textfiles-politics/pythonCode/personTestingOutput/contrcia.xml

<xml><p>SECRET TEAM OF WEAPONS DEALERS
by <ent type='PERSON'>Vince</ent> Bielski</p>

<p> A "secret team" of former <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and military officials and
arms dealers are responsible for the covert weapons shipments to
<ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent> and the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> under the direction of fired <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent>
aide Lt. Col. Oliver <ent type='PERSON'>North</ent>.</p>

<p> Members of the "secret team" came together in the secret war
against <ent type='GPE'>Cuba</ent> in 1961, and have since been involved in "political
assassination" programs in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Chile</ent> and now
<ent type='GPE'>Nicaragua</ent>.</p>

<p> The "secret team," through an association with known <ent type='ORG'>Mafia</ent>
leaders, has resorted to opium and cocaine trafficking to
finance their operations.</p>

<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Edwin Wilson</ent>, the ex-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> operative convicted for selling
explosives to <ent type='GPE'>Libya</ent>'s <ent type='PERSON'>Moammar Gadhafi</ent>, was an active member.</p>

<p> These allegations are part of a lengthy affidavit filed this
week in a <ent type='GPE'>Miami</ent> federal court in support of a law suit brought
by <ent type='PERSON'>Dan Sheehan</ent>, an attorney with <ent type='ORG'>the Christic Institute</ent> in
<ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent>. The suit names 29 alledged operatives in the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent>
arms network as defendants.</p>

<p> The suit alleges that the defendants supplied the C-4
explosives which were used in the May 1984 assassination attempt
against contra leader <ent type='PERSON'>Eden Pastora</ent> in <ent type='GPE'>Nicaragua</ent> in which eight
people were killed and <ent type='PERSON'>Pastora</ent> injured. The plaintiffs, Martha
Honey and <ent type='PERSON'>Tony Avirgan</ent>, are <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> journalists who are sueing
for personal injuries they suffered from the bombing.</p>

<p> <ent type='ORG'>The Christic Institute</ent>, a church funded public interest law
firm, has taken on controversial cases in the past, such as the
suit against <ent type='ORG'>Kerr McGree Nuclear Corporation</ent> on behalf of Karen
Silkwood. And it was while <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> was defending a sanctuary
worker that he received information which led him
into the investigation of the contra arms supply opertation.</p>

<p> In March 1984, he learned from a member of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency that <ent type='ORG'>FEMA</ent> had a highly secret plan to
"deputize" government and <ent type='ORG'>State</ent> <ent type='ORG'>National Guard</ent> personnel for the
purpose of interning 400000 undocumented Central
<ent type='NORP'>American</ent>s in detention centers in the event that President <ent type='PERSON'>Reagan</ent>
launched "<ent type='EVENT'>Operation Night</ent>-train"--a military invasion into
<ent type='LOC'>Central America</ent>.</p>

<p> The plan also called for the distribution from U.S. military
bases of hundreds of tons of weapons to be used by newly created
<ent type='ORG'>State</ent> Defense Forces, composed of civilians, who would help
enforce the "<ent type='ORG'>State</ent> of Domestic National Emergency" during the
invasion. <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> learned from a <ent type='GPE'>Louisiana</ent> <ent type='ORG'>State</ent> <ent type='ORG'>National Guard</ent>
Colonel that a <ent type='ORG'>State</ent> Defense Force in <ent type='GPE'>Louisiana</ent> planned to give
half of the weapons it received to the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent>.</p>

<p> In <ent type='GPE'>Miami</ent>, former U.S. military personnel and active National
Guard units had organized a para-military organization, called
<ent type='ORG'>Civilian Military Assistance</ent>, to arm, train and fight with the
<ent type='NORP'>contras</ent>. The group, headed by <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Posey</ent>, obtained "surplus"
military equipment from the 20th <ent type='ORG'>Special Forces Unit</ent> of the U.S.
Army in <ent type='GPE'>Alabama</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> learned from a member of the group.</p>

<p> In June 1984, <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> was informed a man who
working with the para-military organization in helping arm the
<ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> also claimed to be a "personal representative to the
<ent type='ORG'>Contras</ent> of...Lt. Col. Oliver <ent type='PERSON'>North</ent>." His name is Robert <ent type='PERSON'>Owen</ent>.</p>

<p> One year later, <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> began putting this information into
a law suit when he learned that <ent type='PERSON'>Posey</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Owen</ent> and others
were allegedly involved in the bombing of the <ent type='PERSON'>Pastora</ent> press
conference which caused physical and personal injury to the two
<ent type='NORP'>American</ent> reporters.</p>

<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent>s investigation also led him to the discovery of a
"secret team" of former high ranking U.S. officials and officers
who oversaw the procurement and shipment of weapons to the
<ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> to to <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent>. Through <ent type='PERSON'>Posey</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Owen</ent> and other they allegedly
supplied the explosives for the press conference bombing. The
"secret team" includes former high-ranking <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> officials Theodore
<ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and Thomas <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent>, ret. <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> Gen. <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Secord</ent>,
ex-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> operative <ent type='PERSON'>Edwin Wilson</ent>, and two arms dealers, <ent type='PERSON'>Albert Hakim</ent>
(of <ent type='GPE'>Los Gatos</ent>) and <ent type='PERSON'>Rafael Quintero</ent>, both of whom are U.S.
citizens.</p>

<p> In the affidavit, which cites 79 seperate sources, <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent>
said he learned of the "secret team" from a former U.S.
intelligence officer who worked in <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent>, a retired <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> officer,
and a former <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> officer.</p>

<p> The intelligence officer discussed "the existence of a
'secret team' of former high-ranking <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> officials,
former high-ranking U.S. military officials and <ent type='NORP'>Middle Eastern</ent>
arms merchants--who also specialized in the performance of covert
political assassinations of communists...(and) which carried on
its own, independent, <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> foreign policy--regardless of the
will of <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent>,...the President,...or the (<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>)," the affidavit
reads.</p>

<p> The source said the "secret team" was set up in
1977 under the supervision of <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Cline</ent>, who were then
with the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'>Wilson</ent> worked with <ent type='PERSON'>Gadhafi</ent> "to secretly train
<ent type='GPE'>Libya</ent>n anti-Shah of <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent> terrorists in the use of deadly C-4
explosives," the affidavit reads. <ent type='PERSON'>Wilson</ent>'s real purpose was to
gather intelligence on the anti-Shah terrorist missions, and then
pass the information to <ent type='PERSON'>Quintero</ent>, "who was responsible for the
assassination of these <ent type='GPE'>Libya</ent>n terrorists,"</p>

<p> <ent type='PERSON'>Wilson</ent> was convicted for his dealings with <ent type='PERSON'>Gadhafi</ent>, and
<ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent> resigned under pressure from then-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
director <ent type='PERSON'>Stansfield Turner</ent>. <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent> then join with
<ent type='PERSON'>Secord</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Hakim</ent> and "went private" continuing to run their
"secret team," the affidavit reads.</p>

<p> This group--initially through the <ent type='NORP'>Egyptian</ent>-<ent type='NORP'>American</ent>
Transport and Service Company--was "responsible for the entire
supply of weapons...to the <ent type='ORG'>Contras</ent>," when the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> wasn't directly
providing them. They began arming the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> in August 1979,
after entering "into a formal contractual agreement with
<ent type='GPE'>Nicaragua</ent>n dictator <ent type='PERSON'>Anastasio Somoza</ent>" despite President <ent type='PERSON'>Carter</ent>'s
order banning the sending of weapons to <ent type='PERSON'>Somoza</ent>, the affidavit
reads.</p>

<p> The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> took over in 1981, but when the 1984 ban on U.S.
support went into effect, <ent type='PERSON'>North</ent> reactivated the private
merchants. <ent type='PERSON'>Quintero</ent>, operating through a <ent type='GPE'>Florida</ent> based
corporation named <ent type='ORG'>Orca Supply Company</ent>--a company earlier set up
by <ent type='PERSON'>Edwin Wilson</ent>--saw to it that the supplies were delivered to
the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> through <ent type='PERSON'>John Hull</ent>, a U.S. citizen, who reportedly
operates a contra base in northern <ent type='GPE'>Costa Rica</ent> on land he owns.
Among the delivered weapons were the explosives used in the
Pastor bombing, the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> source said.</p>

<p> To fund the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent>, the "secret team" resorted to the
foreign military sales scheme used in <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent> in which military
equipment is bought from the U.S. government at the
manufacturer's cost and sold to <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent> at replacement cost. The
profits are then laundered through front companies.</p>

<p> The Examiner reported in July that <ent type='PERSON'>Secord</ent>, partners with
<ent type='PERSON'>Hakim</ent> in <ent type='ORG'>Standford Technology Trading Group International</ent>, was
involved in the 1981 sale of AWACS to <ent type='GPE'>Saudi Arabia</ent>, in which
money from that sale financed the contra operation.</p>

<p> In another report, the Examiner said the weapons were also
financed by an elaborate cocaine ring involing <ent type='ORG'>Columbia</ent>'s largest
cocaine dealers in which the drug moves from <ent type='ORG'>Columbia</ent>,
through <ent type='GPE'>Hull</ent>'s land, into the U.S at a level of one ton each
week.</p>

<p> When the <ent type='PERSON'>Reagan</ent> Administration decided to undertake the
secret sales of arms to <ent type='GPE'>Iran</ent> in 1985, it was <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent>,
<ent type='PERSON'>Hakim</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Secord</ent> whom they used to carry out the mission, the
affidavit reads.</p>

<p>BACKGROUND</p>

<p> In 1961, <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent>, a <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> station chief in <ent type='GPE'>Miami</ent>, and his
deputy <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent>, directed the covert war against <ent type='GPE'>Cuba</ent>. A special
unit formed to assassinate <ent type='PERSON'>Castro</ent>, supervised by the "<ent type='ORG'>Mafia</ent>
Lieutenant <ent type='PERSON'>Santo Trafficante</ent>," included <ent type='PERSON'>Quintero</ent>--and Felix
Rodreguez and <ent type='PERSON'>Luis Pasada Carillo</ent>--two ex-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> agent who
reportedly operate the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent> arms network at an El Salvador air
base. <ent type='ORG'>Pasada</ent> was involved in the 1976 mid-air bombing
of a <ent type='GPE'>Cuba</ent>n passenger airliner.</p>

<p> After the covert war activists were caught smuggling narcotics
into the U.S. from <ent type='GPE'>Cuba</ent>, the operation was shut down, and <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent>
and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent> were transfered to <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>, where <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> was made <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
Deputy Chief of Station and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent> continued as his deputy.</p>

<p> According to the affidavit, <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent> directed a
secret program which trained and used <ent type='PERSON'>Meo</ent> tribesmen "to
secretly assassinated over 100000 non-combatant village mayors,
book-keepers, clerks and other civilian bureaucrats in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>,
<ent type='GPE'>Cambodia</ent> and <ent type='GPE'>Thailand</ent>." The operation was funded by profits from
an illegal opium trade.</p>

<p> A commander the political assassination program was ret.
Army General <ent type='PERSON'>John Singlaub</ent>, who has said publicly that he is
helping arm the <ent type='NORP'>contras</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'>North</ent>, a <ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent> Major at the time,
was one of <ent type='PERSON'>Singlaub</ent>'s deputies. Also involved with <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> in
<ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> was <ent type='PERSON'>Secord</ent>, then an <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> General, the affidavit
reads.</p>

<p> In 1971, <ent type='ORG'>Shackley</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Clines</ent>, from their post the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>'s
<ent type='LOC'>Western Hemisphere</ent> operations, directed the "Track II" operation
in <ent type='GPE'>Chile</ent> which played a role in the assassination of <ent type='GPE'>Chile</ent>an
President <ent type='PERSON'>Salvador Allende</ent>, the affidavit reads.</p>

<p> In 1974, the two directed the <ent type='GPE'>Phoenix</ent> project in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>,
which carried out the political assassination of some 60000 non-<ent type='NORP'>Viet Cong</ent> civilians in an attempt to cripple <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>'s political
institutions.</p>

<p> "With their secret <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> anti-communist extermination program
coming to a end,...(they) started their own private assassination
business..."</p>

<div>--------------------------------------------------------------</div>

<p> ) started their own private assassination
business..."</p>

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