John Simkin

A good recent example of this working well is this thread: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...wtopic=6969&hl=

Thank you for your nice comments: Michael Hogan, John Geraghty, Mark Wilson, Robert Howard (deleted by mistake by Andy Walker) and Mark Stapleton. I obviously do it because it gives me pleasure but it is nice to be appreciated. I do it because I believe the exposure of political corruption is vital if we are going to have a functioning democracy. Corruption only takes place because those in power have the ability to keep their actions secret. Unfortunately, those in the media have been corrupted and therefore this exposure has become very difficult. Especially as this media has the power to portray those who attempt to reveal this “secret history” as being unhinged conspiracy theorists. I believe that new technology provides an opportunity to get to the truth about what has happened in the past. For a start, if you run a popular website as I do (six million page impressions a month) you can start to compete with the large corporations that control our mass media. With search-engines it is possible for any researcher to discover what is known about shady characters from the past. Secondly, and more importantly, the technology that is used in Forums like this, allows us to create “collective/community intelligence”. The subjects we are studying, the assassinations of JFK, RFK, MLK, Watergate, Iran-Contra, etc. are very complex situations. By combining what is in our minds, makes it possible for us to get closer to the truth. The internet links computers together, it also links brains together. For this to be successful it is important for us to work together. It also means that we have to be generous with our knowledge. To a certain extent, this goes against the traditional way that historians and journalists have worked during their investigations. They have in most cases been reluctant to give people the information until it is published. Hopefully, forums and websites will change the way we work. I have attempted to create a group that contains the best people available. So far, most researchers I have approached have agreed to join us (although some don’t post as much as I would like). I have found the forum invaluable in my research. I hope other researchers have found it useful. (I have received several emails from people who use this forum for writing their books, articles, etc.) Some people say that we are crazy to spend so much time discussing past events. I disagree. Although it is a difficult task, it is so important that it needs to be done. This is not so much about us understanding the past; it is about understanding the present. Who knows, when the modern politician finally grasps what you can achieve with modern technology, they might think twice before becoming involved in corrupt activities.

Jack, you are insane. My so-called being disruptive on the looney forum was for not agreeing with your poorly thoughtout alteration claims. I can also say that it doesn't suprise me that no one has a photo of me in a full beard because I have never worn one, nor have I ever worn a fake one, thus no picture ever existed of me in a beard. As usual you are just making stuff up as you go ... much like your alteration work. It looks like this is just another attempt on your part to hijack another thread. Bill Miller I cannot see what this has to do with the discussion of Gary Mack and the Sixth Floor Museum. To return it to the original topic, could anyone tell me the titles of the books currently being sold in the museum?

Thank you Ian. I am afraid that Daniel Hopsicker's account is extremely misleading. One of the great flaws in the book is the lack of notes and references. Nor does he include many dates. For example, Jada clearly died after the HSCA investigation.

Professor Colin Kidd teaches at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of Subverting Scotland's Past: Scottish Whig Historians and the Creation of an Anglo-British Identity 1689-c.1830 (1993) and British Identities before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic World, 1600-1800 (1999). (1) Could you explain the reasons why you decided to become a historian? (2) Is there any real difference between the role of an investigative journalist and a historian? (3) How do you decide about what to write about? (4) The House Select Committee on Assassinations reported that the “committee believes, on the basis of the available evidence, that President John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy”. However, very few historians have been willing to explore this area of American history. Lawrence E. Walsh’s Iran-Contra Report suggests that senior politicians were involved in and covered-up serious crimes. Yet very few historians have written about this case in any detail? Why do you think that historians and journalists appear to be so unwilling to investigate political conspiracies? (5) David Kaiser, the author of Politics and War: European Conflict from Philip II to Hitler (1990) and American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War (2000) said this in his interview: "The basic rule is that before-the-fact (in this case, pre-November 1963) documents are more important than after-the-fact ones. There's a hierarchy of evidence. People who come forward years later with stories are suspect, and if they said something different at the time, one has to discount them heavily. Meanwhile, one has to read as many documents as possible to understand the context of a particular event." Do you agree?

Al Carone's daughter, Dee Ferdinand, told Daniel Hopsicker that her father was a CIA paymaster and a Colonel in Army Intelligence, had been sent to Dallas to pay off Jack Ruby before the Kennedy assassination. Se also claimed that 33 years later Carone performed the same function for the killing of Barry Seal. According to FAA investigator, Rod Stich, Carone was Oliver North's bagman. See this website for more information on Carone: http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/beast2.html According to the Tyree lawsuit, Colonel Carone told Tyree: "I've worked with Green Berets (Special Forces) all over the world... Most of the guys trained Contras, in violation of the Boland Amendment, at Special Forces 'A Camps' built on the border of Nicaragua and Honduras during the big buildup in the early 1980s. Hell, I saw the camps myself. A lot of the Green Berets from 7th SFG (A) were involved in the cocaine shipments that were brought into the 'A Camps' from Panama. These 'A Camps' were isolated. They were cut right out of the jungle in many cases, with good runways. "A lot of the Green Berets in Thailand, for example, helped with the drug flow," Carone continued. "These Green Berets knew that the deal was simple. Without drug profits, there were no Contras to train, as there was no equipment to train them with, as Congress cut off the funding. "Without real-world situations, every one of those Green Berets knew that they would be sitting somewhere, going through some boring routine with training. Many of them were either involved with drug shipments out of Latin America into the United States or simply looked the other way. And you know, the Green Berets out in the middle of nowhere won't tell on each other, as they have to depend on their team mates to survive." In another revelation which informs recent American history, CIA operative Al Carone said that "George Bush was CIA prior to the assassination of John Kennedy in 1963" and that "the Governor of Arkansas that looked the other way at Mena [CIA's cocaine trans-shipping station], Bill Clinton, was CIA back in the late '60s". CIA agent Cord Meyer has often been named as Bill Clinton's handler, while the late Pamela Harriman has been cited as the "power behind the throne". Carone also told Tyree that he "had taken money to a female named Ruth Paine in late 1956 on orders from William Casey [an OSS - CIA operative who was CIA Director from 1981 to 1987]". According to the Tyree lawsuit, "Carone said that Paine was approached by the CIA to find and recruit an individual that was expendable, with communist ties and some type of anti-American background... "Carone said that when Ruth Paine found the individual, she notified her CIA contact, identified as George de Mohrenschildt, who in turn contacted his CIA supervisor, identified as George Bush. Carone said that George Bush was the same George Bush that was CIA Director. Carone said the individual located by Ruth Paine was identified as a Mr Lee Harvey Oswald. "FBI records/reports within 14 days after the assassination of President Kennedy will reflect that Mr George Bush met with J. Edgar Hoover, as Bush was trying to ascertain what the FBI might have stumbled onto by mistake in regards to the Ruth Paine - Oswald connection." In his sworn testimony, Al Carone told Bill Tyree that he "was a paymaster for both US military intelligence personnel and CIA personnel when Tyree knew and worked with him". "He [Carone] also worked as a representative of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) which he stated was a bank founded by the US intelligence community in part to finance covert (black) operations worldwide without the approval of the US Congress. He was authorised to withdraw funds from First American Bankshares (aka BCCI) account #2843900, which he stated was a black operation fund unknown to the US Congress at the time." Moreover, Carone said that he was "the middleman between certain CIA factions and certain Mafia families that operated illegal enterprises in New York City". "Carone told the Plaintiff [Tyree] that the CIA used BCCI, BNL, BCP and Intermaritime Bank to launder money for black operations worldwide and for the Mafia in New York City." According to Tyree's lawsuit: "Colonel Carone said the military drug trafficking Operation Watchtower fitted in the picture in the following fashion. Between 1971 - 72, BCCI was conceived and born primarily as a bank for the US intelligence community to go around Congress in funding so-called 'black operations'... "In December 1975, February-March 1976, Operation Watchtower took place that brought over 100 military-style cargo plane loads of cocaine out of Colombia into Albrook Air Station in Panama. "In 1976, Arkansas businessman Jackson Stephens and Indonesian businessman Mochtar Riady formed Stephens Financial Ltd in Hong Kong, which led to a meeting of Stephens and Riady with members of the BCCI. "In 1977, Jackson Stephens invited BCCI into America and helped BCCI bring about the purchase of First American Bankshares, operated by Clark Clifford and Robert Altman." How do these facts connect? Jack Stephens has been a financial backer of both the George Bush campaign and the Bill Clinton campaign for US President. The long and winding road of corruption also led Stephens to purchase Alltel, whose subsidiary, Systematics, used a version of the oft-purloined PROMIS software. According to Tyree's lawsuit: "Jackson Stephens and Mochtar Riady were in business together and paid off politicians from Arkansas to look the other way and ignore the CIA cocaine operation at Mena, Arkansas. The Lippo Group, i.e., Mochtar Riady, had been involved with Bill Clinton since Clinton was Governor in Arkansas. "'Stephens, Riady and the CIA are in bed together,' said Carone. 'They own a lot of people. They have a lot of money. They get things done. I answer to Stephens indirectly. I answer to his money is who I answer to, and so does everyone else at the CIA that wants to get things done where Stephens has influence.'" Just as Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh effectively covered up the "high crimes and misdemeanours" of George Bush in the so-called "Iran-Contra Report", so did Kenneth Starr continue the cover-up of CIA drug trafficking with the Clinton/Lewinsky sexcapades and the Clinton impeachment. When Long Island, New York - based FBI Special Agent Richard M. Taus, a decorated Vietnam veteran, got too close to CIA drug running, he was framed. Imprisoned at the ironically named Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, Taus is currently seeking an attorney to appeal his sentence. How does it all tie in? Carone told Tyree that "you need to find out and uncover the business that involved Ollie North and George Bush, called 'The Enterprise', as everything went through there". According to Tyree's lawsuit: "Vincent Foster, a good friend of Governor Bill Clinton, often shuttled vast sums of money around the world that related completely to 'The Enterprise' formed by Ollie North and George Bush." The Enterprise was also called "K-Team". Taus says that since his trial he has tried to "obtain records and files from the FBI" concerning himself, especially about his investigation into K-Team's involvement in the Iran-Contra arms initiative. "Finally in 1995, the Bureau acknowledged possessing 2,400 pages that mentioned the Irangate affair and my name," Taus says, "but I have never received them or any records on me - records that were used by the prosecution in my case, against me, yet never shared with the defense." According to Taus: "It was my initial investigation into the organized crime case which evolved into the Pizza Connection case that identified CIA involvement. And CIA's ugly head reared itself in many other FBI probes. "I was convicted in January 1991, after a most unfair and outrageous county trial," writes Taus. "A CPL 330 motion was filed, based upon a juror's undisclosed blood relationship to the District Attorney in Nassau, New York, and interview of jurors during the trial by investigating police officers as well as improper instructions to the jury by court officers, etc. The trial record shows judicial prejudice, prosecutorial misconduct, fraud, duress, misrepresentation, Rosario and Brady violations as well as numerous violations of my constitutional rights. "I am seeking an aggressive and dynamic appellate attorney to handle my direct appeal in the 2nd Appellate Division, Brooklyn, New York," writes Taus, adding: "...both my military and FBI records are impeccable. Given my former law enforcement background, I have done the legal research. There are only limited funds available for the appeal." (Write to: Richard Taus, 91A1040, LH, Clinton C.F., POB 2001, Dannemora, NY 12929, USA.) The Big Media Cartel continues the cover-up of the CIA's criminal activities, despite documented and cross-corroborated evidence detailed in books by whistleblowers Rodney Stich (Defrauding America), Michael Levine (The Great White Lie), Gary Webb (Dark Alliance), Celerino Castillo (Powderburns) and others. In a book called Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA (SPI Books, 1994), authors Terry Reed (a former CIA operative) and John Cummings corroborate the Carone story in Tyree's lawsuit - a dirty and tangled web of drug- and gun-smuggling and money laundering in Arkansas during the late 1980s. "The meeting had been called at Fort Robinson, an army facility outside Little Rock, to get some problems ironed out," write Reed and Cummings (p. 234). "In addition to the governor [bill Clinton] and his aide, the guest list included Max Gomez [Felix Rodriguez], John Cathey [Oliver North], resident CIA agent Akihide Sawahata, Agency subcontractor Terry Reed, and the man in charge, the one who would call the shots. He called himself Robert Johnson [he was CIA agent William Barr, later appointed US Attorney General by George Bush]. A lot of loose ends were to be tied up... "'Our deal was for you to have 10% of the profits, not 10% of the gross,' Johnson sternly admonished Clinton. 'This has turned into a feeding frenzy for your good ole boy sharks. We know what's been going on. Our people are professionals. They're not stupid. They didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday, as you guys say. This ADFA [Arkansas Development Finance Authority] of yours is double-dipping. Our deal with you was to launder our money. You get 10% after costs and after post-tax profits. No one agreed for you to start loaning our money out to your friends through your ADFA so that they could buy machinery to build our guns. That wasn't the deal... That's why we're pulling the operation out of Arkansas. It's become a liability for us. We don't need "live" liabilities.'" The long list of Clinton/Bush-related casualties is proof that "live" liabilities are definitely not on the CIA balance sheet. Army Colonel Al Carone himself died on January 7, 1990, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His medical records state chemical toxicity of unknown etiology. Was it CIA cancer? Or is it...CIA, the cancer? See also: http://www.hightimes.com/ht/news/content.php?bid=120&aid=3

Another associate of Paul Heliwell's in China was Clarence Holden. He was involved in setting up CIA fronted companies with Helliwell. This included Bosco Resources Corporation. In 1973 Bosco's assets were nationalized without compensation by the Libyan Government.

I assume Gerry means they were all in China during the Second World War. John Birch was a member of the China Air Task Force when he was killed in 1945. Anderson worked as a foreign correspondent in China. He disliked this work and managed to get involved with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). This is where he made his future CIA contacts including Phil Graham who I suspect helped him get the job with Drew Pearson on the Washington Post in 1947. Mitchell WerBell was also a member of the OSS and saw action in Burma and China. Singlaub was in the OSS in France but moved to China in the final stages of the war. Unfortunately I know very little about Robert Emmett Johnson's war record. Hillsmen was in China but I do not see this as being significant. However, it might have helped shape his views on Vietnam where he was a JFK dove. As a result he was sacked by LBJ after the assassination. There were other interesting figures in China working with the OSS. This includes William Pawley, Tommy Corcoran, Whitey Willauer, Claire Lee Chennault, Paul Helliwell, E. Howard Hunt, Lucien Conein and Ray Cline. Why was this important? (1) This was the first time that these right-wingers joined forces with drug lords to fight communism. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, these OSS members in China were paid for their work with five-pound sacks of opium. When most of these became members of the CIA they continued this relationship with criminals. This was especially true of Cuba in the 1950s and South-East Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. Ted Shackley became the leader of this group and as well as the assassination of JFK they were also the core members of the Iran-Contra scandal. (2) The other reason China is important is that it was the first time that the intelligence services began to do "private jobs" for right-wing businessmen. Tommy Concoran was the main instigator of this program. Later William Pawley was to play a central role in this. This started in Guatemala in 1954 but then spread to other countries in Latin America. Operation 40 was used to assassinate people who got in their way. For the full story see the thread on Assassination, Terrorism and the Arms Trade: The Contracting Out of U.S. Foreign Policy: 1940-2006. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5799 There is another interesting character who was with Paul Helliwell and company in China in the 1940s. His name is John Paul Hammerschmidt. He became a congressman in Arkansas. In fact he owned a ranch close to Mena airport In 1982 Barry Seal was bringing in drugs to the United States on behalf of the Medellin Cartel. Seal moved his base of operations from Louisiana to Mena, an obscure airport in the secluded mountains of western Arkansas. Seal told friends that he once made $1.5 million on a single cocaine flight. Seal worked directly for Sonia Atala, the CIA protected drug baron (Michael Levine, The Big White Lie: The CIA and the Cocaine/Crack Epidemic). It is also claimed that Seal's fleet of planes to ferry supplies to Contra camps in Honduras and Costa Rica. His planes also made return trips to airstrips in the mountains of Colombia and Venezuela. According to Roger Morris and Sally Denton (Partners in Power): "His well-connected and officially-protected smuggling operation based in Mena accounted for billions in drugs and arms". Hammerschmidt was one of George Bush's closest friends (they had met in Houston in the 1960s). Daniel Hopsicker claims that secret meetings setting up the Mena drug and weapons pipeline were held on Hammerschmidt's ranch.

Does anyone know anything about this story? Jada Conforto was one of Jack Ruby’s strippers. According to Daniel Hopsticker, on the morning of JFK’s assassination, Jada had been in “such a panic to leave Dallas that she ran over a pedestrian with her white Cadillac convertible”. The traffic cop was told to contact Ruby who would “fix things”. Jada told the cop she needed to urgently get to New Orleans. Jada Conforto was never interviewed by the Warren Commission. However, the HSCA wanted to talk to her. That never happened. She was killed in a motorcycle accident during the investigation. The sister of Lena Wamstad, who was involved in the Barry Seal scandal, was Jada’s aunt. She told Hopsticker that Jada was “murdered because she knew too much.”

Does anyone know anything about this story? Jada Conforto was one of Jack Ruby’s strippers. According to Daniel Hopsticker, on the morning of JFK’s assassination, Jada had been in “such a panic to leave Dallas that she ran over a pedestrian with her white Cadillac convertible”. The traffic cop was told to contact Ruby who would “fix things”. Jada told the cop she needed to urgently get to New Orleans. Jada Conforto was never interviewed by the Warren Commission. However, the HSCA wanted to talk to her. That never happened. She was killed in a motorcycle accident during the investigation. The sister of Lena Wamstad, who was involved in the Barry Seal scandal, was Jada’s aunt. She told Hopsticker that Jada was “murdered because she knew too much.”

Thank you for this. I suppose you know that there is a Gerry Hemming connection with Canada. In fact, Canada plays a large role in CIA-Mob wrongdoing. Gerry once said: "Montreal was a safe place. When somebody said hey, lets sit down, talk business, its Montreal where they did it. It's all part of the game. When for example, in a deal, they send the guy to Montreal, its because that's where the money is."

Just a few words about Alvin Malnik. He was director of the Bank of World Commerce, a Bahamas-based institution. According to one investigation "millions of dollars passed through (Bank of World Commerce) and were reinvested in Syndicate-controlled projects in the United States." The Bank of World Commerce had been established by high-ranking CIA official Paul Helliwell. For more on Helliwell see: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhelliwell.htm http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5766

Richard Ben-Veniste is an interesting figure that needs investigating. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1968 to 1973, and was a leading figure in the prosecution of the Watergate scandal. He served as chief of the Watergate Task Force of the Watergate Special Prosecutor's Office. One of his assistants was Hillary Rodham (Clinton). In March, 1984, Barry Seal was indicted at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for smuggling Quaaludes and laundering money. Former undercover narcotics investigator Stan Hughes told Daniel Hopsicker (Barry and the Boys) that: "When Barry got busted on the Quaalude thing, and I heard about their being government intervention to save his ass, I didn't believe it at first. But talk to any smuggler, and they'll tell you: they can always buy their way out of a dope deal." In an attempt to avoid a long prison sentence, Seal made contact with George H. W. Bush. He then appeared before a secret session of Bush's Task Force on Drugs in Washington where he testified that the Sandinistas were directly involved in drug trafficking into the United States. Seal claimed that the Medellin Cartel had made a deal with the Sandinistas, awarding them cuts of drug profits in exchange for the use of an airfield in Managua as a trans-shipment point for narcotics. This news was welcomed by President Ronald Reagan who wanted to launch an all out war on the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was now put under pressure to enlist Seal as an undercover informant with a special emphasis on the "Nicaraguan connection". Seal also offered to provide information to the DEA implicating federal officials in the Iran-Contra scandal. This included Richard Ben-Veniste, who was Seal's lawyer. By this time, Ben-Veniste, was a close associate of several mobsters including Alvin Malnik. Another client was Bill Clinton, the Governor of Arkansas. Ben-Veniste served as chief counsel to the Senate Whitewater Committee. Most recently, Ben-Veniste was appointed to the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States ("9/11 Commission").

By 1982 Barry Seal was bringing in drugs to the United States on behalf of the Medellin Cartel. He established a base at Mena airport in Arkansas. Seal told friends that he once made $1.5 million on a single cocaine flight. Seal worked directly for Sonia Atala, the CIA protected drug baron (Michael Levine, The Big White Lie: The CIA and the Cocaine/Crack Epidemic). To carry out these flights, Seal obtained two new multi-million dollar Beech Craft King Air 200s. According to Daniel Hopsicker, these aircraft were purchased by a Phoenix-based corporation that acted as a "front" for John Singlaub.

Just before his death Barry Seal was asked by his close friend, Rene Martin, if he feared being killed by the Ochoa family, the Colombians he was working for (Seal had made it clear that as a result of an IRS investigation that he was willing to name names). Barry Seal replied that he was not afraid of the Colombians because he had told Ochoa he intended to testify against the US government. This is supported by Lewis Unglesby, Seal’s lawyer. He confirmed that the man Seal was going to testify against was George H. W. Bush. There was apparently another reason why George Bush wanted Seal dead. According to friends, Seal had a copy of a videotape of a 1985 DEA cocaine sting which had netted George Bush's two sons, George and Jeb, picking up kilos of cocaine at a Florida airport.

One of Barry Seal's criminal associates told Daniel Hopsicker that of those involved in the drug business: "45% are DEA, 45% are CIA and 10% are mercenaries... and they're the only guys who ever go down."

No. Just one reference to the Hammond Louisiana airport (page 128).

From the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5025812.stm British director Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes The Barley has won the Palme d'Or - the top prize at the Cannes film festival. The film, about Ireland's struggle for independence, beat 19 others to the prestigious prize. Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, who led the jury, said his panel had looked for films which reflected "compassion, hope, bonding and solidarity". Other jurors included actors Tim Roth, Samuel L Jackson and Monica Belluci. Wong said the jury's decision had been a unanimous one. British actress Helena Bonham Carter, who was also on the jury, said Loach's film "hit us all profoundly". "It was one of five films about war and it was a fantastic education about the Irish problem," she added. "There was a tremendous humanity. I can't explain our mass reaction but we were all profoundly moved." Loach, 69, has said the film, which describes the early days of the IRA in the 1920s from an Irish perspective, is also a critique of the US-led invasion of Iraq. "Maybe if we tell the truth about the past, maybe we tell the truth about the present," he said as he accepted the award. "Our film is a little, a very little step in the British confronting their imperialist history," he said. Loach has been nominated for the Palme d'Or on seven previous occasions, but this is the first time he has won the main prize. He won the jury prize in 1990 for Hidden Agenda, about a British army shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. His is the first UK film to win the Palme d'Or since Mike Leigh's Secrets and Lies in 1996.

Thanks for that Robert. It seems Hemming was convicted by a Miami jury of conspiracy to import marijuana. In 1978 he was sentenced to six months in prison by U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler. Hemming was released on appeal bond and the conviction was later overturned. Does anyone know if Hemming was convicted of any other crimes. Bobby Seal was arrested and charged several times and yet only spent one day in an American prison. (Although he did spend nine months in a Honduras prison before being released without charge). On 8th October, 1998, the inspector general of the CIA, Frederick Hitz, report into the Iran-Contra scandal was declassified. The report identified 50 contras implicated in the drug trade. Hitz's report detailed how the Reagan administration protected these drug operations and frustrated federal investigations which threatened to expose the crimes in the mid-1980s. Hitz also published evidence that drug trafficking and money laundering tracked into Reagan's National Security Council where Oliver North oversaw contra operations. Hitz admitted that the CIA along with Reagan/Bush protected these drug dealers. The report was ignored by the US media. Interestingly, Clinton, who at the time was in serious trouble with Monica Lewinsky story, made no attempt to force the media into dealing with this issue. There is a reason for this, Clinton was closely associated with the Barry Seal case. They shared the same lawyer and Seal's drug operation was based in Arkansas. According to the Daily Telegraph (a British newspaper) the US media engaged in the "active suppression of the news to protect either Clinton or the CIA or both." I suspect Clinton was being blackmailed into not drawing attention to the Hitz report. I suspect the CIA did what they did to Nixon. Admit to the minor charge and we will keep quiet about the serious crimes. Unlike Nixon, Clinton survived impeachment.

Tim Gratz is still a member. He spends a lot of time reading the posts. He is now paid by the hour rather than by the word.

Yes. He was a helicopter pilot. He refused to help Daniel Hopsicker with his book on Barry Seal. He also denied Barry was in the famous Operation 40 photograph. However, Ben's son, Benjie, also a helicopter pilot, confirmed that it was "Uncle Barry" in the picture (Barry and the Boys, page 25). See picture below: Seal is the third man on the left. It is claimed he is sitting next to Porter Goss.

Barry Seal used the same tactic but he ended up dead. However, Gerry has been allowed to continue with making his claims about covert operations. There are probably two main reasons for this. (1) Several times Gerry has been asked on the Forum why he has not written his memoirs. He has always refused to answer this question. Maybe he already has and it will only be published if anything happened to him. (2) Just before his death Barry Seal was asked by his close friend, Rene Martin, if he feared being killed by the Ochoa family, the Colombians he was working for (Seal had made it clear that as a result of an IRS investigation that he was willing to name names). Barry Seal replied that he was not afraid of the Colombians because he had told Ochoa he intended to testify against the US government. This is supported by Lewis Unglesby, Seal’s lawyer. He confirmed that the man Seal was going to testify against was George H. W. Bush. Yet a group of Colombians were arrested and convicted of killing Barry Seal. Richard Sharpstein, the lawyer of Miguel Velez, one of the men convicted of the killing, claims that his client told him that the man who arranged the killing was Oliver North.

I cannot understand how you can describe the Iran-Contra Scandal as “pretty small potatoes”. I would have thought that senior politicians involved in illegal activities concerning arms and drugs was fairly important. Nor are you right when you suggest the major figures went to jail for their crimes. In November, 1986, Ronald Reagan set-up a three man commission (President's Special Review Board). The three men were John Tower, Brent Scowcroft and Edmund Muskie. Richard L. Armitage was interviewed by the committee. He admitted that he had arranged a series of meetings between Menachem Meron, the director general of Israel's Ministry of Defence, with Oliver North and Richard Secord. However, he denied that he discussed the replenishment of Israeli TOW missiles with Meron. Armitage also claimed that he first learned that Israel had shipped missiles to Iran in 1985 when he heard William Casey testify on 21st November, 1986 that the United States had replenished Israel's TOW missile stocks. According to Lawrence E. Walsh, who carried out the official investigation into the scandal (Iran-Contra: The Final Report), claims that Armitage did not tell the truth to the President's Special Review Board. "Significant evidence from a variety of sources shows that Armitage's knowledge predated Casey's testimony. For instance, a North notebook entry on November 18, 1986, documents a discussion with Armitage about Israel's 1985 arms shipments to Iran - three days before Armitage supposedly learned for the first time that such shipments has occurred." Walsh also adds that "classified evidence obtained from the Government of Israel... and evidence from North and Secord show that during the period Meron met with Armitage, Meron was discussing arms shipments to Iran and Israel's need for replenishment. Secord and North, on separate occasions, directed Meron to discuss these issues with Armitage." The report implicated Oliver North, John Poindexter, Casper Weinberger and several others but did not mention the role played by Bush. It also claimed that Ronald Reagan had no knowledge of what had been going on. The House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran was also established by Congress. The most important figure on the committee was the senior Republican member, Richard Cheney. As a result George Bush was totally exonerated when the report was published on 18th November, 1987. The report did state that Reagan's administration exhibited "secrecy, deception and disdain for the law." Oliver North and John Poindexter were indicted on multiple charges on 16th March, 1988. North, indicted on twelve counts, was found guilty by a jury of three minor counts. The convictions were vacated on appeal on the grounds that North's Fifth Amendment rights may have been violated by the indirect use of his testimony to Congress which had been given under a grant of immunity. Poindexter was also convicted of lying to Congress, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and altering and destroying documents pertinent to the investigation. His convictions were also overturned on appeal. When George Bush became president he set about rewarding those who had helped him in the cover-up of the Iran-Contra Scandal. Bush appointed Richard L. Armitage as a negotiator and mediator in the Middle East. Donald Gregg was appointed as his ambassador to South Korea. Brent Scowcroft became his chief national security adviser and John Tower became Secretary of Defence. When the Senate refused to confirm Tower, Bush gave the job to Richard Cheney. Later, Casper Weinberger, Robert McFarlane, Duane R. Clarridge, Clair E. George, Elliott Abrams and Alan D. Fiers, Jr., who had all been charged with offences related to the Iran-Contra scandal, were pardoned by Bush. George Bush’s son continued this process by appointing Cheney as his vice president and Armitage as his Deputy Secretary of State.

Gerry P. Hemming was interviewed by Daniel Hopsicker for his book Barry and the Boys. It included the following attempt to defend his involvement in the drug trade: First of all, we figure, who's using this dope? Leftists! This is not a fact that messes up my chess game. You cannot allow that kind of capability to remain freelance. There is too much money. Some tinhorn asshole can come in, take over, and end up ruling a subcontinent. We were always looking for signs of foreign intelligence and military penetration of the South American drug trade, signs of Soviet or Cuban presence. In other words, Gerry helped U.S. government agencies working with gangsters to keep control of the drug trade.

Gerry P. Hemming was interviewed by Daniel Hopsicker for his book Barry and the Boys. It included the following: Lucien Conein was organizing an assassination program. Once we got it underway in 1974, with a bunch of anti-Castro Cuban assets, I went down to Colombia. The big thing then was sailboats and a small planes and Conein jumped in and the Quantum Corporation and Stewart Mott was around. See, the people who control intel nets and have palace access are gun dealers and drug dealers. When I met Barry in 1974, his 'cover' was as an ex-coast guard pilot. But Barry was primarily just a plane-mover back then. He's moving planes around, gunrunning, hauling cars and cigarettes and stuff... Later, Gerry attempted to defend his involvement in the drug trade: First of all, we figure, who's using this dope? Leftists! This is not a fact that messes up my chess game. You cannot allow that kind of capability to remain freelance. There is too much money. Some tinhorn asshole can come in, take over, and end up ruling a subcontinent. We were always looking for signs of foreign intelligence and military penetration of the South American drug trade, signs of Soviet or Cuban presence. In other words, Gerry helped U.S. government agencies working with gangsters to keep control of the drug trade.