George Orwell observed that: “Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” We present the first of a series of posts and programs set against the background of Orwell’s observation and the connections highlighted in FTR#801. In that program, we set forth the involvement and close proximity of key players in the Peng Shuai gambit to the forces of international fascism and organized crime. As a “Moon of Alabama” post makes undeniably clear, Peng Shuai did NOT charge Zhang Ghaoli with sexual assault. Her e‑mail to WTA stated exactly that. A simple check of the transcript of Ms. Shuai’s remarks underscores the accuracy of MOA’s breakdown of the event. WFMU-FM is podcasting For The Record–You can subscribe to the podcast HERE.
With the escalating rhetoric and imposition of sanctions for China’s alleged genocide against the Uighurs in Xinjiang province, it is valuable to recall American-assisted atrocities during the Cold War.
In numerous programs, we have highlighted wholesale slaughter in Latin American countries, implemented by fascists operating in an international constellation coalescing around the USA.
That constellation was termed the International Fascista (or “Fascist International”) by Henrik Krueger, and is detailed in, among other programs, AFA #‘s 4, 19, and 22.
In addition, the role of the former World Anti-Communist League in the death squad activity in Central America was set forth in AFA #15.
In FTR#839, we presented Peter Levenda’s account of his visit to Colonia Dignidad in Chile–a Nazi encampment that served as an operational epicenter for Operation Condor, a CIA-assisted mass murder consortium composed of Latin American nations.
The essence of the Condor program was summed up by Argentinian General Antonio Domingo. (“Subversives” were killed for real or alleged: communism, atheism, Jewishness or union activities.) “. . . . First, we will kill all the subversives, then we will kill all of their collaborators, then those who sympathize with the subversives, then we kill those that remain indifferent, and finally we kill the timid. . . .”
A very, very important and superbly written and documented new book–The Jakarta Method: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade & the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World by Vincent Bevins–chronicles the slaughter that the U.S. implemented in the developing world during the Cold War.
Listeners are emphatically encouraged to purchase and read the book.
Key Points of Discussion and Analysis Include: Review of the operational fundamentals of Operation Condor; the role of Colonia Dignidad as an epicenter of Condor activities; the 1976 Argentinian coup; the so-called “Dirty War” that followed that coup; the role in the Dirty War of Argentinian members of the P‑2 Lodge (Admiral Emilio Massera, Jose Lopez Rega); the assistance given by Ford Motor Company and Citibank in the murder of Argentinian union organizers; collaboration of the Argentinian and other Condor participants with the fascist “Stay Behind” armies set up by Frank Wisner; the assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington D.C.; The close relationship between the countries of Central America; the acceleration in the 1960’s of the terror that had gripped Guatemala since the 1954 overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz; how the elimination of peaceful, pro-democracy activists and activism fed the growth of guerilla movements; the birth of the “White Hand” death squad; assistance given to the death squads by U.S. Green Berets; the practice of “disappearing” perceived political enemies or dissidents to terrorize their associates; the initiation of wholesale extermination of large populations of indigenous people; the nervousness and insecurity felt by the Guatemalan dictatorship following the ascent of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua; President Carter’s tamping down of U.S. assistance to Central American dictatorships; the pivoting of those dictatorships to gaining military aid and training from Israel and Taiwan; the training of the Contra rebels in Nicaragua by Argentine military death squad veterans; networking of Central American death squad personnel with Condor operatives in Franco’s Spain; Roberto D’Aubisson’s ascent in El Salvador; the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Romero; the massacre of over 900 residents of the El Salvadoran village of El Mozote; Ronald Reagan’s appointment of Elliot Abrams as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights; Abrams’ characterization of The New York Times’ reportage on the El Mozote as “communist propaganda;” the role of The School of the Americas in the training of death squads; the military coup that brought Evangelical Christian Efrain Rios Montt to power in Guatemala; Rios Montt’s special affinity with Ronald Reagan; Rios Montt’s implementation of so-called “Model Villages;” the systematic destruction of the Guatemalan town of Ilom—part of the genocidal program enacted by the Guatemalan government against the indigenous Mayan population (termed genocide by Amnesty International).
The program concludes with a presentation of the points of view of the Guatemalan survivors of the liquidation campaigns, perhaps most expressively communicated by one Domingo: “ . . . . I asked them what communism was. Domingo, the owner of the bus, had this answer: ‘Well, they said they were communists and communists were dangerous. But actually, the government are the ones who did all the killing. So if anyone was dangerous, if anyone was ‘communist,’ it must be them. . . .’”
In addition to reviewing and highlighting cogent arguments that the SARS-Cov2 (Covid-19) virus may indeed have been made in a laboratory, the program examines significant aspects of the heretofore puzzling epidemiology of the virus. (We do NOT believe that the virus was synthesized by China, as “Team Trump” is charging.)
First, however, the broadcast sets forth information about the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The makeup of Donald Trump’s “Operation Warp Speed” program to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in record time is alarming. (No vaccine has ever been developed for human use in less than four years.)
“Operation Warp Speed”:
1.–Is headed by Moncef Slaoui, formerly the chairman of Moderna’s product development committee: ” . . . . Dr. Slaoui served on the board of Moderna, a biotechnology company that has an experimental coronavirus vaccine that just entered Phase 2 of clinical trials to determine if it is effective. As the chairman of the Moderna board’s product development committee, Dr. Slaoui might have been privy to the early indications of tests of whether the company’s approach appeared promising, now that it is being injected into human subjects. . . .”
2.–Is seen by Slaoui as promising by Slaoui, who may well be referencing tests on Moderna’s mRNA vaccine: “. . . . Dr. Slaoui, now a venture capitalist, said that he had ‘recently seen early data from a clinical trial with a coronavirus vaccine, and these data made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine’ — enough to inoculate much of the United States — ‘by the end of 2020.’ . . . .”
3.–Will be assisted by a four-star general: ” . . . . . . . . Mr. Slaoui will serve as the chief adviser on the effort, and Gen. Gustave F. Perna, a four-star general who is in charge the Army Matériel Command, will be the chief operating officer. . . .”
4.–Perna was recruited by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: ” . . . . General Perna, who runs the Army’s complex supply chain, said that he was asked by Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to help run the manufacturing logistics related to the vaccine development. . . .”
Note that Moncef Slaoui holds 10 million dollars worth of Moderna stock, which has tripled in value since the Covid-19 outbreak began:” . . . . The former pharma executive tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the federal government’s hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine has more than $10 million in stock options in one of the companies receiving federal funding. . . . Described across four separate filings, Slaoui has 155,438 options in Moderna. The stake is worth $10,366,000 at Moderna’s current share price, $66.69 at the time of publication. Moderna shares have almost tripled in value during 2020. The $66.69 figure represents an increase of 184% from the $23.46 it was trading for on January 1. . . .” (The day the program was recorded, Moderna’s stock increased by 25% in value, and Slaoui announced he would sell his stock.)
In past posts and programs, we have noted the Moderna–one of the companies selected to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, has been substantially underwritten by the Pentagon (DARPA).
Key points of discussion in that regard:
1.–Moderna is using novel vaccine technology using the injection of genetic material to create antibodies. This technology has never been used on human beings. “. . . . The second pharmaceutical company that was selected by CEPI to develop a vaccine for the new coronavirus is Moderna Inc., which will develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus of concern in collaboration with the U.S. NIH and which will be funded entirely by CEPI. The vaccine in question, as opposed to Inovio’s DNA vaccine, will be a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine. Though different than a DNA vaccine, mRNA vaccines still use genetic material ‘to direct the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins.’ Moderna’s mRNA treatments, including its mRNA vaccines, were largely developed using a $25 million grant from DARPA and it often touts is strategic alliance with DARPA in press releases. . . .”
2.–The technology has alarming possible negative side-effects. “. . . . Both DNA and mRNA vaccines involve the introduction of foreign and engineered genetic material into a person’s cells and past studies have found that such vaccines ‘possess significant unpredictability and a number of inherent harmful potential hazards’ and that ‘there is inadequate knowledge to define either the probability of unintended events or the consequences of genetic modifications.’ Nonetheless, the climate of fear surrounding the coronavirus outbreak could be enough for the public and private sector to develop and distribute such controversial treatments due to fear about the epidemic potential of the current outbreak. . . .”
3.–Looming large in the background of the Moderna vaccine technology is DARPA funding of “gene drive” technology. “. . . . Concerns about Pentagon experiments with biological weapons have garnered renewed media attention, particularly after it was revealed in 2017 that DARPA was the top funder of the controversial ‘gene drive’ technology, which has the power to permanently alter the genetics of entire populations while targeting others for extinction. At least two of DARPA’s studies using this controversial technology were classified and ‘focused on the potential military application of gene drive technology and use of gene drives in agriculture,’ according to media reports. . . . Co-director of the ETC Group Jim Thomas said that this technology may be used as a biological weapon: ‘Gene drives are a powerful and dangerous new technology and potential biological weapons could have disastrous impacts on peace, food security and the environment, especially if misused, The fact that gene drive development is now being primarily funded and structured by the US military raises alarming questions about this entire field.’ . . . . However, the therapies being developed by Inovio, Moderna and the University of Queensland are in alignment with DARPA’s objectives regarding gene editing and vaccine technology. For instance, in 2015, DARPA geneticist Col. Daniel Wattendorf described how the agency was investigating a ‘new method of vaccine production [that] would involve giving the body instructions for making certain antibodies. Because the body would be its own bioreactor, the vaccine could be produced much faster than traditional methods and the result would be a higher level of protection.’ . . . .”
As discussed in FTR #1124–among other programs–it is now possible to create ANY virus from scratch, using “mail-order” or “designer” genes. In FTR #282–recorded in May of 2001–we noted the terrible significance of the development of such “Designer Gene” technology.
A BBC story from 1999 highlights the fears of experts that the advent of such technology could enable the development of ethno-specific biological weapons: ” . . . . Advances in genetic knowledge could be misused to develop powerful biological weapons that could be tailored to strike at specific ethnic groups, the British Medical Association has warned. A BMA report Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity says that concerted international action is necessary to block the development of new, biological weapons. . . . The BMA report warns that legitimate research into microbiological agents and genetically targeted therapeutic agents could be difficult to distinguish from research geared towards developing more effective weapons. . . . Dr Vivienne Nathanson, BMA Head of Health Policy Research said: ‘The history of humanity is a history of war. Scientific advances quickly lead to developments in weapons technology. . . .‘Biotechnology and genetic knowledge are equally open to this type of malign use. . . .”
We highlight information presented in FTR #1129, for purposes of emphasizing the flimsy nature of the argument presented in a paper from Nature Medicine.
Many scientific and medical people dismissing the argument that the Covid-19 coronavirus may have been created in a laboratory may be acting out of the sincere desire to preclude a full-dress Cold War between the U.S. and China. The Trump administration has tirelessly flogged the “China did it and it came from a laboratory” meme. Many liberals who dismissed the obvious fact that President Kennedy was murdered by a cabal of powerful U.S. national security interests did so because of what Peter Dale Scott calls a “level one cover-up”–alleged Soviet and/or Castro Cuban manipulation of Lee Harvey Oswald, fabricated by the executioners themselves.
Two telling, thoughtful, substantive critiques of the Nature Medicine article shed light on the flimsy nature of its arguments.
It would not be unfair to characterize the article as “The Warren Report” of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Genetic Engineering
Like the Bible, it is open to serious scientific refutation: ” . . . . To put it simply, the authors are saying that SARS-CoV‑2 was not deliberately engineered because if it were, it would have been designed differently. However, the London-based molecular geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou commented that this line of reasoning fails to take into account that there are a number of laboratory-based systems that can select for high affinity RBD variants that are able to take into account the complex environment of a living organism. This complex environment may impact the efficiency with which the SARS-CoV spike protein can find the ACE2 receptor and bind to it. An RBD selected via these more realistic real-world experimental systems would be just as ‘ideal’, or even more so, for human ACE2 binding than any RBD that a computer model could predict. And crucially, it would likely be different in amino acid sequence. So the fact that SARS-CoV‑2 doesn’t have the same RBD amino acid sequence as the one that the computer program predicted in no way rules out the possibility that it was genetically engineered. . . .”
Dr. Michael Antoniou notes that different genetic engineering processes than the one highlighted in the Nature Medicine paper can be used: ” . . . . There is another method by which an enhanced-infectivity virus can be engineered in the lab. A well-known alternative process that could have been used has the cumbersome name of “directed iterative evolutionary selection process”. In this case, it would involve using genetic engineering to generate a large number of randomly mutated versions of the SARS-CoV spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD), which would then be selected for strong binding to the ACE2 receptor and consequently high infectivity of human cells. . . .”
The notion that the “Nature Medicine” authors had not heard of the above process is not credible: ” . . . . Such a directed iterative evolutionary selection process is a frequently used method in laboratory research. So there is little or no possibility that the Nature Medicine article authors haven’t heard of it – not least, as it is considered so scientifically important that its inventors were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. . . .”
Of more than passing significance is another article that finds serious fault with the “Nature Medicine” paper. ” . . . . Professor Stuart Newman, professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College, says that a key argument used to deny that it could be a genetically engineered strain that escaped from a laboratory actually points to the exact opposite. In other words, it indicates that SARS-CoV‑2 could well be genetically engineered and that it could have escaped from a lab. . . . As Adam Lauring, an associate professor of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School, has noted, Andersen’s paper argues that, ‘the SARS-CoV‑2 virus has some key differences in specific genes relative to previously identified coronaviruses – the ones a laboratory would be working with. This constellation of changes makes it unlikely that it is the result of a laboratory ‘escape’.‘But Professor Newman says that this is totally unconvincing because ‘The ‘key differences’ were in regions of the coronavirus spike protein that were the subject of genetic engineering experiments in labs around the world (mainly in the US and China) for two decades.’ . . .”
Professor Newman goes on to highlight other, serious flaws in the argument: ” . . . In an email interview with GMWatch, Newman, who is editor-in-chief of the journal Biological Theory and co-author (with Tina Stevens) of the book Biotech Juggernaut, amplified this speculation by noting, ‘The Nature Medicine paper points to variations in two sites of the spike protein of the new coronavirus that the authors claim must have arisen by natural selection in the wild. However, genetic engineering of one of these sites, the ACE2 receptor binding domain, has been proposed since 2005 in order to help generate vaccines against these viruses (see this paper). It is puzzling that the authors of the Nature Medicine commentary did not cite this paper, which appeared in the prominent journal Science.’ Moreover, Newman added, “The second site that Andersen et al. assert arose by natural means, a target of enzyme cleavage not usually found in this class of viruses, was in fact introduced by genetic engineering in a similar coronavirus in a paper they do cite. This was done to explore mechanisms of pathogenicity. . . . .”
Worth noting, again, is the British Medical Association’s warning discussed in FTR #1129, as well as above: ” . . . .The BMA report warns that legitimate research into microbiological agents and genetically targeted therapeutic agents could be difficult to distinguish from research geared towards developing more effective weapons. . . .”
As the GMWatch authors conclude: ” . . . . Such ‘enhanced infectivity’ research is carried out on viruses all over the world (and not just in China) to investigate their behaviour and to develop vaccines and other therapies, as well as for ‘biodefence’ purposes. . . .”
Reports are now emerging of possible Covid-19 infection among athletes who participated at the Military World Games in Wuhan in October 19.
We have speculated at some length about the possibility that infecting those very healthy, superbly-conditioned individuals might have been an excellent vehicle for spreading the virus around the world.
Further discussion of this can be found in FTR #‘s 1118 and 1122. We note that China has speculated about the Wuhan Military World Games being a vehicle for the U.S. to spread the infection.
We have noted that language is, past a point, inadequate to analyze and discuss some of the major considerations in the Covid-19 “op.” A bio-weapons would require a very small number of agents in order to be effectively disseminated. In addition, we note that–in the age of mind control–an operative can be dispensed to perform a function without their knowledge.
In addition to French athletes, contingents from Sweden, Spain and Italy appear to have become infected. The apparent infection of the French athletes pre-dates the first confirmed case in China by 20 days.
A fish merchant who worked near Charles De Gaulle Airport tested positive for the virus on December 27.
The apparently infected athletes participating in the Military World Games further complicates the puzzling epidemiology of the virus.
Doctors quoted in a New York Times piece underscore the anomalous epidemiology of the virus: ” . . . . In San Jose, tissue sampling from a woman who died on Feb. 6 revealed that she was probably the first known person in the U.S. whose death was linked to the coronavirus — a strong sign that the virus may have been circulating in that part of Northern California in January. But was it part of a large, previously unrecognized outbreak? . . .
“. . . . Dr. George Rutherford, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, theorized that perhaps the woman, who worked for a company that had an office in Wuhan, was one of only a small number of people who contracted the virus at that time and that transmissions probably petered out for some reason. Otherwise, he said, the region would have seen a much bigger outbreak. . . .
“. . . . Dr. [Trevor] Bedford said he also believed this was the more likely scenario, noting that up to half of people with coronavirus infections have no symptoms. . . .
“. . . . There could have been a tiny number of isolated coronavirus cases among travelers to the United States in December, Dr. Bedford said. But it is pretty clear that none of them spread.
“In part, scientists can tell that by looking at the genomic fingerprints of each case. But another clue is the rapid rate at which the virus spreads, Dr. Rutherford said. . . . Researchers are not seeing any chains that appear to go that far back. . . .”
Leading the Trump administration’s rhetorical and political charge against China is Mike Pompeo. Charging that the virus “escaped” from a lab in Wuhan and equivocating about whether that release was intentional, Koch brothers-protege Pompeo cited alleged duplicity on behalf of China’s communist party in connection with the virus. ” . . . . ‘I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan,’ Pompeo said on ABC’s ‘This Week’ Sunday. ‘Do you think they intentionally released that virus, or it was an accident in the lab?’ Co-Anchor Martha Raddatz pressed. ‘I can’t answer your question about that,’ he said, ‘because the Chinese Communist Party has refused to cooperate with world health experts.’ . . .”
The Chinese medical and scientific establishment has worked closely with counterparts globally in an attempt to analyze and treat the virus.
The highly anomalous epidemiology, the lack of symptoms in half of infected patients, the wide variety of symptoms the virus causes and, lastly, the fact that this was a novel virus and resulting infection are all factors to be considered in evaluating the timeliness of the Chinese response.
Pompeo also asserts that the virus was not made in a laboratory.
Next, we highlight a misleading story in Rupert Murdoch’s “The Daily Telegraph” out of Sydney, Australia. The story alleges that the Five Eyes electronic intelligence network has corroborated the “it came from a Chinese lab” meme.
Of more than passing interest is the disclosure that the project on bat-borne coronaviruses conducted in the Wuhan laboratory was a joint U.S./Chinese project, and that Ralph Baric was a key American partner in the project.
This is the undertaking about which we have reported and discussed extensively in the past! ” . . . . One of Dr Shi’s co-authors on that paper, Professor Ralph Baric from North Carolina University, said in an interview with ‘Science Daily’ at the time: ‘This virus is highly pathogenic and treatments developed against the original SARS virus in 2002 and the ZMapp drugs used to fight ebola fail to neutralise and control this particular virus.’ . . . .”
Baric was the selectee to reconstruct the SARS Cov2 virus from scratch. Note that the article below discusses the U.S. suspension of the “gain of function” experiments and 2017 resumption of same, somehow spinning this into the “China did it” disinformation.
The military has links to the Wuhan lab in question: ” . . . . Furthermore, DARPA and the Pentagon’s past history with bioweapons and their more recent experiments on genetic alteration and extinction technologies as well as bats and coronaviruses in proximity to China have been largely left out of the narrative, despite the information being publicly available. Also left out of the media narrative have been the direct ties of both the USAMRIID and DARPA-partnered Duke University to the city of Wuhan, including its Institute of Medical Virology. . . .”
A “Guardian” article sources UK intelligence assets claiming that the 15-page dossier didn’t come from a Five Eyes intelligence assessment. They assert that it was based on open-source materials and put forward by the US as “a tool for building a counter-narrative and applying pressure to China.”
We conclude with analysis of Trump’s deputy national security adviser.
Against the background of the Trump administration’s anti-China campaign rhetoric and attempts to pin the blame for Covid-19 on a “laboratory” leak and/or deliberate release, we note that the offensive is being pushed by The Donald’s deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger.
“. . . . Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser who reported on SARS outbreaks as a journalist in China, pressed intelligence agencies in January to gather information that might support any origin theory linked to a lab. . . .”
Pottinger is the son of former Assistant Attorney General J. Stanley Pottinger.
Pottinger, Senior was: Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Nixon and Ford; reported by Donald Freed and Fred Landis (in “Death in Washington”) to have foiled investigations into the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Orlando Letelier; the attorney for the Hashemi brothers in the October Surprise investigation; a close personal friend of George H.W. Bush (for whom CIA headquarters was named) and, last but certainly not least, Gloria Steinem’s lover for nine years.
Despite the fact that Steinem touted her CIA background as good journalistic credentials in both “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post” (both with long-standing CIA links themselves), Pottinger has defended her against charges that she worked for the CIA!!
Worth noting, as well, is the fact that the Letelier assassination was one of the murders conducted under Operation Condor, assisted by the CIA. Letelier was killed by a car bomb in Washington D.C., while J.Stanley Pottinger’s good friend George H.W. Bush was in charge of the CIA when Letelier was hit.
(We have covered Operation Condor in numerous programs, including AFA #19. One of the operational centers of Condor was the Chilean Nazi enclave Colonia Dignidad. In FTR #839, we set forth author Peter Levenda’s brave, frightening visit to “The Colony.” This should be digested by anyone interested in the history of which Pottinger, Sr., is a part.)
One wonders if Matthew may have followed J. Stanley into the CIA, if in fact Daddio is Agency, as Mr. Emory suspects.
In FTR #s 998, 999, 1000, we set forth what Mr. Emory calls “weaponized feminism.” Refashioning the doctrine of advancing the cause of women into a legal and political weapon for destroying targeted men, dominant manifestations of the #MeToo movement have served the cause of the far right.
Resembling–in its essence–the “libidinal McCarthyism” of Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible,” many high-profile manifestations of #MeToo have been propelled by evidentiary material that ranges from dubious to ludicrous to non-existent.
We find it more than coincidental that Bernie Sanders supporter Tara Reade’s shape-shifting accusations against Joe Biden have surfaced decades after the alleged incident–coinciding with Biden’s challenging of Trump and with Pottinger, Jr. helping to direct the administration’s traffic.
“A liberal’s idea of courage is eating at a restaurant that hasn’t been reviewed yet.”–Mort Sahl. In FTR #‘s 998, 999 and 1000, we set forth what Mr. Emory calls “weaponized feminism.” Refashioning the doctrine of advancing the cause of women into a legal and political weapon for destroying targeted men, dominant manifestations of the #MeToo movement have served the cause of the far right. In Miscellaneous Archive Show M4, we set forth Gloria Steinem’s work for the CIA and her nine years’ relationship with J. Stanley Pottinger. In addition to Steinem’s lover, Pottinger was: Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights under Nixon and Ford; reported by Donald Freed and Fred Landis (in “Death in Washington”) to have foiled investigations into the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Orlando Letelier; the attorney for the Hashemi brothers in the October Surprise investigation and a close personal friend of George H.W. Bush (for whom CIA headquarters was named). Despite the fact that Steinem touted her CIA background as good journalistic credentials in both “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post” (both with long-standing CIA links themselves), Pottinger has defended her against charges that she worked for the CIA!! J. Stanley Pottinger’s son Matthew is Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor and a point-man for the “China-did-it” Covid-19 meme. One wonders if Matthew may have followed J. Stanley into the CIA, if in fact Daddio is Agency, as Mr. Emory suspects. We find it more than coincidental that Tara Reade’s shape-shifting accusations against Joe Biden have surfaced decades after the alleged incident–coinciding with Biden’s challenging of Trump and with Pottinger, Jr. helping to direct the administration’s traffic. Bernie Sanders supporter Tara Reade’s charge brings to mind George H.W. Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater’s gambit of using Donna Rice to destroy the Presidential candidacy of former Senator Gary Hart.
CIA’s Expert on the JFK Assassination Ray Rocca: ” . . . . Garrison would indeed obtain a conviction of Shaw for conspiring to assassinate President Kennedy. . . .”
House Select Committee on Assassinations Assistant Counsel Jonathan Blackmer: “. . . . ‘We have reason to believe Shaw was heavily involved in the Anti-Castro efforts in New Orleans in the 1960s and [was] possibly one of the high level planners or ‘cut out’ to the planners of the assassination.’ . . . .”
This is the thirteenth of a planned long series of interviews with Jim DiEugenio about his triumphal analysis of President Kennedy’s assassination and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s heroic investigation of the killing.
This broadcast highlights the infiltrators into Jim Garrison’s investigation: how they subverted his inquest, networked with intelligence elements implicated in the assassination, networked with media hatchet men who lambasted Garrison publicly and also Clay Shaw’s defense team.
Discussion begins with a Denver oil man named John King, who made an oblique offer of an appointment to the Federal Bench, an apparent carrot to persuade Garrison to drop his probe into the Kennedy assassination. As a Garrison aide noted, the stick would follow.
A synoptic overview of the infiltrators, what they did and with and for whom:
1.–William Martin, who infiltrated Garrison’s team, apparently on behalf of CIA.
2.–Bernardo DeTorres, a Bay of Pigs veteran and CIA operative with connections to Mitchell Werbell, a silenced weapons expert best known as the inventor of the Ingram Mac 10 and Mac 11 silenced machine pistols. DeTorres was filing reports on Garrison with the CIA’s JM/Wave station in Miami and was apparently in Dealey Plaza on 11/22/1963. CIA operative Eladio Del Valle–David Ferrie’s case officer on some missions–was found dead shortly after Ferrie. Del Valle was found tortured, shot through the heart and with his head split open with a machete. The corpse was a short distance from DeTorres’ apartment. DeTorres was also allegedly involved with the assassination of Orlando Letelier.
3.–William and Louis Gurvich, two “private investigators” who infiltrated Garrison’s office and, among other things, began channeling information about Garrison’s probe to Walter Sheridan, about whom we will have more to say later. William stole Garrison’s investigative file and gave it to Clay Shaw’s defense team. William Gurvich continued to work with Clay Shaw’s defense through 1971 (Shaw was charged with perjury). Gurvich may well have worked for CIA. His work with Shaw is in keeping with a Richard Helms directive summarized in item #6 below.
4.–Bill Boxley worked to steer Garrison’s investigation into dubious areas. When Garrison’s team visited Boxley’s apparent place of residence, it appeared not to have ever been occupied by Boxley. Boxley carried a number of briefcases with him when working with Garrison, growing larger with time. It appeared that he was purloining documents from Garrison’s office. Eventually, he called Garrison, warning that “we” are coming to get you.
5.–Tom Bethell, an Englishman and an assassination expert, met with Sal Panzeca, one of Clay Shaw’s attorneys and gave him a list of Garrison’s witnesses and summaries of what each was expected to say.
6.–Pershing Gervais was recruited to ensnare Garrison in a purported scandal after the Clay Shaw trial, in keeping with Richard Helms’ directive that the CIA take steps to neutralize Garrison and any effect that he might have before, during and after the Clay Shaw trial. He decamped to Canada, to be beyond Garrison’s legal reach, working at a job at General Motors secured for him by The Powers That Be. Later, he admitted his perfidy.
7.–One of the most important infiltrators was Gordon Novel, a veteran CIA officer, brilliant electronics expert and operational associate of many of the people involved in Garrison’s probe. Novel had been involved with the Bay of Pigs and an arms burglary at a Schlumberger facility, some of the loot from which was stored at a racing business owned in part by Novel. Operating at the direction of Allen Dulles, he infiltrated Garrison’s investigation and bugged his office for the Agency. He also networked with the FBI to monitor Garrison’s probe. Novel also used his position inside Garrison’s probe to smear Garrison in public statements to the media. Novel was able to draw on large financial reserves, the source of which is–technically speaking–opaque. At one point, he had five attorneys working on his behalf. That, in and of itself, would have required more money than Novel appeared to have at his disposal. Most significantly, Novel worked in tandem with Walter Sheridan, a veteran intelligence operative who produced an altogether “special” for NBC about the Garrison investigation. We will discuss Sheridan at greater length in our next interview.
The heavy handedness of the pressure placed on those who cooperated with Garrison is illustrated by the experience of Marlene Mancuso, Novel’s estranged wife. Note the coordination of operations between CIA officer Novel and people working with Walter Sheridan, as well as Sheridan himself.
Destiny Betrayed by Jim DiEugenio; Skyhorse publishing [SC]; Copyright 1992, 2012 by Jim DiEugenio; ISBN 978–1‑62087–056‑3; pp. 239–240.
. . . . Marlene Mancuso was Novel’s estranged wife. She had been talking to Garrison. He had detailed knowledge of Gordon’s Agency activities with people like Ferrie and Sergio Arcacha Smith. Plus she was fully informed about the transfer of arms from the Schlumberger bunker for the Bay of Pigs. In May of 1967, [Rick] Townley found her working as a cashier in the [French] Quarter at a place called Lucky Pierre’s. Townley told her bluntly that Garrison was going down. They wanted her to say, on camera, that the DA had coerced her into giving him testimony about the Schlumberger munitions transfer. When that did not work, a friend of Gordon’s called and warned her about facing federal perjury charges if she did not turn on Garrison. Finally, Sheridan showed up in person. He also said that Garrison was going down the drain, and she was going with him. But if she would talk to him, he would get her a job at NBC. This also failed. So Sheridan started following her around. Once he followed her to church. His excuse was that he wanted to say a prayer inside. One day, both Sheridan and Townley showed up at her front door. They said they were looking for Gordon. The net day, Townley called her and said if she did not get away from Garrison, she could get killed. Mancuso did not turn on Garrison. She signed a statement for the DA revealing the threats and extortion by Townley and Sheridan. . . .
Exemplifying the grotesque, orgiastic hagiography to which the media have been subjecting us since George H.W. Bush died is a reputed conversation between the dying George H.W. Bush and Dubya, as reported by James Baker. After speaking to other offspring and relatives, the dying Poppy reportedly spoke with Shrub, who allegedly said: “I’ll see you in Heaven, Dad!” Supposedly, Poppy spoke no more before going on to his Eternal Reward. If, in fact, such a rendezvous does take place, we do not expect it to occur in the Celestial Hereafter. Exemplifying the murderous realities of George H.W. Bush’s tenure on earth is his supervision of the Afghan Mujahadin and the birth of Al-Qaeda: “ . . . . More to the point, now, in the Afghanistan War, Vice President Bush’s interests and Osama bin Laden’s converged. In using bin Laden’s Arab Afghans as proxy warriors against the Soviets, Bush advocated a policy that was fully in line with American interests at that time. But he did not consider the long-term implications of supporting a network of Islamic fundamentalist rebels. . . . . Specifically, as Vice President in the mid-eighties, Bush supported aiding the mujahideen in Afghanistan through the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK) or Services Offices, which sent money and fighters to the Afghan resistance in Peshawar. ‘Bush was in charge of the covert operations that supported the MAK,’ says John Loftus, a Justice Department official in the eighties. ‘They were essentially hiring a terrorist to fight terrorism. . . . Cofounded by Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam, the MAK was the precursor to bin Laden’s global terrorist network, Al Qaeda. It sent money and fighters to the Afghan resistance in Peshawar, Pakistan, and even the United States to bring thousands of warriors to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. The MAK was later linked to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York through an office in Brooklyn known as the Al-Kifah Refugee Center. It is not clear how much contact he had with bin Laden, but Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the ‘Blind Sheikh,’ who masterminded the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, also appeared in Peshawar on occasion. . . . ”
This broadcast concludes our examination of weaponized feminism.
In the context of the Four B’s of American politics–Bullets, Bribes, Beds and Blackmail, the Conyers and Franken “bloodless” political assassinations bear more scrutiny than they have received.
From the standpoint of counter-intelligence analysis, the #MeToo phenomenon signals a superb tactic for political destruction: a) infiltrate a woman into the entourage or professional environment of a male politician, media or business figure targeted for destruction; b) have her gain the trust of her political target and his associates (the cardinal rule for a good double agent is “make yourself indispensable to the effort”); c) after sufficient passage of time, surface the allegations of sexual harassment; d) IF the opportunity for actual sex play and/or flirtation presents itself, take advantage of it for later use as political/rhetorical ammunition; e) with accusers having the tactical luxury of remaining anonymous, the operational template for a form of sexual McCarthyism and the precedent-setting contemporary manifestation of a sexual Star Chamber is very real–the operational similarities between much of the #metoo movement and the Salem Witch Trials should not be lost on the persevering observer; f) proper vetting of the accusations is absent in such a process; g) for a public figure in the U.S., proving deliberate defamation (libel/slander) is extremely difficult and litigation is very expensive–the mere surfacing of charges is enough to taint someone for life and the exorbitant expense of litigation is prohibitive for all but the wealthiest among us.
Recent disclosures concerning Trump’s data ally Cambridge Analytica include the firm’s apparent practice of entrapping political opponents with “Ukrainian sex workers” in order to engineer their destruction.
This should be evaluated against the scenario Mr. Emory has detailed above.
In FTR #998, we highlighted the removal of John Conyers, Congressional critic of the Nazi Azov Battalion, one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, and senior member of the House Judiciary Committee (which helps vet Presidential judicial appointments.)
Conyers’ removal was signaled and abetted by Alt-Right blogger Mike Cernovich, a documented misogynist who famously observed that: “Misogyny gets you laid.”
One of Conyers’ long-time female staffers–his administrative assistant for more than two decades–did not accuse him of sexual harassment. That staffer was Rosa Parks, whose refusal to go to “the back of the bus” signaled the modern civil rights movement.
Conyers’ employment of Rosa Parks by itself would have been enough to get him targeted by the far right.
We note that, before her emergence as one of the prime movers of the contemporary civil rights movement, Rosa Parks was a cutting-edge feminist activist (before being feminist was “cool.”)
” . . . . She joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943, 12 years before that fateful commute. In her first years in the organization, she worked specifically on criminal justice and its application in Alabama communities.
One part of this was protecting black men from false accusations and lynchings; the other was ensuring that black people who had been sexually assaulted by white people could get their day in court. . . .”
This, also, might well have been motivation enough for the far right to have effected a political lynching of Conyers, adding the irony that his alleged harassment of a female staffer was the reason for his removal. He denied the allegation and said that he settled in court to avoid the great time and expense such litigation would have required.
In conclusion, we dip back a little over 20 years–to August of 1996, to hear a lengthy excerpt of FTR #7, an interview with the late Frank Spiering, the author of Who Killed Polly?
In something of a transitional element to our next show, dealing with school shootings, their political and sociological ramifications and the ominous connections of fascist groups to many of those events, we note how the disappearance of Polly Klaas, a twelve-year old allegedly raped and murdered by Richard Allen Davis, galvanized and terrorized much of America. Like the school shootings, youngsters cowered in fear because of the event.
Eventually, the case led to the passage of California’s “three strikes” law.
Although Davis certainly kidnapped Polly, the evidence suggests that he neither killed her, nor raped her, but that he spirited the young, unfortunate Ms. Klaas away at the behest of a powerful political element.
With the apparent collusion of elements of law enforcement (including elements of FBI), the actual executive authors of the event may have spirited Polly away to slave prostitution in a Saudi brothel, or for some other, monstrous manifestation of child pornography or white slavery.
If Mr. Spiering’s speculation that she may have ended up in a special Saudi brothel specializing in under-age American and Western women, the corruption of elements of law enforcement by the tremendous petroleum wealth and derivative political power of that nation should not be surprising.
“Fill ‘er up!”
After the program was recorded, Frank Spiering passed away. The publisher went out of business.
In 1986, we recorded Miscellaneous Archive Show M4, dealing with feminist icon Gloria Steinem’s relationship with the CIA. Recorded at too high a level, the program makes difficult listening. We are publishing a transcript to supplement our FTR series on “Weaponized Feminism.”
Continuing discussion and analysis from FTR #868, this program underscores the possible role of Swedish and Scandinavian fascists overlapping both WACL and Sapo, the Swedish intelligence service. Involved with escape networks forged to aid the international flight from justice of fascists and Nazis, the principals in these networks exhibited behavior around the time of the Palme killing that is suggestive. Worth noting in this regard is the late Stieg Larsson’s investigation of the Palme killing, which pointed in the direction of some of the same figures examined in the Kruger essay. The program concludes with an examination of the Bofors munitions firm and its corporate links to Third Reich industry and the postwar Bormann capital network, with which it may well be affiliated.
The first of two programs highlighting the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, the broadcast features a 1988 article by the brilliant freelance Danish journalist Henrik Kruger, author of “The Great Heroin Coup: Drugs, Intelligence and International Fascism.” Through this examination of the intersected networks that Kruger has termed (in “The Great Heroin Coup”) “The International Fascista,” we are able to observe the elements of Operation Condor, key individuals and institutions comprising the former World Anti-Communist League, individuals and organizations underlying “the Strategy of Tension” in Italy, as well as the cast of characters that managed the Iran-Contra machinations. Long the focal point of death threats and assassination attempts, Palme had earned the lethal ire of fascists in North and South America, as well as Europe. The failure to solve the killing, despite the passage of almost 30 years and some very strong evidentiary tributaries, underscores the gravitas of the forces that destroyed Palme. Kruger’s article also serves as something of an “in vitro” window into many of the political networks we have examined over the years.