Double check and double source all stories;
*** Name the group or sector supplying the information and provide an honest thumbnail political sketch;
*** Consider why information is being passed by the group and make that part of the analysis or story;
*** Condemn flaws in all groups concerned;
*** Do not refer people to rightist networks without warning them of the nature of the source, and allowing them to make a principled moral decision whether or not to seek the information through that group.
Flaws of Logic, Fallacies of Debate
With so much political confusion, it becomes vital to keep in mind that there are some useful ways to evaluate the validity of political arguments regardless of their political viewpoint.
Useful standards by which to judge the rational merits of any statement or theory are easily found in textbooks on debate, rhetoric, argument, and logic. These books discuss which techniques of argumentation are not valid because they fail to follow the rules of logic. Among the more common fallacious techniques or inadequate proofs:
*** Raising the volume, increasing the stridency, or stressing the emotionalism of an argument does not improve its validity. This is called argument by exhortation.
*** Sequence does not imply causation. If Joan is elected to the board of directors of a bank on May 1, and Raul gets a loan on July 26, further evidence is needed to prove a direct or causal connection.
*** Anecdotes alone are not conclusive evidence. Anecdotes are used to illustrate a thesis, not to prove it.
*** Association does not imply agreement, hence the term guilt by association has a pejorative meaning. Association proves association; it suggests further questions are appropriate, and demonstrates the parameters of networks, coalitions, and personal moral distinctions, nothing more.
*** Participation in an activity, or presence at an event, does not imply control.
*** Congruence in one or more elements does not establish congruence in all elements. Gloria Steinem and Jeane Kirkpatrick are both intelligent, assertive women accomplished in political rhetoric. To assume they therefore also agree politically would be ludicrous. If milk is white and powdered chalk is white, would you drink a glass of powdered chalk?
*** Similarity in activity does not imply joint activity and joint activity does not imply congruent motivation.
When a person serves in an official advisory role or acts in a position of responsibility within a group, however, the burden of proof shifts to favor a presumption that such a person is not a mere member or associate, but probably embraces a considerable portion of the sentiments expressed by the group. Still, even members of boards of directors will distance themselves from a particular stance adopted by a group they oversee, and therefore it is not legitimate to assume automatically that they personally hold a view expressed by the group or other board members. It is legitimate to assert that they need to distance themselves publicly from a particular organizational position if they wish to disassociate themselves from it.
Techniques of the Propagandist
In 1923 Edward L. Bernays wrote the book <Crystalizing Public
Opinion> and later, in 1928, the text
In 1936 Boston merchant Edward Filene helped establish the short-lived Institute for Propaganda Analysis which sought to educate Americans to recognize propaganda techniques. Alfred McClung Lee, Institute director from 1940-42, and his wife Elizabeth Briant Lee, co-authors of <The Fine Art of Propaganda, Social Problems in America>, recently wrote an article in the periodical <Propaganda Review> in which they suggested educating the public about propaganda techniques was an urgent priority. The Lees also discussed the Institute's symbols for the seven hallmark tricks of the manipulative propagandist:
Name Calling: hanging a bad label on an idea, symbolized by a hand turning thumbs down;
Card Stacking: selective use of facts or outright falsehoods, symbolized by an ace of spades, a card signifying treachery;
Band Wagon: a claim that everyone like
Testimonial: the association of a respected or hated person with an idea, symbolized by a seal and ribbon stamp of approval;
Plain Folks: a technique whereby the idea and its proponents are linked to "people just like you and me," symbolized by an old shoe;
Transfer: an assertion of a connection between something valued or hated and the idea or commodity being discussed, symbolized by a smiling Greek theatre mask; and
Glittering Generality: an association of something with a "virtue word" to gain approval without examining the evidence; symbolized by a sparkling gem.
The Institute's last newsletter reflected that "in modern society an element of propaganda is present in a large portion of human affairs...people need to be able to recognize this element even when it is serving 'good' ends."
Some Examples
Here are two examples of how the fallacies of debate and errors of logic are employed regarding General John Singlaub, a man whose roles in Iran-Contragate and world fascist movements are already well documented, and need no discussion here.
General John Singlaub was involved in promoting the yellow ribbon campaign during the Gulf War. He was one of dozens of influential people who formed the Coalition for America at Risk. That Coalition was one of at least ten other major national groups promoting the yellow ribbon campaign, including veterans groups with tens of thousands of members nationwide. Families of service personnel have been tying yellow ribbons on trees in anticipation of the safe return of their active duty relatives ever since this military tradition which dates to the Civil War was revived during the Vietnam War, in part due to a popular song. To suggest, as some do, that Singlaub created the yellow ribbon campaign as a continuation of his nefarious role in Contra fundraising is to stretch credulity beyond the breaking point.
Another case involving Singlaub shows how a series of individual facts from underlying footnotes can be strung together so that the conclusions are not accurate because they fail the tests of deductive logic. <The Iran Contra Connection: Secret Teams and Covert Operations in the Reagan Era>, combines into one book chapters written by Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott and Jane Hunter. On page 67 in a chapter written by Peter Dale Scott it is asserted that the LaRouche organization "previously posed as left-wing but in fact harassed anti-nuclear and other left-wing demonstrations with the help of the right-wing domestic intelligence group known since 1979 as Western Goals." It is documented that the LaRouchians spied on and harassed the left, and it is documented that Western Goals spied on and harassed the left, but it does not automatically follow that they worked together to spy on and harass the left.
The evidence linking the two groups is this: General Singlaub, at the time on the board of Western Goals, once lectured to a group that included some LaRouchians at a training center run by Mitch WerBell. Singlaub met LaRouchians from time to time when he visited WerBell, who served as an intelligence adviser to LaRouche. The LaRouchians in 1977 gave the New Hampshire State Police background material on anti-nuclear activists including several pages from a private Rees newsletter. At the time, Rees was not connected to Western Goals. In fact, Western Goals had not as yet been founded.
That both the LaRouchians and Rees have spied on the left is both documented and a matter of some bragging by both parties. That the LaRouchians spied on and harassed the left with help from Western Goals is unsubstantiated, and faces conflicting evidence. In fact, Rees and the LaRouchians have despised each other for years, and denounce each other regularly in print, gleefully sending nasty information about each other to reporters, including this author.
It is common for Singlaub and other figures criticized by the left to point to the inaccurate and unsubstantiated charges leveled against them by their critics as a means to deflect the charges that are well documented. The use of fallacious arguments and the circulation of unsubstantiated conclusionary charges in an area of research such as government repression or intelligence abuse undermines the credibility of the whole area of research. It makes the job all the harder for cautious progressive researchers, whose work becomes suspect in the eyes of mainstream reporters and broad audiences.
Harry Martin and Propaganda Techniques
Harry V. Martin is the editor of the
Inslaw, a small computer company, developed a very sensitive computer program, Promis, which Inslaw alleges was appropriated without authorization by the U.S. Justice Department and other government agencies. Promis software was an early contender in case management software, but by no means unique. Several vendors at the time Promis was being offered also offered similar case tracking software. It can be argued that at the time Promis was indeed ahead of its competitors in many key features, but today Lotus Agenda with its case tracking overlay is just as powerful. [f-11]
Martin's Inslaw stories use the classical propaganda technique of stringing together chronological events and implying that one causes the other. One story, for example, which looks at the role governmental retribution may have played in the failure to re-appoint to the bench one judge, George Bason, whose rulings has supported Inslaw's position. Martin's article assumes allegations it needs to establish. He says:
"As a result of the Inslaw cases, many heads in the Justice Department were lopped off. When Judge George Bason, a bankruptcy court judge, refused to liquidate Inslaw, ruling instead that the Department of Justice used deceit, trickery and fraud, he was only one of four who were not re-appointed to their jobs. A total of 132 were re-appointed. But to show the collusion of the Justice Department, when it removed Judge Bason from the bench after his ruling against them and for Inslaw, they had S. Martin Teel appointed to the bench to replace Bason. Who was Teel? He was a Department of Justice attorney who unsuccessfully argued the Inslaw case before Judge Bason. "
Certainly the failure of Judge Bason to be re-appointed after ruling in favor of Inslaw is curious. A good reporter would seek evidence to show that there was a connection between the Inslaw case and the failure to re-appoint Judge Bason. That one event followed the other is not this proof. The same situation applies to Teel. The sequence is curious but the cause and effect relationship remains unproven.
Martin also makes extensive use of arguments by exhortation, which are arguments based more on emotion that on reason. For example, he claims:
"An official of the Israeli government claims [a person] sold the Promis program to Iraqi military intelligence at a meeting in Santiago, Chile. The software could have been used in the recent Persian Gulf War to track U.S. and allied troop movements. Ari Ben-Menashe, a 12 year veteran of Israeli intelligence, made the statement in a sworn affidavit to the court. "
When Martin claims the software could have been used against the U.S. during the Gulf War, he is using jingoistic appeals to emotion rather than reason to garner support for his position. He is deliberately painting a picture of the possible deaths of U.S. soldiers as a direct result of the purported theft of the Promis software program by U.S. government agencies. That software also could have been used to track hamburger shipments by McDonalds, or alternatively, troop movements could have been tracked by Lotus AGENDA rather than Promis. It is hype, and misleading, to single out the one possibility that suits his political ends.
There are other misleading statement in the paragraph quoted above. For example, Ari Ben-Menashe was hardly "an official of the Israeli government." He was at best an Israeli intelligence staffer who became a player in the international arms trade, and even that has been contested. Martin's inflation of Ben-Menashe's status serves to condemn the entire Israeli government in a way that a discussion based on Ben-Menashe's actual status would not have done. Another example is Martin's emphasis on the fact that Ari Ben-Menashe "made the statement in a sworn affidavit to the court." As anyone who has worked on legal cases can attest, sworn statements carry no guarantee that they are truthful or factual. Absent documentation or corroborating testimony, they stand as allegations, not facts.
In the same article, Martin goes on to claim that Promis is now being used by the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. Department of Justice. In fact, these are unproven allegations that are being presented as though they were facts. They may indeed be proven at some point, but have not yet been proven. The technique of first presenting allegations, then later referring to them as facts, is a classic propaganda technique. A closer examination of Martin's presentation reveals that the claimed use of the software by these U.S. government agencies is actually an allegation from Ben-Menashe's affidavit, in which Ben-Menashe claims he was told by a third party that this was true. Legally, this is hearsay, which is typically inadmissible in court as evidence. Nevertheless, Martin converts this hearsay allegation into a statement of fact. But Martin is not through with his daisy chain of proof.
Still utilizing unproven assertions, Martin goes on to expand the cast of villains from a few corrupt officials of the Justice Department to the entire U.S. government. He writes:
"[The] Judiciary Committee is conducting its own investigation in what has been described as the U.S. Department of Justice's "trickery, deceit and theft" of the software. The U.S. Government has been connected with the illegal sale of the sensitive software to South Korea, Libya, Iraq, Israel and Canada, as well as being pirated by a number of U.S. agencies, including the CIA, National Security Agency and other military units. The software is also in use by the FBI. Only the U.S. Justice Department was licensed to use the software... "
>From a proposition of criminal or unethical conduct by individuals within the Justice Department, a proposition itself unproven, Martin moves on to argue the existence of an international conspiracy, led by the U.S. government to steal and distribute Promis software. While such a claim could later be proven, Martin here merely presents the allegation as though it were true, a technique known as a "conclusionary" or "Kierkegaardian" leap.
One final example of Martin's tendency to confuse unproven allegations with established matters of fact can be found in Martin's treatment of Riconoscuito, a computer software technician who has submitted a sworn affidavit in the Inslaw case. Riconoscuito has claimed that he was threatened by a former staff member of the Justice Department with criminal prosecution on an unrelated charge and with an unfavorable result in a pending child custody dispute if he testified on the Inslaw case. Riconoscuito has also claimed that he made a tape recording of the telephoned threat, two copies of which were confiscated when he was arrested. Although he has not produced it, he claims a third copy exists, which is being held in a safe location. When Martin discusses Riconoscuito, he begins with what appears to be a statement of uncontested fact, "In February, Riconoscuito was called by a former Justice Department official and warned against cooperating with an investigation into the case by the House Judiciary Committee." In fact, while some of what Riconoscuito has alleged can be verified, much cannot. Despite the plethora of details Martin presents, the entire content of Martin's story on Riconoscuito is composed of Riconoscuito's own unverified assertions or other unproven allegations made in the early stages of a lawsuit.
Riconoscuito has also been championed as a source by the LaRouchians
who say they introduced Riconoscuito to Danny Casolaro, according
to the
These few examples buttress the assertion that Martin is not a
reliable source of information. A careful reading of all the Martin
Inslaw articles reveals many other instances of fallacious argument
and propaganda technique. Questions regarding Harry Martin's
judgement and political orientation are also raised by the fact
that he has allowed his articles to appear regularly in the
Conclusions
"When we destroy international Fascism we must at the same time destroy national Fascism, we must replace the reactionary forces at home with truly democratic forces which will represent all of us. "
(George Seldes )
(
We suffer in the U.S. from an unfortunate reluctance to recognize and name the resurgence of fascist ideology around the world. In part this is because we are not taught in our schools what fascism was or is. We hold ourselves up as a model of democracy while half the eligible citizens rarely feel motivated to vote, and we are bombarded with advertising that tells us that freedom is the ability to purchase four different varieties of Coca-Cola at 7-11.
Some have argued that the main potential threat of fascism comes
from a bipartisan government increasingly willing to employ repressive
and authoritarian solutions to societal problems during a time of
economic decline. Political analyst William Pfaff is one of the
few mainstream analysts who warns that an unconscious strain of
American fascism is influencing national affairs. Writing in the
Given the upsurge of nationalism, jingoistic patriotism, militarism, scapegoating, and race-baiting practiced by both the Reagan and Bush Administrations, a discussion of the proto-fascist elements in U.S. domestic and foreign policy is not unwarranted. At the same time, it is hyperbole to describe the current political climate in the U.S. as fascist. Yet it clearly is an error to assume that anyone who opposes repressive aspects of U.S. policy is an anti-fascist, or upholds democratic principles.
A Painful Task
The dilemma for left activists is to sort out the various strains of fascist ideology circulating in the world and in the United States. To ignore the threat posed by critics of our government who represent overt fascism is a dangerous folly.
While revealing our government's policies as corrupt, we must not concede the debate over foreign policy and domestic social justice to the demagogues on either the left or the right. If these people monopolize the debate, then political discourse in the U.S. will soon echo the themes of the fascist era in Europe where hysteria and holocaust, blood and bounty, blind patriotism and deaf obedience became synonymous with the national spirit.
Author George Seldes reached his 100th birthday in 1990 as the
early editions of this report were first being researched and
written. More than half a century earlier, in 1938, Seldes wrote
"We must guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism, especially that patriotism which is the last refuge of scoundrels and which is so prevalent, so professional and so well paid nowadays. Eternal vigilance must become more than the slogan for small associations desperately fighting almost overwhelming cases of infringements on individual liberties. "
"We must realize that those who use red-baiting to attack every liberal and democratic movement today, are the armed cutthroats of reactionary Fascism tomorrow. "
"Two facts emerge from any study of European turmoil and the new class alignment in our own land. The enemy is always the Right. Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite. "
While the concept of broad-based peace and social justice coalitions remains desirable, activists and their coalitions should be very careful to examine the backgrounds and ideologies of those groups with which we seek to build coalitions.