A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

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November 1st, 1963 - Ngo Dinh Diem assassination (Vietnam)

Postby DrDebugDU » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:45 am

United States came and started supporting a man called Ngo Dinh Diem, who turned out to be one of the most ruthless dictators in the history of the world. Who set out to silence all opposition. People were brutally murdered because they spoke out against the brutal policies of Diem. (1)<br><br>The U.S hoped that Diem could be the charismatic equivalent of Ho Chi Minh. but Diem showed to be unsuited to role the U.S. had written for him, the opinions of these strategists began to change in the 1960s. U.S. planners complained, claiming to be annoyed that Diem had not implemented land reforms to compete with the highly popular Communist program, and further claimed that the nepotism and corruption in his government was hurting the Southern cause. (2)<br><br>Having served as ambassador to Moscow and governor of New York, W. Averell Harriman was in the middle of a long public career. In 1960, President Kennedy appointed him ambassador-at-large. By 1963, according to William R. Corson, Harriman was running "Vietnam without consulting the president or the Attorney General." (3)<br><br>Shortly after Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. and Admiral Felt had called on Ngo Dinh Diem on November 1, the generals made their move, culminating a summer and fall of complex intrigue. The coup was led by General Minh, the most respected of the senior generals, together with Generals Don, Kim and Khiem. They convoked a meeting of all but a few senior officers at JGS headquarters at noon on the day of the coup, announced their plans and got the support of their compatriots.<br><br>The coup itself was executed with skill and swiftness. They had devoted special attention to ensuring that the major potentially loyal forces were isolated and their leaders neutralized at the outset of the operation. By the late afternoon of November 1, only the palace guard remained to defend the two brothers.<br><br>At 4:30 p.m., Diem called Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. to ask where the U.S. stood. Lodge was noncommital and confined himself to concern for Diem's physical safety. The conversation ended inconclusively. The generals made repeated calls to the palace offering the brothers safe conduct out of the country if they surrendered, but the two held out hope until the very end.<br><br>Sometime that evening they secretly slipped out of the palace through an underground escape passage and went to a hide-away in Cholon. There they were captured the following morning after their whereabouts was learned when the palace fell. Shortly the two brothers were murdered in the back of an armored personnel carrier en route to JGS headquarters. (4)<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Sources</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>(1) Martin Luther King, Why I oppose the war in Vietnam, Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, (April 30, 1967)<br>(2) <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>(3) Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA (Prima Publishing, 2001), pp. 334-335.<br>(4) <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/pent6.htm">www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/pent6.htm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Operation Garden Plot

Postby DrDebugDU » Thu Jul 21, 2005 7:15 pm

Operation Garden Plot<br>The United States Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2.<br>Donald L. Cline<br><br>The following information was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The information herein is DECLASSIFIED and does not come within the scope of directions governing the protection of information affecting the national security.<br><br>It took a little more than three years to obtain a full copy of Operation Garden Plot from the U.S. Government, and was done so under the freedom of information act for unclassified documents. The implications within the full context of this document should make the hair on the back of your head stand on end!!!!!<br><br>In this document signed by the Secretary of the Army, is hereby assigned as DOD Executive Agent for civil disturbance control operations. Under Plan 55-2 he is to use airlift and logistical support, in assisting appropriate military commanders in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and US possessions and territories, or any political subdivision thereof.<br><br>The official name of this project is called "Operation Garden Plot."<br><br>Under this plan for the deployment of Operation Garden Plot, the use of CIDCON-1 will be mandatory. This direct support of civil disturbance control operations is to be used by the Army, USAF, Navy, and Marine Corp. with an airlift force to be comprised of MAC Organic Airlift Resources, airlift capable aircraft of all other USAF major commands, and all other aerial reconnaissance and Airborne Psychological Operations. This is to include control communications systems, aero-medical evacuation, helicopter and Weather Support Systems.<br><br>If any civil disturbance by a resistance group, religious organization, or other persons considered to be non-conformist takes place, under Appendix 3 to Annex B of Plan 55-2 hereby gives all Federal forces total power over the situation if local and state authorities cannot put down said dissenters.<br><br>Annex A, section B of Operation Garden Plot defines tax protesters, militia groups, religious cults, and <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>general anti- government dissenters</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> as Disruptive Elements. This calls for the deadly force to be used against any extremist or dissident perpetrating any and all forms of civil disorder.<br><br>Under section D, a Presidential Executive Order will authorize and direct the Secretary of Defense to use the Armed Forces of the United States to restore order.<br><br>2 TAB A APPENDIX 1 TO ANNEX S USAF CIVIL DISTURBANCE PLAN 55-2 EXHIBIT POR:SGH, JCS Pub 6, Vol 5, AFR 160-5 hereby provides for America's military and the National Guard State Partnership Program to join with United Nations personal in said operations. This links selected U.S. National Guard units with the Defense Ministries of "Partnership For Peace." This was done in an effort to provide military support to civil authorities in response to civil emergencies.<br><br>Under Presidential Decision Directive No. 25, this program serves to cement people to relationships between the citizens of the United States, and the global military of the UN establishments of the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern European countries. This puts all of our National Guardsmen under the direct jurisdiction of the United Nations.<br><br>Section 3: This plan could be implemented under any of the following situation:<br><br>(1) SITUATION. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Spontaneous civil disturbances which involve large numbers of persons</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> and/or which continue for a considerable period of time, may exceed the capacity of local civil law enforcement agencies to suppress. Although this type of activity can arise without warning as a result of sudden, unanticipated popular unrest (past riots), it may also result from more prolonged dissidence.<br><br>This would most likely be an outgrowth of serious social, political or economic issues which divide segments of the American population. Such factionalism could manifest itself through <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>repeated demonstrations, protest marches and other forms of <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START--><span style="text-decoration:underline">legitimate</span><!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END--> opposition</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> but which would have the potential for erupting into spontaneous violence with little or no warning.<br><br>(2) SITUATION. Planned acts of violence or civil disobedience which, through arising from the same causes as (1) above, are seized upon by a dedicated group of dissidents who plan and incite purposeful acts designed to disrupt social order.<br><br>This may occur either because leaders of protest organizations intentionally induce their followers to perpetrate violent acts, or because a group of militants infiltrates an otherwise peaceful protest and seeks to divert it from its peaceful course.<br><br>Subsection C: (2) Environmental satellite products will be continue to be available.<br><br>(d) Responsibilities. Meteorological support to civil disturbance operations will be arranged or provided by AWS wings.<br><br>The 7th. Weather Wing (7WW) is responsible for providing / arranging support for Military Airlift Command (MAC) airlift operations. The 5th Weather Wing (5WW) is responsible for supporting the United States Army Forces Command.<br><br>Civil disturbance may threaten or erupt at any time in the CONUS and grow to such proportions as to require the use the Federal military forces to bring the situation under control.<br><br>A flexible weather support system is required to support the many and varied options of this Plan.<br><br>ANNEX H: XXOW, AWSR 55-2, AWSR 23-6, AFR 23-31, AR 115-10, AFR 105-3.<br><br>Subsection B:<br><br>Concept of Environmental Support. Environmental support will be provided by elements of Air Weather Service (AWS) in accordance with refs a-f. The senior staff meteorologist deployed int the Task Force Headquarters (TFH) will be the staff weather officer (SWO) to the TFH.<br><br>Centralized environmental support products are requested in accordance with AWSR 105-18. Weather support is provided by weather units located at existing CONUS bases or by deployed SWOs and / or weather teams to the objective areas.<br><br>Support MAC source will be provide in accordance with the procedures in MARC 103-15. MAC forces will be provided in accordance with the procedures in AFR 105-3.<br><br>Air Force Global Weather Central: Provides centralized products as requested.<br><br>JCS Pub 18 - Doctrine for Operations Security AFR 55-30<br>Operations Security<br><br>1. GENERAL<br>Opposition forces or groups may attempt to gain knowledge of this plan and use that knowledge to prevent or degrade the effectiveness of the actions outlined in this plan. In order to protect operations undertaken to accomplish the mission, it is necessary to control sources of information that can be exploited by those opposition forces or groups.<br><br>OPSEC is the effort to protect operations by identifying and controlling intelligence indicators susceptible to exploitation. The objective of OPSEC, in the execution of this plan, is to assure the security of operations, mission effectiveness, and increase the probability of mission success.<br><br>2. RESPONSIBILITY FOR OPERATIONS SECURITY (OPSEC):<br>The denial of information to an enemy is inherently a command responsibility. However, since the operations officer at any level of command is responsible to his commander for the overall planning and execution of operations, he has the principal staff interest in assuring maximum protection of the operation and must assume primary responsibility instability for ensuring that the efforts of all other staff elements are coordinated toward this end. However, every other individual associated with, or aware of, the operation must assist in safeguarding the security of the operation.<br><br>3. OBJECTIVES FOR OPERATIONS SECURITY (OPSEC):<br><br>a. The basic objective of OPSEC is to preserve the security Of friendly forces and thereby to enhance the probability of Successful mission accomplishment. "Security" in this context relates to the protection of friendly forces. It also includes the protection of operational information to prevent degradation of mission effectiveness through the disclosure of prior knowledge of friendly operations to the opposition.<br><br>b. OPSEC pervades the entire planning process and must be a matter of continuing concern from the conception of an operation, throughout the preparatory and execution phases, and during critiques, reports, press releases, and the like conducted during the post operation phase.<br><br>4. OPERATION ORDERS AND SOP:<br>Specific operations orders and standard operating procedures "MUST be developed with the awareness that the opposition may be able to identify and exploit vulnerable activities.<br><br>Released under Freedom of Information Act on March 30th, 1990. All material presented here has been declassified and supersedes USAD Operations Plan355-10 of July 16, 1973. Information released by USAF under supervision of Alexander K. Davidson, BRIG. GEN, USAF, Dep. Director of Operations.<br><br>APPENDEX 5 TO ANNEX E TO USAF CIVIL DISTURBANCE PLAN 55-2 Annex Z. Other References: 10 United States Codes 331,332,333,8500,1385, MARC 105-1, MARC 105-18, AR 115-10, AFR 105-3, PDD-25.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/operationgardenplot.htm">www.theforbiddenknowledge...enplot.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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CIA Timeline

Postby johnjmccarthy » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:41 am

Thanks for posting this. I will add the info to my site.<br>Bests,<br>John McCarthy<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com">johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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CIA Timeline

Postby johnmccarthy » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:53 am

Thank you for the timeline. I will add it to my site.<br>Bests,<br>John McCarthy<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com">johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <br>vpocv@comcast.net <p></p><i></i>
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Re: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

Postby LibertyorDeath » Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:59 pm

No wonder "they hate us for our freedoms" <p></p><i></i>
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Re: A Timeline of CIA Atrocities

Postby mourningdove » Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:53 am

Came across this odd posting yesterday on the Firefighter's Quarterly Magazine message board. Dated 6/15...assuming this year as it was on the 1st page.<br> <br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://bravest.com/viewmessages.cfm">bravest.com/viewmessages.cfm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Salutation to you! My name is Martin Trudel, I am a French Canadian citizen from Québec city, and an eyewitness of an unusual affair who happened in my town on 2001 September 10. Since January 2004, I tell my incredible story to Canadian police, politicians and journalists, but they do not believe me – Cause FBI does not confirm my affirmation. In the evening on the 2001 September 10, I had personally seen Mohamed Atta and Marouam Al-Shehhi (two supposed pilots of the Nine Eleven). <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>They were with a senior CIA agent (I know is name</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>since June 2004).</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Last summer, I saw a woman of my country who’s confirmed me that Mohamed.Atta and Marouam AlShehhi had spend the night of 9 to 10 September 2001 at her bed’n breakfast. Presently, I’m working to call a public inquiry on this affair.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>The gentlemen sounds sincere. Yet on April 9, 2005, Wapo had an article trying to dispel the "myth" that any of the "hijackers" had crossed the Canadian border. <br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr> Canada Fights Myth It Was 9/11 Conduit<br> <br> By Doug Struck<br> <br> TORONTO -- True or false? Shortly before Sept. 11, 2001, several of the terrorists who would carry out the attacks that day slipped into the United States from Canada.<br> <br> Canadian officials are vexed that 3 1/2 years later, they have not dispelled the groundless claim that Canada was a route for the Sept. 11 hijackers. Frank McKenna, the new ambassador to the United States, calls it an "urban myth" and has been trying to beat it down in television interviews and letters to the editor.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>and further on...<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr> "It's something that won't go away," Bill Graham, Canada's defense minister, said of the apocryphal claim in an interview Monday. "We're very resentful . . . because not one suspect had been in Canada. All had been in the U.S., training in the U.S., with valid U.S. visas."<br> <br> The account was born in the first days after the attacks, when reporters and government investigators were scrambling to figure out how the conspirators had carried out the plot. Bernard Etzinger, a Canadian Embassy spokesman, says the "big bang" that started the legend can be traced to two Boston newspapers.<br> <br> A Boston Globe story on Sept. 13 said investigators were "seeking evidence" that the hijackers came through Canada. The Boston Herald reported the same day that federal investigators believed "the terrorist suspects may have traveled . . . by boat" from Canada. <br> <br> On Sept. 14, The Washington Post reported that an unnamed U.S. official had said two suspects "crossed the border from Canada with no known difficulty at a small border entry in Coburn Gore, Maine," and that others may have come through other Maine ports. On Sept. 16, that report was repeated by the New York Post, which also declared that "terrorists bent on wreaking havoc in the United States" had found Canada "the path of least resistance." On Sept. 19, the Christian Science Monitor referred to Canada as "a haven for terrorists."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>So looks as if there is more the the Canadian connection than just Vreeland...<br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Who's who of the Haiti Coup

Postby DrDebugDU » Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:52 pm

seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) <br>Mon Mar-29-04 06:39 PM<br>Original message<br><br>Who's who of the Haiti Coup - death squad veterans and convicted murderers<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.wehaitians.com/feb_28_pro_19.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>Rebel leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain talks with other rebels at their headquarters in the Mont Joli Hotel in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Saturday Feb. 28, 2004. (AP Photo/Pablo Aneli).<br><br>Louis-Jodel Chamblain<br><br>Convicted assassin and leader of death squads<br><br>Chamblain was the number 2 man in the FRAPH death squad which participated in the campaign of terror during the 1991 coup against Aristide.<br>Terrorising supporters of Aristide's Lavalas Family party, the group was blamed for thousands of killings before a US intervention ended three years of military rule in 1994.<br>"I am scared of what I did, not of what I didn't do," Chamblain told the AP. "I never committed murder. I am not a terrorist. I am not a drug dealer. I am not a criminal."<br><br>He was, however, convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment for the September 11, 1993 murder of Aristide financier Antoine Izmery, who was dragged from Mass in a church, made to kneel outside and shot.<br>Chamblain was also convicted for the April 23, 1994 massacre in the pro-democracy region of Raboteau.<br>A CIA intelligence memorandum implicated him in the October 14, 1993 assassination of Justice Minister Guy Malary who, with his bodyguard, was ambushed and machine-gunned.<br><br>According to the CIA memorandum, dated October 28, 1993, and obtained by the Centre for Constitutional Rights, "FRAPH members Jodel Chamblain, Emmanuel Constant, and Gabriel Douzable met with an unidentified military officer on the morning of 14 October to discuss plans to kill Malary".<br>Emmanuel "Toto" Constant was the founder of FRAPH.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040307T040000-0500_56740_OB">www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040307T040000-0500_56740_OB</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Analysis: Haiti's diverse rebels<br><br><br>The exiles' leader is Louis Jodel Chamblain, 50, who fled to the Dominican Republic in 1994.<br><br>A former sergeant, he is accused taking part in a number of atrocities during the years of military rule.<br><br>He was suspected of involvement in a 1987 election massacre, in which 34 voters were killed and a civilian- run ballot aborted.<br><br>In 1993 in co-founded the Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress - Fraph, which sounds like "hit" in French.<br><br><br>The group is accused of killing thousands of supporters of Mr Aristide.<br><br>Plots<br><br>Mr Chamblain denies involvement in any paramilitary activities and describes himself as a "Haitian patriot".<br><br>He returned from exile with another controversial former soldier, Guy Philippe, 35.<br><br><br>Aristide supporters are being hunted down across the north<br>Trained in the United States and Ecuador, he was a senior security official under President Rene Preval, a civilian elected in 1995.<br><br>Now Mr Philippe and Mr Chamblain are allies, and celebrating their capture of Cap-Haitien, the country's second city at the weekend.<br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3515267.stm">news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3515267.stm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Louis Jodel Chamblain<br><br><br>Chamblain was joint leader - along with CIA operative Emmanuel “Toto” Constant - of the Front révolutionnaire pour l’avancement et le progrès haïtien, (Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress) known by its acronym - FRAPH - which phonetically resembles the French and Creole words for ‘to beat’ or ‘to thrash’. FRAPH was formed by the military authorities who were the de facto leaders of the country during the 1991-94 military regime, and was responsible for numerous human rights violations before the 1994 restoration of democratic governance.<br><br>Among the victims of FRAPH under Chamblain’s leadership was Haitian Justice Minister Guy Malary. He was ambushed and machine-gunned to death with his body-guard and a driver on October 14, 1993. According to an October 28, 1993 CIA Intelligence Memorandum obtained by the Center for Constitutional Rights: “FRAPH members Jodel Chamblain, Emmanuel Constant, and Gabriel Douzable met with an unidentified military officer on the morning of 14 October to discuss plans to kill Malary.” (Emmanuel “Toto” Constant, the leader of FRAPH, is now living freely in Queens, NYC.)<br><br>In September 1995, Chamblain was among seven senior military and FRAPH leaders convicted in absentia and sentenced to forced labour for life for involvement in the September 1993 extrajudicial execution of Antoine Izméry, a well-known pro-democracy activist. In late 1994 or early 1995, it is understood that Chamblain went into exile to the Dominican Republic in order to avoid prosecution.<br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html">www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>The most disturbing figure in the rebel leadership is Louis Jodel Chamblain. He is reported to have led the insurgents’ attacks on Central Plateau towns, including the regional capital of Hinche.<br><br>Chamblain was a sergeant in the Haitian army (FAd’H), and a member of the elite Corps des Leopards. He left the army in 1989 or 1990 and reappeared on the scene in 1993 as one of the founders of the Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress (Front révolutionnaire pour l’avancement et le progrès haïtien, FRAPH). Known as its number two leader, he had a reputation for violence and action (in contrast to the better known and more media-friendly Emmanuel “Toto” Constant). In the report of Haitian Truth and Justice Commission, there is a statement by Emmanuel Constant that explains that FRAPH’s central committee was composed of himself, Chamblain, Mireille Durocher-Bertin, a lawyer who was murdered in 1995, and Alphonse Lahens (a prominent Duvalierist).<br><br>Chamblain was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for the 1993 murder of businessman and activist Antoine Izmery, as well as for involvement in the 1994 Raboteau massacre. He is also implicated in the assassination of Justice Minister Guy Malary, who was ambushed and machine-gunned to death with his body-guard and a driver on October 14, 1993. According to a 1993 CIA Intelligence Memorandum obtained by the U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights, “FRAPH members Jodel Chamblain, Emmanuel Constant, and Gabriel Douzable met with an unidentified military officer on the morning of 14 October to discuss plans to kill Malary.”<br><br>Chamblain escaped to the Dominican Republic in 1994, after the U.S. military intervention in Haiti, and returned to the country in late 2003 or early 2004.<br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.flashpoints.net/Haiti_Rebel_Leaders.html">www.flashpoints.net/Haiti_Rebel_Leaders.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WORLD/americas/02/29/haiti.revolt/story.boniface.ap.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Novak's friend Boniface Alexandre<br><br><br>When Caribbean neighbor Jamaica gave asylum to Aristide two weeks ago, an infuriated LaTortue immediately recalled Haiti's ambassador to Kingston. A second return of Aristide as a free man is ruled out. Boniface Alexandre, the Supreme Court chief justice who became provisional president upon Aristide's resignation under Haiti's constitution, is a careful jurist who measures his words -- except when it comes to Aristide. "He cannot come back to Haiti," Alexandre told me. Aristide will return only if it is decided to indict and extradite him, Justice Minister Bernard Grousse informed me.<br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20040325.shtml">www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/rn20040325.shtml</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Haiti: Marines patrol and rebels disarm<br><br><br>While Aristide has been replaced by interim President Boniface Alexandre, his real authority in Haiti has come into question, particularly now that rebel forces have entered the city and proclaimed their intention to reinstate the military.<br><br>Led by 36-year-old former military officer Guy Philippe -- who Tuesday proclaimed himself the "military chief" in Haiti -- the rebels began taking over cities in the North in early February with the intention of forcing Aristide's resignation.<br><br>The rebels and Haiti's political opposition -- though not aligned -- had been calling for Aristide to step down after what has been termed faulty elections in 2000 and widespread allegations of human rights abuses and corruption.<br><br>Since completing their sweep of the Caribbean nation, the rebels said days ago that they would put down their weapons at the request of the president, then appeared to modify their stance as Haiti's second coming of the military. Many of the rebels were soldiers in the nation's army when Aristide disbanded it in 1995.<br><br>The president was ousted in a military coup in the early 1990s then restored to power in 1994 with the help of 20,000 U.S. troops.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040303-123122-1509r.htm">www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040303-123122-1509r.htm</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>29 February 2004<br><br>Haitian President Resigns, Supreme Court President Sworn In<br>U.S. deploys Marines as initial contingent of multinational force<br><br>Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and departed Port-au-Prince the morning of February 29, resolving the impasse at the root of violence in Haiti in recent weeks, according to the U.S. State Department.<br><br>In a February 29 statement, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the United States facilitated Aristide's safe departure and noted that Haitian Supreme Court President Boniface Alexandre has been sworn in as head of state until presidential elections are held.<br><br>The statement called on all Haitians to respect the peaceful and constitutional succession, and added that the United States will deploy U.S. Marines as the intitial contingent of a multinational force.<br><br>The U.S. will also work with the international community to seek a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing international support for Haiti's transition, the statement said.<br><br>Under a plan crafted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the U.S. and international community "will facilitate the urgent formation of an independent government that will represent the interests of all of the Haitian people."<br><br>Following is the text of the statement:<br><br><br><br><br>Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman<br><br><br>Statement on the Resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti<br><br><br>Jean-Bertrand Aristide has resigned as president of the Republic of Haiti, submitting a letter of resignation before departing Port-au-Prince safely early this morning. At President Aristide's request, the United States facilitated his safe departure from Haiti.<br>.<br>In conformity with Haiti's constitution, Supreme Court President Boniface Alexandre has been sworn in as head of state until presidential elections are held. We have been informed that Prime Minister Yvon Neptune will continue to serve as Haiti's head of government until a successor is appointed in the next days, within the framework of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Plan of Action.<br><br>We call on all Haitians to respect this peaceful and constitutional succession and to refrain from any actions that will undermine national reconciliation. We urge all Haitians to cooperate with the international community as it supports measures to build a more just society and to help defeat the scourge of poverty and disease.<br><br>The decision by President Aristide to resign resolves the political impasse that is the root of the violent unrest in Haiti in recent weeks. Therefore, the United States will deploy a contingent of U.S. Marines as the initial contingent of a multinational interim force. We have been informed that several other countries are prepared to move quickly to join this mission.<br><br>During the course of the day we will continue consulting with our partners in CARICOM and the Organization of American States, as well as Canada and France, to seek a resolution of the United Nations Security Council authorizing international support for a peaceful and constitutional transition in Haiti. As envisaged under the CARICOM plan, the international community will facilitate the urgent formation of an independent government that will represent the interests of all of the Haitian people.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2004/02/mil-040229">www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2004/02/mil-040229</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.wehaitians.com/feb_23_pro_94.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>André “Andy” Apaid, Jr.,<br><br><br>Last December, after a powwow with the International Republican Institute in Santo Domingo, the Haitian opposition returned to Port-au-Prince to establish the “Group of 184,” a supposedly broad front of “civil society” organizations modeled on similar anti-government coalitions in Chavez’s Venezuela and Allende’s Chile.<br><br>The head of the “184" today is André “Andy” Apaid, Jr., also head of Alpha Industries, one of the oldest and largest assembly factories in Haiti.<br><br>On Nov. 11, Haiti’s Interior Minister Jocelerme Privert confirmed that Apaid is indeed a U.S. citizen, a rumor which had been circulating since the industrialist’s emergence on the political scene. According to Privert, Apaid was born to Haitian parents in the U.S. and came to Haiti in 1976 as a foreign businessman on a visitor’s visa.<br><br>After five years, any foreigner can obtain Haitian nationality by naturalization under the Constitution’s Article 12, but “Andy” Apaid has never done this, according to the government.<br><br>Andy is following in the political footsteps of his father. As founder of Alpha Sewing in the 1970s, André senior was a close to dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and remains “a notorious Duvalierist,” according to Eric Verhoogen in the Multinational Monitor (April 1996). Apaid senior headed up the “civil society” (read: bourgeoisie) campaign to support the 1991-1994 military coup against President Aristide, which successfully eased U.S. sanctions on the export of goods from Haiti’s assembly sweat-shops.<br><br>“When asked at a business conference in Miami soon after the coup in 1991 what he would do if President Aristide returned to Haiti, Apaid replied vehemently, ‘I’d strangle him!’” Verhoogen wrote. “At the time, Apaid was heading up the United States Agency for International Develop-ment’s (USAID’s) PROMINEX business promotion project, a $12.7 million program to encourage U.S. and Canadian firms to move their businesses to Haiti.”<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng11-12.html">www.haiti-progres.com/eng11-12.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>ANDY APAID JR.:<br><br>The most outspoken leader of the opposition coalition, Apaid is a factory owner born in the United States. His family fled Haiti under Francois Duvalier, or "Papa Doc," who ruled from 1957 to 1971.<br><br>Favoring pressed pastel shirts and gold-rimmed glasses, Apaid looks like a Miami businessman but says he is totally Haitian at heart.<br><br>"I am just as much a part of this country as anyone," Apaid, in his early 50s, said recently. "That's why I am saying we must choose another path for the country."<br><br>But without a constitutional amendment, he will never become president because of his dual nationality. He has rejected the U.S.-backed settlement plan, saying Aristide must leave office.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html">www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>The most outspoken leader of the opposition coalition, Andre (Andy) Apaid is a factory owner born in the United States. His family fled Haiti under Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, who ruled from 1957 to 1971.<br><br>Favoring pressed pastel shirts and gold-rimmed glasses, Apaid looks like a Miami businessman but says he is totally Haitian at heart.<br><br>"I am just as much a part of this country as anyone," Apaid, in his early 50s, said recently. "That's why I am saying we must choose another path for the country."<br><br>But without a constitutional amendment, he will never become president because of his dual nationality.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/01/Worldandnation/Key_figures_in_Haiti_">www.sptimes.com/2004/03/01/Worldandnation/Key_figures_in_Haiti_</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>The Washington-backed Democratic Convergence opposition front and the Haitian bourgeoisie’s “Group of 184” civil society front (G184), led by a U.S. citizen and sweatshop magnate André “Andy” Apaid, Jr. (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 21, No. 35, 11/12/03), have been quick to embrace, foment and urge on the student demonstrations.<br><br>So on Dec. 11, about 10,000 students, with the G184 and Democratic Convergence leaders in tow, marched through the streets of the capital. (Bourgeois radio stations inflated the demonstration up to 5 fold). On hand were Apaid, former Haitian Army colonel Himmler Rébu, Convergence leader Evans Paul, writer Gary Victor, the head of the Civil Society Initiative (ISC) Rosny Desroches, and dissident Lavalas senators Prince Sonson Pierre and Dany Toussaint. Later that day on Radio Kiskeya, Toussaint virtually called for a coup by saying that the “international community” was reluctant to remove Aristide from power only because they feared anarchy would result. But, he reassured them, he could “restore order within 48 hours” due to his connections in the police and former army.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/2003/sm031217/eng12-17.html">www.haiti-progres.com/2003/sm031217/eng12-17.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship. (William Blum)<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.wehaitians.com/feb_25_pro_1.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Evans Paul<br><br><br>The Kerry report claims Martinez is the bag man for Colombia’s cocaine cartels, and supervises bribes paid to the Haitian military. According to Miami attorney John Mattes, who is defending a Cuban-American drug trafficker cooperating with U.S. prosecutors, Martinez was paid $30,000 to bribe Haitian authorities into releasing two drug pilots jailed in Haiti after the engine in their plane conked out, forcing them to land in Port-au-Prince.<br><br>Martinez claims innocence from his lavish home in Petionville, an ornate suburb where Haiti’s ruling class live, overlooking the slums of the capital. He runs the casino at the plush El Rancho Hotel, that prior to the embargo realized nearly $50 million in business each week, a cash flow adequate to conceal a major money laundering operation.<br><br>But the most disturbing allegations have been of the role played by the CIA in keeping many of the coup leaders on the agency’s payroll, as part of an anti-drug intelligence unit set up by the U.S. in Haiti in 1986. Many of these same military men have had their U.S. assets frozen, and are prevented from entering this country because of their role in overthrowing Aristide, and subsequent human rights violations, including torture and murders of political opponents, raising the question—was the U.S. involved in a cocaine coup that overthrew Aristide?<br><br>Former Democratic party head and current secretary of commerce Ron Brown headed a law firm that represented the Duvalier family for decades. Part of that representation was a public relations campaign that stressed Duvalier’s opposition to communism in the cold war. United States support for Duvalier was worth more than $400 million in aid to the country, before the man who called himself Haiti’s President-for- Life was forced from the country.<br><br>Even Duvalier’s exit from Haiti, in February 1986, is shrouded in covert intrigue and remains an unexplored facet of the career of Lt. Col. Oliver North. Shortly after Duvalier’s ouster, North was quoted as saying he had brought an end to Haiti’s nightmare, a cryptic statement that was never publicly perused by the Iran- Contra hearings.<br><br>Francois and his men have a history of involvement in the torture of opponents and death-squad-style murders of Aristide supporters. In one recent incident, attaches mobbed Port-au-Prince City Hall to prevent the capital’s mayor, Evans Paul, an Aristide supporter, from entering his offices.<br><br>One person was killed and 11 wounded during the September 8th incident, when the mob opened fire on Aristide supporters. Witnesses say the attack began when attaches dragged two of Paul’s aides from a car, viciously beating an Aristide official. Francois is also considered responsible for the murder of Justice Minister Guy Malary.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/415.html">www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/415.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Another top figure in the opposition coalition, Paul is a former mayor of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, who was in hiding from the brutal military regime during much of his term until U.S. troops arrived in 1994.<br><br>Paul, who is in his late 40s, was head of a center-left coalition that nominated Aristide for president in 1990. Paul managed Aristide's successful election campaign but broke ranks after Aristide left him out of his inner circle.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/01/Worldandnation/Key_figures_in_Haiti_">www.sptimes.com/2004/03/01/Worldandnation/Key_figures_in_Haiti_</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>EVANS PAUL:<br><br>Another top figure in the opposition coalition, Paul is a former mayor of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, who was in hiding from the brutal military regime during much of his term until U.S. troops arrived in 1994.<br><br>Paul, who is in his late 40s, was head of a center-left coalition that nominated Aristide for president in 1990. Paul managed Aristide's successful election campaign but broke ranks after Aristide left him out of his inner circle.<br><br>A playwright and journalist when dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled Haiti, Paul was jailed for opposing him.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html">www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/images/20021103/commonwealth_visa_021103/160_denis_coderre_qp_021103.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>DENIS CODERRE:<br><br>Canada's minister responsible for the Francophonie — of French-speaking countries that include former French colonies like Haiti — was minister for citizenship and immigration in January 2002, which would have put him in touch with Canada's large Haitian community. Coderre oversaw the implementation of a new act to protect refugees and migrants.<br><br>A political scientist, Coderre was first elected to Canada's House of Commons in 1997. In 1999, he joined the federal Cabinet as secretary of state for amateur sport and helped establish the headquarters for the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal.<br><br>Coderre came to Haiti declaring, "We clearly don't want Aristide's head. We think Aristide must remain in place."<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html">www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0204/26haitiwho.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.wehaitians.com/feb_23_pro_97.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Guy Philippe: Profile<br><br><br>In 2000, Haitian authorities said they had discovered Philippe was plotting a coup with a group of other police chiefs. Philippe fled to the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.<br><br>Haitian and U.S. authorities say that Philippe was involved in drug trafficking while he was police chief in Cap-Haitien, as well as during his exile in the Dominican Republic, although he has never been officially accused of any drug crimes.<br><br>The Haitian government has accused Philippe of organizing an attack on the police academy in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, in July 2001, and another attack in December 2001 on the national palace. The Organization of American States investigated, but was unable to find out who was behind the attacks.<br><br>Philippe was thought to have been in exile, but in February 2004, he appeared at a news conference at the side of one of the leaders of the anti-Aristide rebels.<br><br>His rebel group, the National Front for the Liberation of Haiti, is largely made up of former soldiers who lost their jobs when the military was demobilized.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/haiti/philippe.html">www.cbc.ca/news/background/haiti/philippe.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Guy Philippe<br>Guy Philippe is a former member of the FAD’H (Haitian Army). During the 1991-94 military regime, he and a number of other officers received training from the US Special Forces in Equador, and when the FAD’H was dissolved by Aristide in early 1995, Philippe was incorporated into the new National Police Force.<br><br>He served as police chief in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Delmas and in the second city, Cap-Haitien, before he fled Haiti in October 2000 when Haitian authorities discovered him plotting what they described as a coup, together with a clique of other police chiefs. Since that time, the Haitian government has accused Philippe of master-minding deadly attacks on the Haitian Police Academy and the National Palace in July and December 2001, as well as hit-and-run raids against police stations on Haiti’s Central Plateau over last two years.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html">www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>The leader of the insurrectionary forces, Guy Philippe, age thirty-five, trained by the United States as an army officer in Ecuador. He was integrated into the new Haitian National Police in 1995 and his first command post was in Ouanaminthe, on the northern border with the Dominican Republic. Later, in about 1997 to 1999, he served as police chief for Delmas, a large urban district on the north side of the Port-au- Prince metropolitan area. During his tenure there, the UN/OAS International Civilian Mission learned that dozens of suspected gang members were summarily executed, mainly by police under the command of Inspector Berthony Bazile, Philippe’s deputy.<br><br>On October 18, 2000, Haiti’s prime minister announced that Philippe and other officers were plotting a coup d’etat. Before they were arrested, however, the men escaped over the border to the Dominican Republic.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.flashpoints.net/Haiti_Rebel_Leaders.html">www.flashpoints.net/Haiti_Rebel_Leaders.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Ernst Ravix<br><br><br><br>According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on Haiti, dated 7 September 1988, FAD’H Captain Ernst Ravix, was the military commander of Saint Marc, and head of a paramilitary squad of “sub-proletariat youths” who called themselves the Sans Manman (Motherless Ones). In May 1988, the government of President Manigat tried to reduce contraband and corruption in the port city of Saint Marc, but Ravix, the local Army commander, responded by organising a demonstration against the President in which some three thousand residents marched, chanted, and burned barricades. Manigat removed Ravix from his post, but after Manigat’s ouster, he was reinstated by the military dictator, Lt. Gen. Namphy.<br><br>Ravix was not heard of again until December 2001 when former FAD’H sergeant, Pierre Richardson, the person captured following the 17 December attack on the National Palace, reportedly confessed that the attack was a coup attempt planned in the Dominican Republic by three former police chiefs- Guy Philippe, Jean-Jacques Nau and Gilbert Dragon - and that it was led by former Captain Ernst Ravix. According to Richardson, Ravix’s group withdrew from the National Palace and fled to the Dominican Republic when reinforcements failed to arrive.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html">www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.realcities.com/images/miami/miamiherald/8188/67046192424.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>Jean-Pierre Baptiste - nom de guerre is Jean Tatoune<br><br><br>Among the rebel leaders was the notorious Jean-Pierre Baptiste, smiling and looking triumphant. It did not seem to matter that Mr. Baptiste, whose nom de guerre is Jean Tatoune, had been freed by rebels last year from a prison where he had been serving a life sentence for his participation in the killings of Aristide supporters in Gonaïves in 1994. Mr. Latortue hailed the rebels as "freedom fighters."<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/international/americas/29HAIT.html">www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/international/americas/29HAIT.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Haiti: Perpetrators of serious past abuses re-emerge<br><br>Haiti Support Group<br><br>The emergence of former paramilitary leaders convicted of past human rights violations as leaders of the armed opposition force is fuelling a conflict that has already taken too many lives, said Amnesty International as the crisis in Haiti continues to deepen.<br><br>"At the best of times, the spectre of past violations continues to haunt Haiti," Amnesty International said today. "At this crucial stage, when the rule of law is so fragile, the last thing that the country needs is for those who committed abuses in the past to take up leadership positions in the armed opposition."<br><br>On 14 February Louis Jodel Chamblain, a notorious former paramilitary leader, reportedly gave an interview to a Haitian radio station to say that he had joined the armed movement seeking to overthrow President Jean Bertrand Aristide. He was accompanied by a former police commissioner.<br><br>In September 1995 Chamblain was among seven senior military and paramilitary leaders convicted in absentiaand sentenced to forced labour for life for involvement in the September 1993 extrajudicial execution of Antoine Izméry, a well-known pro-democracy activist. Chamblain had gone into exile to avoid prosecution.<br><br>Chamblain has reportedly joined forces with the leaders of the armed opposition based in Gonaïves.<br><br>Another of the leaders, Jean Pierre Baptiste, alias "Jean Tatoune", is also a former paramilitary leader who was sentenced to forced labour for life for participation in the 1994 Raboteau massacre. He was among the prisoners who escaped from Gonaïves prison during the August 2002 jailbreak of Amiot 'Cubain' Métayer, deceased leader of the formerly pro-government group which violently took over control of Gonaïves on 5 February. Gang<br>members under Jean Tatoune's direction have been accused of numerous abuses against government officials and supporters, as well as other Gonaïves residents, over past months.<br><br>"The Haitian authorities must do everything in their power to arrest these individuals, who have both already been convicted of serious violations," Amnesty International said. "For their part, political opposition parties must condemn the emergence of these notorious figures at the head of the armed movement to oust Aristide, and must do everything in their power to demonstrate their own commitment to human rights and the rule of law."<br><br>Background Information<br><br>Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Tatoune both belonged to the paramilitary organisation FRAPH, formed by military authorities who were the de facto leaders of the country following the 1991 coup against then- President Jean Bertrand Aristide. FRAPH members were responsible for numerous human rights violations before the 1994 restoration of democratic governance.<br><br>The group was at first known as the Front révolutionnaire pourl'avancement et le progrès haïtiens, Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress. The acronym FRAPH phonetically resembles the French and Creole words for 'to beat' or 'to thrash.'<br><br>Antoine Izméry was gunned down in the Church of the Sacred Heart in Port-au-Prince on 11 September 1993, while attending mass. The mass was being held to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a massacre committed during an attack on Aristide, then a parish priest, on 11 September 1988 at the St. Jean Bosco Church in La Saline, a shanty town on the outskirts of the capital.<br><br>After the 5 February attack in Gonaïves, unrest spread to nearly a dozen towns in the center and north of Haiti. Concerns are increasing about the humanitarian situation in the towns under control of anti- government forces and other areas cut off by the conflict. The first demonstration of the political opposition since the violence began took place in Port-au-Prince on 15 February; demonstrators were confronted by rock-throwing government supporters, and police used tear gas and fired their guns into the air to disperse both groups.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engAMR360062004?Open&of=eng-HTI">web.amnesty.org/library/index/engAMR360062004?Open&of=eng-HTI</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Public Document<br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/79531/1">www.oneworld.net/article/view/79531/1</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Jean Pierre Baptiste ("Jean Tatoune") is another FRAPH member convicted in the Raboteau massacre trial and sentenced to forced labour for life.<br><br>Others convicted of or indicted for human rights abuses escaped from the National Penitentiary in Port-au- Prince on Sunday 29 February in the atmosphere of lawlessness that followed the departure of President Jean Bertrand Aristide. AI fears that they may join the rebel forces, thus gaining access to weapons and potentially to positions of influence.<br><br>Police and judicial officers, witnesses and human rights defenders involved in past prosecutions may be at risk of reprisal attacks from those they helped bring to justice.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://web.amnesty.org/pages/hti-100304-action-eng">web.amnesty.org/pages/hti-100304-action-eng</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Even US officials acknowledge that the leaders of the Haitian coup d’etat are “death squad veterans and convicted murderers,” (NYT 2/28/04). Two of these are Louis-Jodel Chamblain and Jean-Pierre Baptiste, leaders of FRAPH (Haitian Front for Advancement and Progress), a murderous rightwing group that was funded by the US for many years and played a leading role in overthrowing Aristide in 1991. FRAPH’s name, according to the Times, is a play on the French “frapper” (“to hit”).<br><br>Both Chamblain and Baptiste have been convicted of political murders. Chamblain, a former Haitian Army officer, has been hiding in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Baptiste was serving a life sentence until he recently broke out of jail.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/16099/index.php">www.ucimc.org/feature/display/16099/index.php</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Mr. Latortue has no democratic mandate. Haitians are bitterly split between Aristide supporters and opponents, and both sides are heavily armed. Clearly, he needs to reach out to those on both sides of this divide who want to move their country forward. But Mr. Latortue aided neither national reconciliation nor his own shaky legitimacy by the unseemly ceremony he took part in last Saturday.<br><br>Ferried by American military helicopters to the city of Gonaïves, where the anti-Aristide revolt began, he stood on a stage with killers like Jean-Pierre Baptiste. Mr. Baptiste, who escaped from prison in 2002, is a death squad leader convicted of participating in a 1994 massacre of Aristide supporters.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/opinion/24WED2.html?th">www.nytimes.com/2004/03/24/opinion/24WED2.html?th</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Jean Tatoune<br>Jean Pierre Baptiste, alias “Jean Tatoune”, first came to prominence as a leader of the anti-Duvalier mobilisations in his home town of Gonaives in 1985. For some years he was known and respected for his anti-Duvalierist activities but during the 1991-94 military regime he emerged as a local leader of FRAPH.<br><br>On 22 April 1994, he led a force of dozens of soldiers and FRAPH members in an attack on Raboteau, a desperately poor slum area in Gonaives and a stronghold of support for Aristide. Between 15 and 25 people were killed in what became known as the Raboteau massacre.<br><br>In 2000, Tatoune was put on trial and sentenced to forced labour for life for his participation in the Raboteau massacre. He was subsequently imprisoned in Gonaives, from where he escaped in August 2002, and took up arms again in his base in a poor area of the city. At various times he has spoken out against the government, and at other times in favour of it, but since September 2003 he has allied himself with the followers of murdered community leader, Amiot Metayer, and vowed to overthrow the government by force.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html">www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-25.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39858000/jpg/_39858973_haitileader_afpfact.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Butteur Metayer<br><br><br>Butteur immediately assumed command of his brother's army, soon renamed the Artibonite Resistance Front. The situation in Gonaives rapidly disintegrated, and some said Butteur's tactics were just as cruel as paramilitary operations in previous years.<br><br>The Times of London reported that Butteur's army "left the rotting bodies of dead policemen to be eaten by wild pigs and have taken several other towns in the interior, where they murdered more policemen."<br><br>Butteur sometimes sported a Hyatt Orlando golf shirt and bands of bullets across his chest. He challenged Aristide openly during press conferences at the family home.<br><br>Aristide, said Butteur and the other rebels, had become corrupt, relying on armed gangs and siphoning money away from the poor, away from schools, giving it to his supporters.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/04/Worldandnation/Haitian_rebel_is_one_">www.sptimes.com/2004/03/04/Worldandnation/Haitian_rebel_is_one_</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Amiot Metayer's Sept. 22 assassination led to protest rallies in Gonaives that eventually boiled over into rebellion. He had been the leader of the Cannibal Army street gang, which Butteur Metayer says was armed by Aristide's Lavalas Party to terrorize the president's opponents in the city -- a charge Aristide denied.<br><br>Metayer was viewed by many people in Gonaives as a Robin Hood who lavished gifts on slum dwellers and his killing angered supporters.<br><br>After Butteur Metayer launched the rebellion, former soldiers of the disbanded Haitian army crossed the border from the Dominican Republic to join the uprising. It was the former troops who gave impetus to the push that put half of Haiti in rebel hands within two weeks<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112992,00.html">www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112992,00.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>Aristide finally had Metayer arrested last year after months of pressure from the OAS, which demanded he be tried for allegedly burning homes of opponents. Gang members rammed a tractor into the prison to free him in September, and Metayer's bullet-riddled and mutilated body was found days later.<br><br>"They took out his eyes. They took out his heart," Latortue said.<br><br>Metayer's brother, Butteur, assumed leadership of the gang; he claimed Aristide ordered his brother's killing to keep him from publicizing damaging information about him.<br><br>With his death prompting the uprising that brought about Aristide's downfall, Metayer has become a hero in the town. Many feared him. Others saw him as a Robin Hood who lavished gifts on slum-dwelling Aristide supporters.<br><br>Thousands of them have fled the city since the Feb. 5 gunbattle in which Metayer's men killed several police officers and torched government buildings.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/20/haiti.leaders.ap">edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/03/20/haiti.leaders.ap</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br>The city of Gonaives, where the slaves finally overcame Napolean's forces and gained independence has been one of the most political cities in the country. In the 1980s, the city was again the center of independence when rebel forces defeated the brutal (U.S. supported) Duvalier dictatorship. The country has experienced 30 coups since gaining its independence. As of February 5, it seems the country is thrown into armed conflict again. Rebel forces began a violent effort to overthrow the Aristide government and take control of the capital. Over 40 people been killed and more than a dozen cities seized by the rebels. Gonaives is now in the hands of what the newly named "Artibonite Resistance Front" (formally known as the Cannibal Army). Led by two brothers, Amiot and Butteur Metayer, the Gonaives chapter of the resistance has received "reinforcements" from neighboring Dominican Republic. The men who have joined the resistance from abroad are largely former military leaders of Haiti, exiled or hiding from histories of torture and abuse. Butteur Metayer told the Associated Press that Louis-Jodel Chamblain, former soldier from Haiti responsible for death squads in the 1980s and atrocities following the 1991 military coup is gathering forces for the resistance as well.<br><br>Back in Orlando, Metayer and his sister also have gratitude for another person: President Bush.<br><br>"I don't know how to thank him" for encouraging Aristide to get out, said Gertrude Metayer.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.thesnapper.com/news/2004/02/19/NationWorldIssues/Haiti.A.Ne">www.thesnapper.com/news/2004/02/19/NationWorldIssues/Haiti.A.Ne</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.wehaitians.com/march_21_free_8.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>The new Prime Minister of Haiti, Gerard Latortue, waves duirng a visit to his hometown, Gonaives, Haiti on Saturday, March 20, 2004.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)<br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: 1948 Operation Mockingbird

Postby MinM » Mon Jul 07, 2014 3:13 pm

Richard Mellon Scaife Dies
Hugh Manatee Wins » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:14 am wrote:Aw, Joe. Whaddya got for us, 'Pal Joey?'

When investigative journalist, Steve Kangas, died from a gunshot to the head in 1999 there was a funny kangaroos with guns disinfo story sent around the web because of the recent flap over Vince Foster's death online.

Even the WPost had to write minimizing dismissal stories because of the online buzz over Kangas' death. He had been outing Richard Mellon Scaife as a CIA asset and more. And ended up dead in the office building where Scaife had offices.

Kangas' website url included "kangaroo" in it like this-
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-overclass.html

Reference to the kangaroo disinfo story that was viral marketed as humor can still be found-
http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1533

DrDebugDU » Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:41 pm wrote:In 1948 Frank Wisner was appointed director of the Office of Special Projects (OSP). Soon afterwards OSP was renamed the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC). This became the espionage and counter-intelligence branch of the Central Intelligence Agency. Wisner was told to create an organization that concentrated on "propaganda, economic warfare; preventive direct action, including sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evacuation measures; subversion against hostile states, including assistance to underground resistance groups, and support of indigenous anti-Communist elements in threatened countries of the free world." (1)

Later that year Wisner established Mockingbird, a program to influence the domestic and foreign media. Wisner recruited Philip Graham (Washington Post) to run the project within the industry. According to Deborah Davis (Katharine the Great): "By the early 1950s, Wisner 'owned' respected members of the New York Times, Newsweek, CBS and other communications vehicles." (2)

In 1951 Allen W. Dulles persuaded Cord Meyer to join the CIA. However, there is evidence that he was recruited several years earlier and had been spying on the liberal organizations he had been a member of in the later 1940s. (3) According to Deborah Davis, Meyer became Mockingbird's "principal operative". (4)

One of the most important journalists under the control of Operation Mockingbird was Joseph Alsop, whose articles appeared in over 300 different newspapers. Other journalists willing to promote the views of the CIA included Stewart Alsop (New York Herald Tribune), Ben Bradlee (Newsweek), James Reston (New York Times), Charles Douglas Jackson (Time Magazine), Walter Pincus (Washington Post), William C. Baggs (Miami News), Herb Gold (Miami News) and Charles Bartlett (Chattanooga Times). (5) According to Nina Burleigh (A Very Private Woman) these journalists sometimes wrote articles that were commissioned by Frank Wisner. The CIA also provided them with classified information to help them with their work. (6)

After 1953 the network was overseen by Allen W. Dulles, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. By this time Operation Mockingbird had a major influence over 25 newspapers and wire agencies. These organizations were run by people with well-known right-wing views such as William Paley (CBS), Henry Luce (Time Magazine and Life Magazine), Arthur Hays Sulzberger (New York Times), Alfred Friendly (managing editor of the Washington Post), Jerry O'Leary (Washington Star), Hal Hendrix (Miami News), Barry Bingham Sr., (Louisville Courier-Journal), James Copley (Copley News Services) and Joseph Harrison (Christian Science Monitor). (7)

The Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) was funded by siphoning of funds intended for the Marshall Plan. Some of this money was used to bribe journalists and publishers. Frank Wisner was constantly looked for ways to help convince the public of the dangers of communism. In 1954 Wisner arranged for the funding the Hollywood production of Animal Farm, the animated allegory based on the book written by George Orwell. (8)

According to Alex Constantine (Mockingbird: The Subversion Of The Free Press By The CIA), in the 1950s, "some 3,000 salaried and contract CIA employees were eventually engaged in propaganda efforts". Wisner was also able to restrict newspapers from reporting about certain events. For example, the CIA plots to overthrow the governments of Iran (See: Operation PBSUCCESS) and Guatemala (See: Operation Ajax). (9)

Thomas Braden, head of the of International Organizations Division (IOD), played an important role in Operation Mockingbird. Many years later he revealed his role in these events:

"If the director of CIA wanted to extend a present, say, to someone in Europe - a Labour leader - suppose he just thought, This man can use fifty thousand dollars, he's working well and doing a good job - he could hand it to him and never have to account to anybody... There was simply no limit to the money it could spend and no limit to the people it could hire and no limit to the activities it could decide were necessary to conduct the war - the secret war.... It was a multinational. Maybe it was one of the first. Journalists were a target, labor unions a particular target - that was one of the activities in which the communists spent the most money." (10)

Part of the Directorate of Plans

In August, 1952, the Office of Policy Coordination and the Office of Special Operations (the espionage division) were merged to form the Directorate of Plans (DPP). Frank Wisner became head of this new organization and Richard Helms became his chief of operations. Mockingbird was now the responsibility of the DPP. (11)

J. Edgar Hoover became jealous of the CIA's growing power. He described the OPC as "Wisner's gang of weirdos" and began carrying out investigations into their past. It did not take him long to discover that some of them had been active in left-wing politics in the 1930s. This information was passed to who started making attacks on members of the OPC. Hoover also gave McCarthy details of an affair that Frank Wisner had with Princess Caradja in Romania during the war. Hoover, claimed that Caradja was a Soviet agent. (12)

Joseph McCarthy also began accusing other senior members of the CIA as being security risks. McCarthy claimed that the CIA was a "sinkhole of communists" and claimed he intended to root out a hundred of them. One of his first targets was Cord Meyer, who was still working for Operation Mockingbird. In August, 1953, Richard Helms, Wisner's deputy at the OPC, told Meyer that Joseph McCarthy had accused him of being a communist. The Federal Bureau of Investigation added to the smear by announcing it was unwilling to give Meyer "security clearance". However, the FBI refused to explain what evidence they had against Meyer. Allen W. Dulles and both came to his defence and refused to permit a FBI interrogation of Meyer. (13)

Joseph McCarthy did not realise what he was taking on. Wisner unleashed Mockingbird on McCarthy. Drew Pearson, Joe Alsop, Jack Anderson, Walter Lippmann and Ed Murrow all went into attack mode and McCarthy was permanently damaged by the press coverage orchestrated by Wisner. (14)

Mockingbird was very active during the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala during Operation PBSUCCESS. People like Henry Luce were able to censor stories that appeared too sympathetic towards the plight of Arbenz. Allen W. Dulles was even able to keep left- wing journalists from travelling to Guatemala, including Sydney Gruson of the New York Times. (15)

In 1955 President Dwight Eisenhower established the 5412 Committee in order to keep a check on the CIA's covert activities. The committee (also called the Special Group) included the CIA director, the national security adviser, and the deputy secretaries at State and Defence and had the responsibility to decide whether covert actions were "proper" and in the national interest. It was also decided to include Richard B. Russell, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. However, as Allen W. Dulles was later to admit, because of "plausible deniability" planned covert actions were not referred to the 5412 Committee.

Dwight Eisenhower became concerned about CIA covert activities and in 1956 appointed David Bruce as a member of the President's Board of Consultants on Foreign Intelligence Activities (PBCFIA). Eisenhower asked Bruce to write a report on the CIA. It was presented to Eisenhower on 20th December, 1956. Bruce argued that the CIA's covert actions were "responsible in great measure for stirring up the turmoil and raising the doubts about us that exists in many countries in the world today." Bruce was also highly critical of Mockingbird. He argued: "what right have we to go barging around in other countries buying newspapers and handling money to opposition parties or supporting a candidate for this, that, or the other office." (16)

After Richard Bissell lost his post as Director of Plans in 1962, Tracy Barnes took over the running of Mockingbird. According to Evan Thomas (The Very Best Men) Barnes planted editorials about political candidates who were regarded as pro-CIA.

In 1964 Random House published Invisible Government by David Wise and Thomas Ross. The book exposed the role the CIA was playing in foreign policy. This included the CIA coups in Guatemala (Operation PBSUCCESS) and Iran (Operation Ajax) and the Bay of Pigs operation. It also revealed the CIA's attempts to overthrow President Sukarno in Indonesia and the covert operations taking place in Laos and Vietnam. The CIA considered buying up the entire printing of Invisible Government but this idea was rejected when Random House pointed out that if this happened they would have to print a second edition. (17)

John McCone, the new director of the CIA, also attempted to stop Edward Yates from making a documentary on the CIA for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). This attempt at censorship failed and NBC went ahead and broadcast this critical documentary.

In June, 1965, Desmond FitzGerald was appointed as head of the Directorate for Plans. He now took charge of Mockingbird. At the end of 1966 FitzGerald discovered that Ramparts, a left-wing publication, had discovered that the CIA had been secretly funding the National Student Association. )18) FitzGerald ordered Edgar Applewhite to organize a campaign against the magazine. Applewhite later told Evan Thomas for his book, The Very Best Men: "I had all sorts of dirty tricks to hurt their circulation and financing. The people running Ramparts were vulnerable to blackmail. We had awful things in mind, some of which we carried off." (19)

This dirty tricks campaign failed to stop Ramparts publishing this story in March, 1967. The article, written by Sol Stern, was entitled NSA and the CIA. As well as reporting CIA funding of the National Student Association it exposed the whole system of anti-Communist front organizations in Europe, Asia, and South America. It named Cord Meyer as a key figure in this campaign. This included the funding of the literary journal Encounter. (20)

In May 1967 Thomas Braden responded to this by publishing an article entitled, I'm Glad the CIA is Immoral, in the Saturday Evening Post, where he defended the activities of the International Organizations Division unit of the CIA. Braden also confessed that the activities of the CIA had to be kept secret from Congress. As he pointed out in the article: "In the early 1950s, when the cold war was really hot, the idea that Congress would have approved many of our projects was about as likely as the John Birch Society's approving Medicare." (21)

Meyer's role in Operation Mockingbird was further exposed in 1972 when he was accused of interfering with the publication of a book, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia by Alfred W. McCoy. The book was highly critical of the CIA's dealings with the drug traffic in Southeast Asia. The publisher, who leaked the story, had been a former colleague of Meyer's when he was a liberal activist after the war. (22)

Church Committee Investigations

Further details of Operation Mockingbird was revealed as a result of the Frank Church investigations (Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) in 1975. According to the Congress report published in 1976:

"The CIA currently maintains a network of several hundred foreign individuals around the world who provide intelligence for the CIA and at times attempt to influence opinion through the use of covert propaganda. These individuals provide the CIA with direct access to a large number of newspapers and periodicals, scores of press services and news agencies, radio and television stations, commercial book publishers, and other foreign media outlets."

Church argued that the cost of misinforming the world cost American taxpayers an estimated $265 million a year. (23)

In February, 1976, George H. W. Bush, the recently appointed Director of the CIA announced a new policy: "Effective immediately, the CIA will not enter into any paid or contract relationship with any full-time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper, periodical, radio or television network or station." However, he added that the CIA would continue to "welcome" the voluntary, unpaid cooperation of journalists. (24)

Carl Bernstein, who had worked with Bob Woodward in the investigation of Watergate, provided further information about Operation Mockingbird in an article in Rolling Stone in October, 1977. Bernstein claimed that over a 25 year period over 400 American journalists secretly carried out assignments for the CIA:

"Some of the journalists were Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished reporters who considered themselves ambassadors-without-portfolio for their country. Most were less exalted: foreign correspondents who found that their association with the Agency helped their work; stringers and freelancers who were as interested it the derring-do of the spy business as in filing articles, and, the smallest category, full- time CIA employees masquerading as journalists abroad." (25)

It is almost certain that Bernstein had encountered Operation Mockingbird while working on his Watergate investigation. For example, Deborah Davis (Katharine the Great) has argued that Deep Throat was senior CIA official, Richard Ober, who was running Operation Chaos for Richard Nixon during this period. (26)

According to researchers such as Steve Kangas (27), Angus Mackenzie (28) and Alex Constantine (29), Operation Mockingbird was not closed down by the CIA in 1976.

For example, in 1998 Kangas argued that CIA asset Richard Mellon Scaife ran "Forum World Features, a foreign news service used as a front to disseminate CIA propaganda around the world." (30)

On 8th February, 1999, Kangas was found dead in the bathroom of the Pittsburgh offices of Richard Mellon Scaife. He had been shot in the head. Officially he had committed suicide but some people believe he was murdered. In an article in Salon Magazine, (19th March, 1999) Andrew Leonard asked:

"Why did the police report say the gun wound was to the left of his head, while the autopsy reported a wound on the roof of his mouth? Why had the hard drive on his computer been erased shortly after his death? Why had Scaife assigned his No. 1 private detective, Rex Armistead, to look into Kangas' past?" ...


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