Communities of Practice – Page 740 – Public Intelligence Blog

2013/11/052013/11/05

David Sabow: Gary Hart to John Kerry on CIA and Drugs — The Original 14 FEB 1991 Letter and a New 31 OCT 2013 Call for Investigation of All Concerned

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Corruption, Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), DoD, Government, Military, Officers Call

PDF (4 Pages): (U) GaryHart to John Kerry on CIA Drugs

Below is a full text reproduction of the above letter from Gary Hart. The above also contains a letter to John Kerry from Art Goodtimes then of the Telleride Times-Journal. The Hart letter was written a year and a month after Col James Sabow, USMC (Aviation) was murdered, possibly by Marines acting on the orders of General Al Gray, then Commandant of the Marine Corps and long-timer special operations and counter-terrorism enabler for CIA operations outside the legal channels established by Congress. (For more information see Col James Sabow USMC Murder Book).

GARY HART
Davis, Graham & Stubbs
Suite 4700
370 Seventeenth Street
Post Office Box 185
Denver, Colorado 80201-0185

February 14, 1991

The Honorable John Kerry
Chairman
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Communications
222 R.S.O.B.
Washington, D.C. 201510

Dear Senator Kerry,

The following information is provided at the request of Mr. Tosh Plumlee and is to document specific contacts he made with my Senate Office during the years of 1983-1985.

In March of 1983, Plumlee contacts my Denver Senate Office and met with Mr. Bill Holen of my Senate Staff. During the initial meeting, Mr. Plumlee raised certain allegation concerning U.S. foreign and military policy toward Nicaragua and the use of covert activities by U.S. intelligence agencies. He indicated that he was personally involved in covert military intelligence activities in Central and South America beginning in Feburary 1978. He stated that he had grave concerns that certain intelligence information about illegal arms and narcotic shipments were not being appropriately acted upon by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Mr. Plumlee's stated purpose in contacting my office was to attempt to initiate a congressional investigation of these allegations. Mr. Plumlee stated that he had personally flown U.S.-sponsored covert missions into Nicaragua. He stated that Nicaragua was receiving assistance from Cuba with nearly 6,000 Cuban military advisors and large quantities of military supplies were being stockpiled at various staging areas inside Nicaragua and the Costa Rica border.

Mr. Plumlee also stated that Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador were providing U.S. military personnel access to secret landing field (sic) and various staging areas scattered throughout Central America.

The Honorable John Kerry
Washington, D.C.
February 14, 1991
Page 2

He specifically states the Mexican government's direct knowledge of illegal arms shipments and narcotic smuggling activities that were taking place out of a civilian ranch in the Veracruz area which were under the control and sponsorship of the Rafael Car-Quintero and the Luis Jorge Ochoa branch of the Medellin Escobar Cartel.

Mr. Plumlee states that the U.S. military and intelligence agencies had been otified through proper channels of these allegations.

During the next three months, Mr. Bill Holen of my staff met with Mr. Plumlee on several occasions allowing him to further elaborate on his experiences and concerns with U.S military operations in the region. In those later meetings, Mr. Plumlee raised several issues including that covert U.S. intelligence agencies were directly involved in the smuggling and distribution of drugs to raise funds for covert military operations against the government of Nicaragua. He provided my staff with detailed maps and names of alleged covert landing strips in Mexico, Costa Rica, Louisiana, Arizona, Florida, and California where he alleged aircraft cargoes of drugs were off-loaded and replaced with Contra military supplies. He also tates that these operations were not CIA operations but rather under the direction of the White House, Pentagon, and NSC personnel.

My staff brought these allegations to the attention of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time but no action was initiated by either committee.

Sincerely,
/S/
Gary Hart

GH/gmcg

2013-10-31 Costa Rican journalist calls for re-examination of CIA-Contra drug links, DEA agent's murder

Posted: Thursday, October 31, 2013 – By John McPhaul

2013/11/042013/11/04

Steve Aftergood: CIA’s Mind-Set of Misadventure & Impunity

Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude

The CIA “Family Jewels,” Then and Now

EXTRACT:

In 1973, the Director of Central Intelligence ordered CIA officials to prepare a descriptive account of all CIA activities that were “outside the legislative charter of this Agency,” which is to say unauthorized or illegal. The purpose of the exercise was to identify operations that had “flap potential,” meaning that they could embarrass the Agency or embroil it in controversy.

The resulting 700-page CIA compendium of unlawful domestic surveillance, wiretapping, mail opening and detention actions became known as “the family jewels.” It helped to inform and to substantiate the investigations of intelligence in the 1970s. The document was finally declassified (with some redactions) in 2007 and was released to the National Security Archive, which has posted it here.

In a new book entitled The Family Jewels: The CIA, Secrecy, and Presidential Power (University of Texas Press, 2013), historian John Prados reviews the origins and consequences of the family jewels document and the operations described in it.

The thrust of Prados’ book is that the CIA family jewels are not simply relics of a discrete historical period, but rather that they are exemplars of a recurring pattern of intelligence misconduct. Many of the specific abuses of the 1970s, he argues, can be understood as archetypes that have been manifested repeatedly, up to the present day.

Intelligence Collection and the Rule of Law

EXTRACT:

As DNI James Clapper said at a hearing of the House Intelligence Committee last week, “there are many things we do in intelligence that, if revealed, would have the potential for all kinds of blowback…. the conduct of intelligence is premised on the notion that we can do it secretly and we don’t count on it being revealed in the newspaper.”

“The intelligence community must acknowledge how difficult it is to keep secrets today,” said ODNI General Counsel Robert Litt in a speech last week.

Establish “No Spy Zones”? Current Law Could Make It Hard

EXTRACT:

The notion of creating and incrementally expanding “no spy” zones has some history. In a 1996 op-ed, for example, former U.S. Ambassador Robert E. White proposed that the U.S. explore the possibility on a trial basis:

“One reform might be to select a specific region of the world — for example, Central America — as a testing place. Withdraw all CIA staff from these countries. Let the National Security Council charge our career diplomats with fulfilling Washington’s intelligence requirements. Should Foreign Service officers prove capable of meeting all intelligence needs, then gradually extend this beneficial practice to other countries through pacts of reciprocal restraint by which signatories agree not to spy on or engage in covert action against the other. In order to be eligible to sign such a pact with the United States, the other nation would have to meet minimal standards of openness.” (“Call Off The Spies,” Washington Post, February 7, 1996).

Continue reading “Steve Aftergood: CIA's Mind-Set of Misadventure & Impunity”

2013/11/042013/11/04

Marcus Aurelius: Divine Secrets of the RYBAT Sisterhood – Four Senior Women from CIA’s Directorate of Operations Discuss Their Careers

Government, IO Impotency

Declassified and approved for public release 20 October 2013

PDF (23 Pages): (U) cia-rybat-sisterhood

EXTRACT:

Depending on your viewpoint, things have changed a little or a lot. Rather than venture helplessly into.that minefield, I would like to introduce a panel of senior women who rose to the ranks of SIS in the Directorate of Operations. Their stories about what it was like then and where we are now are valuable and informative. While there is a lot of laughter in the retelling of their stories, there is also an element of righteous anger.

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Divine Secrets of the RYBAT Sisterhood – Four Senior Women from CIA's Directorate of Operations Discuss Their Careers”

2013/11/04

Owl: High-Level Pedophiles Protected by the Police States

06 Family, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement

This article focuses on high-level pederasts in the UK. But if judges, politicians, Cabinet ministers, corporate executives and other “respectable” people are frequently found to be child molesters, surely their counterparts in other first world countries, such as the US, Germany, France, etc., must have similar numbers representative of high-level pedos? So much rot at the top must stink very badly, but unlike garbagemen dealing with garbage cans on the street, the police – a specialized sort of garbageman – is blocked from doing their job when the trash is high-level.

“POLICE chiefs are turning a blind eye to members of the Establishment abusing children in care, a former child protection officer claimed last night. The whistleblower said he was warned by his superiors not to investigate suspected paedophiles, including a senior politician and a judge. He said the justice system was “corrupt” and “rotten to the core” and told how vulnerable boys and girls as young as nine were plied with heroin and raped by rich and powerful men. Agreeing to speak anonymously, the police insider warned: “There is a massive cover-up going on and those who are abusing children are being protected by the powers that be. “When I was investigating abuse at low levels, street prostitution, everything was fine but as soon as the evidence started taking me to a higher level, I was told to wind my neck in and not go any further.

“Among the names given to me by abuse victims were a former Cabinet minister and a judge who had been handing paedophiles soft sentences. I was warned by a senior officer to back off and it has to be because the clients of these children were very well-connected people.” Our source has more than 20 years’ experience working with abused children. During his investigations for one of the country’s biggest police forces, victims mentioned a number of prominent names.”

‘Cover-up' over VIPs who abuse children in care

2013/11/022013/11/02

Chuck Spinney: The United States of Confusion and Disorder

Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Military

The United States of Confusion and Disorder

Descent into Chaos

by FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY

COUNTERPUNCH, WEEKEND EDITION NOVEMBER 1-3, 2013

The US exit strategy from Afghanistan is emerging …. and the picture is not pretty. Nevertheless, it is a revealing microcosm of what now passes for governance in the United States of Confusion and Disorder.

Consider please, this analysis by Dan Murphy in the Christian Science Monitor. Murphy explains why “The US war in Afganistan could turn into a pumpkin as soon as the middle of November,” because the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan are now fighting for the favors of Al Qaeda!

Older readers may recall that we went into Afghanistan with the dual strategic aims of Regime Change — i.e., replacing the Taliban regime that had given sanctuary to Al Qaeda with a democratic government, based on human rights, that would never give sanctuary to Islamic Jihadists, as well a destroying Al Qaeda. Readers may also recall that President Obama’s decision to surge Afghan operations in 2010 was based on a fatally flawed McChrystal Plan, as I explained in the September 22 2009 and January 29-31, 2010 issues of CounterPunch.

Now, predictably, as we are leaving Afghanistan with our tail between our legs, the obscenely corrupt Karzai government that we installed and have propped up is struggling for survival by negotiating friendship agreements with some of the same Jihadis we have been trying to destroy.

While history never repeats itself, the larger story is that a remarkable parallel to the Soviet Afghan debacle and its aftermath is now emerging.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: The United States of Confusion and Disorder”

2013/11/022013/11/02

Marcus Aurelius: Gala for CINCSOC Brings Out Many Failures

07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Director of National Intelligence et al (IC), Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War, IO Impotency, Officers Call

Without comment. PBI should assign appropriate headline.

Washington’s Intelligence Community Comes Out For a Gala “Spy” Prom

The annual OSS Society Donovan Award dinner honored Adm. William H. McRaven

By Carol Ross Joynt

Washingtonian “Capital Comment,” 28 October 2013

No one in the ballroom came right out and shouted, “William McRaven for elected office!” but the idea hovered like a thought bubble over the OSS Society’s William J. Donovan Award Dinner Saturday night, where the commander of US Special Operations was honored—including by President Obama—and even sounded himself a bit like a candidate.

US special operations commander, Adm. William H. McRaven, greets guests at the annual OSS Society dinner, where he was honored with the William J. Donovan Award. Photograph by Carol Ross Joynt.

The annual celebration commemorating the World War II spy agency and predecessor of the CIA—for the intelligence and special operations communities, it’s the prom and the Oscars wrapped in one—is a time for reminiscing and gossiping for both the smooth-skinned, ramrod-spined young operatives and the retired spies and warriors with more medals than hair or teeth. But McRaven, the Navy admiral who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden and who received the Donovan award, gave this year’s gathering a political edge.

President Obama addressed the audience and the honoree via taped video, his image filling three ceiling-high screens. He called McRaven “one of the finest special operators our nation has ever produced. Few Americans will ever see what you do, but every American is safer because of your service.” Also lauding him in taped messages were two other individuals who were directly involved in the bin Laden mission, former CIA director Leon Panetta and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

A third official who was a player in that historic episode, John Brennan, now director of Central Intelligence, relived the experience in his remarks. He said the deliberations to undertake the mission were “difficult and fraught with uncertainty.” He said there was “a key moment in those deliberations when President Obama seemed to move a step closer to his final decision. It was when Adm. McRaven looked at the President and said, ‘Sir, we can get this job done.’ You could hear a pin drop. It was at that time that everyone in that room knew the decision was made and we were going forward.”

Continue reading “Marcus Aurelius: Gala for CINCSOC Brings Out Many Failures”

2013/11/012013/11/01

Penguin: Our Oath to the Constitution — and Our Failure to Honor that Oath…

Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence

The old guard, with a touch of guilt and and what remains of integrity, is trying to call a halt to the rape of the Army. The neo-con dead-enders and Obamites feel their wings getting clipped and are enlisting the Barnos to sharpen their beaks.

U.S. war decisions rightfully belong to elected civilian leaders, not the military

By David W. Barno,September 12, 2013

David W. Barno, a retired Army lieutenant general, is a senior adviser and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He commanded U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.

A war the Pentagon doesn’t want

By Robert H. Scales,September 05, 2013

Robert H. Scales, a retired Army major general, is a former commandant of the U.S. Army War College.

Continue reading “Penguin: Our Oath to the Constitution — and Our Failure to Honor that Oath…”