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Operation Watch Tower
#1
AFFIDAVIT OF EDWARD P. CUTOLO

I, Edward P. Cutolo, having been duly sworn, do state under oath; 1. I am currently the Commanding Officer of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
2. I swear affirmation to the contents of this affidavit freely and without coercion or threat to my person.
3.In Dec., 1975, I spoke with Col. "Bo" Baker concerning a classified mission he commanded during that month, inside Colombia. The mission was known as Watch Tower.
4. Following a lengthy discussion with Col. Baker, I was introduced to Mr. Edwin Wilson and Mr. Frank Terpil. Both Wilson and Terpil were in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency. Both Wilson and Terpil inquired if I was interested in working for short periods of time in Colombia and I acknowledged that I was.
5. In Feb., 1976, I commanded the second Watch Tower Mission into Columbia.
6. The purpose of Operation Watch Tower was to establish a series of three electronic beacon towers beginning outside of Bogota, Colombia and running northeast to the border of Panama. Once the Watch Tower teams (Special Action Teams) were in place, the beacon was activated to emit a signal that aircraft could fix on and fly undetected from Bogota into Panama, then land at Albrook Air Station.
7. During the Feb., 1976, Watch Tower Mission, 30 high performance aircraft landed safely at Albrook Air Station where the planes were met by Col. Tony Noriega, who is a Panama Defence Force Officer currently assigned to the Customs and Intelligence Section. Noriega normally was in the company of other PDF officers known to me as Major Diaz Herrera, Major Luis del Cid, Major Ramirez. Also present at most of the arrivals, was Edwin Wilson, and an unidentified male Israeli national.
8. The cargo flown from Colombia into Panama was cocaine.
9. The male Israeli national was identified and known to members of the 570th Military Intelligence Group in Panama who only specified that this individual had the authority from the U.S. Army Southern Command in Panama to be in the A.O.
10. In March, 1976, a third Watch Tower Mission was implemented and I was in command of that mission which lasted 29 days and engaged in the same tactics used in the Feb., 1976, mission. The March mission encountered a serious accident and resulted in several SAT members being injured from wounds suffered while attempting to exfiltrate from Colombia across the border into Panama where helicopters were waiting to extract them.
11. The March, 1976 mission incident occurred as the SAT that was on station at Turbo, Colombia, encountered 40 to 50 armed men. Action Intelligence reports identified the armed men as local bandits. In regards to this incident the helicopters waiting in Panama, to extract the SAT, entered Colombian air space without authorization and successfully extracted the SAT, after an estimated six or seven minute fire fight.
12. During the March, 1976, Watch Tower Mission, 40 high proformance aircraft landed safely at Albrook Air Station where they were met in previously related fashion by those named.
13. After the Watch Tower Mission in March, 1976, I lost touch with several of the men who had served on the SATs, but made no attempt to locate them.
14. In 1978, I assumed command of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort. Devens and recognized two soldiers.
15. The two soldiers I recognized were assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). One was assigned to a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha in the 3rd Battalion, Sgt. John Newby. The other had just been reassigned off an Operational Detachment Alpha following a criminal Investigation Division matter being levied against him. PFC William Tyree. Tyree was reassigned to a Forward Support Team but had been carried for the preceding month on 2nd Battalion's roster.
16. Upon the assumption of command, I created and implemented 12 separate SATs. Their mission was to implement Army Regulation 340-18-5 (file number 503-05). My authority for this action came directly from FORSCOM through Edwin Wilson who appeared before me in my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters. This action was taken to develop surveillance of politicians, judicial figures, law enforcement agencies at the state level, and of religious figures.
17. Mr. Edwin Wilson explained that it was considered that Operation Watch Tower might be compromised and become known if politicians, judicial figures, police and religious entities were approached or received word that U.S. Troops had aided in delivering narcotics from Columbia into Panama. Based on that possibility, intense surveillance was undertaken by my office to ensure if Watch Tower became known of, the U.S. government and the Army would have advance warning and could prepare a defense.
18. I was under orders not to inform Col. Forrest Rittgers, Commanding Officer of Ft. Devens. The reason for this order I was told, is that in the event Ft. Devens personnel are caught in the act of implementing the surveillance, Col. Rittger will have a margin of plausible deniability on which he may be able to downplay and defend against injuries.
19. The surveillance was unofficially dubbed Operation George Orwell.
20. I instituted surveillance against Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward King, Michael Dukakis, Levin H. Campbell, Andrew A. Caffey, Fred Johnston, Kenneth A. Chandler, Thomas P. O'Neill to name a few of the targets. Surveillance at my orders was instituted at the Governors' residences of Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and New Hampshire. The Catholic cathedrals of New York and Boston were placed under electronic surveillance also. In the area of Ft. Devens, all local police and politicians were under some sort of surveillance at various times.
21. I specifically used individuals from the 441st Military Intelligence Detachment and 402 Army Security Agency Detachment assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group to supplement the SATs tasked with carrying out Operation Orwell.
22. I also recruited a number of local state employees who worked within the ranks of local police and as court personnel to assist in this Operation. They were veterans and had previous security clearances. They were told at the outset that if they were caught they were on their own.
23. Among the SAT personnel was (then) SP4 William Tyree. Tyree had learned of the Operation and requested in person to be part of it. Tyree was used in less than a dozen surveillances.
24. In Oct., 1978, it became known to me that SP4 Tyree was receiving telephone threats to his wife and himself. He made that fact known to his First Sergeant, Fredrick Henry and then approached me. Following our discussion, I considered placing Tyree under surveillance to arrive at who was behind the threats and whether or not the threats had the potential of inspiring or compromising Operation Orwell.
25. On 26 Dec. 1978 I began a file on SP4 Tyree and assigned a three man surveillance SAT to the multi-dwelling apartment complex SP4 Tyree shared with his wife. That unit was in place from that date until 14 Feb. 1979.
26. On 5 Jan. 1979, Tyree appeared before me to receive a Field Grade Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) for his part in the theft and sale of military property. I had to make an example out of Tyree and instituted the most severe punishment possible. I concluded that with pending congressional inquiries, the Post Commander (Col. Rittgers) would reverse my decision on appeal, in Pvt. Tyree's favor. As reason to support this conclusion, in addition to pending congressional inquiries, was the fact that the proceedings against Pvt. Tyree were flawed from the outset of the investigation with a number of discrepancies.
27. I was told and understood that the main reason for seeking the Article 15 against him was to make an example of him. To show others that cooperation with the Command law enforcement agencies was mandatory.
28. On 26 Jan. 1979, Pvt. Tyree tendered his Appeal of my sanction. The appeal is attached. It is the best example of what proof existed against Pvt. Tyree when he came before me on 5 Jan. 1979. It also names the characters in another matter that was unfolding as of 26 Jan. 1979.
29. By 29 Jan. 1979, Senator Garn's office had contacted the Army Liaison Office in Washington D.C., on the behalf of Pvt. Tyree who referred the matter to my office, as I was Pvt. Tyree's commanding officer. I then notified Sgt. Doucette in Washington D.C., that it would be approximately two weeks before further action could be taken in regards to the threats Pvt. Tyree was receiving. At that point I knew the threats were taking place, but had not ascertained from whence they originated.
30. At approx. 0945 hours on 30 Jan. 1979 Pvt. Tyree reported to my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters per my instructions. Pvt. Tyree reported that between 2400 hours and 0100 hours of the previous night that his wife had received another threatening phone call. I was notified of the call by the SAT in place at the Tyree residence prior to speaking with Pvt. Tyree. I ordered Tyree to keep this matter to himself as it was being investigated. I notified Pvt. Tyree I would contact him between 1200 and 1300 hours at his duty station as soon as I could look into a matter that pertained to the threats. This meeting lasted until 1019 hours.
31. On 30 Jan. 1979, at approx. 1147 hours, two men were dropped in the parking area of the apt. complex that Pvt. Tyree resided within. One man was identified as Erik Aarhus. The second man due to his face being covered could not be identified as the two men entered the apartment building that the Tyree family resided within. Surveillance indicates that at least one of the two men entered the Tyree apt. and left prior to the arrival of Pvt. tyree and his wife at noon.
32. On 30 Jan 1979, at noon Pvt. Tyree and his wife were seen arriving at the apartment complex they resided in. Pvt. Tyree never exited his truck and Mrs. Tyree entered the building where thier apt. was located. After she disappeared, a car almost ran into Pvt. Tyree as he was leaving the complex parking lot. Mrs. Tyree was stabbed to death in their apt. shortly thereafter.
33. Following a scream, local police were notified (this was not known to the SAT involved in the surveillance however.) The first police car responded quickly and a single officer entered the building where the Tyree family resided. After the officer entered one of the two men exited from a window on the ground floor of the building. This window was identified as the Tyree bedroom window. The man seen leaving this window was identified as SP4 Earl M. Peters. Peters exited the window wearing blue denim, with a red hood sticking out of the rear neck area of the blue denim jacket. He was carrying a box, green and white in color and described by the SAT a long and flat in appearance. Peters then walked from the building to the driveway entrance of the apt. complex and walked in the general direction of the main street in Ayer, Massachusetts. Within 5 or 6 minutes after the first police officer arrived a second officer identified as the police chief arrived.
34. After the police chief arrived a third vehicle arrived. This was 10 to 15 minutes later. That vehicle carried an unknown man in his late 30s. He was later identified as the landlord of the Tyree apt.
35. Upon knowledge that Mrs. Tyree was dead the SAT did notify me of this fact and I did place Pvt. Tyree under intense surveillance. In addition I placed SP4 Peters under surveillance and at approx. 1405 hours on the afternoon of the murder Sp4 Peters signed a weapon (12 gauge shotgun, Remington 1100) into the Service Company. The weapon was in a long, flat green and white box bearing the name "Remington" across the front and back sides.
36. Pvt. Tyree was questioned and cooperated in a limited fashion. He was then taken to the 441 Military Intelligence Detachment where he slept on the Commanding officers couch, under guard. The following morning, I spoke to him in my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters. I informed him of the surveillance and of what I knew had occurred to his wife. He knew at that point that SP4 Peters and Pvt. Aarhus had been involved in the murder and he began to talk to me.
37. Pvt. Tyree admitted, on 31 Jan. 1979 in my office to me, that his wife had been killed, he felt, because of a set of diaries she kept. Tyree explained that SP4 Peters and Sp4 Rosario were named throughout the books as being involved in illegal matters.
38. Upon Pvt. Tyree leaving my office, I initiated contact with Mass. State Police Lieutenant J. Dwyer, of the Middlesex District Attorneys Office. Lt. Dwyer had cooperated previously on Operation Orwell and understood the urgency of the situation and Lt. Dwyer notified me that during a search of the Tyree apt. he discovered the diaries behind the refrigerator with a note to the family of Elaine Tyree. He did not disclose the contents of the note.
39. Shortly before noon on 2 Feb. 1979, I received a telephone call from Lt. Dwyer indicating he would drop off the diaries belonging to Elaine Tyree at my office. Upon receipt of the diaries I reviewed them, noting much of Operation Watch Tower and Orwell was written about throughout the many pages of the diaries.
40. After my review, I contacted Col. Moore of the U.S. Army Liaison in Washington D.C., and notified him of the scope of the issues involved in the murder of Elaine Tyree. I did notify him at that time of the possibility that arms and narcotics trafficking played a role in her murder. Due to security issues surrounding Operation Watch Tower and Orwell, I did not indicate how the arms and narcotics trafficking figured in the murder of Elaine Tyree, however.
41. Despite repeated warnings to stay out of the investigation and to remain silent, Tyree was arrested on 13 Feb. 1979, after attempting to bring about the arrest of Pvt. Aarhus The surveillance SAT reported that an armed confrontation between Pvt. Tyree and SP4 Peters occurred prior to the arrest of Tyree.
42. During Feb. 1979, Pvt. Tyree was arraigned on the pending civilian criminal charges. It was too risky to allow a military court to review the charges against Pvt. Tyree with Operation Orwell still ongoing and Senator Garn's office requesting a full investigation. Pvt. Tyree therefore had to stand before a civilian court of law on the criminal charges.
43.Prior to the arrest of Pvt. Tyree, Lt. Dwyer approached me and insisted on knowing whether or not Tyree had ever served in Vietnam. I suspect Lt. Dwyer was attempting to learn if Tyree's involvement in the military operations elsewhere were being covered up the way Operation Watch Tower was. I replied in the negative, that Tyree had never been in the Republic of South Vietnam. I then contemplated for the first time that Tyree might go public on Operation Watch Tower and Orwell because I had not come forward. Based on that conclusion, I gave orders to erase certain parts of his military records.
44. Actual information erased included the attendance of Pvt. Tyree at certain service schools and references to overseas service. I ordered all records to be erased that linked Pvt. Tyree to Operation Watch Tower or Orwell. Service schools and badges I know were erased were " Paper Flash Special Forces Qualification," "Crewman's Aviator Wings," " Canadian Airborne Badge," and "Master Parachute Badge." I also gave orders to disenfranchise Pvt. Tyree from Special Forces. I wanted no one standing up for him and in the process dragging the information concerning Operation Watch Tower into the public eye.
45. Unbeknownst to him, Pvt. Tyree underwent a hearing on the criminal charges in a local courthouse, under surveillance of Operation Orwell. I learned through transmissions that Tyree only spoke of defense issues with his attorney, but never mentioned Operation Watch Tower or Orwell. In the process of Pvt. Tyree's hearing, a state police officer from Lt. Dwyer's office discovered the state courthouse was under surveillance. This led to the arrest of the senior Court Officer Ira Kiezer, who took full responsibility and never mentioned my office.
46. After the hearing concluded, the presiding judge in the Tyree matter found no reason to bind Tyree over for the trial on the murder of his wife. I found myself faced with the possibility that Pvt. Tyree, upon release, would become angered at my decision to disfranchise him. So I approached Lt. Dwyer who informed me that an indictment had already been secured for Tyree and that he would stand trial for the charge of murder. Lt. Dwyer expressed concern that there would not be enough evidence to warrant a guilty finding against Tyree. Lt Dwyer indicated that the only person with enough credibility was SP4 Peters. I could not inform Lt. Dwyer that Peters had been the person responsible for Elaine Tyree's murder.
47. After weeks of consideration, I concluded that the security of Operation Watch Tower and Orwell came first and AR 340 185 strictly prohibited the disclosure of intelligence gathered pursuant to that regulation.
48. On 29 Feb. 1980, Pvt. Tyree was convicted of murder and will spend the duration of his life incarcerated. I could not disseminate intelligence gathered under Operation Orwell to notify civilian authorities who actually killed Elaine Tyree.
49. The current intelligence on Archbishop Romero (El Salvador) indicates he is in receipt of physical evidence supporting several allegations that the U.S. is currently with Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama covertly training and sponsoring freedom fighters attempting to overthrow the current regime in Nicaragua; that these freedom fighters are also being supported from funds arising from Operation Watch Tower in part; that Mr. Robert D`Aubuisson (El Salvador) secretly aided the freedom fighters by allowing U.S. Advisors to train the freedom fighters inside El Salvador, that D`Aubuisson was contacted by Edwin Wilson and Frank Terpil prior to the freedom fighters being trained inside El Salvador. This information made it necessary to protect Operation Watch Tower and Orwell regardless of the costs.
50. I have been in communication with Lt. Dwyer. In Nov. 1979, after some prodding, Lt. Dwyer and the Middlesex District Attorney went to the Mass. Supreme Court and attained a ruling that prohibits any court but the Mass. Supreme Court from ordering the arrest of suspects in the Tyree murder. I am told that this is without precedent and that normally any court can issue arrest warrants for suspects in a murder. This will ensure that only Tyree and Aarhus are arrested for the murder and that SP4 Peters will not have to be subjected to having to defend himself on the witness stand. That also could bring the about the entire matter being made public as by this time, I'm sure SP4 Peters is acutely aware that something is afoot, or he would have been arrested when the hearing in the local courthouse was held.
51. I mailed the diaries of Elaine Tyree to a post office box number in Langley, Virginia, per instructions of Edwin Wilson who contacted me by telephone concerning the diaries. Wilson also notified me of the intelligence on Archbishop Romero.
52. I reviewed the diaries prior to mailing them. The diaries contained most of the information on SP4 Peters, as Pvt. Tyree indicated they did. I suspect that this was the motive for Peters' killing Elaine Tyree. The diaries contained no mention of Pvt. Tyree or his alleged illegal dealings. I suspect that Elaine Tyree only wrote in the diaries relating to soldiers other than her husband, who were involved in illegal activities in and around Ft. Devens.
53. The diaries kept by Elaine Tyree mentioned certain personal entries that can corroborate the fact that I saw the diaries, that they exist, and that the information contained within them is accurate. There were numerous entries relating to Elaine Hebb Tyree's family in Maryland and her friends in the army.
54. Jan. 1978 entry: "Rosemary got a job with the FBI and has to be in Washington D.C. by Jan. 31, 1978. Cindy and Edie got out of the hospital today (Thursday)."
55. From reading the entry on Cindy and Edie I suspect the actual date of their release from the hospital was 12 Jan. 1978. But no specific date was given, nor was the hospital named that they were admitted to.
56. Jan. 1978 entry: "Rosemary will be leaving for Wash. D.C., on Sunday. I may ride back with her."
57. From reading the entry on Rosemary driving to Washington, I suspect the actual date Rosemary left the Hebb family home in Cumberland, Maryland to travel to Washington, possibly with Elaine Tyree, was 29 Jan. 1978. No actual date was given in the diaries, nor was there further mention whether or not Elaine Tyree actually rode `back with her.'
58. Nov 1978 entry: "SP5 Scott had a little baby girl. She was due in July. I remember her back before she came to Ft. Devens."
59. From reading the entries on SP5 Scott which begin to appear in the diaries around April 1978, I suspect this female was a member of a unit Elaine Tyree was assigned to either at Ft. Lee, Virginia, or at Ft. Mc Clellan, Alabama. In either case, this is an intimate fact obviously known only to Elaine Tyree, as no one else would need or knowledge about when another female friend gave birth, and the gender of the baby born to that female friend.
60. Jan., Feb. 1978 entries. "I've been running around with Heidi Urban. We go all over together when I don't have duty. Oh, yeah, Diary, Pat Imbu left in mid-January."
61. From reading the entries on Heidi Urban the main fact appears obvious is that Elaine Tyree is then at Ft. Lee, Virginia. That Pvt. William Tyree is not present as he is at Ft. Devens. Mass. Other that Elaine and Heidi, no one, specifically not Pvt. Tyree or myself could know that Elaine and Heidi are 'running around together' at that time, unless these facts are represented in the diaries maintained by Elaine Tyree in her own handwriting. Elaine Tyree was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, Quartermaster School.
62. Nov. 1978 entry: "Dear Diary, my brother Steven who has been stationed in England for a over a year, is coming home on the 20th for good."
63. From reading the entries on Steven, I learned that he is currently assigned to an Air Force Base in England and that Elaine Tyree got along well with him.
64. From further consideration and reading entries on SP5 Scott., I conclude that Elaine Tyree knew this female at Ft. Lee, Virginia, in the sense that both Scott and Elaine Tyree underwent the same training there. I don't gather from the entries that SP5 Scott married or had a name change between her duty at Ft. Lee, Virginia, and Ft. Devens, Mass., but I could be forgetting of overlooking the numerous personal entries in the diaries in an attempt only to view data pertinent to Operation Watch Tower or Orwell.
65. Nov. 1978 entry: "Peters came by the apartment today. Bill spoke with him in the front room while I was washing dishes. Peters is thinking about buying a new truck. Bill asked Peters if he was going to have Dennis Testagrossa steal this new truck and burn it so Peters could collect the insurance the way Peters had the last time? Peters laughed and said the payments are better on this truck than the one he had Testagrossa steal from the parking lot of Carlin's Bar. This was the first I knew that Peters was involved in the stealing of his own truck. Peters told me Bill was not involved because at the time Bill was under too much attention."
66. To date, I have not actually seen proof that Pvt. Tyree was involved in illegal activities. I have seen ample proof that he is foolish and eager to do things his way, since Pvt. Tyree's involvement in the March 1976 Watch Tower incident with the 40-50 armed Colombians.
67. I have detailed pertinent events in this affidavit should something happen to me. The lug nuts have been loosened on my car tires twice in the past week. I have had someone tamper with my car once and I have received telephone calls at my home where no one answered at the other end. I have seen other men involved in Operation Watch Tower meet accidental deaths after they were also threatened.
68. Sgt. John Newby reported that he had received threats just prior to the parachuting accident that claimed his life in Oct. 1978. It was at that time that (then) SP4 Tyree began to report threatening phone calls. I saw a pattern and still believe that a pattern exists.
69. I gave Col. Baker the original copy of this affidavit. I gave true copies to Hugh B. Pearce, and to Paul Neri of the National Security Agency and instructed each person to deliver this affidavit to the authorities in the event something occurs to me.
70. I believe the friends I have entrusted with the original and copies of this affidavit will place the National Security of the United States and American interests in Latin America first, and if circumstances allow, will bring this affidavit to the attention of the authorities in the event something occurs to me.
71. During the conversation with Edwin Wilson I was informed of the sensitive data related to Archbishop Romero. He also spoke to me concerning operation Watch Tower and the geopolitical climate in Latin America and the need to maintain security. I notified him that I had requested to release intelligence gathered from Operation Orwell to civilian police authorities involved in the Elaine Tyree murder and that the Staff Judge Advocate's Office had denied the request.
72. Edwin Wilson explained that Operation Watch Tower had to remain secret and gave these reasons: (1) If it became public knowledge it would undermine present governmental interests as well as those in the future. (2) There are similar operations being implemented elsewhere in the world. Wilson named the "Golden Triangle" of Southeast Asia and Pakistan. Wilson stated in both areas of the world the CIA and other intelligence agencies are using the illegal narcotics flow to support forces fighting to overthrow communist governments, or governments that are not friendly towards the U.S.. Wilson named several recognized officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma, Korea, Thailand and Cambodia as being aware and consenting to these arrangements, similar to the ones in Panama. (3) Wilson cited the military coup in Argentina in 1976, the coup in Peru in 1976, the fall of the Somoza Government in Nicaragua in 1979, and the growing civil war in El Salvador as examples of the need for operations like Watch Tower. As these operations funded the ongoing effort to combat communism and defeat actions directed against the United States or matters concerning the U.S.
73. Edwin Wilson explained that the profit from the sale of narcotics was laundered through a series of banks. Wilson stated that over 70% of the profits were laundered through the banks in Panama. The remaining percentage was funneled through Swiss banks with a small remainder being handled by banks within the U.S. Wilson indicated that a large portion of the profits are brought into the banks of Panama without being checked. I understood that some of the profits in Panamanian banks arrived through Israeli couriers. I became aware of that fact from normal conversations with some of the Embassy personnel assigned to the Embassy in Panama. Wilson also stated that an associate whom I don't know also aided in over seeing the laundering of funds, which was then used to purchase weapons to arm the various factions that the CIA saw as friendly towards the U. S. The associates name is Tom Clines. Wilson indicated that most of Operation Watch Tower was implemented on the authority of Clines.
74. I was notified by Edwin Wilson that the information forwarded to Wash. D.C., was disseminated to private corporations who were developing weapons for the Dept. of Defense. Those private corporations were encouraged to use the sensitive information gathered from surveillance on U.S. Senators and Representatives as leverage to manipulate those Congressmen into approving whatever costs the weapons systems incurred.
75. Edwin Wilson named three weapons systems when he spoke of private corporations receiving information from Operation Orwell. (1) An armored vehicle. (2) An aircraft that is invisible to radar. (3) A weapons system that utilizes kinetic energy. I got the impression this weapon was being developed either for use by Nasa or for CBR purposes. I wrote down what I recalled at the time and it is attached.
76. Edwin Wilson indicated to me during our conversation while entailed the dissemination of Operation Orwell information and the identification of the three weapons systems, that Operation Orwell would be implemented nationwide by 4 July 1980.
77. As of the date of this affidavit, 8,400 police departments, 1,370 churches, and approx. 17,900 citizens have been monitored under Operation Orwell. The major churches targeted have been Catholic and Latter Day Saints. I have stored certain information gathered by Operation Orwell on Ft. Devens, and pursuant to instructions from Edwin Wilson have forwarded additional information gathered to Wash. D.C.
78. Per orders from Edwin Wilson, I did not discuss the implementation of Operation Orwell with my staff or others outside of the personnel assigned to surveillance. The only matter discussed with Operation Orwell personnel was what the SATs needed to know in order to carry out their mission. Certain information was collected on suspected members of the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group. Among those that information was collected on were Gerald Ford and President Jimmy Carter. Edwin Wilson indicated that additional surveillance was implemented against former CIA director George Bush, who Wilson named as a member of the Trilateral Commission. I do not have personal knowledge that Ford, Carter, or Bush were under surveillance.
79. I spoke to Col. James N. Rowe on 5 March 1980. I specifically requested that Col. Rowe communicate with several contacts he has within the CIA. I asked Col. Rowe to check out Edwin Wilson. I had two concerns. The first was that Edwin Wilson may pose a threat to National Security by disseminating classified information on the CIA's activities to personnel without a clearance or a need to know that information. Edwin Wilson, during his conversations with me, outlined information that was classified and to which I had no need to know. Information that pertained to the activities of the CIA in the U.S. and Latin America. I've related such conversations with Wilson herein. The second concern I had was the issue of his authority and connection to Thomas Clines. I was told repeatedly that Clines was the agent in charge and that Wilson worked with Clines. Col. Rowe indicated that he would make inquiries I requested and would contact me with that information as soon as he had something. Col. Rowe indicated that it would be 60 to 90 days before he would speak to the CIA contact that was most apt to have knowledge of the information I requested. I agreed to meet Col. Rowe on Ft. Bragg the next week in June in the event Col. Rose received documentation relating to the information I sought.
80. On 7 March 1980 Col. Rowe contacted me. During the course of our conversation Col. Rowe informed me that his initial inquiries with CIA contacts confirmed that Edwin Wilson was working for Thomas Clines at the times in question. Col. Rowe indicated that Edwin Wilson was under scrutiny by the CIA at that time but had not been given the details of the circumstances surrounding the events of that matter. Col. Rowe also indicated that there was an Israeli aspect to the matter involving Edwin Wilson and Col. Rowe provided the name of David Kimche as being the Israeli most likely to be involved with Edwin Wilson. In regards to my concerns that Edwin Wilson posed a possible threat to national security or to the inner working of the CIA, Col. Rowe indicated that off the record, that was a concern of several people to whom he had spoken. Col. Rowe also indicated that he would be in receipt of documentation by the first week of June which listed Edwin Wilson's involvement in several operations. I specifically asked Col. Rowe if he had the names of any of those operations at this time and his reply was in the negative. Col. Rowe did indicate that it was his understanding that each operation had basically the same characters involved and Col. Rowe named two other individuals involved with Edwin Wilson. Col. Rowe named Robert Gates and William J. Casey as officials who had been named in the documentation he would acquire prior to our scheduled meeting on June 1980.
81. On 7 March 1980 after my conversation with Col. Rowe, I made inquiries through Paul Neri and Pentagon contacts and was informed that David Kimche had ties with the Israeli Intelligence Agency known as "The Mossad." I also asked that I be provided a photograph, if any existed, of David Kimche. I requested such a photograph to determine if Kimche was the unidentified male Israeli national who met the aircraft fling into Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower. In addition, I sought whatever photographs existed on those who were known associates of David Kimche for the same reason.
82. In March 1980 I received three photographs from Army Intelligence contacts at the Pentagon. Amongst the three photographs were two individuals I recognized. David Kimche's photograph had been shown to me by a friend, Col. Robert Bayard just prior to his murder in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. According to Bayard, Kimche was due to meet with him later. Shortly thereafter, I was informed through the normal lines of communication that Col. Bayard was murdered. As of this date his murder remains unsolved. The photograph of Kimche that Col. Bayard had appeared to be a surveillance photo. There is no doubt that Kimche was the person Bayard named as being in the photograph. According to Col. Bayard, Kimche was due to meet with him to discuss a matter that related to Col. Bayard's previous duty in the U.S. Army and assignment in the CIA.
83. Thee second individual I recognized from the three photographs I received, was listed as Michael Harari. I was informed that Michael Harari is listed as a senior Mossad agent. Harari was the un identified male Israeli national that met the aircraft which flew into Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower. He was the one who gave Edwin Wilson two briefcases full of U.S. currency in various denominations. The briefcases were given to Edwin Wilson at the end of operations in March and Feb. 1976. It is my understanding from Pentagon contacts, that Harari's activities in Latin America are well known, including his drug trafficking endeavors. I was also informed from those same contacts that the Pentagon on the orders of several Washington VIPs have gone to great lengths to keep the activities of Harari a secret. I have begun preparations to meet with David Kimche or Michael Harari while in Europe on annual NATO exercises. I intend to verify that Harari was the individual who was the individual who gave Edwin Wilson the briefcases while at Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower.
84. I was told from Pentagon contacts, off the record, that CIA Director Stansfield Turner and former CIA Director George Bush are among the VIPs that shield Harari from public scrutiny. Those Pentagon contacts further indicated to me their knowledge that Operation Watch Tower was implemented and of my involvement in that operation. This was the first time that U.S. military authorities confirmed to me that the Operation occurred and gave their approval. I also learned that Harari was a known middleman for matters involving the U.S. in Latin America. Harari acted with the support of a network of Mossad personnel throughout Latin America and worked mainly in the import and export of arms and drug trafficking.
85. As further means to corroborate this affidavit, on 9 Feb. 1979 , I spoke to Col. Rittgers concerning the release of Pvt. Tyree from Walter Reed Medical Center in Wash. D.C., where he had been admitted on 5 Feb. 1979. Col. Rittgers notified me that Pvt. Tyree had fully recovered from the depression which was brought about by the murder of Elaine Tyree. Col. Rittgers indicated that upon arrival at Ft. Devens later that day, he would interview Pvt. Tyree to determine for himself if Pvt. Tyree felt he was in any real danger.
86. I also spoke to Captain Gruden who was the Commanding Officer of the 409th Army Security Agency Company, Augsberg, Germany. The telephone call was brief and I inquired into what information PFC Tina Gregory might be expected to give in support of Pvt. Tyree's trial defense. The surveillance of the civilian court house in the early stages of the criminal proceedings against Pvt. Tyree indicated PFC Gregory could have knowledge of Operation Watch Tower since PFC Gregory and Elaine Tyree were very close friends. I was not able to learn much from Cpt. Gruden who was leaving his office when I called. In order not to attract attention to the value of the information PFC Gregory may or may not have, I passed the entire phone call off as being interested on the part of Pvt. Tyree who was in my command.
SIGNED UNDER THE PAINS AND PENATIES OF PERJURY
ON THIS 11TH DAY OF MARCH 1980
Edward P. Cutolo, Colonel, Infantry Commanding
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
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#2
OPERATION WATCHTOWER

pages cited this search: 19
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AARHUS ERIK Y
AIR PANAMA
ALI KAMAL HASSAN
ALLEN LEW JR (GEN)
BAKER A.J. BO (COL)
BAKER JAMES BO (COL)
BAYARD ROBERT F (COL)
CAPPUCCI JOSEPH J (GEN)
CARLTON CACERES FLOYD
CATTELL JAMES P
CLINES THOMAS G
CUNNINGHAM JAMES A JR
CUTOLO EDWARD P (COL)
GARCY KENNETH (SGT)
GRITZ JAMES G (BO)
HARARI MICHAEL
HENRY FREDERICK (SGT)
LAROCHELLE MARK (SGT)
LIVINGSTONE NEIL C
LOWERS DON
MALVESTI RICHARD (COL)
MURPHY DANIEL J (ADM)
NERI PAUL
NEWBY JOHN (SGT)
NORIEGA MANUEL ANTONIO
OPERATION ORWELL
PEARCE HUGH B
PETERS EARL MICHAEL
PILGRIM MICHAEL K
ROWE JAMES NICK (COL)
RUPPERT MIKE
SHACKLEY THEODORE GEORGE
SMITH LARKIN (R-MS)
STINER CARL WADE (GEN)
TASK FORCE 157
TERPIL FRANK EDWARD
TYREE ELAINE
TYREE WILLIAM
TYRE THOMAS
VILLEGAS EBER
WILSON EDWIN PAUL
WILSON WILLIAM (COL)


OPERATION WATCHTOWER

pages searched: 19 These names share the indicated number of pages with the above name. Click on a name below for a standard name search: CUTOLO EDWARD P (COL) 15 HARARI MICHAEL 12 NORIEGA MANUEL ANTONIO 8 WILSON EDWIN PAUL 8 ROWE JAMES NICK (COL) 7 BAKER A.J. BO (COL) 6 TYREE WILLIAM 6 NERI PAUL 5 PEARCE HUGH B 4 TYREE ELAINE 4 BAYARD ROBERT F (COL) 3 CLINES THOMAS G 3 OPERATION ORWELL 3 GRITZ JAMES G (BO) 2 LIVINGSTONE NEIL C 2 NEWBY JOHN (SGT) 2 PETERS EARL MICHAEL 2 RUPPERT MIKE 2 SMITH LARKIN (R-MS) 2 TERPIL FRANK EDWARD 2 AARHUS ERIK Y 1 AIR PANAMA 1 ALI KAMAL HASSAN 1 ALLEN LEW JR (GEN) 1 BAKER JAMES BO (COL) 1 CAPPUCCI JOSEPH J (GEN) 1 CARLTON CACERES FLOYD 1 CATTELL JAMES P 1 CUNNINGHAM JAMES A JR 1 GARCY KENNETH (SGT) 1 HENRY FREDERICK (SGT) 1 LAROCHELLE MARK (SGT) 1 LOWERS DON 1 MALVESTI RICHARD (COL) 1 MURPHY DANIEL J (ADM) 1 PILGRIM MICHAEL K 1 SHACKLEY THEODORE GEORGE 1 STINER CARL WADE (GEN) 1 TASK FORCE 157 1 TYRE THOMAS 1 VILLEGAS EBER 1 WILSON WILLIAM (COL) 1
http://www.namebase.org/main3/Operation-Watchtower.html
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
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#3
Part One

The narcotics industry has a turnover, estimated to be in excess of $1 trillion per annum. Put more simply, it is the largest industry in the world. Ongoing international measures to eradicate this industry have largely proved futile, despite the billions spent. For example, the death in Columbia - at the hands of law enforcement officers - of drug baron, Pablo Escobar, and the US capture of Panamanian middle-man, Manuel Noriega, didn't interrupt the flow of Columbian cocaine one iota. On the contrary, shipments to the United States and elsewhere, increased sharply in the wake of these so called Drug Enforcement "victories."
Meanwhile, information has surfaced that paints a damning picture of intelligence agency involvement in the narcotics industry. Sworn affidavit's in this writer's possession finger the Central Intelligence Agency for engaging in narcotics trafficking on an almost industrial scale. Some observers - perhaps with an element of merit - have, meanwhile, opined that the CIA's long-term involvement with the narcotics industry resulted from their support of nations that strongly adhered to the anti communist philosophy.
Under this rubric, drug barons the world over were aided and assisted in the production, transportation and distribution of narcotics, and the proceeds were used to arm resistance movements. So long as there was a "red menace" to fight, those dope peddlers - large and small - who co-operated with the CIA's cold war strategy, remained immune to prosecution. With the collapse of communism in the late nineteen eighties this rationale evaporated. Curious then, that the narcotics industry has not declined along with communism? One the contrary, all the indications point to continued growth and profits.
Drugs have become a self-perpetuating industry that continues to create billionaire's overnight. It is, by far, the most Laissez Faire enterprise of them all, enjoying spectacular financial returns for relatively modest investment. Arguably, reason enough, to ensure that continuing calls to legalise some types of soft drugs remain doomed to failure at the political level. Why kill the Golden Goose that effortlessly lays so many golden eggs?
History increasingly suggests that the hidden reality was that it was not so much a "war on drugs," as a "war for drugs." A war, moreover, aimed at winning the hearts and minds of those who live in embattled regions of the globe, by silently impoverishing, stupefying and killing those at home. The innocent,, as always, are the major casualties of any war:
OPERATION WATCH TOWER

What follows is drawn from an affidavit signed by Col. Edward P. Cutolo; a letter written by his close friend, Paul Neri - an employee of America's huge National Security Agency; and an additional supporting affidavit signed by PFC William Tyree - a soldier under Cutolo's command.1 Collectively, they amount to a powerful indictment of the Central Intelligence Agency and senior Pentagon officers who knowingly engaged in large scale narcotics trafficking.
More alarming still, are Cutolo's and Tyree's allegations concerning a black operation suitably named "George Orwell" - that utilised US Special Forces to spy on well-known American politicians, members of the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and the Catholic church in New York and Boston. The "product" of this covert surveillance was used for the purpose of blackmail.
Colonel Edward P. Cutolo was commanding officer of the US 10th Special Forces (airborne), 1st Special Forces stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. Possessing a distinguished record as a military officer, Cutolo doubtless had seen many peculiar things and undertaken numerous classified missions. Despite this, he would rue the day, in December 1975, he was approached by the CIA's Edwin Wilson and Frank Terpil.
The two CIA officers introduced Cutolo to two highly sensitive missions unlike anything he had undertaken previously. According to his close friends and comrades, Cutolo's later investigation into the legality of these missions would lead to his death under suspicious circumstances. Other senior military officers who investigated Cutolo's death also soon died under questionable circumstances. As we shall see, all were believed to have been murdered by Mike Harari, an alleged Israeli assassin who is known to have headed Mossad Assassination Operations in the early 1970's against the terrorists who massacred athletes at the 1972 Olympics2, and would come to prominence a decade later for his role in the now infamous Contragate affair.
[Image: terpil.jpg]
Frank Terpil
Cutolo begins his sworn affidavit by saying: "In December, 1975, I spoke with Colonel "Bo" Baker concerning a classified mission he commanded during that month, inside Columbia. The mission was known as "Watch Tower." Continuing, he states "Following a lengthy discussion with Col. Baker, I was introduced to Mr. Edwin Wilson and Mr. Frank Terpil. Both Wilson and Terpil were in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency. Both Wilson and Terpil inquired if I was interested in working for short periods of time in Columbia, and I acknowledged that I was."
Cutolo thereafter commanded the second and third Watch Tower missions. The second mission took place in February 1975 and lasted a total of 22 days. The purpose of the mission was to "establish a series of three electronic beacon towers beginning outside of Bogata, Columbia, and running northeast to the border of Panama." With the beacons in place and activated, aircraft could fix on their signal and fly undetected from Bogata to Panama, landing at Albrook Air Station. All told. 30 "high performance aircraft" flew the covert route to Allbrook.
The aircraft were met by Panama's Colonel Manuel Noriega - who would later become head of state, prior to experiencing a US invasion tasked to arrest and imprison him for laundering drug money. Accompanying Noriega were a number of officers of the Panama Defence Forces (PDF), CIA agent, Edwin Wilson, and Israeli agent Mike Harari. Cutolo adds that Harari had the authority from the "U.S. Army Southern Command in Panama to be in the A.O (Area of Operations)." Nor does Cutolo beat around the bush when explicitly stating "The cargo flown from Columbia into Panama was cocaine."
Cutolo continues his affidavit by outlining the third Watch Tower mission which he commanded. This occurred during March 1976, and lasted 29 days, safely cycling 40 cocaine carrying aircraft through to Panama. On this occasion members of one of his Special Action Teams (SATs), located at Turbo, Columbia were attacked by a large gang of local bandits and were extracted by helicopters that entered Columbian airspace without authority. Cutolo adds that the third mission was "met in the previously related fashion by those named - Noriega, Edwin Wilson, Mike Harari et al.
William Tyree's affidavit dated 6 September 1990, powerfully corroborates Colonel Cutolo's statements. Tyree, however, was able to provide additional direct testimony on the First Watch Tower mission, which he participated in. At that time he was assigned to the 1st/17th Air Cavalry Division located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In Tyree's own words, the mission was to "insert three SPECIAL ACTION TEAMS (SATs) inside Columbia. Once the SATs were in place they would activate electronic beacons which aircraft could follow through a specific corridor out of Columbia and into Panama where the aircraft, which were loaded with cocaine, would land at Albrook Air Station." Tyree adds the "mission lasted 24 days and approximately 37 aircraft of various descriptions flew out of Columbia and into Panama, all following the SATs electronic beacons."
Tyree goes on to state "I personally witnessed members of the Panamanian Defence Force (PDF) help unload the bales of cocaine from the aircraft onto the tarmac of Albrook Air Station. Among the PDF officers were Colonel Manuel Noriega, Major Roberto Diaz-Herrera, Major Liz del CID, and Major Ramirez.3 These men were always in the company of an American civilian identified to me by other personnel involved in the operation as Edwin Wilson, of the CIA. Another civilian in the company of Wilson, I have since learned, was Israeli Mossad agent Michael Harari.4"
Of additional interest are Tyree's comments regarding Edwin Wilson providing (presumably classified?) military style mustard coloured files to Noriega and his fellow PDF officers. Tyree states the files originally belonged to the CIA, Naval Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). The information contained in the folders appeared to have come from all over the world and included: a) Coastal defences of other countries, some of which appeared to be allies of the U.S. b) written information, diagrams, naval charts and reconnaissance photo's etc. Tyree judged the information was of a type and quality required to "institute a major naval operation anywhere in the world." Other folders related to the "US Navy and various battle groups, including number of personnel, number of aircraft, type of armaments and whether a vessel had conventional or nuclear capability."
It is impossible to say with any authority why Wilson handed over this type of sensitive information to Noriega. Panama is not famous for its Navy, which, in any event, certainly does not possess the capability to project itself around the world. One can only speculate that such information was to be sold or bartered by Noriega to foreign powers, and may have constituted part payment for assistance with the cocaine trafficking? On this aspect, we are unlikely to ever know.
OPERATION GEORGE ORWELL

In any event, after the Watch Tower missions, Col. Cutolo returned to normal duty, and Tyree was later reassigned to another location and command. There the matter would have rested for evermore had not a curious sequence of events occurred two years later.
By 1978, Colonel Cutolo assumed command of the 10th Special Forces Group (airborne) at Fort Devens, where he recognised two soldiers - PFC William Tyree and Sgt. John Newby - both of whom had operated under his command during Watch Tower, and who now were assigned (in Tyree's case re-assigned) to his command. 1978 also saw the return of Edwin Wilson with another deep black covert operation on offer. This was known as Operation George Orwell.
During a meeting with Cutolo, Edwin Wilson explained that "it was considered that Operation Watch Tower might be compromised and become known if politicians, judicial figures, police and religious entities were approached or received word that U. S. troops had aided in delivering narcotics from Columbia into Panama." Based on that possibility, Cutolo, formed twelve separate Special Action Teams (SATs). Their mission was to implement Army regulation 340-18-5 (file number 503-05). Cutolo's authority for this action came directly from FORSCOM via Wilson.
In effect, Operation Orwell was tasked with implementing intense "surveillance of politicians, judicial figures, law enforcement agencies at the state level and of religious groups." The underlying purpose was to provide the "United States government and the Army" with advance warning of the discovery of Watch Tower to enable them to "prepare a defence." Cutolo further states that he "was under orders not to inform Colonel Forrest Rittgers, commanding officer of Fort Devens," of this mission. The reason was to give Colonel Rittgers a "margin of plausible deniability" in the event that Fort Devens personnel were "caught in the act of implementing surveillance."
Cutolo goes on to reveal that he instituted surveillance against "Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward King, Michael Dukakis, Levin H. Campbell, Andrew A Caffrey, Fred Johnson, Kenneth A. Chandler, Thomas P. O'Neil, to name a few of the targets." Additionally surveillance was placed on "...the Governors residences of Massachusetts, Manine, New York and New Hampshire. The Catholic cathedrals of New York and Boston were placed under electronic surveillance also. In the area of Fort Devens, all local police and politicians were under some form of surveillance at various times." As part of the operation, Cutolo recruited "a number of local state employees who worked within the ranks of local police and court personnel.
Private Tyree, in his sworn affidavit, confirms what Cutolo has revealed about Operation George Orwell, including that it was initiated under Army regulation number 340-18-5, file number 503-05. He states that "I was involved in 10 separate surveillance missions in the New England area, all under this same operation." He adds "... surveillance was instituted to monitor civilian targets to determine: a) if Operation Watch Tower had been discovered. B) the probability that an investigation or governmental inquiry would be requested as a result of such a discovery." Tyree goes on to reveal that he, personally, participated in surveillance against the Mayor of Lunenbourg, Massachusetts, a community close to Fort Devens. A second local target was "John Droney, District Attorney, Middlesex County, Massachusetts." Tyree continues by providing detailed information about criminal wrongdoing by Droney, together with details of his sexual proclivities and indiscretions.
Moreover, Tyree additionally states that his friend, Sergeant John Newby, had engaged in surveillance against "...Senators John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Sgt. Newby also stated to me just prior to his death in October 1978, that he had been involved in some surveillance of 'some judges' in the New Englad area." These included "... Levin H. Campbell, Andrew A Caffrey and Fred Johnson." He then goes on to reveal that Major Arnett, who was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina (home of the Green Berets) had "commanded a team that allegedly maintained surveillance on Senator Jesse Helms." The connection betwee, Kennedy, Kerry and Helms, Tyree states, was that "all three were critical of the U. S. involvement in Latin America." Had they learned of Watch Tower "they would undoubtedly use that information to pull the U.S., out of Latin America, which in turn might effect the security of that area and eventually the U.S."
Meanwhile, Cutolo states that " Sgt. Newby "had received threats just prior to his parachuting accident that claimed his life in October 1978. It was at that time that (then) SP4 Tyree began to report threatening phone calls. I saw a pattern and still believe a pattern exists." Clearly, by this time, Col. Cutolo was fearful for his own life, too. "I gave Colonel Baker the original copy of this affidavit. I gave true copies to Hugh B. Pearce, and to Paul Neri of the national Security Agency and instructed each person to deliver the affidavit to the authorities in the event that something occurs to me."
It did. According to the Paul Neri's accompanying letter, in 1980, Colonel Cutolo died "while on a military exercise in England. Just prior to his death he notified me that he was to meet with Michael Harari, an Israeli Mossad agent. It is my belief, though unsubstantiated, that Harari murdered Col. Cutolo because of the information Col. Cutolo possessed." Neri then reveals that in the event of Cutolo's death, he was to discretely contact Col, Bo Baker. In turn, Col. Baker enlisted the aid of Col. Nick Rowe - all three were Special Forces officers with exemplary records. The three of them thereafter set out to "prove that Harari murdered Col. Cutolo..." Colonel Nick Rowe was killed soon afterwards. On 21 April 1989 he was shot to death by automatic fire from an M-16 assault rifle in Manilla, Phillippines. Neri reveals that "Harari was in the Phillippines for three days just prior to and after Col. Rowe's murder."
Chief Warrant Officer (WCO) Hugh Pearce, who also received a copy of Cutolo's affidavit, also died in June 1989, as a result of a helicopter accident. Pearce had commenced to help the others with their enquiries. Prior to his death he had directed Col. Rowe to an address at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and state politican, Larkin Smith. Both Col. Rowe and CWO Hugh Pearce died prior to a scheduled meeting with Smith - both having previously agreed to "go public" and call for a "full investigation into the events described in Col. Cutolo's affidavit" following the arranged meeting. Smith, died in August 1989 - in an airplane accident. Others to conveniently die included Colonel Bo Baker and Colonel Robert Bayard - who was murdered in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1977, just prior to his meeting with Israeli Mossad officer David Kimche.
Clearly, protecting the big secret of Operation Watch Tower has assumed priority. This is, in fact, hinted at in Cutolo's affidavit, when he earlier speaks of El Salvadoran Archbishop Romero. Cutolo states that Romero "... is in receipt of physical evidence supporting several allegations that the United States is currently with Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama covertly training and sponsoring freedom fighters attempting to overthrow the current regime in Nicaragua." Cutolo's then states that "... these freedom fighters are also being supported from funds arising from Operation Watch Tower in part." Cutolo closes this paragraph by saying "This information made it necessary to protect Operation Watch Tower and Operation Orwell regardless of the cost." Needless to say, he was at that time, unaware that he and his closest colleagues would form part of that "cost."
But soon he would grow aware of the threat on his own life. "I have detailed pertinent events in this affidavit should something happen to me. The lug nuts have been loosened on my car tires twice in the past week. I have had someone tamper with my car and I have received telephone calls at my home where no one answered at the other end. I have seen other men involved in Operation watch Tower meet accidental deaths after they were also threatened."
Cutolo simply had too much direct knowledge of Operation Watch Tower to survive, especially since he began having doubts about its legality. During an earlier meeting with the CIA's Edwin Wilson, Cutolo states::
"Edwin Wilson explained that Operation watch Tower had to remain secret and gave these reasons:

    1. If it becomes public knowledge it would undermine present governmental interests as well as those in the future.
    2. There are similar operations being implemented elsewhere in the world: Wilson named the 'Golden Triangle' of Southeast Asia and Pakistan. Wilson stated in both areas of the world the CIA and other intelligence agencies are behind the illegal narcotics flow to support forces fighting to overthrow communist governments, or governments that are not friendly towards the United States. Wilson named several recognised officials of Pakistan, Afganistan, Burma, Korea, Thailand and Cambodia as being aware and consenting to these arrangements, similar to the ones in Panama.
Wilson cited the military coup in Argentina in 1976, the coup in Peru in 1978, the fall of the Somaza government in Nicaragua in 1979 and the growing civil war in El Salvador as examples of the need for Operations like Watch Tower. As these operations funded the ongoing efforts to combat Terrorism and defeat actions directed against the United States or matters involving the United States."
In any event, Wilson hadn't yet concluded his narcotics lecture to Cutolo, as he "... explained that the profits from the sale of narcotics was laundered through a series of banks. Wilson stated that over 70% of the profits were laundered through the banks in Panama. The remaining percentage was funnelled through Swiss banks, with a small remainder being handled by banks within the United States." Cutolo adds "Wilson indicated that a large portion of the profits are brought into the banks of Panama without being checked. I understood that some of the profits in Panamanian banks arrived through Israeli couriers. I became aware of that fact from normal conversations with some of the embassy personnel assigned to the embassy in Panama."
Cutolo then reveals that an associate of Wilson's also "aided in overseeing the laundering of funds, which was then used to purchase weapons to arm various factions that the CIA saw as friendly towards the United States. The associates name is Tom Cline." Wilson then tells Cutolo that "most of Operation Watch Tower was implemented on the authority of Clines." Tom Clines worked under Theodore Shackley - both of whom were heavily implicated in gun running activities during Iran-Contra; itself a notorious drugs-for-money-for-guns operation under President Ronald reagan and Vice President George Bush.
In fact, Cutolo later reveals in his affidavit that the illegal activities of Mike Harari were protected by a number of U. S. VIP's. Cutolo was told by Pentagon "...contacts, of the record..." that these VIP's included Director of CIA, Stansfield Turner and former CIA Director George Bush. Both, in Cutolo's words "shielded" Harari from "public scrutiny." The same contacts also told Cutolo that "Watch Tower" was a sanctioned mission and that "United States military authorities confirmed to me that Operation Watch Tower occurred and gave their approval." Cutolo, also learned that "... Harari was a known middleman for matters involving the United States in Latin America," adding that the Israeli assassin "acted with the support of a network of Mossad personnel throughout Latin America and worked mainly in the import and export of arms and drugs trafficking."
Motivation in this regard is a contentious issue. Paul Neri stated his belief that Wilson, Clines and Terpil were acting without authority and for their own personal enrichment. Clearly, this is not the case. Cutolo is certain that both operations were sanctioned at the highest level. Of course, this does not hinder some of those involved with these missions from profiting on the side. The indications are that so long as "skimming" was kept at reasonable levels, no questions would be asked by those higher up the chain of command.
Indeed, Cutolo's affidavit reveals an intriguing sidebar to Operation George Orwell that is only too believeable in regard to the big bucks world of black budgets. The surveillance product garnered by Operation George Orwell had uses other than keeping loose mouths shut. According to Cutolo, he "...was notified by Wilson that the information forwarded to Washington D.C., was disseminated to private corporations who were developing weapon systems for the Dept. of Defense. Those private corporations were encouraged to use the sensitive information gathered from surveillance on U.S. Senators and Representatives as leverage to manipulate those Congressmen into approving whatever costs those weapon systems incurred."
Three weapon systems were mentioned to Cutolo in this respect: "1) Am Armored vehicle. 2) An aircraft that is invisible to radar. 3) A weapon system that utilises kinetic energy." He adds that he got the impression all three were for "...use by NASA or for CIA purposes." Wilson also informed Cutolo, that "Operation Orwell would be implemented nationwide by 4 July 1980."5 He then adds that as of the date of this affidavit [11 March 1980], "2,400 police departments, 1,370 churches, and approximately 17,900 citizens have been monitored under Operation Orwell. The major churches targeted have been Catholic and Latter Day Saints." Others targeted included "suspected members of the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group," including former Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and George Bush. Cutolo notes that he did not have personal knowledge "that Ford, Carter or Bush were under surveillance."
Anyone who took an active interest in these operations were soon to experience extreme rigor mortis. In his covering letter, Paul Neri mentions the death of Supergun builder and "Pentagon Scientist" Dr. Gerald Bull, who was shot dead outside his apartment in 1990 - as an example of the deadliness of Mossad officer Mike Harari. Neri also casts dark glances at the role of President George Bush in this whole affair, noting that Bush "knew or should have known about Operation Watch Tower." He then adds that "With Mr Noreiga no longer in power, the Bush Administration has helped install one president and two Vice-Presidents in Panama who will continue to launder the drug money the CIA receives from drug operations world wide...""
Neri continues "How much longer, and how many more will be murdered, die accidentally or be discredited through incarceration so that poppies and cocca leaves can fund the secret war of the CIA? Will Latin America be the next secret CIA war as was the case in Vietnam? And how many of our service people will die there?"
Neri's allusion to Vietnam was not without meaning in terms of massive narcotics trafficking by the CIA. Colonel Bo Gritz,6 the most decorated Special Forces officer from the Vietnam era, received a copy of Cutolo's affidavit. Some years later he would travel to Burma and meet with warlord Khun Sa - the leading producer of Heroin in Southeast Asia. What Gritz discovered was fully documented and recorded on video camera. Gritz' story will form part two of this article, along with the associated story of U.S. Prisoners of War. In this case, the term "Missing in Action" has far more sinister connotations in the view of many, who believe that the POWs/MIAs are used a "drug mules" by an unscrupulous CIA, engaged in its global dope and guns business. Many of the names you have come across above will be reappear in part two.
ENDS

  1. Cutolo's affidavit runs to 15 pages and 86 paragraphs. Dated 11 March 1980, it is witnessed by a notary. PFC William Tyree's affidavit runs to 13 pages and 41 paragraphs. Dated 6 September 1990, it is witnessed by a notary. Paul Neri's accompanying 5 page letter is undated and unsigned and was prepared prior to his death on 29 April 1990, from a long illness. Cutolo's affidavit and Neri's death-bed letter were forwarded by a friend who wished to remain anonymous. The friend sent an accompanying type-written letter consisting of one paragraph, neither signed nor dated. All documents are in this writer's possession. Copies of Cutolo's affidavit were given to Colonels A. J. "Bo" Baker, Hugh B. Pearce and James "Bo" Gritz.
  2. Calahan, Alexander B. Countering Terrorism: The Israeli Response to the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre and the Development of Independent Covert Action Teams; Master's Thesis at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College; April, 1995.
  3. Cutolo names the same individuals in his affidavit.
  4. Extracted from the Third Edition of Defrauding America by Rodney Stich (1998, Diablo Western Press, Inc) page 359.
  5. My italics
  6. The major film, "First Blood" starring Slyvester Stallone was modelled on Col. Bo Gritz.
http://www.copi.com/articles/Guyatt/deep_black.html
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply
#4
[CTRL] 'Bo' Gritz and Operation Watchtower (1/1)

Das GOAT
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 03:13:26 -0800

-Caveat Lector-

"I have accepted money on contract work for the CIA, but not
with the same mercenary intent as Secord.
" I didn't have any idea at the time that the checks received were
from [a front used by] Albert Hakim, Ollie North, Dick Secord, or any of
the rest of them. I [agreed because] was asked by a trusted person
in the State Department.
"I was knowledgeable about Operation Watchtower.
"My best friend, A.J. Baker, commanded the first Watchtower
mission, which involved CIA aircraft flying cocaine from Bolivia
to Alford Air Force Base in Panama.
"Everyone associated with it has been killed except myself.
"People aren't disposed to give me threats face-to-face ...
[but I received] a telephone call wherein the caller [warned me]
that the Israeli Mossad figured in the death of three Special
Forces Colonels. Three of them had knowledge of Watchtower; I
was number four But nothing has happened [to me] ...
"I worked with the Mossad, I know them a little bit.
"I'm still alive, so, obviously, I haven't been targeted
well -- if I've been targeted at all."


Militia Leader Talks
Bo Gritz Interrogated by Adam Parfrey

Extracted from New Dawn No.30 (May-June, 1995)

One does not converse with Bo Gritz; like Moses or some
ancient lawgiver, information flows out in one direction,
garrulously, entertainingly, but in a fashion that seems almost
rehearsed. Meeting Gritz is like greeting the incarnation of Jake
LaMotta, a former warrior who now must entertain to make a
living.
The following interview was conducted shortly in February,
1993, at Gritz's suburban-style ranch home in a
sparsely-populated canyon one hour's drive West from Los Vegas.
Parked in front of his house is a twin-engine Cessna; his other
plane was undergoing repair in San Diego. Gritz was winding down
from the 1992 Presidential Campaign, in which he garnered over
100,000 write-in votes despite seemingly suicidal decisions, such
as refusing to appear on Larry King's television program - the
same show that launched Ross Perot - because Gritz didn't want to
disappoint supporters at a Liberty Lobby luncheon.
Gritz's campaign contrasted his Vietnam War heroics to give
credence to his anti-Federal Government diatribes, in which he
accused the CIA of acting in concert with Pentagon officials for
peddling dope for money and influence. He likewise blamed high
officials for deliberately sabotaging several Rambo-like rescues
of MIAs. These revelations apparently turned Gritz into an
anti-government activist, and he shared his information with the
Christic Institute and other liberal watchdog groups.
After becoming a sort of folk hero in Idaho by talking
Christian Identity believer Randy Weaver into peacefully
surrendering to authorities after federal snipers killed his
wife and son, Gritz decided to create a community named "Almost
Heaven" near Kamiah, Idaho, in which like-minded patriots would
construct homes and practice survival techniques, including
preparation for government invasions. Needless to say, leftist
activists, government authorities and the mass media are quick to
condemn Gritz's community as a haven for apocalyptic cultists,
another Waco waiting to happen. Gritz asserts that his community
will strictly observe the Constitution, and is a logical defense
against taking on the mark of the beast and other such
impositions created by the New World Order.
-- Adam Parfrey



Q: What was your larger purpose in writing "Called to Serve?"

A: It's not what we did in Vietnam that's important - there were
some lessons to be learned so we don't repeat them. But the fact
that the government has been involved in illegal narcotics
trafficking, literally overdosing our own people, not third world
target audiences, as we would expect, I think is important. If I
can get people to understand it better and accept it better by
trying to take them from how I got involved in Special Forces to
current time then so be it.

Q: As an insider or former insider, what precipitated your
decision to criticize the government?

A: One is common sense, consciousness. On the far right you find
people like Dick Secord. I know Richard Secord. He was a
Major-General in the United States Air Force. He was a chief
attache and knew the Shah of Iran personally. I worked for
Secord's boss, Erich von Marbod, who still hasn't been uncovered,
except when Ed Wilson was determined to have been a person
selling tons of explosives to Qadhafi, and identified both Secord
and von Marbod as conspirators along with Ollie North, everyone
got the axe except North. Von Marbod had to resign his super
government position; Secord had to give up being a General. But
it didn't mean they gave up the business. You have General
Secord, who has on public record. Playboy magazine, for example,
said he deserved the $8 million dollars he made in selling the
Ayatollah Khomeini missiles, for all his hard work. Before the US
Senate, you have Dick Secord saying he was in business to make
money when he was helping the Contras. Senator Kerry from
Massachusetts asked the question, "I thought you were
administered to help the Contra?!" He said, "Well, couldn't I
have two purposes?" On the other hand you have - I would cast
myself - we do not sell our services. Our services are not for
sale, they are given freely for what the motto Special Forces is.
We Liberate the Oppressed. De Oppresso Liber. I have, but not
with the same mercenary intent as Secord, accepted money on
contract work for the CIA. For example, I trained Afghan
Mujahadeen. The checks we received were from Stanford Technology.
I didn't have any idea at the time that Stanford Technology was
hooked up with Albert Hakim, Ollie North, Dick Secord or any of
the rest of them. These checks come to you, you cash them. I was
asked to do the training by a trusted person in the State
Department working for the Undersecretary of State for Security
Assistance. When I was a commander for special forces in Latin
America I knew Manuel Antonio Noriega personally.
I was knowledgeable about Operation Watchtower. My best
friend, A.J. Baker, commanded the first Watchtower mission, which
was CIA aircraft flying [cocaine from Bolivia to Alford Air Force
Base in Panama]. Everyone associated has been killed except
myself. I'm 240 pounds, I've got a 6th degree black belt. I've
rained hair-covered knuckles down upon people and would do so
again, properly provoked. People aren't disposed to give me
threats face-to-face.
But the only I guess you could call it a threat has been a
telephone call wherein the person said the Israeli Mossad had
figured in the death of three Special Forces Colonels. There were
four who had knowledge of Watchtower, and I was the last. But
nothing has ever happened [to me].
Some, what I believe to be today, partial to, but not real
white supremacist, out in the Midwest, called me a couple of
times to say, "Bo, watch out, the Israeli Mossad has got an
assassination plan for you." How in the world would this guy
know? I worked with the Mossad, I know them a little bit. There's
no way that somebody outside would know what the inside was
doing. I'm still alive, so obviously I haven't been targeted well
if I've been targeted at all.

Q: Was the threatening phone call from a friendly source?

A: Well, that one phone call was just from an unknown source.
We'd call them F-6 in the intelligence vernacular, it's
undeterminable. The point is that I had personal knowledge of CIA
drug-trafficking. Not just in Panama. I had when I was a
commander on Special Forces in Southeast Asia. Francis Ford
Coppola, in 1975 sent me a letter. I was a commander of Special
Forces Latin America. He wanted to use the photograph in General
William C. Westmoreland's book ["A Soldier Reports"] showing me
with Nurse Toi kneeling in front of a lot of really mean-looking
Cambodian mercenaries as the headliner for his new movie
Apocalypse Now. Colonel Kurtz was commanding a Cambodian army
and I was Major Gritz, and I did command a Cambodian army. Matter
of fact I was the first to do so. At that time we had knowledge
that the CIA was trafficking in illegal narcotics using Air
America, which we over there had our own name for. We called it
Air Opium. It doesn't mean that the pilots weren't brave people
and did a lot of heroic things, because they did. But those
flying pigs and rice, and there was a lot of that, they weren't
doing it on their own initiative, this was the government that
was mixing the pigs and rice with loads of opium.
As a matter of fact I was surprised and pleased to see the
movie Air America finally come out because it showed for maybe
the only time in history where the Pepsi Cola plant was set up in
Laos, not to put mom and pop bottling companies out of business
but rather to do the rather more sophisticated steps of taking
opium and morphine into number four Asian [heroin] hell.
Richard Nixon is the person who set [the Pepsi Cola plant]
up when he lost the election to Jack Kennedy. I hate to say it, I
actually voted for Nixon; Lieutenants can be forgiven of
ignorances like that, I would hope. I thought that Nixon had more
experience, it wasn't that Kennedy was a Catholic. After he lost,
he became a director in the Pepsi Cola bottling company. I think
there was a direct relationship between Pepsi Cola and the Bay of
Pigs. [The Bay of Pigs] wasn't Kennedy's show, that was Richard
Nixon's show.
I wasn't on my own going into Burma. [Gritz was asked by the
Reagan White House to confirm rumors that Golden Triangle Khun Sa
was holding American prisoners of war.] George Bush's office
asked me to do that. H. Ross Perot was there when it happened. I
found again that US government officials were still doing
[dealing drugs]. I went to Nicaragua at the invitation of the
State Department to look into some special weapons programs
during the Contra situation. Again, here you have illegal
narcotics being used to fund what the CIA thinks is right but yet
what Congress says is wrong. The American people don't get a
chance to vote because it is kept under the leaves, and, of
course, crime pays when the President happens to be one of the
chief criminals. We've got Bush now who has as of Christmas
exonerated, forgiven and pardoned all the Iran-Contra people.
Why? Not because he's Santa Claus but because he himself could
very well be implicated, and should be. So that's fait accompli
now. But what isn't completed is the government, the bureaucracy,
the mechanics who do the wet work, they never change.
The only thing I did see change was when Jimmy Carter took
over as President. He appointed Stansfield Turner head of CIA.
Turner immediately fired Manuel Antonio Noriega, saying I won't
have a drug smuggler on the payroll of the CIA. While we laughed
a lot because Jimmy Carter had none of the organization of
Richard Nixon, yet the remarkable thing is that the drug
smuggling under Jimmy Carter came almost to a halt. And that to
me was remarkable. With all his failings, Billy Beer and loans
for Libya, the fact is Jimmy did one thing right, he brought
Stansfield Turner in and Stansfield cleaned house for the CIA. It
hasn't been the same since. How could Jimmy Carter do something
that perhaps J.F.K. may have been assassinated for? Who knows?
Jimmy Carter was an insider. He was part of Rockefeller's
newly-formed Trilateral Commission in 1973. He was an insider.
The answer to that is very strange. When you look at Nixon for
example, why would they run him out of office? Boy, you really
got to be deep on the inside to understand a lot of those things.
Why could Jimmy Carter get away with cleaning up a little bit of
government? It's still a basic mystery to me, but I just noticed,
it was like the blind man feeling the elephant, from my point of
view, all of a sudden the government got better, and that was a
paradox under the Democrats. The government got better under
Jimmy Carter.

Q: You speak much about your warrior ethic and nationalistic
ethic in the pages of your autobiography. Is it from that
standpoint that you were disillusioned by government drug
running?

A: Yes. Remember my comparison with Secord and myself. I think
Secord's a mercenary. The guy would sell his mother if he could
make a buck. On the other hand there are soldiers like myself who
are not staff pukes. We didn't come up the ranks slow-stroking
the generals. Instead we came up in the foxholes and the field.
We will not sell our time, our talent, our resources to anyone
regardless. But we'll give them, if the cause is right. And so I
believe that my warrior ethic is going to put me in far better
stead, if there is a God, than Secord and his cash register
ethics. Some day when I prepare to meet my maker, and I'm a
Christian, I have to answer for everything I've done.
... I had been an officer in charge of operations wherein
people had died innocently. Villages had died because of the
Mac-V rules of engagement that allowed bombardment and some
of the things that I talked about in my book. [But] the fact is ...
there was never once I took a life just because I had the power.
And I think that was very important. Like the policeman, if you
take life and you do it needlessly, then I think you're going to have
to account. But if you take life and do it in the course of duty,
and it is not in a selfish point of view, then I think it's a different case.

Q: What was the epiphany, the turning point for you in going
against the corrupt government?

A: The real turning point I think, the real shock I had was when
I came out of Burma in 1987 there was a phone call waiting for
me. We were in a safe house in Minister's quadrangle of Bangkok,
Thailand. A Major Chuck Johnson was listening in; never take
phone calls unless we're on a mission, for this very reason. Two
state department agents that had gone to a friend of mine, Joe
Felter, a former CEO of Wedtech, and he relayed their message
when he said to me, "Bo, you must erase and forget everything
that you've learned in the Golden Triangle. If you don't you're
going to hurt the government." Well, Joe was trying to keep me
from being killed. He said, "Bo, you've got to get on the first
thing smoking out of there, you've got to bring everything you
got back here to the apartment," which was a safe house we've
got, and I said, "Who's going to be there?" He said, "just Tom
Harvey and myself." Tom Harvey was our White House National
Security Council contact, and the person I first turned [Khun Sa]
videotapes over to just before Christmas the year before.
Suddenly I found myself not just in the shadows struggling
against some unseen bureaucratic enemy - we always had that. We
never had the money we needed to do the mission, we always had to
scrounge and work on our own. That's what causes a lot of this
drug trafficking, by the way. You get an enthusiastic CIA
operative who like Ollie North is going to do the job. But they
can't give him the money. And so they say, "Don't tell us how you
do it. Just do it." Then you have all these druggies already in
place, this is what Special Forces was trained to do. Don't go
out and reinvent the wheel. You already have organised crime, do
you not, that is highly successful against what? The very thing
you are trying to avoid, the authorities, in this case. So you
use them, and they're more than happy to pay the bill for the
guns as long as the planes come back full and don't just
dead-head back into Homestead Air Force Base.
So I found myself not in the shadows, but found myself out
in the open, not in verbal judo but in real terms, where the
government, my government, was saying, "You erase and you forget
or we're going to bury you." What do you do? Well, as an officer
I've taken orders all my life since I was a cadet at
fourteen-years-old. I had been conditioned to take orders. But
being in Special Forces helped me because we are a different
army, we march to a different drummer. Oftimes there is no one to
give us orders. We are given a mission and are left alone and it
may be years later until on our own we are able to accomplish
that mission. It allowed me to become more self-reliant, more
independent in my own thought than just blindly following some
staff puke in Washington. D.C. Had I been a West Point officer, I
probably would have clicked my heels, because that's like Tom
Harvey, and I would have marched in their direction. But instead
it made me angry. Here we had an opportunity to clear up some
government bureaucracy that was obviously corrupt. And yet the
White House was not just dragging its feet but they were
threatening me. They came down real hard because they were
desperate.

Q: So it's not just renegade agents but orders from up on top?

A: Listen, there are a lot of things I know now that weren't in
my mind at that time. Tom Harvey and Richard Armitage are close
friends. Richard Armitage was the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
George Bush appointed him Assistant Secretary of State and then
Secretary of the Army, but he was close friends with Harvey, they
used to lift weights all the time at the Pentagon Officers'
Athletic Club. I betcha this happened. When I brought those
videotapes in, it was natural that Harvey probably called Dick
Armitage, who was responsible for recovery of POWs, over to his
office. When Khun Sa said he was going to reveal the U.S.
officials, and if it was true Armitage was involved, jeez,
Armitage was probably dripping in his knickers. This would have
frightened him. Who authorized Armitage to do this? Again,
Armitage and von Marbod - it all comes back to a nice, tight
little circle. These guys didn't do it on their own initiative.
And so when you go way back and look at Nixon and Armitage and
von Marbod, where did they all come together? In 1973 we got out
with honor under with Nixon before he got run out with Watergate,
but then in 1975, even though we didn't have Tricky Dick anymore,
we had the same bureaucracy. Now you had Armitage and von Marbod
over in Vietnam taking out all the classified and all the very
valuable weapons systems. Armitage took his to the Philippines
and von Marbod took a lot of his into Thailand. These were
cashed. Now what were they cashed for? Because the guerrilla
cannot eat money, they can't put it down the barrel of a gun,
they want stuff they can use. And so did we ever stop the war in
Vietnam? We didn't. We didn't have any money, but that didn't
make any difference as long as we had guns and the wherewithal.
To keep this engine going takes some fuel. Money is the fuel. And
of course, dope is money. And then you had guns. What they had
on their side, in the hills, they had the dope. We didn't want to
make this a one-way trip, because if Armitage and von Marbod had
just given them the guns that they had cached from the Vietnam
war, then they might have not been able to replace them.
Eventually they would have run out. So what they did then, I
believe - it's good business practice, like Secord has said - we
said, "You give us the dope and we'll give you the guns," and the
dope is transferred into money.
Where did the Contras get their guns from? They got them
ultimately from the Israelis. The Israelis captured massive
amounts of arms from the Yom Kippur War and the Six Day War, and
they were selling these guns - plus the Israelis could arm them
through the Communist bloc, where we couldn't. And so we were
dealing through the Mossad to dealing weapons to the Contras.

[cont'd]

NOTE from GOAT: Gritz drops a heavy hint in mentioning Erich von Marbod as
one whose activities in the Secret Government have "still not been
uncovered."
Von Marbod was instrumental in the sale of aircraft to Iran and the
training of the Shah's secret police (Savak) in that period immediately
preceding the return of the Ayatollah and the Iranian Revolution, when the
Bush faction of the CIA (flushed out by President Carter and the
Rockefeller-Church Committee hearings in Congress) was regrouping --off the
stage, out of the public eye-- for Stage Two of its "coup d'etat." Stage One
had been the JFK assassination (in retaliation for JFK's ouster of the Dulles
cabal in the CIA) under Nixon (before and after his Presidency), Nixon's man
in the CIA and protege George Bush, and Al Haig (soon to be NATO commander).
Iran-Contra baddies Clines, Shackley, Secord, and Singlaub, with their Mafia,
Mossad, and Iranian allies, remained in charge of the Coup's "foreign policy"
between Stage One and Stage Two -- as they did afterward, under the Bush
"Octopus."
The intermission between Nixon-Ford and Reagan-Bush is filled with
stories related more than they might seem -- the defense-contractor scandals
(involving Von Marbod's middle-manning the sale of weapons to both Iran and
Saudi Arabia, resulting in huge profits for the Bush-CIA boys), the
NATO/Mafia/P2 Masonic Lodge and Banco Ambrosiano (pre-BCCI) scandal in Italy
(in which Al Haig's name comes up in the context of Vatican-Mafia-Fascist
International support for neo-Nazi death squads in South America), and the
Mossad's mediation of arms deals with Khomeini's Iran (a carryover from its
role under the Shah) leading up to the "October Surprise."
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listser...28578.html
Look back at Von Marbod, Frank Carlucci, et al ...
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply
#5
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30472378/Summary-CIA-Drugs
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply
#6
Bush administration’s Trojan Horse gift to America and the Democrats: Former CIA Director and Iran-Contra insider Robert Gates

by Larry Chin

Global Research, November 9, 2006


With the Democrats and Democratic Party voters euphoric over a purported election victory, and a possible “change of course” in Iraq, the Bush administration quietly added poison to the Democrats’ celebration champagne by dredging up former CIA Director and Iran-Contra participant Robert Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. The “war on terrorism” will not only continue, it will expand and deepen with Gates heading the Pentagon.
Who is Robert Gates?
Robert M. Gates was the CIA’s Deputy Director for Intelligence (DDI) from 1982 to 1986. He became CIA Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI) in 1986, and moved up to Acting Director of Central Intelligence (ADCI) that same year. In 1991, George H.W. Bush nominated Gates to head the CIA (as Langley’s DCI).
As a protégé of the infamous William Casey, and as both deputy director and director of the CIA, it goes without saying that Robert Gates was involved in every geopolitical crime and cover-up of the Reagan-Bush and George H.W. Bush era.
The encyclopedic list includes Iran-Contra, CIA narcotics trafficking, criminal covert operations, the infamous October Surprise, and the Bank of Credit and Commerce (BCCI) scandal.
Gates, Iran-Contra, and CIA drug trafficking
During the George H.W. Bush administration, with the Iran-Contra crimes still fresh, Gates survived the confirmation hearings (from a much fiercer Washington Congress) that elevated him to director of Central Intelligence. He was tarnished, but survived, the hobbled and corrupted Lawrence Walsh probe of Iran-Contra, which left the vast majority of Iran-Contra crimes unaddressed.
Despite its limitations, the Walsh probe managed to expose and tarnish many of the operation’s players, and resulted in convictions for several participants (and, soon afterwards, pardoned by George H.W. Bush), one of them being Gates.
Robert Gates, like many Reagan-Bush era players, has a lot to answer for.
Subsequent research documents the fact that the CIA, National Security Council (NSC), and branches of the US military engaged in a host of massive narcotics trafficking operations, the most noteworthy of which were named Amadeus, Watch Tower, and Pegasus.
These operations, combined with related operations and geopolitical programs, comprise what is popularly known as “Iran-Contra."
Robert Gates was there for it all.
Gates is one of many officials implicated in detailed histories of the Iran-Contra period, and in CIA documents and reports, including the 1998 CIA Inspector General’s Report into Contra Drug Trafficking. Gates’ name surfaces in the Cutolo Affadavit (attributed to Army Colonel and CIA operative Ed Cutolo, the supervisor of Operation Watch Tower, but likely penned by Cutolo’s associates, but thoroughly corroborated by whistleblowers and researchers).
According to Rodney Stich, author of Defrauding America, each operation “had basically the same characters involved . . . with Edwin Wilson . . . Robert Gates and William J. Casey . . ."
Despite being “in the loop,” Gates has routinely denied his guilt over the years, but proof of his active role cannot be hidden. As acting DCI, Gates issued a memo that was tantamount to ordering a cover-up.
According to Mike Ruppert of From The Wilderness, a long-time whistleblower and chronicler of the CIA’s narcotics crimes: "On April 9, 1987, Acting DCI Robert Gates sent a memorandum to the Deputy Director of Operations (DDO) Clair George stating it was imperative that CIA avoid involvement with individuals tied to the Contra program who were ‘even suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking.’ The Gates memorandum instructed the DDO to vet contract air crews, air service companies and subcontractors with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), US Customs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to ensure that the Agency would not be involved in any way with individuals suspected of being involved with drug trafficking."
In other words, cover up the extensive network in place, cut off relationships with assets, eliminate troublesome operatives, and create plausible denial.
How in-the-loop was Gates?
Retired US Navy Lt. Commander and ONI officer Al Martin, a participant in the Iran-Contra operations, authored The Conspirators: Secrets of an Iran-Contra Insider. In this book, Martin hangs the entire Bush apparatus out to dry, and details the many Iran-Contra-related criminal operations.
According to Martin, Gates was high-level.
“In terms of policy management, (William) Casey formed a series of inter-governmental agency Restricted Access Groups (RAGs). Ultimately three such groups were formed. The top Restricted Access Group 1 was Vice President George Bush -- as it was decided that all narcotics, weapons and money operations vis-à-vis Iran-Contra, would be consolidated under the office of the Vice President.
“Also included in these Restricted Access Groups were then Vice Presidential National Security Advisor, Colonel Donald Gregg, then Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, who was in charge of the Inter-American Affairs Office (an office which served in no other capacity except being a propaganda tool for the Nicaraguan Contras), Richard Armitage, and Assistant Secretary of State, Bernie Aronson.
“In the Department of Defense, the RAG group included Assistant Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Stillwell, and Caspar Weinberger himself.
“In the CIA, besides Casey, there was the infamous Deputy Director of Operations, Clair George, and Assistant Deputy Director of Operations, Alan Fiers.
“The names involved in the Restricted Access Group would change as these men changed positions in government from 1983 through 1986.
“When Frank Carlucci left the Defense Department to become Presidential National Security Advisor and Bobby Gates became Deputy Director of the CIA, Gates supplanted Carlucci within Restricted Access Group 2."
Gates, according to Martin, was elevated to Group 1 status upon being confirmed as Director of Central Intelligence.
Gates and assassinations
According to Stich, Robert Hunt, former Navy SEAL commander and deep-cover CIA/ONI operative, described to him a CIA assassination squad called Operation Ringwind.
This operation, according to Hunt, was under the control of then-Deputy Director of the CIA Robert Gates.
“They call it Operation Ringwind, formed in early 1981. It was strictly to take care of all participants in October Surprise until they decide to shut the operation down. And that could be tomorrow morning, or ten years from now. Whoever they think is involved.”
Iran and the Bushes
According to Robert Parry, “the American people today should know the real history of US-Iran relations before the Bush administration launches another preemptive war in the Middle East.”
This history, which covers Gates’ long tenure at the CIA, “includes the facts regarding Republican contacts with Iran’s Islamic regime more than a quarter of a century ago -- relevant today because an underlying theme in Bush’s rationale for war is that direct negotiations with Iran are pointless. But Bush’s own father may know otherwise."
The Bushes and the Truth about Iran (Robert Parry)
It is no coincidence that Iran veteran Gates comes to the Bush administration as the US prepares for operations against Iran.
Gates and BCCI cover-up
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was the CIA’s legendary drug bank and money laundering nexus.
In Defrauding America, Stich writes, “CIA Deputy Director Robert Gates stated in 1988 to the head of Customs, William von Raab, that BCCI stood for the ‘Bank of Crooks and Criminals International.’ But the CIA continued to deposit and launder funds in BCCI, covering up the criminal activities that would defraud people all over the world who had put their money into the bank.
“In the 1980s, US Customs Commissioner William von Raab unsuccessfully tried to get the Justice Department to act on the serious federal violations committed by BCCI.
“Raab testified to Senate investigators that in 1988 he told CIA Deputy Director Robert Gates of the drug money laundering at BCCI, and that Gates refused to proceed with the information.”
A tactical move
The Rumsfeld resignation is not a sign of desperation or surrender in response to Democratic Party heat. It was a long-planned tactical move that strengthens the Bush administration's inner circle, while slapping the political opposition in the face.
By replacing the criminally insane Rumsfeld with the Bush-Reagan era insider Gates, the Bush administration (and Karl Rove) seeks to accomplish three objectives.
It puts another Iran-Contra criminal and military-intelligence criminal veteran into the cabinet, atop the Pentagon and America’s war machine -- ensuring the expansion, penetration and successful execution of the “war on terrorism” into the rest of the Middle East and Iran (which William Casey protégé Gates got to know intimately, as CIA official during the administrations of Reagan-Bush, and George H.W. Bush ).
Gates joins other Iran-Contra criminals, such as Elliott Abrams and John Negroponte, at the controls of power. The military brass had serious problems with the peevish Rumsfeld. It may not have these issues with the savvier (and, for the world, more dangerous) Gates.
It removes any chance, any relevance, to any hopes that leading Democrats had about dragging Rumsfeld, already a political liability for Bush, into hearings regarding the management of the Iraq war. The entire Iraq debate, which the Democrats had hoped would swirl around a sitting Rumsfeld, flies away with a new Gates Pentagon.
Gates, who had relatively few problems with Democrats in the past, is likely to meet little resistance from weak Democrats engaged in “bipartisanship." There is little chance that the Democrats are likely to bring up past history.
Other Iran-Contra participants have received similar red carpet treatments from Congress since 2000.
The Bush administration has done what it has always done: replace a political liability with something even more dangerous, a loyal insider to the very highest positions of authority. The move adds insult to six years of injury, an openly provocative act that dares the perplexed Democrats to do anything to stop it, knowing that they will not.
If Robert Gates does with his new Pentagon power what he did at the CIA during his previous tenure, the world is in for tremendous suffering and death, and more covert and overt warfare -- all well-“managed," packaged and sold to Congress. Gates, unlike the divisive Rumsfeld, is a criminal who is capable of uniting the elite consensus.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply
#7
My goodness, a blast from the past in post No 4 above.... Das Goat! I haven't heard of, or from, him in well over a decade.

Old conspiracy theorists don't die, they just go on and on and on.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
Reply


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