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Article: 571 of sgi.talk.ratical
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From: dave@ratmandu.esd.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe)
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Subject: How the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> turned 'being directed by the <ent type='ORG'>NSC</ent>' into 'getting approval'
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<ent type='ORG'>Keywords</ent>: the compartmentalized "need to know" security lid locks up the govn't
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Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.
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Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 18:01:36 GMT
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Lines: 573</p>
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<p> . . . Control of a good share of what the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> is doing is
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more important to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> than control over the government of
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<ent type='GPE'>Jordan</ent> or <ent type='GPE'>Syria</ent>. . . .
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When the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> wants to do something for which it does not have
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prior approval and for which it does not have legal sanction, it
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works from the bottom, using all of its guile with security and
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"need to know"--a euphemism for "keep the scheme away from anyone
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at any level of government who might stand in its way." Hand and
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<ent type='PERSON'>Lansdale</ent>, among others, were almost always able to line up enough
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support in the right places to make it possible for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> to get
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a favorable reading from the "<ent type='ORG'>Forty Committee</ent>" on any subject,
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legal or not. In fact, this is the great weakness of such a
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committee. Rather than working to control the agency it works the
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other way. The procedure makes it possible for the agency to win
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approval from a lesser echelon of the <ent type='ORG'>NSC</ent> intrastructure, and then,
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by clamping on a security id, it makes others believe that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
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had orders from the <ent type='ORG'>NSC</ent> or perhaps even from the President, when in
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fact it did not.</p>
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<p> the following appeared in the 7/75 issue of "<ent type='ORG'>Genesis</ent>:"
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_____________________________________________________________________
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How the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> Controls President <ent type='PERSON'>Ford</ent>
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by L. <ent type='PERSON'>Fletch</ent>er Prouty
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reprinted here with permission of the author</p>
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<p> In this monstrous U.S. government today, it's not so much what
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comes down from the top that matters as what you can get away with
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from the bottom or from the middle--the least scrutinized level.
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(Contrary to the current <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> propaganda as preached by William
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<ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Ray Cline</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Victor Marchetti</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Philip Agee</ent>, who say,
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incorrectly, "What the <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent> does is ordered by the President.")
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As with the <ent type='ORG'>Mafia</ent>, crime is a cinch if you know the cops and the
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courts have been paid off. With the <ent type='ORG'>Central Intelligence</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent>,
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anything goes when you have a respected boss to sanctify and bless
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your activities and to shield them from outside eyes.
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Such a boss in the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was old <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent>, who ran the <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent>
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like a mother superior running a whorehouse. He knew the girls
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were happy, busy, and well fed, but he wasn't quite sure what they
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were doing. His favorites, all through the years of his prime as
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Director of <ent type='ORG'>Central Intelligence</ent>, were such stellar performers as
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<ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Wisner</ent></ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Bissell</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>George Doole</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Sheffield Edwards</ent>, Dick
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<ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>Red White</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Tracy Barnes</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Desmond Fitzgerald</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Joe Alsop</ent>, Ted
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Shannon, Ed <ent type='PERSON'>Lansdale</ent> and countless others. They were the great
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operators. He just made it possible for them to do anything they
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came up with.
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When <ent type='ORG'>Wisner</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Richard Nixon</ent> came up with the idea of mounting
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a major rebellion in <ent type='GPE'>Indonesia</ent> in 1958, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> saw that they got
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the means and the wherewithal. When General <ent type='PERSON'>Cabell</ent> and his Air
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Force friends plugged the U-2 project for <ent type='PERSON'>Kelly Johnson</ent> of
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<ent type='ORG'>Lockheed</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> tossed it into the lap of <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Bissell</ent>. When Dick
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<ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>Des Fitzgerald</ent> figured they could play fun and games in
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<ent type='GPE'>Tibet</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> talked to <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Gates</ent>, then Secretary of <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent>, and
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the next we knew <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> agents were spiriting the Dalai Lama out of
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<ent type='GPE'>Lhasa</ent>, <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> undercover aircraft were clandestinely dropping tons of
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arms, ammunitions, and supplies deep into <ent type='GPE'>Tibet</ent> and other planes
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were reaching as far as northwestern <ent type='GPE'>China</ent> to <ent type='GPE'>Koko</ent> Nor.
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While he peddled the hard-won <ent type='ORG'>National Intelligence Estimates</ent> to
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all top offices and sprinkled holy water over the pates of our
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leaders, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> dropped off minor miracles along the way to
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titillate those in high places. If you win the heart of the queen
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and convert her to your faith, you can control the king. This
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works for the Jesuits. It worked well for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent>
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was no casual student and practitioner of the ancient art of
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religion. He was an expert in the art of mind-control. He learned
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how to operate his disciples and his <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent> in the ways of the
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cloth.
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But for every Saint and every Sinner in the fold there must be
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an order of monks, and the <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent> has always been the haven for
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hundreds of faceless, nameless minions whose only satisfaction was
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the job well done and the furtherance of the cause. One of the
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most remarkable--and surely the best--of these was an agent named
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<ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>.
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In my book, "The Secret Team," written during 1971 and 1972, I
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mentioned that the most important agent in the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was an almost
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unknown individual who spent most of his time in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>. At
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that time I did not reveal his name; but a small item in a recent
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obituary column stated that:</p>
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<p> "<ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>, 61, a former senior official of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, died in
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<ent type='PERSON'>Marshall</ent>, Minn. . . . (he was) a graduate of <ent type='ORG'>Harvard</ent> Law
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School. He had served with the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> from 1950 until
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retirement in 1971."</p>
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<p> After a life devoted to quiet, effective, skillful performance
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of one of the most important jobs in the worldwide structure of
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that unparalleled agency, all that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> would publicly say of
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<ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> was that he was a "senior official."
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Ask <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Helms</ent>, Ed <ent type='PERSON'>Lansdale</ent>, Bob McNamara, <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Gates</ent> or Allen
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<ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> or John Foster <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent>, if they were with us today, and they
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all would tell us stories about <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>. They would do more to
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characterize the nature and the sources of power which make use of
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and control the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> than has ever been told before. He was that
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superior operative who made big things work unobtrusively.
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You might have been one of the grass-green McNamara "whiz kids,"
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lost in the maze of the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> Puzzle Palace, who came upon a
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short, Hobbit-like, pleasant man who knew the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> so well that
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you got the feeling he was brought in with the original load of
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concrete. Thousands of career men to this day will never realize
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that <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> was a "Senior Official" of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and not one of
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their civilian cohorts. To my knowledge he never worked anywhere
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else. I was there in 1955 and he was there. I left in December
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1963, and he was at my farewell party. He must have spent some of
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his time at the agency; but it must have been before 1955. If he
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had a dollar for every trip he made in those busy years between the
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<ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> and the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> he would have died a very wealthy man. He
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popularized the <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent> term "across the river" and the "Acme
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Plumbers" nickname for agents of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. (A term later to be
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confused by <ent type='PERSON'>Colson</ent> and <ent type='PERSON'>John Ehrlichman</ent>, among others, with the use
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of the term "<ent type='ORG'>White House</ent> Plumbers" of <ent type='EVENT'>Watergate</ent> fame. Someone knew
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that Hunt, McCord, the <ent type='NORP'>Cubans</ent>, Haig, <ent type='GPE'>Butterfield</ent> and others all had
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<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> backgrounds and connections and therefore were "Plumbers."
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Only the insiders knew about the real "<ent type='ORG'>Acme Plumbers</ent>.")
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<ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> was as much at home with <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent> as he was with the
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famous old <ent type='GPE'>supersleuth</ent>, General <ent type='PERSON'>Graves</ent> B. <ent type='PERSON'>Erskine</ent>, and as he was
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with <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent>, or <ent type='PERSON'>Fitzgerald</ent>. <ent type='PERSON'>Ian Fleming</ent> may have popularized
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the spy and the undercover agent as a flashing <ent type='PERSON'>James Bond</ent> type;
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but in the reality of today's world the great ones are more in the
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mold of <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> and "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold."
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There has long existed a "golden key" group of agency and
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agency-related supermen. They came from the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>, the
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Department of State, the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent> and other places in government
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or from the outside. They have kept themselves inconspicuous and
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they meet in the evening away from their offices. They are the men
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who open the doors of big government to industry-banking law and to
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the multinational corporate centers of greed and power. Their
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strength lies in their common awareness of the ways in which real
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power is generated in the government, the real power that controls
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activities of the government. In many instances this is the power
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of being able to keep something from happening, rather than to make
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it happen. For example, if the President is murdered, real power
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involves the control of government operations sufficient to make
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any investigation ineffective and to assure that the government
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will do nothing even if the investigation should turn up something.
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Real power is the ability to keep the government bureaucracy from
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going into action when the price of petroleum and wheat is doubled
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or tripled by avaricious international monopolies.
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Some of these "gold key" members have surfaced and have accepted
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publicity, as did <ent type='PERSON'>Des Fitzgerald</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Tracy Barnes</ent> and
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others. <ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> never did. He was so anonymous that even his
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friends could not find him.
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The <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent> covered for <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> as it did for few others. The
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<ent type='PERSON'>James Bond</ent>s of this world may be the idols of the <ent type='ORG'>Intelligence</ent>
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coterie; but if you are a Bill <ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Helms</ent>, or <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent>,
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you know the real value of an indispensable agent. <ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> was their
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man in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>, and the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> was always the indispensable
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prime target of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. When the chips are down, the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> could
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care less about overturning "Communism" in <ent type='GPE'>Cuba</ent> or <ent type='GPE'>Chile</ent>. What
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really matters is its relative power in the U.S. Government.
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Control of a good share of what the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> is doing is more
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important to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> than control over the government of <ent type='GPE'>Jordan</ent> or
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<ent type='GPE'>Syria</ent>.
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Once, when the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> wanted to move a squadron (twenty-five) of
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helicopters from <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> to <ent type='LOC'>South Vietnam</ent>, long before the troubles
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there had become a war, I turned down the request from the Deputy
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Director of <ent type='ORG'>Central Intelligence</ent> in the name of the Secretary of
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<ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent> for no other reason than the fact that I did not find that
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project on the approved list of <ent type='ORG'>the National Security Council</ent>'s
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"<ent type='ORG'>Forty Committee</ent>" (then called the 5412/2 committee). That meant
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the agency had neither been directed by the National Security
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Council to move those helicopters into <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, nor had it received
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authorization for such a tactical movement. In other words, the
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planned intervention into <ent type='LOC'>South Vietnam</ent> with a squadron of
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helicopters would at that time have been unlawful as an
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intervention into the internal affairs of another country.
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This denial then, in 1960, effectively blocked the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> from
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being able to move heavy war-making equipment into <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>. The
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helicopters were actually U.S. <ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent> property on "loan" from
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<ent type='GPE'>Okinawa</ent> to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> for clandestine operations in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>.
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At that time my immediate superior was General <ent type='PERSON'>Graves</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Erskine</ent>,
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the Assistant to the Secretary of <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent> for Special (Clandestine)
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Operations, and the man then responsible for all military support
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of clandestine operations of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. Also at that time, <ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent>
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Hand, "worked for" <ent type='PERSON'>Erskine</ent>. Of course, this was a cover
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assignment--"cover slot" as it was known to us and to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>.
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<ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> had a regular office in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>.
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No sooner had the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> request been turned down than someone near
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the top of the agency called <ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> and told him about it. In his
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smiling and friendly way he came into my office, carrying two cups
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of coffee, and began some talk about music, travel, or golf. Then,
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as was his practice, he would get the subject around to his point
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with such a comment as, "<ent type='PERSON'>Fletch</ent>, who do you suppose took a call
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here about the choppers in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>?" and we would be off.
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The special ability he possessed was best evidenced by the
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process he would set in motion once he discovered a problem that
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affected the ambitions of the agency. He would talk about the
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choppers with <ent type='PERSON'>Erskine</ent>. Then he would drop in to see the Chief of
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Naval Operations and perhaps the Commandant of the <ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent>.
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He would talk with some of the other civilian Assistant
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Secretaries. In other words, he would go from office to office
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like a bee spreading pollen, titillating only the most senior
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officers and civilian officials with the most "highly sensitive"
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tidbits about the CIA's plans for <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>. In this manner he would
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find out what the real thinking in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> might be, and where
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there might be real opposition to such an idea--such as in the
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<ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent>, which knew it would never get compensation for those
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expensive helicopters and for the loss of time of all their support
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people. He would also find out where there would be support, as
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with the ever-eager U.S. <ent type='ORG'>Army</ent> Special Forces, most of whose senior
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officers had been with the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>.
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Then he would drop out of the picture for awhile to travel back
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to the old <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> headquarters, on the hill that overlooks what is now
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the <ent type='EVENT'>Watergate</ent> complex, for a long talk with <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent> or the
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Deputy Director, General <ent type='PERSON'>Cabell</ent>. On matters involving the
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clandestine services he would also stop by the old headquarters
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buildings, that lined the reflecting pool near the Lincoln
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Memorial, to talk with <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Helms</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Desmond Fitzgerald</ent>, and other
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operators. Within a day or two he would have them fully briefed on
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the steps to be taken in order to win over the <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent> Department;
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or failing that, how to overpower and outmaneuver the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> in
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<ent type='ORG'>the Department</ent> of State and the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent>.
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The foregoing is a "case study" on the important subject of how
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the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> really operates and what it believes is its top priority.
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The propaganda being spread around today by the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and its
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propagandists that, "What the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> does is ordered by the
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President," is totally untrue in all but .00001 percent of actual
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historical cases. It is much more factual to say that, "What the
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<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> does is to find ways to initiate major foreign policy moves
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without having the President find out--or at least without
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discovery until it is too late."
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"It is in precisely that manner that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> today works around,
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beneath and behind the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent> to effect policies that could
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influence the survival of the nation and the world. "Gold Key"
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operatives are, at this very moment, carrying out <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> game plans
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entirely outside the power of President Ford's ability to affect
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their activities. He is totally without knowledge of most of them,
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and therefore powerless to stop or alter them.
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In the case of the helicopters, <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> was able to convince
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<ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent> that the disapproval from the Secretary of <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent>,
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via my office, was real and that the Secretary would, at that time,
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be unlikely to change his mind. <ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> also could report that the
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position of other top-level assistants was so cool to stepping up
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the hardware *involvement* of the military in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, in 1960,
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that none of them would likely attempt to persuade the Secretary to
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change his policy of limited involvement.
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Fortified with the information gleaned by <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>, Allen
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<ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> would have two primary options: drop the idea of moving
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helicopters into <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, or bypass the Secretary of <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent> for
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the time being by going to the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent> for support. In 1960
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this was a crucial decision. The huge attempt to support a
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rebellion in <ent type='GPE'>Indonesia</ent> had failed utterly, the U-2 operations had
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been curtailed because of the <ent type='PERSON'>Gary Powers</ent> incident, the far-reaching operations into <ent type='GPE'>Tibet</ent> had come to a halt by Presidential
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directive and anti-<ent type='PERSON'>Castro</ent> activities were limited to minor forays.
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And at that time the large-scale (large for <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>) war in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> had
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become such a disaster that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> wanted no more of it. Dick
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Bissell, the chief of the Clandestine Services, had written strong,
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personal letters to <ent type='PERSON'>Tom Gates</ent>, the Secretary of <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent>, wondering
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openly what to do about the 50000 or more miserable <ent type='NORP'>Laotian</ent> <ent type='NORP'>Meo</ent>
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tribesmen the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> had moved into the battle zones of <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> and then
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had deserted with no plans for their protection, resupply, care or
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feeding. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> badly wanted to be relieved of the war that they
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had started and then found they could not handle. They wanted to
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transfer and thus preserve the agency's assets, including the
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helicopters, to the bigger prospects in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>.
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So, in 1960, if <ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent> dropped the idea of moving his
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assets from <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>, he would not only have lost those helicopters
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back to the <ent type='ORG'>Marine Corps</ent> but he would have seriously jeopardized
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the CIA's undercover leadership role in the development of the war
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in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, which it had been fanning since 1954.
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This was a crucial decision for both the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and for those who
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wished to contain the agency. If those who wished to put the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
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genie back in the bottle had been able at that time to prevent the
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move of those <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> assets into <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> would have had to
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disband them: helicopters, B-26 bombers from the <ent type='GPE'>Indonesia</ent>n
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|
fiasco, tens of thousands of rifles and other weapons, C-46, C-54
|
|
and other <ent type='ORG'>Air America</ent>-supported heavy transport aircraft, U-2
|
|
operations over <ent type='GPE'>Indochina</ent>, radar and other clandestine equipment,
|
|
C-130's specially modified for deep <ent type='GPE'>Tibet</ent>an operations, and much
|
|
more. From the point of view of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, the helicopters were
|
|
simply the tip of the iceberg, and the decision was its most
|
|
important in that decade.
|
|
Typically, in his unwitting <ent type='LOC'>Mother Superior</ent>-style, which
|
|
included bulldog tenacity, <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent> chose the route to the White
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>House</ent>. Here again he could rely strongly on <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>. Working
|
|
with Hand in Erskine's office was the CIA's other best agent, Major
|
|
General <ent type='PERSON'>Edward</ent> G. <ent type='PERSON'>Lansdale</ent>, who had long served in the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. Like
|
|
Hand, he had unequalled contacts in <ent type='ORG'>the Department</ent> of State and in
|
|
the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent>. In support of <ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent>, they contacted their
|
|
friends there and began a subtle and powerful move destined to
|
|
prepare the way for what would appear to be a decision by President
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Eisenhower</ent>. This was an important feature of the "case study":
|
|
The *apparent* Presidential decision.
|
|
When the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> wants to do something for which it does not have
|
|
prior approval and for which it does not have legal sanction, it
|
|
works from the bottom, using all of its guile with security and
|
|
"need to know"--a euphemism for "keep the scheme away from anyone
|
|
at any level of government who might stand in its way." Hand and
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Lansdale</ent>, among others, were almost always able to line up enough
|
|
support in the right places to make it possible for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> to get
|
|
a favorable reading from the "<ent type='ORG'>Forty Committee</ent>" on any subject,
|
|
legal or not. In fact, this is the great weakness of such a
|
|
committee. Rather than working to control the agency it works the
|
|
other way. The procedure makes it possible for the agency to win
|
|
approval from a lesser echelon of the <ent type='ORG'>NSC</ent> intrastructure, and then,
|
|
by clamping on a security id, it makes others believe that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
|
|
had orders from the <ent type='ORG'>NSC</ent> or perhaps even from the President, when in
|
|
fact it did not.
|
|
Thus it was that, about two weeks from the day that I received
|
|
that first call requesting the movement of the squadron of
|
|
helicopters, received word from General <ent type='PERSON'>Erskine</ent> that he had been
|
|
"officially" informed that the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent> (<ent type='ORG'>Forty Committee</ent>) had
|
|
approved the secret operation. The helicopters were moved into
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>. They were the first of thousands.
|
|
The great significance of this incident is to point out how the
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> works powerfully, deftly, and with great assurance at any level
|
|
of our government to get anything it wants done. But the anecdote
|
|
shows only the surface coating of the application of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>
|
|
apparatus.
|
|
One year earlier, in 1959, <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> had directed a <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent>
|
|
banker to my office. At that time I worked in <ent type='ORG'>the Directorate</ent> of
|
|
Plans in <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> headquarters and my work was top secret. Few of
|
|
my contemporaries in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent> knew that I was in charge of a
|
|
global U.S. <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> system created for the dual purpose of
|
|
providing <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> support for the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and for protecting the best
|
|
interests of the <ent type='ORG'>USAF</ent> while performing that task. My door was
|
|
labeled simply, "Team B"; yet that <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> banker knocked and
|
|
entered with assurance. Somehow he knew what my work was and he
|
|
knew that I might be able to help him.
|
|
In 1959 there were very few helicopters in all of the services,
|
|
and military procurement of those expensive machines was at an
|
|
all-time low. <ent type='ORG'>The Bell Helicopter Company</ent> was all but out of
|
|
business, and its parent company, <ent type='ORG'>Bell Aerospace Corp</ent>., was having
|
|
trouble keeping it financially afloat. Meanwhile, the shrewd Royal
|
|
Little, President of the Providence-based <ent type='ORG'>Textron Company</ent>, had a
|
|
good cash position and could well afford the acquisition of a
|
|
loser. <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent> and <ent type='ORG'>the First National Bank</ent> of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> got together
|
|
to talk helicopters. Neither one knew a thing about them. But men
|
|
in First <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> were close to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, and they learned that the
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was operating helicopters in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>. What they needed to know
|
|
now was, "What would be the future of the military helicopter, and
|
|
would the use of helicopters in <ent type='LOC'>South East Asia</ent> escalate if given a
|
|
little boost--such as moving a squadron from <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> to <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>?" The
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> could tell them about that, and <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> would be the man who
|
|
could get them to the right people in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>.
|
|
The banker from <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> phrased his questions as though he
|
|
believed that the helicopters in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> were somehow operating under
|
|
the <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent>, and then went on to ask about their tactical
|
|
significance and about the possible increase of helicopter
|
|
utilization for that kind of warfare. This was at a time when not
|
|
even newspapers had reported anything like the operation of such
|
|
large and expensive aircraft in that remote war. We had a rather
|
|
thorough discussion and then he left. He called me several times
|
|
after that and visited my office a month or two later.
|
|
As the record will show, <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent> did acquire the <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> Helicopter
|
|
Company and the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> did step up use of helicopters to the extent
|
|
that one of the CIA's own proprietary companies, Asia Aeronautics
|
|
Inc., had more than four thousand men on each of two bases where
|
|
helicopters were maintained. Most of those men were involved in
|
|
their maintenance--<ent type='ORG'>Bell Helicopters</ent>, no less!
|
|
Orders for Bel Helicopters for use in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent> exceeded $600-million. Anyone wanting to know more about how the U.S. got so
|
|
heavily ($200-billion and the loss of 58000 <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> lives)
|
|
involved in <ent type='GPE'>Indochina</ent> need look no further. This was the pattern
|
|
and the plan.
|
|
At the present time, when the <ent type='ORG'>White House</ent>, the <ent type='ORG'>House</ent>, and the
|
|
Senate are all investigating the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, it is important to understand
|
|
the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> and to put it all in the proper perspective. It is not the
|
|
President who instructs the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> concerning what it will do. And in
|
|
many cases it is *not* even the Director of <ent type='ORG'>Central Intelligence</ent>
|
|
who instructs the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> is a great, monstrous machine with
|
|
tremendous and terrible power. It can be set in motion from the
|
|
outside like a programmer setting a computer in operation, and then
|
|
it covers up what it is doing when men like <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent>--the real
|
|
movers--put grease on the correct gears. And in a majority of
|
|
cases, the power behind it all is big business, big banks, big law
|
|
firms and big money. The agency exists to be used by them.
|
|
Let no one misunderstand what I mean. It was President <ent type='PERSON'>Lyndon</ent>
|
|
B. <ent type='PERSON'>Johnson</ent> who on more than one occasion said that the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> was
|
|
"operating a damn <ent type='ORG'>Murder Inc</ent>. in the <ent type='NORP'>Carribean</ent>." In other words,
|
|
he knew it was doing this--and he was the President! This
|
|
knowledge has been recently confirmed by <ent type='ORG'>Defense</ent> Secretary James
|
|
Schlesinger (who is a former head of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>) and others by their
|
|
admission that they told the agency to end all "terminations." But
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Lyndon</ent> <ent type='PERSON'>Johnson</ent> was powerless to do anything about it. This is an
|
|
astounding admission from a President, the very man from whom, the
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> says, it always gets its instructions.
|
|
The present concern over "domestic surveillance" and such other
|
|
lean tidbits--most important to you and me as they are--is not
|
|
important to the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>. It can easily dispense with a <ent type='PERSON'>James Angleton</ent>
|
|
or even a <ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent> or a <ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent> (just look at the list of <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> bigwigs
|
|
who have been fired--<ent type='PERSON'>Allen Dulles</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'><ent type='PERSON'>Frank</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Wisner</ent></ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Dick Bissell</ent>, Dick
|
|
<ent type='PERSON'>Helms</ent>, and now perhaps <ent type='PERSON'>Colby</ent>); but the great machine will live on
|
|
while <ent type='ORG'>Congress</ent> digs away at the Golden Apples tossed casually aside
|
|
by the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>--the supreme Aphrodite of them all. Notice that the
|
|
agency cares little about giving away "secrets" in the form of
|
|
cleverly written insider books such as those by <ent type='PERSON'>Victor Marchetti</ent>
|
|
and <ent type='PERSON'>Philip Agee</ent>. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> just makes it look as though it cared
|
|
with some high-class window dressing. Actually the real harm to
|
|
the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> public from those books is to make people believe that
|
|
certain carefully selected propaganda is true.
|
|
In the story of <ent type='PERSON'>Frank Hand</ent> we come much closer to seeing exactly
|
|
how the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> operates to control this government and other foreign
|
|
governments. It is still operating that way. Today it is
|
|
President <ent type='PERSON'>Ford</ent> who is the unwitting accessory.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div> * * * * * * * *</div>
|
|
|
|
<p> the following is taken from an article <ent type='PERSON'>Fletch</ent>er Prouty wrote
|
|
for the February 1986 issue of "Freedom" magazine, entitled,
|
|
"Why <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>? <ent type='ORG'>The Selection and Preparation</ent> of the
|
|
Battlefield For America's Entry into the <ent type='GPE'>Indochina</ent> War," Part
|
|
7 in a <ent type='EVENT'>Series</ent> on the <ent type='ORG'>Central Intelligence</ent> <ent type='ORG'>Agency</ent>. i include
|
|
it to amplify on the curious visit Colonel Prouty received in
|
|
1959 from the vice president of <ent type='ORG'>the First National Bank</ent> of
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> and how it demonstrates that</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> There was only one way that vice president of the First
|
|
National Bank of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> could have come directly to my
|
|
office in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> had sent him there.
|
|
This is one of the most important "truly confidential"
|
|
roles of the agency. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> is the best friend of the top
|
|
executives of America's biggest businesses, and it works for
|
|
them at home and abroad. It is always successful in the
|
|
highest echelons of government and finance. . . .
|
|
Translated into everyday terms, Casey's <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, as was Allen
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent>' <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, is one of the true bastions of power as a
|
|
servant of the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> and transnational business and
|
|
financial community.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> --ratitor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> ______________________________________________________________________
|
|
| Helicopters in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>
|
|
| Toward the end of <ent type='EVENT'>World War</ent> II, a small number of
|
|
helicopters made their appearance in military operations.
|
|
During the costly battle for <ent type='GPE'>Okinawa</ent>, in the summer of 1945,
|
|
General <ent type='PERSON'>Joseph Stilwell</ent>--famed for his role as commander in
|
|
the <ent type='GPE'>China</ent>-<ent type='GPE'>Burma</ent>-India theater of the war--began to use an
|
|
early model of the Sikorsky helicopter as a"command car."
|
|
During the early 1950s, <ent type='EVENT'>the Korean War</ent> gave the
|
|
helicopter industry a much needed boost and several models
|
|
were used there. After <ent type='EVENT'>the Korean War</ent>, the use of
|
|
helicopters in all services was severely curtailed by high
|
|
costs of procurement and by the enormous amounts of time and
|
|
money required to keep them in operation. By 1959 almost
|
|
all helicopter manufacturers were broke, or at least on very
|
|
hard times. This included <ent type='ORG'>the Bell Helicopter Company</ent> in
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Buffalo</ent>, New York.
|
|
The helicopters used on operational missions into <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent>,
|
|
mentioned in this article, were the only military
|
|
helicopters anywhere in the world getting regular and
|
|
frequent tactical use. However, their very existence in
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Thailand</ent> and their employment in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> were secrets. They
|
|
had been moved from <ent type='GPE'>Okinawa</ent> to <ent type='GPE'>Thailand</ent> and were supported
|
|
by my office in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>.
|
|
One day, in 1959, a man entered my office to discuss
|
|
helicopters.
|
|
Because of the nature of the work my office was doing,
|
|
this was an infrequent event. Outside the door of the
|
|
office there was a small blue card that read:
|
|
| <ent type='ORG'>Air Force</ent> Plans
|
|
"Team B"
|
|
Chief--Lt. Col. L. F. Prouty
|
|
| That card by the door drew little attention, and it was
|
|
meant to be that way. Then how did this civilian visitor
|
|
from the outside world know that "Team B" was the place he
|
|
wanted to visit--for business purposes?
|
|
He introduced himself as a vice president of the First
|
|
National Bank of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent>. He said he was interested in the
|
|
tactical utilization of helicopters. Somehow he had been
|
|
directed to "Team B." "Team B" had been established in 1955
|
|
to provide "military support of the clandestine activities
|
|
of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>." The use of helicopters in <ent type='GPE'>Laos</ent> was a
|
|
clandestine operation of the <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>.
|
|
My visitor knew quite a bit about the helicopters in
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Thailand</ent>. He wanted to know if this utilization of large
|
|
helicopters on tactical missions was a harbinger of more
|
|
helicopters or was it simply a make-work project? Then he
|
|
got to the reason for his visit.
|
|
He said that the <ent type='ORG'>Textron Company</ent> of Providence, Rhode
|
|
Island, was a major customer of his bank. <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent> was in a
|
|
good cash position and the bank was advising them to
|
|
diversify and acquire a marginally viable company for tax
|
|
purposes and with an eye to future value.
|
|
To <ent type='ORG'>the First National Bank</ent> of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> the helicopter
|
|
business and specifically <ent type='ORG'>the Bell Helicopter Company</ent> in
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Buffalo</ent> appeared to be a prime prospect on both counts.
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent> was interested. The only problem was the market.
|
|
Would there ever be an interest in and a need for
|
|
helicopters by the military, meaning in big numbers? The
|
|
<ent type='NORP'>Laotian</ent> operation was the only show in town.
|
|
Because of the role being played by my office in support
|
|
of the use of helicopters in <ent type='LOC'>Southeast Asia</ent>, I already knew
|
|
the <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> people well both in <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent>, D.C., and <ent type='GPE'>Buffalo</ent>.
|
|
I knew <ent type='PERSON'>Bill Gesel</ent>, the president of <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> Helicopter. I knew
|
|
they were competent, but in trouble for lack of orders.
|
|
I described the helicopter as a useful vehicle of limited
|
|
potential, but rather well suited for covert operations. In
|
|
simple terms, the helicopter was too costly for the regular
|
|
military budget, but, as a rule, covert operations had money
|
|
to burn. That was the kind of money helicopters needed.
|
|
Because of the trend of covert operations in <ent type='LOC'>Southeast Asia</ent>,
|
|
I believed the demand for helicopters would increase.
|
|
As events later transpired, <ent type='ORG'>the First National Bank</ent> of
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent>, of which this man was a vice president, was
|
|
instrumental in getting <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent> to acquire the <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent>
|
|
Helicopter Company. This was the beginning of the <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent>
|
|
acquisition of <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> and of the great success <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> had in
|
|
selling helicopters for use in <ent type='GPE'>Indochina</ent>. As we all know
|
|
now, the <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> "Huey" helicopter was the unsung hero of the
|
|
struggle in <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>. Thousands were used there.
|
|
On one occasion, while I was at lunch at the <ent type='ORG'>Army</ent> and
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>Navy Club</ent> in <ent type='GPE'>Washington</ent>, <ent type='PERSON'>Bill Gesel</ent>, still president of
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent>, came by my table and pulled a check out of his pocket
|
|
that was in the range of nine figures--hundreds of millions
|
|
of dollars. Needless to say, <ent type='ORG'>Bell</ent> was doing well. <ent type='ORG'>Textron</ent>
|
|
was doing well. <ent type='ORG'>The First National Bank</ent> of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> had
|
|
earned its fees and, as a result, the remains of hundreds of
|
|
Hueys are scattered all over the countryside of <ent type='GPE'>Vietnam</ent>.
|
|
The Huey had become the famous "gun ship" of that war.
|
|
There was only one way that vice president of the First
|
|
National Bank of <ent type='GPE'>Boston</ent> could have come directly to my
|
|
office in the <ent type='ORG'>Pentagon</ent>. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> had sent him there.
|
|
This is one of the most important "truly confidential"
|
|
roles of the agency. The <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> is the best friend of the top
|
|
executives of America's biggest businesses, and it works for
|
|
them at home and abroad. It is always successful in the
|
|
highest echelons of government and finance.
|
|
This is the way things were more than 25 years ago. You
|
|
may be assured these successes have not diminished under the
|
|
current director of central intelligence, William J. Casey,
|
|
a true friend of business.
|
|
During a speech, delivered in December 1979 before an
|
|
<ent type='NORP'>American</ent> Bar Association workshop on "Law, <ent type='ORG'>Intelligence</ent> and
|
|
National Security," Casey said that he would like to see the
|
|
<ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent> be a place "in the United States government to
|
|
systematically look at the economic opportunities and
|
|
threats in a long-term perspective, . . . [to] recommend, or
|
|
act on the use of economic leverage, either offensively or
|
|
defensively for strategic purposes."
|
|
Translated into everyday terms, Casey's <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, as was Allen
|
|
<ent type='GPE'>Dulles</ent>' <ent type='ORG'>CIA</ent>, is one of the true bastions of power as a
|
|
servant of the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> and transnational business and
|
|
financial community.
|
|
|____________________________________________________________________|</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>--
|
|
daveus rattus </p>
|
|
|
|
<p> yer friendly neighborhood ratman</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> KOYAANISQATSI</p>
|
|
|
|
<p> ko.yan.nis.qatsi (from <ent type='EVENT'>the Hopi Language</ent>) n. 1. crazy life. 2. life
|
|
in turmoil. 3. life out of balance. 4. life disintegrating. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.
|
|
</p></xml> |