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 contras 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 Libya'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 contras
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 Kerr McGree Nuclear Corporation 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 State <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 Reagan
launched "Operation Night-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
State Defense Forces, composed of civilians, who would help
enforce the "State of Domestic National Emergency" during the
invasion. <ent type='PERSON'>Sheehan</ent> learned from a <ent type='GPE'>Louisiana</ent> State <ent type='ORG'>National Guard</ent>
Colonel that a State Defense Force in <ent type='GPE'>Louisiana</ent> planned to give
half of the weapons it received to the contras.</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
contras. The group, headed by <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Posey</ent>, obtained "surplus"
military equipment from the 20th Special Forces Unit 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
contras 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
contras 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 Rafael Quintero, 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. Wilson's real purpose was to
gather intelligence on the anti-Shah terrorist missions, and then
pass the information to Quintero, "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 contras 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 Carter'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. Quintero, 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 contras 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 contras, 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</ent> Trading Group International, was
involved in the 1981 sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia, 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 Columbia's largest
cocaine dealers in which the drug moves from <ent type='GPE'>Columbia</ent>,
through Hull's land, into the U.S at a level of one ton each
week.</p>

<p> When the Reagan 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 Santo Trafficante," included Quintero--and Felix
Rodreguez and <ent type='PERSON'>Luis Pasada Carillo</ent>--two ex-<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> agent who
reportedly operate the contras 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='NORP'>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>,
Cambodia 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 contras. <ent type='PERSON'>North</ent>, a <ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent> Major at the time,
was one of Singlaub'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 CIA'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='GPE'>Viet Cong</ent> civilians in an attempt to cripple Vietnam'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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