John Simkin

The beginning of Oliver Stone’s film, JFK, shows Dwight Eisenhower making his “Farewell to the Nation” speech. Some people have argued that this was Stone’s way of illustrating his belief that the Military Industrial Complex was behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Oliver Stone is not the only one who holds this view. Several members of this Forum, including myself, have argued that the Military Industrial Complex was in some way involved in his death. See for example: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3580 However, the weakness of this argument is that researchers rarely identify the people involved in this conspiracy. Over the next few weeks I intend to name the people who made up what I prefer to call, the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. Part 1 On 17th January, 1961, Dwight Eisenhower gave his Farewell Address to the nation. It included the following passage: “Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence - economic, political, even spiritual - is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.” (1) The speech was written by two of Eisenhower’s advisers, Malcolm Moos and Ralph Williams. However, this was not the speech they had written. Eisenhower had made some important changes to the original draft. For example, Eisenhower’s speech is a warning about the future. He does not explain how he dealt with this problem during his presidency. After all, Eisenhower gave important posts to John McCone and Robert Anderson, two key figures in the “Military-Industrial Complex”. He was also the president who succumbed to the pressures of Tommy Corcoran to order the CIA to work with United Fruit in the overthrow of democratically elected government in Guatemala. Eisenhower also encouraged and benefited from the activities of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. It was this fanatical anti-communism that fueled Cold War tensions and stimulated the arms race that was such an important ingredient in the development of the “Military-Industrial Complex”. Another important aspect of the speech is that Eisenhower does not mention the role of politicians in this problem. This is strange as it was only through politicians that the military and the business community got what they wanted. This was one aspect of the speech that Eisenhower changed. In the original draft, Moos and Williams had used the phrase, the “Military-Industrial Congressional Complex”. This is of course a more accurate description of this relationship. However, to use the term “Congressional” would have highlighted the corruption that was taking place in the United States and illustrated the role played by Eisenhower in this scandal. The idea that an informal group of people from the military, government and business would work together in order to make profits out of war was not a new one. For example, Tom Paine wrote in the introduction to the Rights of Man: “What is the history of all monarchical governments but a disgustful picture of human wretchedness, and the accidental respite of a few years’ repose? War is their trade, plunder and revenue their objects. While such governments continue, peace has not the absolute security of a day.” (2) Tom Paine believed that rulers often resorted to war in an attempt to deal with internal conflicts. Abraham Lincoln was another who had identified this strategy. In 1848 he attacked President James Polk for his policy over Mexico: “Trusting to escape scrutiny, by fixing the public gaze upon the exceeding brightness of military glory – that attractive rainbow, that rises in shadows of blood – that serpent’s eye, that charms to destroy – he plunged into war.” Lincoln added: “Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object.” According to Lincoln, this was “the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions” and that it was important that the United States should make sure that “no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us”. (3) The first person to identify the modern Industrial-Military-Political Complex was J. A. Hobson. A strong opponent of British imperialist adventures, Hobson published “Imperialism: A Study” in 1902. It included the following passage: “Our economic analysis has disclosed the fact that it is only the interests of competing cliques of business men – investors, contractors, export manufacturers, and certain professional classes – that are antagonistic; that these cliques, usurping the authority and voice of the people, use the public resources to push their private interests, and spend the blood and money of the people in this vast and disastrous military game, feigning national antagonism which have no basis in reality.” (4) Hobson’s views had a significant impact on the consciousness of people in Europe. It helped to develop a belief in pacifism that was very strong in the early years of the 20th century. George Bernard Shaw was an example of someone who shared the views of Hobson and in his play Major Barbara, the armament maker Undershaft says: “You will make war when it suits us and keep peace when it doesn’t… When I want anything to keep my dividends up, you will call out the police and the military.” (5) This mood changed in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. James Keir Hardie, the leader of the Labour Party, organized a national strike against Britain's participation in the war. However, he underestimated the ability of the state to persuade people of the need to go to war. Hardie was denounced as a traitor and died a broken man in 1915. David Kirkwood, was one of those who saw through this propaganda: “I hated war. I believed that the peoples of the world hated war, and had no hate for each other. A terrific struggle tore my breast. I could not hate the Germans. They loved their land as I loved mine. To them, their traditions and their history, their religion and their songs were what mine were to me. Yet I was working in an arsenal, making guns and shells for one purpose - to kill men in order to keep them from killing men. What was I to do? I was not a conscientious objector. I was a political objector. I believed that finance and commercial rivalry had led to war.” (6) Gerald Nye was one of the first people to identify the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex. Nye was elected to Congress in 1926 and immediately began to question the relationship between politicians and the armament manufacturers. In a speech in 1930, Nye argued: “That in nearly every war it is the people who bear the burdens and that it is not the people who cause wars bringing them no advantage, but that they are caused by fear and jealousy coupled with the purpose of men and interests who expect to profit by them.” (7) On 8th February, 1934, Nye submitted a Senate Resolution calling for an investigation of the munitions industry by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Key Pittman of Nevada. Pittman disliked the idea and the resolution was referred to the Military Affairs Committee. It was eventually combined with one introduced earlier by Arthur H. Vandenberg of Michigan, who sought to take the profits out of war. Public hearings before the Munitions Investigating Committee began on 4th September, 1934. In the reports published by the committee it was claimed that there was a strong link between the American government's decision to enter the First World War and the lobbying of the munitions industry. The committee was also highly critical of the nation's bankers. In a speech in 1936 Nye argued that "the record of facts makes it altogether fair to say that these bankers were in the heart and center of a system that made our going to war inevitable". (8) The Report on Activities and Sales of Munition Companies was published in April, 1936. It included the following passage: “Almost without exception, the American munitions companies investigated have at times resorted to such unusual approaches, questionable favors and commissions, and methods of 'doing the needful' as to constitute, in effect, a form of bribery of foreign governmental officials or of their close friends in order to secure business. These business methods carried within themselves the seeds of disturbance to the peace and stability of those nations in which they take place.” (9) Nye became a strong supporter of “isolationism” and was a founder member of the America First Committee. Nye's known isolationist views became very unpopular after America entered the war and he lost his seat in Congress in November 1944. During the war politicians like Nye found it impossible to raise the issue of war profiteering. It was a different matter after victory had been achieved and Owen Brewster was appointed chairman of the Senate War Investigating Committee. In 1946 Brewster announced that he was very concerned that the government had given Howard Hughes $40m for the development and production of two aircraft that had never been delivered. Brewster also pointed out the President Franklin D. Roosevelt had overruled his military experts in order to hand out the contracts to Hughes for the F-11 and HK-1 (also known as the Spruce Goose). Hughes was able to get this investigation closed down by launching a smear campaign against Owen Brewster. The Senate War Investigating Committee never completed its report on the non-delivery of the F-11 and the HK-1. The committee stopped meeting and was eventually disbanded. (10) Notes 1. Dwight Eisenhower, Farewell Address to the Nation (17th January, 1961) 2. Tom Paine, The Rights of Man (1791) 3. John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln (pages 111-12) 4. J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study, 1902 (page 127) 5. George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara, 1905 6. David Kirkland, My Life of Revolt, 1935 (page 84) 7. Gerald Nye, speech at the Conference of Causes and Cures of War (January, 1930) 8. Gerald Nye, speech reported in the New York Times (10th February, 1936) 9. Senate Report on Activities and Sales of Munition Companies (April, 1936) 10. Jack Anderson, Confessions of a Muckraker, 1979 (pages 49-99)

Tim, this raises an important point I have been looking for an opportunity to address. I don't like the term 'southern racists'. There is no difference between a southern eastern etc racist. I know that's stating the obvious, but I think it's relevant. I agree John. I’ve noticed how Tim likes to use the term “Southern racists”. However, the truth of the situation is that the vast majority of the white population in the United States were willing to go along with racist policies throughout the 20th century. It has to be remembered that members of Congress were unwilling to pass anti-lynching legislation in the 1930s and 1940s because they thought they would lose them votes in future elections. The same was true concerning action against Jim Crow laws. It has to be remembered that it was not until the mid 1960s that the law gave the blacks the right to vote in elections. The struggle did not end there. Ethnic minorities in the United States still suffer from discrimination. In fact, the inequality in the United States is worse than any other advanced country in the world. Only a small minority of whites have been willing to campaign against this discrimination. It is interesting to note that American Jews have played a major role in the civil rights struggle. This is no coincidence as they had themselves suffered from racial discrimination. As a result Jews played an important role in left-wing political groups between 1900 and 1960 because of their views on equality. As a result, they suffered disproportionately during McCarthyism. This still did not prevent them from continuing their role in the campaign for civil rights and as a result they made up a large proportion of artists blacklisted in the 1950s. I have the greatest respect for those Jews who sacrificed so much during the struggle for civil rights. That is why I consider Tim Gratz a hypocrite with his comments about racism. It seems from his postings on the Forum, his political activity has been restricted to right-wing groups like the Young American for Freedom. Groups campaigning in favour of the rich and powerful against the poor, of whatever colour.

Alfred McCoy has just published a very important book called "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror. Alfred has agreed to discuss this book on the Forum. I hope members will join in this debate. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6114

A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation from the Cold War to the War on Terror http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...1719876-2081414 1. It obviously takes a lot of energy and commitment to write a book. Why did you select this subject? I ask this because it is clearly a subject that most Americans will not wish to consider. It is hardly to help your academic career either. Would you accept that it takes a great deal of courage to publish books about these dark areas of history? Does this explain why so few academics are willing to get involved in researching CIA covert activities? 2. You point out (page 15) that after the war the United States appeared to be fully committed to human rights and signed up to the Geneva Convention on the way prisoners should be treated. You then go on to argue that “by the mid-1950s, a confluence of pressures, legislative and clandestine, led Washington to suspend its support for these humanitarian principles”. What do you think was the most important of these “pressures”? 3. I have recently been researching the CIA overthrow of the government in Guatemala. Harry S. Truman (after pressure from Dean Acheson) refused permission to overthrow a democratically elected government. However, this permission was granted when Dwight Eisenhower was elected to office. Do you think the election of Eisenhower was significant in determining the behaviour of the CIA? 4. It seems to me that the key point in this story is when the CIA decided it would have to use the same tactics as the “Communists”. To psychologically deal with this, they had to believe that the “Communists” were so evil that all tactics, including those banned under human rights legislation, were acceptable. Therefore, McCarthyism was an important part of this change in American consciousness. I suspect we are seeing something similar happening in the current crusade against “terrorism”. Have you any comments on this point of view? 5. On page 21 you mention that the American intelligence services recruited former Nazi scientists such as Kurt Plotner who had experience of dealing with prisoners during the war (Operation Paperclip). Why were the American intelligence services so keen to work with former Nazis?

1. It seems that two men murdered Henry Marshall. Is it possible that the other man involved was Billie Sol Estes? For example, the drawing of the man who asked directions to Marshall’s farm is more like Estes than Wallace. Even his daughter admitted that the drawing appeared to be of Estes. 2. Did Billie Sol Estes provide any documentation concerning the deaths of Henry Marshall, George Krutilek, Harold Orr, Ike Rogers, Coleman Wade, Josefa Johnson, John Kinser and John F. Kennedy? Have you had any communication with Billie Sol Estes since 1984? 3. Do you have any information on the death of Ike Rogers? 4. In 1960 you played a very active role in the formation of the Young Americans for Freedom. Could you explain what the main policies of the YAF concerning the main issues of the day (taxation, foreign policy, civil rights, social issues, etc.) 5. One source has claimed that the first national council of the YAF included eleven members of the John Birch Society. Another source claims that YAF was the “youth arm of the John Birch Society”. What was the link between YAF and the John Birch Society? http://rightweb.irc-online.org/groupwatch/wacl.php 6. Were Ray Cline, E. Howard Hunt or John Singlaub involved in establishing YAF?

If Pedro drops out of the project we will have to find two teacher training institutions in the next couple of days. I suspect that will be impossible and the application will not be submitted. Of course it is possible to allocate funds for translating material. That is for all of us to decide. That is why this section of the Forum was set up. I have been surprised by the lack of input by members. As it stands at the moment, it is impossible for Andy and myself to fill in the application form. Please give as much time as possible over the next couple of days to this task. I will then give over a full day to filling in the application form. However, if I don’t have the necessary information to do this, I will myself have to withdraw from the project. (1) Institutions It needs to be stressed that this is a project that involves institutions. It is possible for the institution to select who they want to complete some of the necessary tasks. (2) Language Skills From my experience, it will be very difficult for any individual to play a full role in the project without having the ability to communicate in English. For example, someone who cannot write in English is currently unable to shape the writing of the application form via this Forum. (3) Translation I accept that some members will have difficulty in translating their “overviews” and “case-studies” in English. It is of course possible to include translation costs in our application. Therefore, please post details of your needs here: Other Costs http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6033 Languages http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6048 The posting should include an estimation of costs for this translation. Whatever total figure we end up with will have to come from somewhere else in our application bid. The three major places where this can come from is member’s own days, the costs of inviting visitors to our meetings and the contracting out of people writing “overviews” and “case-studies” from non-member countries (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, etc.) Please express your opinions on this in the relevant threads.

I recently ordered a book entitled Unsolved Texas Mysteries by Wallace O. Chariton. The reason being that it included an article on the Henry Marshall killing (very good it is to). However, there is another fascinating article by Chariton on how the FBI dealt with one aspect of the JFK assassination that was completely new to me. On the morning of the assassination, Jerry Coley, who worked in the advertising department of the Dallas Morning News, spent sometime drinking coffee with Jack Ruby, who had arrived at the office to place his weekly advert in the newspaper. Ruby spent far longer than usual in the office. He also seemed interested in looking at the Texas School Book Depository (the Dallas Morning News office provided a good view of the building). Coley and another worker from the building, Charlie Mulkey, decided to go and watch the JFK motorcade. Ruby said he was not interested in seeing JFK and remained in the office. Coley and Mulkey stood on Houston Street near the entrance of the old county jail. They therefore did not see or hear the shooting, however, when news spread to them they went to Dealey Plaza. While walking down the steps on the grassy knoll, they discovered a pool of blood (Mulkey actually tasted it to make sure it was blood). The two men estimated that there must have been a pint of blood on the steps close to the fence on the grassy knoll. When the two men returned to the office they told photographer, Jim Hood, about the blood. He visited the scene and took a photograph of it. Later that day, Coley showed the photograph to Hugh Aynesworth, an investigative journalist who worked for the Dallas Morning News. Aynesworth seemed interested in the story but it never appeared in the newspaper. On 25th November, 1963, Coley began receiving anonymous phone calls. The calls suggested that Coley was in someway involved in the plot to kill JFK. However, the real intention was to intimidate Coley into silence about the the blood on the steps. Threats were made against Coley’s children. The couple understandably decided to keep quiet about the story. In fact, Coley’s wife and their children went into hiding. When Coley returned to the steps on the grassy knoll, the blood had been cleaned away. On 27th November, 1963, a Time Magazine reporter arrived at the office. He wanted to interview Coley about the story but frightened about the consequences, he refused to speak to him. The following week, two FBI agents arrived at the office and asked to speak to Coley and Jim Hood. They asked to see the photograph. They took this away plus the negative. The FBI told the two men: “For your benefit, it never happened… Just forget the entire incident; it never happened.” The men took this advice. However, in 1988, a film crew from Los Angeles contacted Coley and asked him if he would be willing to be interviewed for a documentary they were making on Jack Ruby. Coley agreed and during the interview he told them the story of the blood on the steps. The reporter was fascinated with the story and he was filmed at the spot where the blood was found. It was assumed by the reporter, that someone had been hit in the crossfire and therefore confirmed the view that there must have been two gunman involved in the killing of JFK. Three days later the reporter phoned to say that the director of the documentary had decided not to use the section on the pool of blood. Coley was relieved as his wife had complained when she heard that he had told the reporter the story. In 1990 Coley told the story to Wallace O. Chariton. He was convinced that Coley was telling the truth (by this time Hood and Mulkey were dead). Aynesworth was interviewed and he confirmed the story but claims that he was convinced that it was some sort of dark drink had been spilt on the steps. Coley was working on the Henry Marshall case at the time. He therefore asked Clint Peoples about the story of the blood on the steps. Peoples, who was carrying out his own investigation into the JFK assassination at the time, admitted that he already knew about the story. What is more, he believed it was an important factor in explaining the mystery of the assassination. What Chariton does not say in the article, is that Peoples claimed that he was on the verge of solving the case. He told several friends this at this time. Clint Peoples was killed shortly after Chariton’s book was published in 1991. His manuscript on the JFK assassination has never been found.

I recently ordered a book entitled Unsolved Texas Mysteries by Wallace O. Chariton. The reason being that it included an article on the Henry Marshall killing (very good it is to). However, there is another fascinating article by Chariton on how the FBI dealt with one aspect of the JFK assassination that was completely new to me. On the morning of the assassination, Jerry Coley, who worked in the advertising department of the Dallas Morning News, spent sometime drinking coffee with Jack Ruby, who had arrived at the office to place his weekly advert in the newspaper. Ruby spent far longer than usual in the office. He also seemed interested in looking at the Texas School Book Depository (the Dallas Morning News office provided a good view of the building). Coley and another worker from the building, Charlie Mulkey, decided to go and watch the JFK motorcade. Ruby said he was not interested in seeing JFK and remained in the office. Coley and Mulkey stood on Houston Street near the entrance of the old county jail. They therefore did not see or hear the shooting, however, when news spread to them they went to Dealey Plaza. While walking down the steps on the grassy knoll, they discovered a pool of blood (Mulkey actually tasted it to make sure it was blood). The two men estimated that there must have been a pint of blood on the steps close to the fence on the grassy knoll. When the two men returned to the office they told photographer, Jim Hood, about the blood. He visited the scene and took a photograph of it. Later that day, Coley showed the photograph to Hugh Aynesworth, an investigative journalist who worked for the Dallas Morning News. Aynesworth seemed interested in the story but it never appeared in the newspaper. On 25th November, 1963, Coley began receiving anonymous phone calls. The calls suggested that Coley was in someway involved in the plot to kill JFK. However, the real intention was to intimidate Coley into silence about the the blood on the steps. Threats were made against Coley’s children. The couple understandably decided to keep quiet about the story. In fact, Coley’s wife and their children went into hiding. When Coley returned to the steps on the grassy knoll, the blood had been cleaned away. On 27th November, 1963, a Time Magazine reporter arrived at the office. He wanted to interview Coley about the story but frightened about the consequences, he refused to speak to him. The following week, two FBI agents arrived at the office and asked to speak to Coley and Jim Hood. They asked to see the photograph. They took this away plus the negative. The FBI told the two men: “For your benefit, it never happened… Just forget the entire incident; it never happened.” The men took this advice. However, in 1988, a film crew from Los Angeles contacted Coley and asked him if he would be willing to be interviewed for a documentary they were making on Jack Ruby. Coley agreed and during the interview he told them the story of the blood on the steps. The reporter was fascinated with the story and he was filmed at the spot where the blood was found. It was assumed by the reporter, that someone had been hit in the crossfire and therefore confirmed the view that there must have been two gunman involved in the killing of JFK. Three days later the reporter phoned to say that the director of the documentary had decided not to use the section on the pool of blood. Coley was relieved as his wife had complained when she heard that he had told the reporter the story. In 1990 Coley told the story to Wallace O. Chariton. He was convinced that Coley was telling the truth (by this time Hood and Mulkey were dead). Aynesworth was interviewed and he confirmed the story but claims that he was convinced that it was some sort of dark drink had been spilt on the steps. Coley was working on the Henry Marshall case at the time. He therefore asked Clint Peoples about the story of the blood on the steps. Peoples, who was carrying out his own investigation into the JFK assassination at the time, admitted that he already knew about the story. What is more, he believed it was an important factor in explaining the mystery of the assassination. What Chariton does not say in the article, is that Peoples claimed that he was on the verge of solving the case. He told several friends this at this time. Clint Peoples was killed shortly after Chariton’s book was published in 1991. His manuscript on the JFK assassination has never been found.

After reading Clint Peoples' report on the Henry Marshall, it is clear that two men committed the murder. Mac Wallace appears to have been one of the murderers. However, could the other man have been Billie Sol Estes? See below the Texas Rangers drawing based on witness testimony and photographs of Mac Wallace and Billie Sol Estes.

After reading Clint Peoples' report on the Henry Marshall, it is clear that two men committed the murder. Mac Wallace appears to have been one of the murderers. However, could the other man have been Billie Sol Estes? See below the Texas Rangers drawing based on witness testimony and photographs of Mac Wallace and Billie Sol Estes.

Is there some conclusive evidence that supports such unequivocal declarations about the motive(s) for Tower's and Heinz's deaths? Pure speculation on my part. If anyone did have conclusive evidence they would no longer be alive.

I plan to argue that John Tower was part of the Suite 8F Group in the next section of Assassination, Terrorism and the Arms Trade: The Contracting Out of U.S. Foreign Policy: 1940-1990. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5799 This is where he got his information from on the assassination. Several members of this group thought the assassination went too far. After all, the group had only been interested in corruptly gaining government contracts. However, to maintain the secrecy of this operation, people had to be killed, for example, those willing to testify in the Billie Sol Estes case. Tower was up to his neck in scandals like the TFX contract (another subject I will cover in the next section). However, John Tower was not killed over the JFK assassination. Wade correctly points out it involved the information he obtained as chairman of the President's Special Review Board to study the actions of the National Security Council and its staff during the Iran-Contra affair. However, it was because he was a member of the Suite 8F Group that he was asked by Reagan and Bush to take part in the cover-up. John Tower was killed in a plane crash new New Brunswick, Georgia, on 5th April, 1991. This was a day after his friend, John Heinz, had also died when his Piper Aerostar PA60 came down after colliding with a helicopter in Montgomery County. The two deaths are connected. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKheinz.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKtowerJ.htm For a discussion on these two deaths see this thread: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3326 For a discussion on the Suite 8F Group see: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=2868

I have spent a considerable amount of time inviting lone gunman theorists such as Posner to join the Forum. Posner has told me several times that he will defend “Case Closed” on the Forum “as soon as I finish my latest book/article”. This never happens. He knows he will not be unable to deal with the combined knowledge of our members. The only lone gunman theorist who has been willing to join and defend his views his views is Mel Ayton. However, he did not stay for long. I think Mark is right about it all depends on whether you want the case to be solved. Tim Gratz clearly doesn’t. His role is to distract from the topic at hand. He is also interested in evidence that appears to show that Castro was behind the assassination. I suspect you are playing a similar role. However, you are brighter than Tim and therefore you are reluctant to take us on. Maybe you should concentrate on the threads on moon landings.

This is true of every town and city in the UK. The gap between the rich and poor is the greatest it has been since the 19th century. This after nine years of a supposed Labour government. No wonder Margaret Thatcher said her most important legacy is New Labour.

I must say I resent having to spend time responded to your posts. However, here are a few recent examples where you have accused me of being a communist sympathizer. On 24th January, I posted a long account of the role that Eisenhower, the CIA and the United Fruit Company played in the overthrow of the democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5945 As I had provided evidence against your beloved Republican Party and the CIA, you immediately attacked my posting claiming that Arbenz was a communist and that he was not democratically elected. You also stated that the CIA had every right to overthrow governments in order to “protect the interests of the citizens of this country. That is its purpose.” It is this arrogant use of power that makes the United States so hated in the world. Not that the CIA was working in the interests of the United States. They were working for the United Fruit Corporation. That is why Harry Truman ordered the CIA to stop trying to overthrow a democratically elected government in Guatemala. However, once Eisenhower and the Republicans gained power, under pressure from United Fruit, gave permission for the CIA to carry out their plan. Pat Speer and Larry Hancock pointed out that your account was far of basic errors. Pat suggested you had been drinking “Kool-Aid” and Larry politely suggested you should do more reading on the subject. You then attacked me by saying that in my originally posting I had not mentioned the murder of Aranz in 1951. According to your sources, Aranz had been murdered by the “communists” and that if this had not happened, Arbenz would never have been elected. You then suggested that I had political reasons for defending the communist role in the election of Arbenz. Then came the bizarre statement that as I did not mention this event this raised the question: “Is the Simkin Forum now dedicated to the support of the assassination of right-wing politicians? This debate was then continued on the CIA and Democracy http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=6059 Once again you attempted to defend the CIA role in attempts to overthrow democratically elected governments throughout the world (including the UK). After taking an intellectual and moral hammering from Robert Charles-Dunne, Ron Ecker, John Dova, Stephen Turner and Nathaniel Heidenheimer, you retreated with your tail between your legs. On the 24th January I posted an account of how Cuba was offering free eye-surgery for those people in America who did not have health insurance. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5942 Once again your response to this information was extremely bizarre. You posted the comment that members who had responded to the thread were a lot of “lefties” and that we needed to know that the supermodel Helena Houdova had got into trouble for taking photographs in Havana. Later in the debate you accused me of being sympathetic to the communist regime in Cuba. On 4th February you wrote: “I favor human rights in all countries. You (John Simkin), however, seem to be tolerant of the well-documented human rights abuses in Cuba.” This is of course completely untrue. The only difference is that I oppose human rights abuses wherever they take place, including my own country. You are a right-wing nationalist who is incapable of acknowledging the crimes carried out by Bush or the CIA. In fact, as the debates on Guatemala and the CIA and Democracy show, if any illegal act carried out by people from the United States, have been ordered to do it by a Republican president, it is ok with you. The idea that someone is an anti-Semite because they attended a conference held in Moscow is similar to the justification used during McCarthyism when American citizens were blacklisted because they attended meetings organized by the American Communist Party. No I would not describe someone as an anti-Semite because they attended some meeting or they associated with right-wingers. My judgement will be based on what Michael Collins Piper actually says. However, it should be pointed out that I do not consider someone who criticises Israel as being anti-Semite. This is an idea being promoted by Bush in order to defend his policies in the Middle East.

Part 2: 1950-1959 Although originally sympathetic to fascism in Europe, Tommy Corcoran made a lot of money in the war that destroyed it. Clients like George and Herman Brown, John McCone, Henry J. Kaiser and Steve Bechtel also did very well out of this conflict. Corcoran had shown his clients that the best way of making money was to get government contracts to help the country fight a war. The only way you could guarantee obtaining these contracts was by developing good relationships with powerful politicians and important figures in the military. Corcoran had convinced his clients that he was the man to make sure these deals took place. The accusation that Corcoran was involved in corrupting political leaders had not gone away. In 1950 a committee headed by Frank M. Buchanan, began investigating lobbying activities. Buchanan reported that “In the 1870’s and 1880’s, lobbying meant direct, individual solicitation of legislators, with a strong presumption of corruption attached.” (1) According to Buchanan, the “business of influencing legislation is a billion dollar business.” However, he added that lobbying had undergone a transformation that made it very difficult to show that corruption had taken place. (2) After the war, Corcoran and his clients had a problem. Fascism had been defeated. There was no need for the government to spend billions of dollars on the arms trade. Corcoran believed this problem could be overcome. Corcoran was a passionate anti-communist. This provided Corcoran with a political belief that could make him a lot of money. As his biographer, David McKean, pointed out, this meant that Corcoran had “to align himself with some of the most conservative leaders in the country.” (3) According to Drew Pearson, Tommy Corcoran played an important role in getting James Forrestal into government. He claims he did this on behalf of Clarence Dillon, who wanted to “have a man in the White House”. (4) In August, 1940 President Roosevelt was appointed under secretary of the navy with special responsibility for procurement and production. In April 1944, Forrestal became the new Secretary of the Navy. Forrestal held the post until September 1947 when he became Secretary of Defence. It was in this post that Forrestal became America’s leading Cold War warrior. Pearson became convinced that Forrestal was taking this position in order to make money out of the threat of war. Pearson had discovered that Forrestal, while working for Dillon, Read & Co. had loaned “hundreds of millions to the German cartels of the Ruhr during the pre-Hitler period, reviving industries which were to form the backbone of Hitler’s war machine.” Pearson believed that “Forrestal was a Trojan Horse of the Right lodged inside the highest counsels of a professedly liberal Democratic Administration.” (5) Pearson revealed in his newspaper column that Forrestal had developed a close relationship with military dictatorships in Latin America. He was especially concerned about the help Forrestal was giving to Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua and Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Pearson wrote: “Practically all Latin America is watching the State Department to see what we do about recognizing the new Army dictatorship in Venezuela... the State Department's trigger-recognition of Latin dictators has brought forth a rash of military revolts, the latest being the Nicaraguan-inspired march against the peaceful government of Costa Rica... Secretary of Defense Forrestal still favors his plan of sending more arms to Latin America under a new lend-lease agreement, despite the fact that new arms to Latin American generals are like a toy train to a small boy at Christmastime. They can't wait to use them - usually against their own President. General Somoza, the Nicaraguan who has now inspired the fracas in Costa Rica, was trained by the US Marines, later seized the Presidency of Nicaragua. President Trujillo, worst dictator in all Latin America, was also trained by the US Marines. Unfortunately, under the Forrestal-Marine Corps program, we train men to shoot and give them the weapons to shoot with. But we don't give them any ideas or ideals as to what they should shoot for.” (6) Harry S. Truman also became concerned about the activities of Forrestal and on 28th March 1949 he forced him to resign from office. Two months later, James Forrestal committed suicide by throwing himself out of a 16th-floor hospital window. Corcoran had lost another important contact within the Truman administration. Like Forrestal, Corcoran had developed close links with foreign military dictators. Corcoran had also made useful contacts in the CIA who were busy carrying out covert actions against left-wing governments in Asia and Latin America. In January, 1950, Civil Air Transport (CAT) relocated its base of operations to the island of Formosa, where Chiang Kai-shek had established his new government. The following month, the Soviet Union and China signed a mutual defense pact. Two weeks later, President Truman signed National Security Directive 64, which stated that “it is important to United states security interests that all practical measures be taken to prevent further communist expansion in Southeast Asia.” The support of the government in Formosa was to become a key aspect of this policy. In February 1950, Frank Wisner began negotiating with Corcoran for the purchase of CAT. “In March, using a ‘cutout’ banker or middleman, the CIA paid CAT $350,000 to clear up arrearages, $400,000 for future operations, and a $1 million option on the business. The money was then divided among the airline’s owners, with Corcoran and Youngman receiving more than $100,000 for six years of legal fees, and Corcoran, Youngman, and David Corcoran dividing approximately $225,000 from the sale of the airline.” (7) Paul Helliwell was put in charge of this operation. His deputy was Desmond FitzGerald. (8) On 25th June, 1945, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. This event enabled Corcoran and his fellow lobbyists (it is claimed that Chiang Kai-shek was employing more than 200 people to propagandize its cause) to persuade the Truman administration that Formosa (Taiwan) was an important check on communist expansion in the region. (9) The CIA now launched a secret war against China. An office under commercial cover called Western Enterprises was opened on Taiwan. Training and operational bases were established in Taiwan and other offshore islands. By 1951 Chiang Kai-shek claimed to have more than a million active guerrillas in China. However, according to John Prados, “United States intelligence estimates at the time carried the more conservative figure of 600,000 or 650,000, only half of whom could be considered loyal to Taiwan.” (10) There was a growing concern in America about the role that the military was playing in government. In 1952 the Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas claimed that the greatest threat to democracy lay in trusting “the military clique that spreads itself slowly throughout the government expanding its hold”. (11) This fear had been expressed in two post-war novels, Sinclair Lewis, “It Can’t Happen Here” (12) and George Orwell’s, “1984” (13). Both Lewis and Orwell suggested that wars in the future will not only be started as a means to make profits but as “a febrifuge against internal discontent”. After the war Tommy Corcoran remained a paid lobbyist for Sam Zemurray and the United Fruit Company. Zemurray became concerned that Captain Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, one of the heroes of the 1944 revolution, would be elected as the new president of Guatemala. In the spring of 1950, Tommy Corcoran went to see Thomas C. Mann, the director of the State Department’s Office of Inter-American Affairs. Corcoran asked Mann if he had any plans to prevent Arbenz from being elected. Mann replied: “That is for the people of that country to decide.” Unhappy with this reply, Corcoran paid a call on the Allen Dulles, the deputy director of the CIA. Dulles, who represented United Fruit in the 1930s, was far more interested in Corcoran’s ideas. “During their meeting Dulles explained to Corcoran that while the CIA was sympathetic to United Fruit, he could not authorize any assistance without the support of the State Department. Dulles assured Corcoran, however, that whoever was elected as the next president of Guatemala would not be allowed to nationalize the operations of United Fruit.” (14) In November, 1950, Arbenz received more than 60 per cent of the popular vote. Corcoran then recruited Robert La Follette to work for United Fruit. Corcoran arranged for La Follette to lobby liberal members of Congress. The message was that Arbenz was not a liberal but a dangerous left-wing radical. (15) This strategy was successful and Congress was duly alarmed when on 17th June, 1952, Arbenz announced a new Agrarian Reform program. This included expropriating idle land on government and private estates and redistributed to peasants in lots of 8 to 33 acres. The Agrarian Reform program managed to give 1.5 million acres to around 100,000 families for which the government paid $8,345,545 in bonds. Among the expropriated landowners was Arbenz himself, who had become into a landowner with the dowry of his wealthy wife. Around 46 farms were given to groups of peasants who organized themselves in cooperatives. (16) Corcoran contacted President Anastasio Somoza and warned him that the Guatemalan revolution might spread to Nicaragua. (17) Somoza now made representations to Harry S. Truman about what was happening in Guatemala. After discussions with Walter Bedell Smith, director of the CIA, a secret plan to overthrow Arbenz (Operation Fortune) was developed. (18) Part of this plan involved Tommy Corcoran arranging for small arms and ammunition to be loaded on a United Fruit freighter and shipped to Guatemala, where the weapons would be distributed to dissidents. When the Secretary of State Dean Acheson discovered details of Operation Fortune, he had a meeting with Truman where he vigorously protested about the involvement of United Fruit and the CIA in the attempted overthrow of the democratically elected President Arbenz. As a result of Acheson’s protests, Truman ordered the postponement of Operation Fortune. In February 1953, 209,842 acres of United Fruit Company's uncultivated land was taken by the government which offered compensation of $525,000. Later the figure was increased to over a million dollars. As David McKean has pointed out: This figure was “in line with the company’s own valuation of the property, at least for tax purposes” (19). However, the company wanted $16 million for the land. While the Guatemalan government valued it at $2.99 per acre, the company now valued it at $75 per acre. Samuel Zemurray, United Fruit Company's largest shareholder, ordered Corcoran to organize an anti-Arbenz campaign in the American media. This included the claim that Guatemala was the beginning of "Soviet expansion in the Americas". Tommy Corcoran’s work was made easier by the election of Dwight Eisenhower in November, 1952. Eisenhower’s personal secretary was Anne Whitman, the wife of Edmund Whitman, United Fruit’s public relations director. (20) Eisenhower appointed John Peurifoy as ambassador to Guatemala. He soon made it clear that he believed that the Arbenz government posed a threat to the America’s campaign against communism. Corcoran also arranged for Whiting Willauer, his friend and partner in Civil Air Transport, to become U. S. ambassador to Honduras. As Willauer pointed out in a letter to Claire Chennault, he worked day and night to arrange training sites and instructors plus air crews for the rebel air force, and to keep the Honduran government “in line so they would allow the revolutionary activity to continue.” (21) Eisenhower also replaced Dean Acheson with John Foster Dulles. His brother, Allen Dulles became director of the CIA. The Dulles brothers “had sat on the board of United Fruit’s partner in the banana monopoly, the Schroder Banking Corporation” whereas “U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge was a stockholder and had been a strong defender of United Fruit while a U.S. senator.” (22) Walter Bedell Smith was moved to the State Department. Smith told Corcoran he would do all he could to help in the overthrow of Arbenz. He added that he would like to work for United Fruit once he retired from government office. (23) This request was granted and Bedell Smith was later to become a director of United Fruit. According to John Prados, Corcoran’s meeting with “Undersecretary of State Walter Bedell Smith that summer and that conversation is recalled by CIA officers as the clear starting point of that plan.” (24) Evan Thomas has added that: “With his usual energy and skill, Corcoran beseeched the U. S. government to overthrow Arbenz”. (25) The new CIA plan to overthrow Arbenz was called “Operation Success”. Allen Dulles became the executive agent and arranged for Tracey Barnes and Richard Bissell to plan and execute the operation. Bissell later claimed that he had been aware of the problem since reading a document published by the State Department that claimed: “The communists already exercise in Guatemala a political influence far out of proportion to their small numerical strength. This influence will probably continue to grow during 1952. The political situation in Guatemala adversely effects U. S. interests and constitutes a potential threat to U.S. security.” (26) Bissell does not point out that the source of this information was Tommy Corcoran and the United Fruit Company. John Prados argues that it was Barnes and Bissell who “coordinated the Washington end of the planning and logistics for the Guatemala operation.” As Deputy Director for Plans, it was Frank Wisner’s responsibility to select the field commander for Operation Success. Kim Roosevelt was first choice but he turned it down and instead the job went to Albert Hanley, the CIA station Chief in Korea. (27) Hanley was told to report to Joseph Caldwell King, director of the CIA’s Western Hemisphere Division. King had previously worked for the FBI where he had responsibility for all intelligence operations in Latin America. King suggested Hanley meet Tommy Corcoran. Hanley did not like the idea. King replied: “If you think you can run this operation without United Fruit you’re crazy.” (28) Although Hanley refused to work with Corcoran, Allen Dulles kept him fully informed of the latest developments in planning the overthrow of Arbenz. Tracey Barnes brought in David Attlee Phillips to run a “black” propaganda radio station. According to Phillips, he was reluctant to take part in the overthrow of a democratically elected president. Barnes replied: “It’s not a question of Arbenz. Nor of Guatemala. We have solid intelligence that the Soviets intended to throw substantial support to Arbenz… Guatemala is bordered by Honduras, British Honduras, Salvador and Mexico. It’s unacceptable to have a Commie running Guatemala.” (29) Barnes also appointed E. Howard Hunt as chief of political action. In his autobiography, Undercover, Hunt claims that “Barnes swore me to special secrecy and revealed that the National Security Council under Eisenhower and Vice President Nixon had ordered the overthrow of Guatemala’s Communist regime.” Hunt was not convinced by this explanation. He pointed out that 18 months previously he had suggested to the director of the CIA that Arbenz needed to be dealt with. However, the idea had been rejected. Hunt was now told that: “Washington lawyer Thomas G. Corcoran had, among his clients, the United Fruit Company. United Fruit, like many American corporations in Guatemala had watched with growing dismay nationalization, confiscation and other strong measures affecting their foreign holdings. Finally a land-reform edict issued by Arbenz proved the final straw, and Tommy the Cork had begun lobbying in behalf of United Fruit and against Arbenz. Following this special impetus our project had been approved by the National Security Council and was already under way.” (30) Albert Hanley brought in William (Rip) Robertson to take charge of the paramilitary side of the operation. Robertson had been Hanley’s deputy in Korea and had “enjoyed going along on the behind-the-lines missions with the CIA guerrillas, in violation of standing orders from Washington.” (31) One of those who worked with Robertson in Operation Success was David Morales. (32) Also in the team was Henry Hecksher, who operated under cover in Guatemala to supply front-line reports. John Foster Dulles decided that he “needed a civilian adviser to the State Department team to help expediate Operation Success. Dulles chose a friend of Corcoran’s, William Pawley, a Miami-based millionaire”. David McKean goes on to point out that Pawley had worked with Corcoran, Chennault and Willauer in helping to set up the Flying Tigers and in transforming Civil Air Transport into a CIA airline. McKean adds that his most important qualification for the job was his “long association with right-wing Latin America dictators.” (33) The rebel “liberation army” was formed and trained in Nicaragua. This was not a problem as President Anastasio Somoza and been warning the United States government since 1952 that that the Guatemalan revolution might spread to Nicaragua. The rebel army of 150 men were trained by Rip Robertson. Their commander was a disaffected Guatemalan army officer, Carlos Castillo Armas. It was clear that a 150 man army was unlikely to be able to overthrow the Guatemalan government. Tracy Barnes believed that if the rebels could gain control of the skies and bomb Guatemala City, they could create panic and Arbenz might be fooled into accepting defeat. (34) According to Richard Bissell, Somoza was willing to provide cover for this covert operation. However, this was on the understanding that these aircraft would be provided by the United States. (35) Eisenhower agreed to supply Somoza with a “small pirate air force to bomb Arbenz into submission”. To fly these planes, the CIA recruited American mercenaries like Jerry DeLarm. (36) Before the bombing of Guatemala City, the rebel army was moved to Honduras where Tommy Corcoran’s business partner, Whiting Willauer, was ambassador. The plan was for them to pretend to be the “vanguard of a much larger army seeking to liberate their homeland from the Marxists”. (37) Arbenz became aware of this CIA plot to overthrow him. Guatemalan police made several arrests. In his memoirs, Eisenhower described these arrests as a “reign of terror” and falsely claimed that “agents of international Communism in Guatemala continued their efforts to penetrate and subvert their neighboring Central American states, using consular agents for their political purposes and fomenting political assassinations and strikes.” (38) Sydney Gruson of the New York Times began to investigate this story. Journalists working for Time Magazine also tried to write about these attempts to destabilize Arbenz’s government. Frank Wisner, head of Operation Mockingbird, asked Allen Dulles to make sure that the American public never discovered the plot to overthrow Arbenz. Arthur Hays Sulzberger, the publisher of the New York Times, agreed to stop Gruson from writing the story. Henry Luce was also willing to arrange for the Time Magazine reports to be rewritten at the editorial offices in New York. (39) The CIA propaganda campaign included the distribution of 100,000 copies of a pamphlet entitled Chronology of Communism in Guatemala. They also produced three films on Guatemala for showing free in cinemas. Faked photographs were distributed that claimed to show the mutilated bodies of opponents of Arbenz. David Atlee Phillips and E. Howard Hunt were responsible for running the CIA's Voice of Liberation radio station. Broadcasts began on 1st May, 1954. They also arranged for the distribution of posters and pamphlets. Over 200 articles based on information provided by the CIA were placed in newspapers and magazines by the United States Information Agency. (40) The Voice of Liberation reported massive defections from Arbenz’s army. According to David Atlee Phillips the radio station “broadcast that two columns of rebel soldiers were converging on Guatemala City. In fact, Castillo Armas and his makeshift army were still encamped six miles inside the border, far from the capital.” As Phillips later admitted, the “highways were crowded, but with frightened citizens fleeing Guatemala City and not with soldiers approaching it.” (41) As E. Howard Hunt pointed out, “our powerful transmitter overrode the Guatemalan national radio, broadcasting messages to confuse and divide the population from its military overlords.” (42) There was no popular uprising. On 20th June, the CIA reported to Eisenhower that Castillo Armas had not been able to take his assigned objective, Zacapa. His seaborne force had also failed to capture Puerto Barrios. According to John Prados, it all now depended on “Whiting Willauer’s rebel air force”. (43) However, that was not going to plan and on 27th June, Winston Churchill, the British prime minister berated Eisenhower when a CIA plane sank a British merchant vessel heading for Guatemala. The bombing had been ordered by Rip Robertson without first gaining permission from the CIA or Eisenhower. Robertson had been convinced that the Springfjord was a “Czech arms carrying freighter” (44). In reality it had been carrying only coffee and cotton. Frank Wisner had to make a personal apology for the incident and the CIA later quietly reimbursed Lloyd’s of London, insurers of the Springfjord, the $1.5 million they had paid out on the ship. (45) Arbenz had been convinced by the Voice of Liberation reports that his army was deserting. Richard Bissell believes that this is when Arbenz made his main mistake. Arbenz decided to distribute weapons to the “people’s organizations and the political parties”. As Bissell later explained: “The conservative men who constituted the leadership of Guatemala’s army viewed this action as the final unacceptable leftward lurch, and they told Arbenz they would no longer support him. He resigned and fled to Mexico.” (46) The American media continued to provide cover for its role in overthrowing Arbenz. Newsweek claimed: “The United States, aside from whatever gumshoe work the Central Intelligence Agency may or may not have been busy with, had kept strictly hands off.” The New York Times reported that the United States had only supplied “moral support” to Armas just as the Soviet Union had provided “moral support” to Arbenz. (47) However, one story did get out. The New York Journal-American reported that "one of the most hush, hush stories of the year has finally leaked. Tommy the Cork... has for some time been employed on a huge retainer by the United Fruit Company to look after their interests." (48) Once in power, Castillo Armas cancelled Arbenz’s land and tax reforms, gave United Fruit back its holdings, restored the secret police, introduced rigid censorship, tortured political opponents and imposed a military dictatorship. In later years, Tracy Barnes, Frank Wisner and Richard Bissell would regret the outcome of the Guatemala coup. Bissell pointed out that using covert action to overthrow a government was only half the story: “ultimate success depends on how your people (in this case, Castillo Armas and his successors) run the country and how to make it a productive society.” (49) David Atlee Phillips claimed that after the removal of Arbenz he was invited along to a meeting with Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon at the White House. Allen Dulles, Albert Hanley and Rip Robertson also attended the de-briefing. According to Phillips, at the end of the meeting Eisenhower said: “Thanks Allen, and thanks to you all. You’ve averted a Soviet beachhead in our hemisphere.” (50) Joseph Trento argues in The Secret History of the CIA, that the overthrow of Arbenz was so successful that it became the “template for future covert operations”. (51) The operation was to have some undesirable long-term effects. As I. F. Stone pointed out in an article written several years later: “We helped overthrow the Arbenz government in 1954 and then looked on complacently as its successors undid the Arbenz reforms, reforms we claim to favour. Arbenz enacted a moderate income tax in 1954, it was soon afterwards abolished by Castillo armas, the Agrarian reform was halted and most of the land expropriated under the Arbenz regime was returned to the land-owners. Is it any wonder that Castro is a hero in Latin America, and that we appear to be the main obstacle to aspirations for a more decent life below the border? Yankee imperialism, to our shame, is not just a propaganda slogan in Central America.” (52) Tommy Corcoran’s clients based in California, John McCone, Henry J. Kaiser and Steve Bechtel continued to enjoy business success after the war. In 1950 McCone became Under Secretary of the Air Force. While in these posts McCone gave contracts to Standard Oil of California and Kaiser Aluminum, two companies in which he had financial connections. McCone received a great deal of criticism for awarding a contract to build Flying Boxcar transports to the Kaiser-Fraser Corporation. This was a company that was owned by two former business partners, Kaiser and Bechtel. McCone decided to resign but in 1954 President Eisenhower persuaded him to return to government service by serving on a committee that was devising ways of restructuring the U. S. Foreign Service. Steve Bechtel got the contract from the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to build its first Nuclear Reactor Test station in Idaho Falls. Harry Truman argued that nuclear energy was “too important a development to be made the subject of profit-seeking”. Dwight Eisenhower disagreed and made it clear that he wanted to issue licenses to private companies to build and operate nuclear power stations. In 1954 the Republican-controlled Congress granted him his wish and passed the Atomic Energy Act. Later that year Bechtel got the contract to build the AEC’s weapons-manufacturing installation at Paducah, Kentucky. Tommy Corcoran was not the only lobbyist developing relationships with the CIA, the military and powerful politicians in the United States and the Americas. Isaac Irving Davidson had worked for the War Production Board during the war. Later he became a licensed arms dealer. In 1955 Davidson was employed by Anastasio Somoza. Over the next few years he arranged arms deals between Israel and Nicaragua. He also sold arms to Fulgencio Batista, the military dictator of Cuba and developed close relationship with other dictators in the region. (53) As John Davis has pointed out: “He (Davidson) was the registered lobbyist for the Somozas of Nicaragua, the Duvaliers of Haiti, the Trujillos of the Dominican Republic, and the wealthy Murchisons of Dallas, owners of the Dallas Cowboys.... He shared his close friendship with the Murchisons with another good friend, J. Edgar Hoover, who, it has been said, relied on Davidson for inside information no one else was able to provide.... Irv Davidson's activities ranged the entire globe. He once sold seventy Israeli-made staghound tanks to Nicaragua. He lobbied on behalf of the CIA on Capitol Hill. He represented Fidel Castro's interests in the United States.” (54) Tommy Corcoran remained the most important lobbyist working in this field. His clients based in California, John McCone, Henry J. Kaiser and Steve Bechtel continued to enjoy business success after the war. In 1950 McCone became Under Secretary of the Air Force. While in these posts McCone gave contracts to Standard Oil of California and Kaiser Aluminum, two companies in which he had financial connections. McCone received a great deal of criticism for awarding a contract to build Flying Boxcar transports to the Kaiser-Fraser Corporation. This was a company that was owned by two former business partners, Kaiser and Bechtel. McCone decided to resign but in 1954 President Eisenhower persuaded him to return to government service by serving on a committee that was devising ways of restructuring the U. S. Foreign Service. Steve Bechtel got the contract from the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to build its first Nuclear Reactor Test station in Idaho Falls. Harry Truman argued that nuclear energy was “too important a development to be made the subject of profit-seeking”. Dwight Eisenhower disagreed and made it clear that he wanted to issue licenses to private companies to build and operate nuclear power stations. In 1954 the Republican-controlled Congress granted him his wish and passed the Atomic Energy Act. (55) Later that year Bechtel got the contract to build the AEC’s weapons-manufacturing installation at Paducah, Kentucky. Another business figure who featured prominently in the administration of Dwight Eisenhower was Robert B. Anderson. In 1954 he was appointed as Secretary of the Navy. Later he became Deputy Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Treasury. Before his appointment, Anderson was president of the Texas Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. Robert Sherrill points out: “Anderson, a resident of landlocked Fort Worth, knew nothing of naval affairs before he got the post, but that hardly matters; all he needed to know was that Texas is the largest oil-producing state and that the Navy is the largest consumer of oil as well as leaser of valuable lands to favored oil firms. From this producer-consumer relationship things work out rather naturally, and it was this elementary knowledge that later made John Connally (who had for several years, through the good offices of his mentor Lyndon Johnson, been serving as Sid Richardson's attorney and who later became executor of the Richardson estate) and Fred Korth, also residents of Fort Worth, such able secretaries of the Navy, by Texas standards.” (56) According to Joe Trento, “William Zylka, a New Jersey businessman and operative for the CIA… had a long relationship with the CIA through Eisenhower Treasury Secretary Robert Anderson, who informally ran dozens of businessmen as Agency assets.” (57) There was also growing concern that America had been unable to reduce its military expenditure after the end of the Korean War. In “The Power Elite” published in 1956, C. Wright Mills wrote: “American capitalism is now in considerable part a military capitalism and the most important relation of the big corporation to the state rests on the coincidence of interests between military and corporate needs, as defined by the warlords and corporate rich.” (58) C. Wright Mills went onto argue: “Of the three types of circle that compose the power elite today, it is the military that has benefited the most in its enhanced power… It is the professional politician who has lost the most.” That might have been true of most politicians but some critics were pointing out that certain figures in Congress had increased their power by forming alliances with the military and their suppliers. Senator William Proxmire was one of those who was concern about the way power was distributed in Congress. Proxmire was particularly worried about the Armed Services and Appropriations Committees. He pointed out that the “Armed Services and Appropriations Committees are among the most powerful in the House and Senate.” The man with the power to control membership of these committees was Lyndon B. Johnson. Proxmire added: “In the Senate, five of the six top Democratic members on the Appropriations Committee are from south of the Mason-Dixon line. In the House, six of the top eight Democratic members of the Appropriations Committee came from Dixieland. On the Armed Services committees, four of six top Democrats in the Senate and three of five in the House are from the South.” (59) Proxmire went onto argue that a large percentage of government contracts were going to corporations based in Texas. General Dynamics in particular had done extremely well in acquiring this business. By the late 1950s more than 80 per cent of the corporation’s business came from the government. (60) As Keith L. Nelson pointed out, in the 1950s there was a growing concern “regarding the dangers to peace from coalescing interest groups”. (61) One of the men Nelson had in mind was John McCone. He was an ardent Cold War warrior and in 1956 attacked the suggestion made by Adlai Stevenson that there should be a nuclear test ban. McCone accused American scientists of being "taken in" by Soviet propaganda and of attempting to "create fear in the minds of the uninformed that radioactive fallout from H-bomb tests endangers life." In 1958 President Dwight Eisenhower rewarded McCone by appointing him Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. McCone had a budget of $2 billion per year and operated $7 billion worth of facilities. In this post, McCone worked closely with former business partner, Steve Bechtel. Three senior figures in the AEC, Harry Brown, Steven V. White and Ashton O’Donnell, were later to work for Bechtel. As Senator Abraham Ribicoff pointed out, the nuclear industry was “so incestuous, it is impossible to tell where the public sector begins and the private one leaves off.” (62) McCone immediately stopped buying uranium from foreign sources and instead purchased radioactive ore from Kaiser & Utah Construction (owned by his old friend Henry Kaiser) and Union Carbide (a major customer of the McCone and Bechtel owned Joshua Henry Corporation). McCone appointed three executives from Standard Oil of California and the president of Pacific Gas & Electric - both of them major Bechtel customers – to study the question of federal subsidies for reactors. Not surprisingly, the report they produced called for a government supported developmental program. Drew Pearson wrote several articles about McCone’s relationship with Steve Bechtel. Pearson also raised issues about McCone’s financial involvement in General Dynamics. However, the Washington Post refused to publish these stories. In his diary on 27th April, 1959, Pearson suggested that the reason for this might be McCone’s friendship with Phil Graham. (63) McCone then decided to build the world’s first nuclear-powered commercial merchant ship. The Maritime Commission appointed a professional selection board to consider the six bidders for the $40 million contract. McCone and Bechtel both had a financial interest in one of the companies, States Marine Line, via the Joshua Henry Corporation. When the rankings were announced, States Marine Line was in fifth place. The final decision was in the hands of Commerce Secretary Sinclair Weeks. He overrode his own board and granted the contract to States Marine Line. Drew Pearson discovered McCone’s financial involvement in the company and wrote about the matter in his syndicated column. As a result of this publicity, McCone eventually agreed to place all his shipping interests in an irrevocable trust. (64) However, it was the Texas-based company, General Dynamics that was still the most important player in the market. In 1958 the company obtained defence contracts valued at $2,239,000,000. William Proxmire suggested that the corporation’s employment of 113 high-ranking retired military officers had a lot to do with this success. (60) An attempt was made by Edward Herbert of Louisiana to regulate the activities of retired officers but the majority leader in the Senate, Lyndon Johnson ensured the ““bill was properly laid to rest without even a quiver of action”. (65) Another Texas-based company linked to Lyndon Johnson that did very well from government contracts in the 1950s was Brown & Root. (66) However, it was not until the 1960s that Johnson emerged as the central figure in what Dwight Eisenhower described as the “Military-Industrial Complex”. (67) Notes 1. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 209) 2. A full account of the history of lobbying since 1870 can be found in Jeffrey H. Birnbaum’s book, The Lobbyists, 1992. 3. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 210) 4. Drew Pearson, Diaries: 1949-1959, 1974 (page 40) 5. Jack Anderson, Confessions of a Muckraker, 1979 (page 127) 6. Drew Pearson, Washington Merry-Go-Round (15th December, 1948) 7. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 216) 8. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 65) 9. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 218) 10. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 66) 11 William O. Douglas, Should We Fear the Military?, Look Magazine (11th March, 1952) 12 Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here (1945) 13 George Orwell, 1984 (1948) 14. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 220) 15. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 221) 16. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 98) 17. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 221) 18. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 99) 19. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 221) 20. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 110) 21. Stephen Schlesinger & Stephen Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 1982 (page 140) 22. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 110) 23. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 222) 24. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 99) 25. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 110) 26. Richard M. Bissell, Reflections of a Cold War Warrior, 1996 (page 81) 27. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (pages 99-100) 28. Stephen Schlesinger & Stephen Kinzer, Bitter Fruit, 1982 (page 110) 29. David Atlee Phillips, The Night Watch, 1977 (pages 42-43) 30. E. Howard Hunt, Undercover, 1974 (pages 96-97) 31. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 101) 32. Larry Hancock, Someone Would Have Talked, 2003 (page 5) 33. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 223) 34. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 113) 35. Richard M. Bissell, Reflections of a Cold War Warrior, 1996 (page 87) 36. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 113) 37. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 101) 38. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mandate for Change: The White House Years, 1965 (page 493) 39. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 117) 40. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 104) 41. David Atlee Phillips, The Night Watch, 1977 (page 60) 42. E. Howard Hunt, Undercover, 1974 (page 100) 43. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 88) 44. E. Howard Hunt, Undercover, 1974 (page 100) 45. John Prados, Presidents’ Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations, 1986 (page 88) 46. Richard M. Bissell, Reflections of a Cold War Warrior, 1996 (page 88) 47. Evan Thomas, The Very Best Men: The Early Years of the CIA, 1995 (page 123) 48. David McKean, Peddling Influence, 2004 (page 227) 49. Richard M. Bissell, Reflections of a Cold War Warrior, 1996 (page 90) 50. David Atlee Phillips, The Night Watch, 1977 (pages 63-64) 51. Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA, 2001 (page 168) 52. I. F. Stone, I. F. Stone Weekly, 21st November, 1960 53. Peter Scott, Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, 1993, (pages 217-222) 54. John Gordon Davis, Mafia Kingfish, 1989 (pages 474-75) 55. Laton McCarthy, Friends in High Places: The Bechtel Story, 1988 (page 103) 56. Robert Sherrill, The Accidental President, 1967 (pages 142-147) 57. Joseph Trento, The Secret History of the CIA, 2001 (page 395) 58. C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite, 1956 (page 276) 59. William Proxmire, Report from Wasteland: America’s Military-Industrial Complex, 1970 (pages 98-99) 60. I. F. Stone, Nixon and the Arms Race, The New York Review of Books (January, 1969) 61. Keith L. Nelson, The Warfare State: History of a Concept, Pacific Historical Review, V2, 1971 62. Laton McCarthy, Friends in High Places: The Bechtel Story, 1988 (page 104) 63. Drew Pearson, Diaries: 1949-1959, 1974 (page 519) 64. Laton McCarthy, Friends in High Places: The Bechtel Story, 1988 (page 110) 65. William Proxmire, speech in Congress (24th March, 1969) 66. Robert Sherrill, The Accidental President, 1967 (page 257) 67. See the following for a full account of Brown & Roots successful record of obtaining government contracts: Joseph A. Pratt & Christopher J. Castaneda, Builders: Herman and George R. Brown (1999), Dan Briody, The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money (2004) and Robert Bryce, Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas (2004). 68. Dwight Eisenhower, Farewell Radio and Television Address to the American People, (17th January, 1961) I welcome criticisms, corrections and suggested additions to the paper. This is very much a collaborative project. Could you please post your contributions here: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5856

As I pointed out, you often attempt to smear people you disagree with as being “anti-American” or “communist sympathizers”. You proved this on this thread by accusing me of being “anti-American” because I disagreed with you. As a libertarian socialist I have spent my political life fighting against communism. As my political compass scores show, I am at the opposite end of the spectrum to the authoritarianism of communism. (It was noted that your own scores put you in the neo-fascist category). Michael Collins Piper may or may not be an anti-Semite. However, he does not become an anti-Semite because he has written a book suggesting that the Israeli secret service might have been involved in the assassination of JFK. Nor is Jeff Dahlstrom an anti-Semite because he wants to read Piper’s book. What I do know is that some people want to stifle discussion by accusing people of being anti-Semites or communists. This will not be allowed. If I catch you doing it again I will delete your membership.

The main way I promote this Forum is that when I construct a page on a character I also start a thread on that person on the Forum. As a result of my Google ranking, the web page usually gets to the top or very near to the top when doing a search on this character. Therefore, when the person visits the page, they often then go to the Forum. This is why we have so many of the people I have written about join the Forum. Yes, journalists do make use of this Forum. Some investigative journalists are regulars. Others reach it via my website. For example, I have noticed that several recent obituaries published in newspapers have lifted passages from my website. This is understandable as all journalists use Google to find information.

Wade Frazier joined the Forum today.

I assume this means that you will now be withdrawing your accusations against Cuba and the Soviet Union.

http://www.cwgc.org/debt_of_honour.asp?menuid=14 http://www.victoriacross.net/default.asp For an alternative approach, take a look at those British soldiers who were executed. http://www.shotatdawn.org.uk/

Is it your first time? I am slightly concerned by the amount you are trying to pack into a day trip. A visit has an emotional impact on all the students (and staff). I would personalize it as much as possible. Get the students to use the online database to find soldiers who died who have the same surname as themselves. Also get them to discover if they have relatives who died in France during the First World War. Once again, they can use the online database to find out where they are buried. Another possibility is to get them to research soldiers who were awarded a VC while in France. Again, there is a very good database online.

Did not take me very long for me to find a quote where you falsely attacked someone for being "anti-American" (it appeared on the same thread as this one). Of course, what you really mean is that I am "anti-George Bush" but according to your twisted logic, this means I am "anti-American". Your "lack of education" has nothing to do with you having a university education. Your idea of education is learning what you think you already know. As regards to people being called communist sympathizers, you have repeatedly done this to members of the Forum when they have questioned your theory that Castro did it. Remember, on the thread on Tom Buchanan, you famously said that he could not be believed because he was a former member of the American Communist Party and "all communists are liars". This is the other line that Tim takes. This is quite amazing as Tim makes more spelling mistakes than almost anybody else on the Forum. Not that this in itself means that Tim is not very bright. However, it is a reflection of his closed mind that he appears to be completely unaware of it.

Tim, as Johnson was co-writing a book on the Bay of Pigs with several of the Brigade's leaders, to Kennedy, Johnson may have had any number of "guys". Pat is of course right about this. In 1963 Haynes Johnson was working on the book, "The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506". In the book, Johnson makes it clear it was co-written by Manuel Artime, Jose Perez San Roman, Erneido Oliva and Enrique Ruiz-Williams (their names actually appear on the title page). Robert Kennedy knew about this book and when he used the term "guys" he was refering to Artime, Roman, Oliva and Ruiz-Williams. According to Gene Wheaton, Chi Chi Quintero was involved in the assassination of JFK. In 1963, Quintero was Artime's deputy. Wheaton also argues that the assassination team had initially been trained to kill Castro but had been redirected towards JFK by CIA official, Carl Jenkins. It is also interesting that within a couple of hours of the assassination, RFK asked John McCone, if any of his "guys" did it. Therefore, is it possible that RFK had some sort of knowledge of what Jenkins and Artime were up to in 1963?

Because along with LBJ, he was doing the “allowing”.