John Floyd Hull

[John Simkin]

John Floyd Hull was born in Evansville, Indiana. According to Daniel Sheehan, Hull was a CIA contract operative in Costa Rica where he managed 8,000 acres of land along the Nicaraguan border. He has admitted that he received around $10,000 a month from the National Security Council. In return, he helped feed and supply the Contras attacking Nicaragua.

Peter Dale Scott believes that Robert Owen worked "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras." In 1983 Owen introduced John Hull to Oliver North. He also served as liaison to the network funding the Contras.

A Costa Rican security official saw Hull in the company of Amac Galil, the man who took part in the attempted assassination of rogue Contra leader Eden Pastora at a press conference in La Penca. Pastora survived but three journalists, including Linda Frazier, were killed.

It has been claimed that on 30th May, 1984, Hull met Robert Owen, CIA station chief Phil Holtz and several pilots met at a CIA safe house in San Jose, Costa Rica. According to the mercenary Jack Terrell, Hull continued to have meetings with Owen, Amac Galil and Felipe Vidal to discuss the need to kill Eden Pastora.

In October, 1985, two journalists, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, accused Hull as being involved in the La Penca bombing. Hull responds by filing suit against Avirgan and Honey for "injuries, falsehood and defamation of character". During their trial, Avirgan and Honey provide documents and witnesses to support their comments on Hull. As a result the judge throws Hull's lawsuit out of court.

In a CBS documentary broadcast in April 1986, a former contra pilot identifies Hull's ranch as a "major transshipment plant for military supplies and drugs". The following month Daniel Sheehan and the Christic Institute name John Hull, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Albert Hakim, Adolfo Calero and 22 others as major figures in a racketeering network involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling.

Senator John Kerry and his Foreign Relations subcommittee on narcotics and terrorism now begins to investigate the activities of Hull. One source told the committee that Hull helped plan an assassination plot against Lewis Tambs, the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica. In 1987 Hull told PBS: "I'm not an assassin, but if I had my way, Senators like Kerry and Kennedy would be lined up against a wall and shot tomorrow at sunrise."

In June 1988, James L. King dismissed the Christic Institute lawsuit against Hull. However, the Costa Rican authorities arrest Hull on charges of drug trafficking and using the country for "hostile acts" against Nicaragua. Friends posted a $37,000 bail but Hull fled the country before the start of the trial.

Kerry's committee published a 1,200 page report, Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy (April 1989). The report included testimony that Hull's ranch was used for gun and drug smuggling operations. The following year Hull was indicted for murder in Costa Rica.

In May 1990, Carlos Lehder, a key figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel, told Diane Sawyer of ABC that John Hull was a major cocaine trafficker and claims that he had been smuggling 30 tons of cocaine a year into the United States. At the request of Costa Rican special prosecutor Jorge Chaverria, John Hull was added to Interpol's "most wanted" list of international fugitives.

John Hull was eventually discovered living in the remote town of Juigalpa in Nicaragua. Costa Rica asked the government in Nicaragua. However, before he can be arrested he escaped to the United States. In April, 1991, Costa Rica submitted a formal request to the U.S. State Department to extradite Hull.

Two questions:

(1) Does anyone have any information on Hull before 1980?

(2) Did the U.S. State Department ever extradite Hull.

[John Dolva]

http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guid...icaragua25.html

Consolidation of the Revolution, 1979-80

The new government inherited a country in ruins, with a stagnant economy and a debt of about US$1.6 billion. An estimated 50,000 Nicaraguans were dead, 120,000 were exiles in neighboring countries, and 600,000 were homeless. Food and fuel supplies were exhausted, and international relief organizations were trying to deal with disease caused by lack of health supplies. Yet the attitude of the vast majority of Nicaraguans toward the revolution was decidedly hopeful. Most Nicaraguans saw the Sandinista victory as an opportunity to create a system free of the political, social, and economic inequalities of the almost universally hated Somoza regime.

One of the immediate goals of the new government was reconstruction of the national economy.

The junta appointed individuals from the private sector to head the government's economic team. They were responsible for renegotiating the foreign debt and channeling foreign economic aid through the state-owned International Reconstruction Fund (Fondo Internacional de Reconstrucción--FIR). The new government received bilateral and multinational financial assistance and also rescheduled the national foreign debt on advantageous terms. Pledging food for the poor, the junta made restructuring the economy its highest priority.

At first the economy experienced positive growth, largely because of renewed inflow of foreign aid and reconstruction after the war (see The Sandinista Era , ch. 3). The new government enacted the Agrarian Reform Law, beginning with the nationalization of all rural properties owned by the Somoza family or people associated with the Somozas, a total of 2,000 farms representing more than 20 percent of Nicaragua's cultivable land. These farms became state property under the new Ministry of Agrarian Reform. Large agroexport farms not owned by the Somozas generally were not affected by the agrarian reform. Financial institutions, all in bankruptcy from the massive capital flight during the war, were also nationalized.

______________________

This was a time when surrounding nations were in turmoil. El Salvador was close to revolution.

Cuba had helped consolidate the FSLN into what became the successful leadership of the Sandinista revolution. As in Cuba, land redistribution was high on the agenda, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was at this time that John Hull became most interested in a counter revolution. He would have been ideally placed for a launchpad of the Contras. I suspect that one needs to go close to source to learn much about him. The Sandinistas and its revolutionary leadership are still active and an approach to them for information could be fruitful.

[John Dolva]

"The following month Daniel Sheehan and the Christic Institute name John Hull, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Albert Hakim, Adolfo Calero and 22 others ..."

including:: Bruce Jones-(Hull's business partner, Bruce Jones, was revealed as a CIA Agent in the Feb. 85 Life magazine.)

http://www.totse.com/en/politics/central_i...y/cia_coke.html

http://www.thememoryhole.org/kerry/kerry1-141-160.htm

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM CRONE

Mr. Crone. OK. I've been in - well, my family has been in the logging business all its life. I had a sawmill in Indiana, and then I went to Costa Rica and started a sawmill in Costa Rica. And I met Mr. Hull in Costa Rica in 1978. And he seemed, you know, like a very nice person and everything. Got to be good friends. We was very good friends up until the day we signed this loan.

10-percent ownership in the farm, and had power of attorney in Costa Rica. So, we signed the loan that day. And from that day on, they never talked to me any more about it.

Mr. Blum. Did Mr. Hull sell any equipment to the company?

Mr. Crone. Yes. Mr. Hull had a truck, his personal - that was in one of his other companies that he sold to this company. And then afterward he sold this truck for Maderas Tropicales to a individual in Costa Rica with only a postdated check. And then the gentleman sold the truck later, and Mr. Hull could not recuperate the money because the check was no good.

Mr. Blum. Now, what happened in your understanding to the proceeds of the loan? We heard earlier that it was deposited in an Indiana bank account. Do you know what became of it after that Indiana bank account?

Mr. Crone. No. The only thing I know is just what Mr. Stiehler told me that they deposited all the money in a bank account in Indiana. And then from there they started writing checks and cashed them in Costa Rica or wherever - even in Indiana. They sent some to Mr. Hull's account in Indiana and this, that and the other.

Mr. Blum. Now, let me try to understand what you've just said. You're saying that there was a farm that was given as security. But then he sold that farm. And to sell the farm, he had to get rid of the mortgage that was on it. Is that what you're saying?

Mr. Crone. No. He sold the farm because the mortgage had never been registered properly in Costa Rica.

Mr. Blum. Oh, I see. In other words, OPIC had security on a farm, but the mortgage hadn't been registered.

Mr. Crone. Right.

Mr. Blum. But he sold that farm, and then he went to OPIC and said we'll get another farm placed in. Is that correct?

Mr. Crone. Yes. He has two farms. And these two farms did not have the paperwork correct in his name or in his company name......And I told Diana Chavarria that he was trying to cut this timber off of this farm at this time - trying the same farm that he was going to put in as security. Without the timber, this farm has no value whatsoever.

....

Mr. Crone. No, I never saw it. I know they used part of it to pay the life insurance, part of it to pay the first payment. The rest of it - I have no idea whatsoever they done with it.

Mr. Blum. Now, there was third partner in this; wasn't there? There was a Costa Rican who was to be a plant manager. Who was he?

Mr. Crone. Please repeat that, please.

Mr. Blum. Are you sure that that money went into his personal account?

Mr. Crone. No, I'm not positive. It's just hearsay. But Maderas Tropicales never had an account of their own at this time either.

Mr. Blum. Is there a possibility of a sawmill business making wheelbarrow handles being successful in Costa Rica?

Mr. Crone. Yes. At that time there was a very good chance of it - of being a very good going business.

Mr. Blum. But this business was not successful.

Mr. Crone. No, because it was never set up. Never had the equipment - the money sat in the bank account in Indiana for 6 months - a lot of it - or maybe more when it should have all been invested the very same day that the proceeds.

.......Mr. Blum. Now, were you aware that Mr. Hull was at the time active in aiding the Contras?

Mr. Crone. Yes.

Mr. Blum. Was he using his ranch at that time or his various properties to support Contra operations in northern Costa Rica?

Mr. Crone. Well, I'm not saying exactly he used his ranches. But he was communicating very well with these people.

Mr. Blum. Do you think any of this money went to help the Contras?

Mr. Crone. No. I don't think any of this money really went to help the Contras. Anything that went to improve his own property. [Laughter.]

Senator Kerry [presiding]. When did you first meet Mr. Hull?

Mr. Crone. In Costa Rica.

Senator Kerry. What year?

Mr. Crone. In 1978.

Senator Kerry. And those weapons and explosives were coming into the airstrips - yours. Correct?

Mr. Crone. Well, no, it's not mine. It's the company's.

Senator Kerry. The company's.

Mr. Crone. A company.

Senator Kerry. A company. What was the name of the company?

Mr. Crone. La Conya.

Senator Kerry. La Conya. Now, who were the principles of the company, La Conya?

.......Mr. Crone. OK. John Hull was a 30-percent owner.

Senator Kerry. John?

Mr. Crone. And the manager.

.......Mr. Crone. John Hull was the ---

Senator Kerry. Thirty-percent owner of the company.

Mr. Crone. Thirty-percent owner of the company, and he was the manager of the company.

Senator Kerry. And you also know of weapons or explosives being stored at or near the sawmill that was owned by Mr. Hull. Correct?

Mr. Crone. Yes.

Senator Kerry. So, the sawmill was, in fact, a location for supplies of those weapons for the Contras.

Mr. Crone. No. You said "at or near". It was not at the sawmill.

Senator Kerry. Near the sawmill.

Mr. Crone. Yes.

.Mr. Crone. Well, it was another farm close; yes.

Senator Kerry. Can you describe that farm?

Mr. Crone. Well, it was in Life magazine at one time.

Senator Kerry. Well, do you want to be more specific since the rest of ---

[Laughter.]

Senator Kerry. I missed that copy of Life.

Mr. Crone. It was where Bruce Jones lived.

Senator Kerry. Where?

Mr. Crone. Bruce Jones lived.

Senator Kerry. Bruce Jones lived, OK.

And now, did you in the course of that time also learn of individuals who were trafficking in narcotics?

Mr. Crone. No. I was informed by some people from the Embassy to stay away from certain people, that they had been tagged as trafficking in narcotics.

[William Plumlee]

deleted

Edited November 3, 2006 by William Plumlee

[John Simkin]

John Floyd Hull was born in Evansville, Indiana. According to Daniel Sheehan, Hull was a CIA contract operative in Costa Rica where he managed 8,000 acres of land along the Nicaraguan border. He has admitted that he received around $10,000 a month from the National Security Council. In return, he helped feed and supply the Contras attacking Nicaragua.

Peter Dale Scott believes that Robert Owen worked "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras." In 1983 Owen introduced John Hull to Oliver North. He also served as liaison to the network funding the Contras.

A Costa Rican security official saw Hull in the company of Amac Galil, the man who took part in the attempted assassination of rogue Contra leader Eden Pastora at a press conference in La Penca. Pastora survived but three journalists, including Linda Frazier, were killed.

It has been claimed that on 30th May, 1984, Hull met Robert Owen, CIA station chief Phil Holtz and several pilots met at a CIA safe house in San Jose, Costa Rica. According to the mercenary Jack Terrell, Hull continued to have meetings with Owen, Amac Galil and Felipe Vidal to discuss the need to kill Eden Pastora.

In October, 1985, two journalists, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, accused Hull as being involved in the La Penca bombing. Hull responds by filing suit against Avirgan and Honey for "injuries, falsehood and defamation of character". During their trial, Avirgan and Honey provide documents and witnesses to support their comments on Hull. As a result the judge throws Hull's lawsuit out of court.

In a CBS documentary broadcast in April 1986, a former contra pilot identifies Hull's ranch as a "major transshipment plant for military supplies and drugs". The following month Daniel Sheehan and the Christic Institute name John Hull, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Albert Hakim, Adolfo Calero and 22 others as major figures in a racketeering network involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling.

Senator John Kerry and his Foreign Relations subcommittee on narcotics and terrorism now begins to investigate the activities of Hull. One source told the committee that Hull helped plan an assassination plot against Lewis Tambs, the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica. In 1987 Hull told PBS: "I'm not an assassin, but if I had my way, Senators like Kerry and Kennedy would be lined up against a wall and shot tomorrow at sunrise."

In June 1988, James L. King dismissed the Christic Institute lawsuit against Hull. However, the Costa Rican authorities arrest Hull on charges of drug trafficking and using the country for "hostile acts" against Nicaragua. Friends posted a $37,000 bail but Hull fled the country before the start of the trial.

Kerry's committee published a 1,200 page report, Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy (April 1989). The report included testimony that Hull's ranch was used for gun and drug smuggling operations. The following year Hull was indicted for murder in Costa Rica.

In May 1990, Carlos Lehder, a key figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel, told Diane Sawyer of ABC that John Hull was a major cocaine trafficker and claims that he had been smuggling 30 tons of cocaine a year into the United States. At the request of Costa Rican special prosecutor Jorge Chaverria, John Hull was added to Interpol's "most wanted" list of international fugitives.

John Hull was eventually discovered living in the remote town of Juigalpa in Nicaragua. Costa Rica asked the government in Nicaragua. However, before he can be arrested he escaped to the United States. In April, 1991, Costa Rica submitted a formal request to the U.S. State Department to extradite Hull.

Two questions:

(1) Does anyone have any information on Hull before 1980?

(2) Did the U.S. State Department ever extradite Hull.

(1) YES (2) No

FYI:

You might be interested in this background references FWIW

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.current...d25d?hl=en&

I have most of the books mentioned in the article. However, none of them mention what Hull was doing before 1980. The most comprehensive account of Hull is in Peter Dale Scott's Cocaine Politics. But once again nothing about his early life except that he was born in in Evansville, Indiana.

I have found the answer to question 2. It appears in Robert Parry's "Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & Project Truth" (1999). Parry points out on page 221 that the Bush administration rebuffed "Costa Rican extradition requests, effectively killing the case against Hull" (page 221).

That does not surprise me as I was looking for links between Hull and Bush pre-1980. I am also interested in links with Donald Gregg or Frederick P. Hitz. It is possible that one of these two men was Hull's CIA case officer. Both men are still alive but are not talking.

[Al Carrier]

John Floyd Hull was born in Evansville, Indiana. According to Daniel Sheehan, Hull was a CIA contract operative in Costa Rica where he managed 8,000 acres of land along the Nicaraguan border. He has admitted that he received around $10,000 a month from the National Security Council. In return, he helped feed and supply the Contras attacking Nicaragua.

Peter Dale Scott believes that Robert Owen worked "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras." In 1983 Owen introduced John Hull to Oliver North. He also served as liaison to the network funding the Contras.

A Costa Rican security official saw Hull in the company of Amac Galil, the man who took part in the attempted assassination of rogue Contra leader Eden Pastora at a press conference in La Penca. Pastora survived but three journalists, including Linda Frazier, were killed.

It has been claimed that on 30th May, 1984, Hull met Robert Owen, CIA station chief Phil Holtz and several pilots met at a CIA safe house in San Jose, Costa Rica. According to the mercenary Jack Terrell, Hull continued to have meetings with Owen, Amac Galil and Felipe Vidal to discuss the need to kill Eden Pastora.

In October, 1985, two journalists, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, accused Hull as being involved in the La Penca bombing. Hull responds by filing suit against Avirgan and Honey for "injuries, falsehood and defamation of character". During their trial, Avirgan and Honey provide documents and witnesses to support their comments on Hull. As a result the judge throws Hull's lawsuit out of court.

In a CBS documentary broadcast in April 1986, a former contra pilot identifies Hull's ranch as a "major transshipment plant for military supplies and drugs". The following month Daniel Sheehan and the Christic Institute name John Hull, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Albert Hakim, Adolfo Calero and 22 others as major figures in a racketeering network involved in drug trafficking, arms smuggling.

Senator John Kerry and his Foreign Relations subcommittee on narcotics and terrorism now begins to investigate the activities of Hull. One source told the committee that Hull helped plan an assassination plot against Lewis Tambs, the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica. In 1987 Hull told PBS: "I'm not an assassin, but if I had my way, Senators like Kerry and Kennedy would be lined up against a wall and shot tomorrow at sunrise."

In June 1988, James L. King dismissed the Christic Institute lawsuit against Hull. However, the Costa Rican authorities arrest Hull on charges of drug trafficking and using the country for "hostile acts" against Nicaragua. Friends posted a $37,000 bail but Hull fled the country before the start of the trial.

Kerry's committee published a 1,200 page report, Drugs, Law Enforcement and Foreign Policy (April 1989). The report included testimony that Hull's ranch was used for gun and drug smuggling operations. The following year Hull was indicted for murder in Costa Rica.

In May 1990, Carlos Lehder, a key figure in the Medellin cocaine cartel, told Diane Sawyer of ABC that John Hull was a major cocaine trafficker and claims that he had been smuggling 30 tons of cocaine a year into the United States. At the request of Costa Rican special prosecutor Jorge Chaverria, John Hull was added to Interpol's "most wanted" list of international fugitives.

John Hull was eventually discovered living in the remote town of Juigalpa in Nicaragua. Costa Rica asked the government in Nicaragua. However, before he can be arrested he escaped to the United States. In April, 1991, Costa Rica submitted a formal request to the U.S. State Department to extradite Hull.

Two questions:

(1) Does anyone have any information on Hull before 1980?

(2) Did the U.S. State Department ever extradite Hull.

(1) YES (2) No

FYI:

You might be interested in this background references FWIW

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.current...d25d?hl=en&

I have most of the books mentioned in the article. However, none of them mention what Hull was doing before 1980. The most comprehensive account of Hull is in Peter Dale Scott's Cocaine Politics. But once again nothing about his early life except that he was born in in Evansville, Indiana.

I have found the answer to question 2. It appears in Robert Parry's "Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & Project Truth" (1999). Parry points out on page 221 that the Bush administration rebuffed "Costa Rican extradition requests, effectively killing the case against Hull" (page 221).

That does not surprise me as I was looking for links between Hull and Bush pre-1980. I am also interested in links with Donald Gregg or Frederick P. Hitz. It is possible that one of these two men was Hull's CIA case officer. Both men are still alive but are not talking.

John,

As early as '81, Hull was assisting the US Military/Intelligence with providing a safe haven for operators that became too hot in-country in Nicaragua. He was associated with Fernandez at this time and his "ranch forman" Jesus, was operational on the US level in-country. It would not surprise me that Hull was also being handled by Donald Gregg at this time also, as he was very active on an operational basis in this region then. As of a couple of years ago, I believe Hull was spending a great deal of time on the Alabama gulf shore.

I do not know his associations or activities in '80 or before.

Al

[James Richards]

I have most of the books mentioned in the article. However, none of them mention what Hull was doing before 1980. The most comprehensive account of Hull is in Peter Dale Scott's Cocaine Politics. But once again nothing about his early life except that he was born in in Evansville, Indiana. (John Simkin)

Maybe during the early 1970's, he was using the cover as an official at the U.S. Consolate in Sao Paulo. Maybe he ran operations (kidnappings, assassination etc) against Communist agents (mainly those connected to Cuban G2) in Latin America.

Then again, maybe not.

James

[John Dolva]

repeat condensed.

"The new government enacted the Agrarian Reform Law, beginning with the nationalization of all rural properties owned by the Somoza family or people associated with the Somozas, a total of 2,000 farms representing more than 20 percent of Nicaragua's cultivable land"

This was a time when surrounding nations were in turmoil. El Salvador was close to revolution.

Cuba had helped consolidate* the FSLN into what became the successful leadership of the Sandinista revolution. As in Cuba, land redistribution was high on the agenda, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was at this time that John Hull became most interested in a counter revolution. He would have been ideally placed for a launchpad of the Contras. I suspect that one needs to go close to source to learn much about him. The Sandinistas and its revolutionary leadership are still active and an approach to them for information could be fruitful.

*This happened in Costa Rica. Commandante Zero was present.

Perhaps Ortega or someone he recommends could join the Forum for questioning?

"The following month Daniel Sheehan and the Christic Institute name John Hull, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Richard Secord, John Singlaub, Albert Hakim, Adolfo Calero and 22 others ..."

including:: Bruce Jones-(Hull's business partner, Bruce Jones, was revealed as a CIA Agent in the Feb. 85 Life magazine.)

http://www.totse.com/en/politics/central_i...y/cia_coke.html

http://www.thememoryhole.org/kerry/kerry1-141-160.htm

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM CRONE

Senator Kerry [presiding]. When did you first meet Mr. Hull?

Mr. Crone. In Costa Rica.

Senator Kerry. What year?

Mr. Crone. In 1978.

Senator Kerry. And those weapons and explosives were coming into the airstrips - yours. Correct?

Mr. Crone. Well, no, it's not mine. It's the company's.

Senator Kerry. The company's.

Mr. Crone. A company.

Senator Kerry. A company. What was the name of the company?

Mr. Crone. La Conya.

Senator Kerry. La Conya. Now, who were the principles of the company, La Conya?

Mr. Crone. Thirty-percent owner of the company, and he was the manager of the company.

Senator Kerry. And you also know of weapons or explosives being stored at or near the sawmill that was owned by Mr. Hull. Correct?

Mr. Crone. Yes.

Senator Kerry. So, the sawmill was, in fact, a location for supplies of those weapons for the Contras.

Mr. Crone. No. You said "at or near". It was not at the sawmill.

Senator Kerry. Near the sawmill.

Mr. Crone. Yes.

.Mr. Crone. Well, it was another farm close; yes.

Senator Kerry. Can you describe that farm?

Mr. Crone. Well, it was in Life magazine at one time.

Senator Kerry. Well, do you want to be more specific since the rest of ---

[Laughter.]

Senator Kerry. I missed that copy of Life.

Mr. Crone. It was where Bruce Jones lived.

Senator Kerry. Where?

Mr. Crone. Bruce Jones lived.

Senator Kerry. Bruce Jones lived, OK.

And now, did you in the course of that time also learn of individuals who were trafficking in narcotics?

Mr. Crone. No. I was informed by some people from the Embassy to stay away from certain people, that they had been tagged as trafficking in narcotics.

_________

Edited September 9, 2006 by John Dolva

[John Dolva]

"Mr. Crone. Well, it was in Life magazine at one time."

Life Magazine February 1985 : Cover - Brooke Shields bares the new swimsuits. Introducing NEWSBEAT :a 24 page supplement of dramatic photographs from around the world. Former senator Howard Baker goes to Alaska to photograph the bald eagle. Portrait ; Dick Darman, Reagan's aide. CIA man livng in Costa Rica, Bruce Jones, helps Contras against the Sandinistas. Life visits Wright Valley, Antarctica. Story how infamous Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie was finally brought to justice. New Americans - Marta Gabre-Tsadick and Demeke Tekle-Wold from Ethiopa, now in Indiana.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/d...amp;topic_id=75

The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror

by David Hoffman

Copyright © 1998 David Hoffman

Published online with the irrevocable permission of the author to republish with attribution on a non-profit basis.

Chapter 14: A strategy of tension

(...)

A similar government-orchestrated outrage-incident was the Octopus' 1985 plot to bomb the American embassy and presidential offices in Costa Rica as a pretext for a full-scale U.S. invasion of Nicaragua. The plan was an offshoot of Operation Pegasus, the CIA's program of political assassinations, similar to the Phoenix Program.

The conspiracy was akin to the many American-engineered provocations of the past. The U.S. — through the skullduggery of the CIA — would bomb their own embassy, cleverly blaming it on the Sandinistas.

Civilian Military Assistance (CMA) leader Tom Posey and his band of mercenaries — Steven Carr, Robert Thompson, Rene Corvo, and Costa Rican-American land-owners John Hull and Bruce Jones — arranged for a patriotic Cuban-American, Jesus Garcia, to take part in the plot. According to Leslie Cockburn (Out of Control) Posey showed Garcia the blueprints of the embassy. "They came to me with a plan to hit the American embassy in Costa Rica," recalls Garcia. "They had an idea this would start a war between Nicaragua and the United States."

In addition to bombing the embassy, they were to "take out" the American ambassador, Lewis Tambs, a vocal opponent of the Colombian/Contra cocaine trade, and collect the $1 million reward that the Ochoa clan had placed on his head. The CIA-led group, which had been funding their covert operations through arms and drug trafficking, would solve the problem of an American official who had dared interfere with their profitable business, while at the same time, serving the lofty goals of U.S. foreign policy.<2>

According to CMA mercenary Jack Terrell, the plan was to place C-4 in a light-box outside the embassy and detonate it. When Tambs ran outside, he would be shot. A Nicaraguan would then be killed and fake documents placed on his person to incriminate the Sandinistas.<3>

While Garcia refused to participate in the plot, he recalled, "The embassy plan was blessed from the White House. There were too many big people involved in this. In order to hit a U.S. embassy even us Cubans who are here in Miami would normally out of courtesy notify the CIA."

Considering the players involved, it appeared that the CIA knew fully well of the plot, as it drew members from Brigade 2506, Ted Shackley's old JM/WAVE anti-Castro Cuban mercenary group.<4>

Edited September 9, 2006 by John Dolva

[Greg Parker]

John,

Have you read Martha Honey's book, Hostile Acts: US Policy in Costa Rica in the 1980s?

The CIA Station Chief brought along two other agents, one of them the CIA station chief in Costa Rica, who went by the name "John Hull." Soon after, Pastora met the other John Hull, the elderly Indiana Farmer who was running contra operations off his farm in northern Costa Rica. To his astonishment, Pastora learned that "the CIA was working with two John Hulls."p 214

Later in the book, she has a chapter called Two John Hulls, Two Joe Fernandezes, Two Felipes, Two Papis, and many Tomases. The descriptions of the two John Hulls are about as similar as Oswald is to the MC "Oswald' photo. Personality descriptions are also "chalk and cheese".

The two "Papis" mentioned in the chapter title were Dimitrius Papas, descibed in the book as "an older Greek American who trained a CIA-controlled group of intelligence agents known as 'The Babies'." The other was Farmer John".

There is also this uncited article which states in part, A key person used by North in organizing the Southern Front was John Floyd Hull Clark ("John Hull"), who had lived in Costa Rica for about 20 years at the time he applied for Costa Rican citizenship in 1983. Sometime in the early 1980s he became a CIA asset—convenient, since he owned a lot of property in the north of Costa Rica. If this is true, then at least one John Hull (the farmer) was living in Costa Rica in '63 and was not involved with the CIA at that time.

[John Simkin]

John,

Have you read Martha Honey's book, Hostile Acts: US Policy in Costa Rica in the 1980s?

The CIA Station Chief brought along two other agents, one of them the CIA station chief in Costa Rica, who went by the name "John Hull." Soon after, Pastora met the other John Hull, the elderly Indiana Farmer who was running contra operations off his farm in northern Costa Rica. To his astonishment, Pastora learned that "the CIA was working with two John Hulls."p 214

Later in the book, she has a chapter called Two John Hulls, Two Joe Fernandezes, Two Felipes, Two Papis, and many Tomases. The descriptions of the two John Hulls are about as similar as Oswald is to the MC "Oswald' photo. Personality descriptions are also "chalk and cheese".

The two "Papis" mentioned in the chapter title were Dimitrius Papas, descibed in the book as "an older Greek American who trained a CIA-controlled group of intelligence agents known as 'The Babies'." The other was Farmer John".

There is also this uncited article which states in part, A key person used by North in organizing the Southern Front was John Floyd Hull Clark ("John Hull"), who had lived in Costa Rica for about 20 years at the time he applied for Costa Rican citizenship in 1983. Sometime in the early 1980s he became a CIA asset—convenient, since he owned a lot of property in the north of Costa Rica. If this is true, then at least one John Hull (the farmer) was living in Costa Rica in '63 and was not involved with the CIA at that time.

I have not managed to get a copy of Honey's book.

If Hull was just a simple farmer from 1963 to 1980 I find it surprising that the CIA have not pushed this story harder at the time. Frederick Porter Hitz (CIA Inspector General brought in by Bush) did as much as he could to distance Hull, Shackley, Quintero, Rodriguez, Posada, Bosch, etc. from the CIA. However, he does not go into what Hull was up to before 1980.

[Greg Parker]

I have not managed to get a copy of Honey's book.

If Hull was just a simple farmer from 1963 to 1980 I find it surprising that the CIA have not pushed this story harder at the time. Frederick Porter Hitz (CIA Inspector General brought in by Bush) did as much as he could to distance Hull, Shackley, Quintero, Rodriguez, Posada, Bosch, etc. from the CIA. However, he does not go into what Hull was up to before 1980.

JS

John, you can buy used copies through Amazon from $24.00.

The article I quoted may not be correct as far as Hull being in Costa Rica from around 1963 goes. I have since found two other sources - one stating he moved there in 1968 - the other (The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations) claims it was in the mid 1970s.

The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also found that what became known as "John Hull's Ranch" was actually a large number of properties purchased using some of his own capital, aong with money obtained from US investors. Between them, these properties had at least 6 airstrips.

Peter Dale Scott believes that Robert Owen worked "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras." In 1983 Owen introduced John Hull to Oliver North. He also served as liaison to the network funding the Contras.

JS

Honey confirms Owens did introduce Hull (along with Crone and Contra leader, Luis Rivas) to the NSC and North. Owens was an aide to one Sen. Dan Quayle... so there is a potential link through this to Bush, Sr.

To me, what really needs close attention is the fact of two "John Hulls" in Costa Rica - both CIA. The one who was station chief was transferred to Bolivia around the same time "Farmer John" was meeting with North in '83, and according to Honey, had previously been stationed in Europe. Any suggestion however, that they were the same person is a very difficult one to subscribe to. The station chief was described as being 45 years old, tall, slim, polite and intellectual, willing to consider ideas outside of military solutions. The farmer was described as rough, crude and elderly.

[Shanet Clark]

The book BLUEGRASS CONSPIRACY by Sally Denton sheds light on this period.

ANDREW THORNTON, a former Lexington, Kentucky police officer ran a cocaine

importing cartel with BRADLEY BRYANT and a character named LAMBERT.

Governor JOHN Y. BROWN and DAN CHANDLER used gambling and Las Vegas

Caesar's Palace VIP perks along with South and Central American Kentucky Fried

CHicken franchises to help this THORNTON, LAMBERT and BRYANT in their international

drug cartel, where women were murdered, drugs were smuggled, weapons were

swapped and counter measures often followed>>>>>>>>>> and they called it the COMPANY.

So when ANDREW THORNTON, who had his passport stamped in over thirty Latin American

countries, died, this is what happened:

He was found with a karate chop to the neck, a duffel bag full of cocaine tied around his waist and

a parachute that had not opened.

Nearby, a bear stumbled upon another duffel bag of cocaine and indulged himself and he died.

John Hull knew lots of people like ANDREW THORNTON and BRADLEY BRYANT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

BLUEGRASS CONSPIRACY

SALLY DENTON

[John Simkin]

Honey confirms Owens did introduce Hull (along with Crone and Contra leader, Luis Rivas) to the NSC and North. Owens was an aide to one Sen. Dan Quayle... so there is a potential link through this to Bush, Sr.

Robert W. Owen is an interesting character. I suspect Dan Quayle blackmailed Bush via Owen to get on the ticket.

Robert W. Owen worked for the United Nations refugee program in Thailand in the late 1970s. It is possible that he was at this time involved in CIA covert activities. According to Peter Dale Scott (The Iran Contra Connection) Owen worked with John Singlaub who had been forced to resign in May, 1978 after criticizing President Jimmy Carter and his plans to reduce the number of troops in South Korea.

Owen returned to the United States in 1980 and became staff assistant to Dan Quayle of Indiana. Joseph Trento has argued that at this time George Bush and William Casey agreed to use the CIA to bring down Jimmy Carter. In order to carry out their plan "law firms, Senate and House offices, and public-relations and lobbying outfits all became places to park the new foot soldiers... many of their names would emerge years later in government scandals - names like Rob Owen, Neil Livingstone, and Carter Clews."

Peter Dale Scott believes that Robert Owen worked "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras." In 1983 Owen introduced John Hull to Oliver North. He also served as liaison to the network funding the Contras.

Gene Wheaton argues that Dan Quayle was closely connected to William Casey and Beurt SerVaas, who was on the Executive Board of the Veterans of the OSS. Wheaton claims that this organization "runs the CIA from behind the scenes." He adds: "SerVaas brought Quayle into the Casey network early in the game." According to Barbara Honegger (October Surprise) Owen left the staff of Quayle in November, 1983, to work with North's Project Democracy which "oversaw secret U.S. arms shipments to both the Contras and Iran."

Owen was with Hull at his apartment in San Jose, Costa Rica, the night of the La Penca bombing. In January 1985, he met with Adolfo Calero at his home in Miami. Others at the meeting included John Hull, Tom Posey, Felipe Vidal, Amac Galil, Francisco Chanes and Rene Corvo. Owen also met Felix Rodriguez in January at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Rosslyn, Virginia. On 22nd January, Donald P. Gregg arranged for Rodriguez to meet Vice President George Bush.

In January 1985, Owen established the Institute for Democracy, Education and Assistance (IDEA). Later that year IDEA received a $50,000 grant from the State Department's Nicaraguan Humanitarian Assistance Office (NHAO). This money was used to deliver aid to the Contras. Owen also oversaw the NHAO's grant of $230,000 to Frigorificos de Puntarenas, the company owned by Francisco Chanes and Moises Nunez was used to ship cocaine and launder money on behalf of the Contras. In 1985 Owen's salary was paid by the Institute for Terrorism & Subnational Conflict.

Singlaub visited South Korea and Taiwan in order to obtain money and weapons for the Contras. Later that year Singlaub developed a plan for a large military action called the "Rainbow Mission" which involved the invasion of Nicaragua by Americans and Contras. This plan was approved by Robert Owen and Oliver North. Soon afterwards Singlaub procured a $5.3 million of Eastern bloc arms for the Contras through GMT. This included 500 pounds of C-4, five ground-to-air missiles, grenades and mortars.

According to Peter Dale Scott (The Iran Contra Connection) Owen served with John Singlaub "as a cut-out contract between the National Security Council and the Contras."

In October, 1985, Congress agreed to vote 27 million dollars in non-lethal aid for the Contras in Nicaragua. However, members of the Ronald Reagan administration, including George Bush, decided to use this money to provide weapons to the Contras and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Gene Wheaton was recruited to use National Air to transport these weapons. He agreed but began to have second thoughts when he discovered that Richard Secord was involved in the operation and in May 1986 Wheaton told William Casey, director of the CIA, about what he knew about this illegal operation. Casey refused to take any action, claiming that the agency or the government were not involved in what later became known as Irangate.

Wheaton now took his story to Daniel Sheehan, a left-wing lawyer. Wheaton told him that Thomas G. Clines and Ted Shackley had been running a top-secret assassination unit since the early 1960s. According to Wheaton, it had begun with an assassination training program for Cuban exiles and the original target had been Fidel Castro.

Wheaton also contacted Newt Royce and Mike Acoca, two journalists based in Washington. The first article on this scandal appeared in the San Francisco Examiner on 27th July, 1986. As a result of this story, Congressman Dante Facell wrote a letter to the Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinberger, asking him if it "true that foreign money, kickback money on programs, was being used to fund foreign covert operations." Two months later, Weinberger denied that the government knew about this illegal operation.

John Singlaub agreed to divert press attention away from the activities of George H. W. Bush, Oliver North, William Casey, Donald P. Gregg, Robert Owen, Felix Rodriguez, Rafael Quintero, Ted Shackley, Richard L. Armitage, Thomas G. Clines and Richard Secord. He gave several interviews where he admitted raising money for the Contras. This included an article in Common Cause where he claimed he had raised "tens of million of dollars... for arms and ammunition".

This money was raised via the World Anti-Communist League. Most of this money came from the governments of Taiwan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. As the U.S. Neutrality Act bans a private American organization from supplying weapons to foreign groups, Singlaub established a secret overseas bank account to collect this money.

On 5th October, 1986, a Sandinista patrol in Nicaragua shot down a C-123K cargo plane that was supplying the Contras. That night Felix Rodriguez made a telephone call to the office of George H. W. Bush. He told Bush aide, Samuel Watson, that the C-123k aircraft had gone missing.

Eugene Hasenfus, an Air America veteran, survived the crash and told his captors that he thought the CIA was behind the operation. He also provided information that several Cuban-Americans running the operation in El Salvador. This resulted in journalists being able to identify Rafael Quintero, Luis Posada and Felix Rodriguez as the Cuban-Americans mentioned by Hasenfus.

In an article in the Washington Post (11th October, 1986), the newspaper reported that George Bush and Donald P. Gregg were linked to Felix Rodriguez. It gradually emerged that Robert Owen, John Singlaub, Richard L. Armitage, William Casey, Thomas G. Clines, Oliver North, Edwin Wilson and Richard Secord were also involved in this conspiracy to provide arms to the Contras.

On 12th December, 1986, Daniel Sheehan submitted to the court an affidavit detailing the Irangate scandal. He also claimed that Thomas G. Clines and Ted Shackley were running a private assassination program that had evolved from projects they ran while working for the CIA. Others named as being part of this assassination team included Rafael Quintero, Richard Secord, Felix Rodriguez and Albert Hakim. It later emerged that Gene Wheaton and Carl E. Jenkins were the two main sources for this affidavit.

Six days after the publication of Sheehan's affidavit, William Casey underwent an operation for a "brain tumor". As a result of the operation, Casey lost the power of speech and died, literally without ever talking. On 9th February, Robert McFarlane, another person involved in the Iran-Contra Scandal, took an overdose of drugs.

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.

According to Lawrence E. Walsh, who carried out the official investigation into the scandal (Iran-Contra: The Final Report): "By the spring of 1985 it became clear that Congress would not rescue the Contras any time soon. The House defeated a $14 million supplemental aid package in March, leaving the Contras to rely on North and his associates. Alfredo Calero found himself surrounded not only with recommended arms brokers like Secord - who by June 1985 had arranged several large arms shipments - but also willing broker/contribution solicitors like Singlaub." Walsh added: "Using Robert W. Owen as a courier, North provided the contras with significant military advice and guidance."

Walsh also discovered that: "CIA officers in South Korea informed CIA headquarters on January 28, 1985, that retired U.S. Army Major General John K. Singlaub had asked the governing political party to contribute $2 million to the Contras. The Koreans told CIA personnel that some signal from the U.S. Government endorsing the Singlaub request would be necessary." Walsh obtained a memorandum from Oliver North to Robert McFarlane discussing this issue.

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.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKowenR.htm

[John Simkin]

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKhullJ.htm

Namebase entry for John Floyd Hull:

http://www.namebase.org/main2/John-Floyd-Hull.html

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