OMITTING THE SOVIET UNION FROM A BOOK ABOUT THE CIA DOES NOT SPEAK WELL FOR YOUR
UNDERSTANDING OF WHY THE CIA WAS FOUNDED AND WHAT IT DID. May I recommend a brand-news
Cornell University Press book, Undermining the Kremlin: America's Strategy to Subvert the
Soviet Bloc, 1947-1956, by Gregory Mitrovich. The book is based on very recently
declassified U.S. documents.
William Mandel
Jerry West wrote:
> Not your usual material in the corporate press.
>
> --
> Jerry West
> Editor/publisher/janitor
> ----------------------------------------------------
> THE RECORD
> News and Views from Nootka Sound & Canada's West Coast
> An independent, progressive regional publication
> http://www.island.net/~record/
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: A People^s History of the CIA: Subversion of Democracy from Australia to Zaire
> Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 00:12:13 -0500
> From: Richard Sanders <ad207@freenet.carleton.ca>
> To: ad207@ncf.ca
>
> Media Release January 22, 2001
> A People^s History of the CIA:
> The Subversion of Democracy from Australia to Zaire (and Canada, too!)
>
> The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade will soon be releasing a
> 52-page magazine focusing on the CIA's history of subverting
> governments around the world.
>
> This information is of crucial importance to understanding many
> of the world's ongoing conflicts.
>
> To receive a free sample copy of this issue, send me an email with
> your street addess and we'll mail you a copy.
>
> Below you'll find:
> (1) the Table of Contents of this issue on the CIA,
> (2) an article on the U.S. role in ^Knocking Over^ Canada's government, 1963
> (3) an overview of this issue: "Just Say Know! The CIA^s War on Democracy."
>
> Richard Sanders, Editor, Press for Conversion!
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> (1)
> Table of Contents PRESS FOR CONVERSION!
> Issue #43
> "A People^s History of the CIA:
> The Subversion of Democracy from Australia to Zaire"
>
> Just Say Know! The CIA^s War on Democracy.............................3
> 1944-1954, Germany/USA: Original Sin - From SS to OSS................4
> Growth of the Gehlen Org.......................................5
> 1945-1973, Germany/Austria/USA: ^Operation Paperclip^................6
> 1945-1973, Germany/USA: From Dachau to ^MKULTRA^.....................7
> late 1940s-present, International: ^Mockingbird,^ Buying the Media....8
> 1947-1948, Italy: Nazi Loot used to Rig Election.....................9
> 1947-1970s, Greece: Helping Fascists in a Civil War and Coup........10
> late 1940s-1990s, Europe: Building Right Wing Terror Groups.........11
> EU Resolution on Operation ^Gladio^...........................11
> 1950-now, Germany,: ^Stay Behind^ Forces and Neo-Nazism......11
> 1945-1963, Vietnam...................................................12
> 1945-1953, Philippines...............................................12
> 1949-1953, Albania: CIA ^Cut its Teeth^ with ^Operation Valuable^...12
> 1950-1970s, Southeast Asia: Drug Lords and Covert Wars..............13
> 1953-1963, USA: MKULTRA and LSD.....................................14
> 1953, Iran: Coup Returns Shah in ^Operation TPAJAX^.................15
> 1954, Guatemala: ^Operation PBSuccess,^ Another Coup................16
> 1957-1961, Canada: MKULTRA Experiments in Montreal..................17
> 1958-1991, Iraq: A Classic Case of Divide and Conquer...............18
> 1958, Indonesia: The Failed Overthrow...............................19
> 1960s-1970s, Canada: Prisoners used as Guinea Pigs..................20
> 1960-1997, Congo: Replacing Lumumba with Mobutu.....................21
> 1962, South Africa: Mandela Imprisoned..............................21
> 1961-1963, Cuba: Everything from PsyOps to an Invasion..............22
> 1962-1963, Canada: ^Knocking Over^ ^Dief the Chief^.................23
> Dief^s ^Made in Canada^ Policies..............................23
> A Plot ^Made in the USA^......................................23
> Key Quotations on the events of January 1963.................24
> CIA Fingerprints: The Americans behind the Plot..............25
> 1965, Indonesia: Executing a Campaign of Mass Murder................26
> 1968-1976, Chile: Killing a Democracy...............................27
> 1975, Angola: Mercenaries, Murder and Corruption....................28
> 1975, Australia: Overthrowing Whitlam^s Labour Party................29
> 1976, South America: ^Operation Condor^ Cross-Border Killing........31
> 1978-1992, El Salvador: Training the Death Squads...................32
> pre1979-1989, Afghanistan: The CIA^s Biggest Covert War ............33
> 1980, Iran/USA: The Reagan/Bush ^October Surprise^..................34
> 1980s, Nicaragua: Reagan^s Contra Terrorists........................35
> 1980s, U.S./Central America: Contras, Gangs and Crack...............36
> 1980s, USA: Money Laundering for Contras, Mob and CIA...............37
> 1983-present, International: NED and ^Project Democracy^............39
> 1984-1989, Panama: If NED Fails, Send in the Marines................40
> 1990s-present, Colombia: The Phoney ^War on Drugs^..................41
> 1999, Yugoslavia: KLA, CIA, OSCE and NATO Join Hands................42
> Mr. Massacre, from El Salvador to Racak.......................43
>
> plus:
> VANA Update (the National Newsletter of Veterans Against Nuclear Arms)
> Nuclear Winter Revisited.............................................44
> Peace Policies of the Political Parties..............................46
> Short Shots..........................................................48
> VANA and DREC Reports................................................51
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> (2)
>
> 1962-1963, Canada: ^Knocking Over^ ^Dief the Chief^
>
> (a) A Plot ^Made in the U.S.^
> By Richard Sanders, editor, Press for Conversion!
>
> In 1962, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Livingston Merchant, and his Second
> Secretary Charles Kisselyak, fuelled a plot among the Canadian Air Forces,
> Canadian journalists and others to dispose of Prime Minister Diefenbaker.
> Kennedy hated Dief largely for his anti-nuclear stance. Merchant and other
> U.S. embassy officers with espionage backgrounds, met at Kisselyak^s home
> in Ottawa to feed journalists with spaghetti, beer and
> anti-Diefenbaker/pronuclear propaganda. Among the many participants in
> these off-the-record briefings was Charles Lynch of Southam News.
> Diefenbaker later denounced these reporters as ^traitors^ and ^foreign
> agents.^ He lashed out against Lynch on a TV program saying, ^You were
> given briefings as to how the Canadian government could be attacked on the
> subject of nuclear weapons and the failure of the Canadian government to do
> that which the U.S. dictated.^
> Merchant and Kisselyak worked with RCAF Wing Commander Bill Lee and
> NORAD^s number two man, Canadian Air Marshall Roy Slemon. Air Marshall
> Hugh Campbell and the chair of Canada^s chiefs of staff, Air Marshall Frank
> Miller also approved Lee^s campaign. Diefenbaker^s avidly pronuclear
> Defence Minister, Douglas Harkness, also knew of Lee^s effort.
> As head of RCAF public relations, Lee went to Washington twice a month to
> confer with U.S. authorities. ^It was a flat-out campaign,^ he later said.
> ^We identified key journalists, business and labour, key Tory hitters,
> and...Liberals.... We wanted people with influence on members of cabinet.
> In the end the pressure paid off.^
> In 1962, new U.S. ambassador, William Butterworth, continued the
> ^flat-out campaign^ by holding discrete meetings at the U.S. embassy to
> exert influence on Canadian journalists.
> Lester Pearson was the President^s choice. Kennedy gave the go-ahead to
> his friend and America^s leading pollster, Lou Harris, to become the
> Liberal^s secret campaign advisor in the 1962 election. Diefenbaker
> survived with a minority government.
> The plot to bring down Canada^s government came to a head in January,
> 1963. On Jan.3, top U.S. Air Force General Lauris Norstad held an Ottawa
> press conference. Prompted by questions from Lynch, and other reporters
> briefed by U.S. intelligence, Norstad criticized Canada^s antinuclear
> stance. On Jan. 12, Pearson announced his new policy of supporting U.S.
> nuclear weapons in Canada. In protest, Pierre Trudeau called Pearson the
> ^defrocked priest of peace^ and refused to run for the Liberals.
> The coup^s final blow came when the U.S. State Department issued a press
> release which called Diefenbak-er a liar on nuclear issues (Jan. 30). This
> tactic was suggested by Willis Armstrong, head of the State Department^s
> Canada Desk in Washington. Butterworth added his suggestions and sent his
> senior embassy advisor, Rufus Smith, to Washington to draft it. ^With
> Armstrong chairing, half a dozen officials from State, the White House and
> the Pentagon...shaped...the rebuke.^ The draft was polished by Under
> Secretary of State George McGhee and approved by acting Secretary of State,
> George Ball, and national security advisor, McGeorge Bundy.
> The Canadian media had a heyday attacking Diefenbaker. Fights broke out
> in Cabinet. Diefenbaker recalled Canada^s ambassador from the U.S. On
> Feb. 5, Defence Minister Harkness announced his resignation and Pearson
> called for a non-confidence vote. Dief^s minority government fell, or
> rather, it was ^knocked over.^
> Kisselyak was the U.S. embassy^s contact to Pearson^s election campaign.
> The Liberals had the strong advantages of a friendly media and Harris^
> state-of-the-art, computerized polling tactics. Diefenbaker, facing a
> primed hostile media, ran a stridently anti-U.S. campaign. Pearson^s
> victory was hailed by newspapers across North America. Within days, the
> new External Affairs Minister, Paul Martin Sr., was approached by
> Butterworth to negotiate the acceptance of U.S. nuclear weapons. The
> warheads were deployed in Canada on New Year^s Eve and there was partying
> in Washington.
>
> Sources: Knowlton Nash, Kennedy and Diefenbaker, 1990 and Floyd Rudmin ^Is
> the Sky Falling, or What?,^ Feb. 20, 1995
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> (b) Key Quotations on the events of January 1963
>
> President John F. Kennedy said the U.S. would take a stronger leadership
> role in NATO ^even at the risk of offending sensitive allies.^
> (AP interview, Jan.2)
>
> -
> On General Norstad's Media conference, Jan. 3
> ^[Norstad^s] purpose was to establish a basis for Pearson^s conversion to
> U.S. nuclear policy.^
> (Diefenbaker)
>
> ^Kennedy sent Norstad to do this hatchet job on us. It was American
> imperialism of the highest order.^
> (Alvin Hamilton, Agriculture minister)
>
> ^This was another American turn of the screw to bring down the Conservative
> government.^
> (Charles Ritchie, Canada^s ambassador to the U.S.)
>
> -
> On Pearson decision to reverse Liberal Policy and accept U.S. nuclear
> warheads into Canada (if elected), Jan. 12
>
> ^Kennedy achieved his dearest Canadian wish. Pearson progressed... to
> embracing the U.S. position on arming with nuclear weapons the Bomarcs and,
> no doubt, yielding to U.S. demands for storage of all manner of nuclear
> devices in Canada.^
> (Diefenbaker)
>
> ^A pure example of Pearson^s willingness to accept the leadership of the
> U.S. on any vital matter.^
> (Hamilton)
>
> Liberal policies were ^made in the U.S.^
> (Tommy Douglas, NDP Leader)
>
> -
> On the U.S. press release, Jan. 30
>
> ^It was as deliberate an attempt as ever made to bring down a foreign
> government.^
> (Ed Ritchie, former under secretary of state for external affairs)
>
> ^This action by the State Department of the U.S. is unprecedented...it
> constitutes an unwarranted intrusion in Canadian affairs... [Canada] will
> not be pushed around or accept external domination or interference in
> making its decisions.^ ^President Kennedy was going to obliterate us. I
> dared to say to him that Canada^s policies would be made in Canada by
> Canadians.^
> (Diefenbaker)
>
> ^An absolute outrage, the most blatant, heavy-handed, intolerable piece of
> bullying.^
> (Charles Ritchie)
>
> ^Like a bombshell^
> (a Diefenbaker aide)
>
> ^Brazen interference.^
> (Howard Green, External Affairs Minister)
>
> ^The U.S. should know from this Parliament that they are not dealing with
> Guatemala...or Cuba.^
> (Douglas)
>
> ^Kennedy decided the government had to go...[I] wouldn^t put it past him to
> say, ^Get rid of the bastards.^^
> (R.Bell, Immigration Minister)
>
> ^Very useful. Highly beneficial in advancing U.S. interests by introducing
> realism into a government which has made anti-Americanism... practically
> its entire stock in trade.^
> (William Butterworth, U.S. ambassador to Canada)
>
> ^For God^s sake, it was like tossing a match into dried hay.^
> (Rufus Smith, senior advisor to Will Butterworth)
>
> -
> Trudeau^s summary of the events of January 1963
> ^Do you think General Norstad... came to Ottawa as a tourist?... Do you
> think it was by chance that Pearson... quoted the authority of Norstad? Do
> you think it was inadvertant that on January 30 the state department gave a
> statement to journalists reinforcing Pearson^s claims and crudely accusing
> Diefenbaker of lying? You think it was by chance that this press release
> provided the Leader of the Opposition with the arguments he used
> abundantly? You believe it was coincidence? Why [should] the U.S. treat
> Canada differently from Guatemala when reason of state requires it and
> circumstances permit?^
> (Pierre E. Trudeau)
>
> Source: From K.Nash, Kennedy and Diefenbaker: Fear and Loathing Across the
> Undefended Border, 1990.
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> (c) CIA Fingerprints: The Americans behind the Plot to Oust John Diefenbaker
>
> Willis Coburn Armstrong
> He was a translator at the U.S. embassy in Moscow (1939-1941);
> Minister-Counsellor (ambassador^s ^right hand man^ (1958-1962) and interim
> charge d^affairs in Ottawa (1962). At least six of the U.S. diplomats that
> he selected for Canada had espionage backgrounds (Lisee, p.31). Armstrong
> told Lisee, that he had been an advisor to the CIA (p.175).1 As Director
> of the State Department^s Office of British Commonwealth and Northern
> European Affairs, he attended secret meetings on the Vietnam war with U.S.
> and U.K. heads of state and their top intelligence officials (1964).2
> 1. Floyd Rudmin, U.S. ^Ambassador Spies: 1960-1980,^ Jul.6, 1995.
> 2. <www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/vol_i/28_69.html>.
>
> George W. Ball
> He was director of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, London (1944-45);
> served in JFK^s successful campaign (1960) and became Deputy Secretary of
> State under JFK and Johnson.1 Ball was a friend of Mike Pearson.2 He was
> stationed in Cuba (1962), Brazil (1964) and Iran (1978).3
> 1. Obituary by R. Curtiss, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,
> July/Aug. 1994 <www.washington-report. org>
> 2. Nash, p.241-242.
> 3. <www.pir.org/quickie.html>
>
> McGeorge Bundy
> He was a boyhood classmate of JFK. As a WWII intelligence officer, he
> helped plan the invasions of Sicily and France. Bundy^s brother Bill
> ^scaled the ranks of the CIA and held senior posts in the Defense and State
> departments.^1 As Special Assistant for National Security Affairs under
> JFK and Johnson, M.Bundy forcefully advocated expanding the Vietnam war and
> was a principal architect of U.S. foreign policy. He played a major role
> in the invasion of Cuba, the Cuban missile crisis, the escalation of the
> Vietnam War and the U.S. military intervention in the Dominican Republic.2
> He was posted to Chile (1964)3.
> 1. Book Review of The Color of Truth, McGeorge and William Bundy by Kai
> Bird, Biography Magazine, Sept. 1998
> 2. Encyclopdia Britannica <www.
> britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/3/0,5716,123343+1+113090,00.html> and
> <5716,18343+1+18080,00.html>
> 3. <www.pir.org/quickie.html>
>
> William W. Butterworth
> During WWII, he was an economic warfare specialist in Spain and Portugal
> and was one of two Office of Strategic Services (OSS) contacts with German
> chief of military intelligence, Walter Schellenberg.1 The other was future
> CIA director, Allen Dulles. After the war, he was posted to China.2
> Butter-worth was the U.S. ambassador to Canada (1962-1968). At least six
> espionage officers joined his staff in 1962.
> Source: Floyd Rudmin, ^Questions of U.S. Hostility Towards Canada.^
> 1. A.C.Brown, Body Guard of Lies, Vol.1, 1975, p.507; Who^s Who in
> America, 1965, p.300.
> 2. Biographic Register, 1968, p.78.
>
> Louis Harris
> In 1960, J.F.Kennedy was the ^first national candidate to make important
> use of polling.1 ^As his personal contribution toward the defeat^ of
> Diefen-baker, Kennedy ^gave his unofficial blessing to Lou Harris ^ the
> shrewd public opinion analyst ^ to work for the Liberal Party. Using a
> pseudonym [Lou Smith] and working in such secrecy that only half a dozen
> key people were aware of his activities, Harris...conducted extensive
> studies of Canadian voting behaviour. They were key contributions to the
> Liberal victory of 1963.^2 Harris^ ^in person^ polling was conducted by
> 500 women.3 David Moore, author of The Super Pollsters, cites Harris as
> ^the biggest most flagrant example^ of polling manipulation.4 Likewise,
> Professors L.Jacobs and R.Shapiro argue that the way Harris used polling
> during Nixon^s campaign for presidency ^violated professional standards of
> conduct.^5
> 1. Theodore Roszak, The Cult of Information, 1994, p.213.
> 2. Peter Newman, Renegade in Powers, 1963, p.267.
> 3. Knowlton Nash, Kennedy and Diefenbaker, 1990, p.167.
> 4. Interview by B.Lamb with D.Moore, Booknotes Transcript, May 10, 1992.
> 5. ^Presidential Manipulation of Public Opinion: The Nixon Administration
> and the Public Pollsters^ (September 1995)
>
> Livingston Tallmadge Merchant
> He worked on war production issues for the State Department (1942). As the
> U.S. exerted efforts to support the Nationalist forces, he was counsellor
> at the embassy in China (1948-49).1 He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of
> State, Far Eastern Affairs (1949-51) and State Department^s liaison to the
> CIA^s covert action arm, comprised of former OSS staff (1950). He
> initiated counter-insurgency operations in the Philippines (1950);2 was
> Assist. Secretary of State for European Affairs (1953-56, 1958-59) and U.S.
> ambassador to Canada (1956-58, 1961^62). His First Secretary (1961) was
> Louis Wiesner, a former OSS officer. At least eight espionage officers
> joined his staff in 1961. He was U.S. Under-Secretary of State for
> Political Affairs (1960-61).3
> Source: Floyd Rudmin, ^Questions of U.S. Hostility Towards Canada.^
> 1. W. Blum, The CIA: A Forgotten History, 1986, pp.15-20.
> 2. Z. Grant, Facing the Phoenix, 1991, p.89
> 3. Who^s Who in America, 1964.
>
> Merchant attended top secret meetings with J.F.Kennedy and top intelligence
> officials to destabilise Cuba.1 He suggested the assassination of Fidel
> and Raul Castro and Che (1960).2 He was posted to the Congo (1960).3
> 1. <www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/frusX/01_15.html>
> 2. Thomas Powers, Strategic Intelligence <www.strategicintel.com/dirty1.htm>
> 3. <www.pir.org/quickie.html>
>
> Lauris Norstad
> He was Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of General HQ Air Force
> (1940)1 and was responsibility for planning the nuclear bombing of Japan.2
> He was director of the War Department^s Plans and Operations Division
> (1947). He helped draft the National Security Act that created the CIA and
> the National Security Council.3 He became Commander in chief, USAF Europe
> (1950); Commander in chief, U.S. European Command (1956-1963).4
> 1. <www.af.mil/news/biographies/norstad_l.html>
> 2. <unitedstates-on-line.com/minnesota/norstad.html>
> 3. CIA historian Arthur Darling, The C.I.A.
> 4. <www.af.mil/news/biographies/norstad_l.html>
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> (d) John Diefenbaker^s ^Made in Canada^ Policies
>
> ----
> ^Diefenbaker promoted Canadian independence with evangelical zeal... ^We
> are a power, not a puppet,^ the Chief thundered during the controversy over
> the placement of U.S. nuclear warheads in Canada. ^His rampant nationalism
> alienated the entire ruling class: Bay Street, Wall Street, his civil
> service and politicians from all parties. [George] Grant credited the
> Chief with the strongest stance against satellite status ever attempted by
> a Canadian. This stance came at a high price.^^ (Laurence Martin, Pledge
> of Allegiance, The Americanization of Canada in the Mulroney Years, 1993.)
> ----
>
> Cuban Missile Crisis:
> When U.S. spy planes showed missile sites being constructed in Cuba,
> Kennedy decided to blockade Russian ships en route to Cuba. Despite NORAD,
> the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board on Defence and NATO, Kennedy neither
> consulted nor informed the Canadian government until [two hours] before his
> TV speech on Oct. 22, 1962.
> The U.S. asked the Canadian government to move our military to an advanced
> state of readiness. Diefen-baker did not comply. Nonetheless, Canada^s
> military moved immediately to advanced readiness without the Prime
> Minister^s authorization. Canada^s chief of naval staff ordered the
> Atlantic fleet to sea. Canada^s Minister of Defence ordered the military^s
> Chiefs of Staff to special preparedness.
> General McNaughton^s 1941 remark is painfully relevant: ^The acid test of
> sovereignty is control of the armed forces.^1 Howard Green, Canada^s
> anti-nuclear External Affairs minister, pleaded that cab-inet reconsider
> ^blindly following the U.S. lead, particularly since the President had not
> kept the commitment to consult Canada over the impending [missile] crisis.
> ^If we go along with the U.S. now, we^ll be their vassal forever.^^2
>
> Footnotes:
> 1. C.P. Stacey, Canada and the Age of Conflict, Vol.2, p.349.
> 2. Peter Newman, Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years, p.337, p.337.
>
> Source: Robin Mathews, Canadian Foundations web site
> <www.ola.bc.ca/online/cf/module-4/usrel.html>
>
> ----
>
> The Avro and the Bomarcs:
> Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro Arrow fighter plane program (1959) because
> the U.S. wouldn^t buy any of them. Although then expected to arm Canada^s
> Bomarc missiles with U.S. nuclear warheads, Diefenbaker refused.
>
> Operation Sky Hawk:
> Dief cancelled a U.S. nuclear war-related training exercise over Canada
> (1959).
>
> Cuba:
> Diefenbaker refused U.S. demands to stop trading with Cuba, and instead
> increased Canada's trade (1960).
>
> Apartheid:
> At a Commonwealth conference (1961), Diefenbaker was the only white leader
> to support the African and Asian members against allowing South African
> membership.
>
> Immigration:
> After Diefenbaker^s Bill of Rights (1960), the government reduced
> immigration restrictions based on racial grounds and began to accept more
> Asian and black immigrants.
>
> Women:
> Dief appointed the first women cabinet minister and senator.
>
> First Nations:
> Native people allowed to vote for the first time (1960).
>
> OAS:
> Dief resented JFK^s speech to Parliament urging Canada to join the
> Organization of American States, because Dief had already refused (1961).
>
> China:
> Diefenbaker refused U.S. requests to cut off wheat supplies to China if
> they continued supporting Vietnamese independence efforts (1962).
>
> Nuclear Test Ban:
> Kennedy pushed for opposition to the treaty, but Canada voted for it
> (1962). The U.S. and most NATO countries abstained.
>
> Sources: Knowlton Nash, Kennedy and Diefenbaker, 1990 and <www.canschool.
> org/relation/history/7turbu-e.asp>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------
>
> (3)
>
> Just Say Know! The CIA^s War on Democracy
> By Richard Sanders, editor, Press for Conversion.
>
> For many, the recent U.S. elections raised serious doubts about the
> American system of democracy. However, millions of others around the world
> long ago abandoned any notion that the U.S. is a bastion of democracy,
> either at home or abroad.
> The U.S. government has, in fact, been a major opponent for millions of
> people around the world who have struggled to create and maintain
> democratic systems of governance. Since WWII, the Central Intelligence
> Agency (CIA) has played a pivotal role in this history of subverting
> political systems. It has been active in virtually every country of the
> world and has conducted thousands of secret operations. As a tool of the
> U.S. president, the CIA has been used to manipulate, undermine and
> blatantly overthrow countless governments including dozens of functioning
> democracies.
> This issue of Press for Conversion! contains only a glimpse into the CIA^s
> largely overlooked history. It is a shameful history which has plumbed the
> depths of depravity, greed, deception, hypocrisy and ultraviolence.
> The CIA^s history is filled with rigged elections, fraud, bribery,
> sabotage and economic warfare. CIA officials have masterminded
> psychological warfare, extensive propaganda and the spreading of lies and
> misinformation through the media. Hatred has been instilled towards those
> who threaten corporate power, while public support has been engineered for
> countless wars fought to maintain unjust economic systems that benefit
> America^s ruling business elite.
> The CIA has planned, armed and financed many military coups that installed
> regimes to allow the pillaging of resources by U.S. business. In time, some
> of these dictatorships also become liabilities and must be replaced with
> new, more pliable client states.
> The CIA emerged from the U.S. Office of Strategic Services which, before
> the end of WWII, began close collaborations with the German ^intelligence
> community^ on the unfinished war against communism.
> Since then, literally millions of people have been massacred in a U.S.
> holocaust that has gone unnoticed and is commonly denied. The first to be
> assassinated, in these CIA-fostered campaigns of terror and mass murder,
> have usually been progressive politicians, labour leaders, human rights
> activists, priests, nuns and other ^subversives.^
> There are three compelling reasons why the CIA^s horrific history should
> be of interest to Canadians.
>
> Canadian Complicity
> Canada continues to aid and abet ongoing U.S. wars against democracy, peace
> and human rights by allowing U.S. military and intelligence gathering
> stations in Canada, and the testing of U.S. weapons systems. And, our
> government is increasingly sending troops and equipment to help the U.S. in
> its invasions and interventions.
> More than half of Canada^s arms exports are sold to the U.S. Our
> government puts such blind trust in the U.S. that no restrictions are
> placed on these exports. Canadian arms producers must obtain government
> permits for military sales to every country in the world, except the U.S.
> Our government also funds numerous programs to subsidise these lucrative
> contracts.
> But Canadian profitmaking doesn^t end with arms sales to the U.S. That^s
> just the beginning. After the CIA uses its dirty tricks to install
> investor-friendly puppet regimes in faraway lands, the Canadian government
> encourages military exports to those governments. This is, of course,
> invaluable help in their struggle to wield power. They, in turn, ensure
> that Canadian investors are given access to profitable ventures in mining,
> defor-estry and manufacturing. Canadian companies clamour to join the
> feeding frenzy that bleeds these countries dry of their wealth and resources.
>
> CIA Fingerprints in Canada
> Canadians should also be on the look out for the telltale signs of CIA
> activities in Canada. Being right next door, we are certainly not beyond
> their grasp. Besides the CIA-backed brainwashing experiments conducted on
> unwilling Canadian prisoners and psychiatric patients, CIA fingerprints
> have also appeared on our political landscape. In 1963, top-ranking U.S.
> diplomats in Ottawa, along with officials from the Pentagon, the State
> Department ^ several with close ties to the CIA ^ were involved in a
> successful campaign to oust John Diefenbaker from office. Among other
> things, Dief would not allow U.S. nuclear weapons to be deployed in Canada.
> U.S. officials colluded with the high-ranking Canadian military officers,
> journalists and politicians to install a Liberal government that agreed to
> station U.S. nuclear warheads in Canada (see pages 23-25).
> It is safe to assume that any relatively progressive government that
> somehow manages to get elected in Canada, will likely fall prey to covert
> U.S. activities. Afterall, the CIA has created, controlled and disposed of
> governments all over the world. Why would we think that they^d hesitate to
> extend their tentacles of power here?
>
> Challenging the Cheerleaders
> For too long, the CIA has operated under a cloak of secrecy without even
> the knowledge or consent of elected U.S. officials, let alone the U.S.
> public or the billions of people around the world who have suffered from
> CIA activities. Anything that we can do to shed light on this dark history
> will be an invaluable gift to future generations.
> In this era of a ^free media^ eager to cover controversies, the CIA^s
> history and its countless scandals have largely been ignored. An awareness
> of this history is invaluable in understanding the contexts of so many wars
> that are now raging. Hopefully, it will only be a matter of time before
> the CIA^s real legacy becomes part of our society^s common knowledge.
> The next time the U.S. wants Canadian support or participation in a
> ^humanitarian war,^ let^s hope we have the wherewithal to just say no!
> Knowing the CIA^s history will equip us with the knowledge to challenge
> anyone who is nave enough to want Canada to join in as a cheerleader or
> fellow warmonger. As the marble inscription in the main lobby at CIA
> headquarters reads: ^And ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set
> you free.^
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Richard Sanders
> Coordinator, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
> 541 McLeod St., Ottawa Ontario Canada K1R 5R2
>
> Tel.: 613-231-3076 Fax: 613-231-2614
> Email: ad207@ncf.ca
> Web site: www.ncf.ca/coat
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 23 2001 - 21:36:02 EST