Masters of Deceit: Propaganda, Disinformation and Corruption

[John Simkin]

During the 1980 presidential campaign Ronald Reagan was informed that Jimmy Carter was attempting to negotiate a deal with Iran to get the American hostages released. This was disastrous news for the Reagan campaign. If Carter got the hostages out before the election, the public perception of the man might change and he might be elected for a second-term. As Deaver later told the New York Times: "One of the things we had concluded early on was that a Reagan victory would be nearly impossible if the hostages were released before the election... There is no doubt in my mind that the euphoria of a hostage release would have rolled over the land like a tidal wave. Carter would have been a hero, and many of the complaints against him forgotten. He would have won."

According to Barbara Honegger, a researcher and policy analyst with the 1980 Reagan/Bush campaign, William Casey and other representatives of the Reagan presidential campaign made a deal at two sets of meetings in July and August at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid with Iranians to delay the release of Americans held hostage in Iran until after the November 1980 presidential elections. Reagan’s aides promised that they would get a better deal if they waited until Carter was defeated.

On 22nd September, 1980, Iraq invaded Iran. The Iranian government was now in desperate need of spare parts and equipment for its armed forces. Jimmy Carter proposed that the US would be willing to hand over supplies in return for the hostages.

Once again, the Central Intelligence Agency leaked this information to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. This attempted deal was also passed to the media. On 11th October, the Washington Post reported rumors of a “secret deal that would see the hostages released in exchange for the American made military spare parts Iran needs to continue its fight against Iraq”.

A couple of days before the election Barry Goldwater was reported as saying that he had information that “two air force C-5 transports were being loaded with spare parts for Iran”. This was not true. However, this publicity had made it impossible for Carter to do a deal. Ronald Reagan on the other hand, had promised the Iranian government that he would arrange for them to get all the arms they needed in exchange for the hostages. According to Mansur Rafizadeh, the former U.S. station chief of SAVAK, the Iranian secret police, CIA agents had persuaded Khomeini not to release the American hostages until Reagan was sworn in. In fact, they were released twenty minutes after his inaugural address.

Reagan appointed Casey as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this position he was able to arrange the delivery of arms to Iran. These were delivered via Israel. By the end of 1982 all Regan’s promises to Iran had been made. With the deal completed, Iran was free to resort to acts of terrorism against the United States. In 1983, Iranian-backed terrorists blew up 241 marines in the CIA Middle-East headquarters.

[Pat Speer]

.

Reagan appointed Casey as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this position he was able to arrange the delivery of arms to Iran. These were delivered via Israel. By the end of 1982 all Reagan’s promises to Iran had been made. With the deal completed, Iran was free to resort to acts of terrorism against the United States. In 1983, Iranian-backed terrorists blew up 241 marines in the CIA Middle-East headquarters.

The ultimate Iran-y, of course, was that Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada to cover his retreat from Lebanon. I'd been skeptical that the move into Grenada was so calculated until reading Maggie Thatcher's memoirs. She claimed that Reagan invaded Grenada, a British protectorate, without even discussing it with her, and that the U.S. invasion was unnecessary.

[John Simkin]

On the day Congress changed hands, I thought you might like to look at what Robert Parry said about Michael Deaver's crowd in Secrecy & Privilege (2004)

Like a Civil War victory at a major train junction, the election of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in 1980 put conservatives in control of key switching points in Washington for the transportation of ideas throughout the U.S. political system. By regaining the Executive Branch and winning the Senate, Republicans had their hands on many of the levers that could expedite the movement of favorable information to the American public and sidetrack news that might cause trouble.

Having learned how dangerous it was when critical scandals like Watergate or the CIA abuses started rolling down the tracks and building up steam, the conservatives took pains to keep hold of this advantage over what information sped through to the public and what didn't. Though often disparaged for being behind the times, conservatives - far better than liberals -grasped the strategic advantage that came with controlling these logistics of information. With the ability to rush public relations shock troops and media artillery to political battle fronts, conservatives recognized that they could alter the tactics and the strategies of what they called "the war of ideas."

Not losing any time, Republicans began devising new ways to manage, manufacture and deliver their message in the weeks and months after the Reagan-Bush victory. Some would call the concept "public diplomacy"; others would use the phrase "perception management." But the idea was to control how the public would perceive an issue, a person or an event. The concept was to define the political battlefield at key moments - especially when a story was just breaking - and thus enhance the chances of victory.

The Republican approach would be helped immeasurably by President Reagan's communication skills and by the image wizardry of White House aide Michael Deaver. But the administration's capability was given an important boost, too, by the intelligence backgrounds of two key figures, former campaign chief William Casey, who was named Reagan's CIA director, and Vice President George H. W. Bush, a former CIA director and a veteran of previous battles fought to contain political scandals. From their experiences in the intelligence fields, they understood what the CIA Old Boys, like Miles Copeland, meant when they talked about setting the "the spirit of the meeting" as a crucial element in managing political events.

[Myra Bronstein]

On the day Congress changed hands, I thought you might like to look at what Robert Parry said about Michael Deaver's crowd in Secrecy & Privilege (2004)

Like a Civil War victory at a major train junction, the election of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in 1980 put conservatives in control of key switching points in Washington for the transportation of ideas throughout the U.S. political system. By regaining the Executive Branch and winning the Senate, Republicans had their hands on many of the levers that could expedite the movement of favorable information to the American public and sidetrack news that might cause trouble.

Having learned how dangerous it was when critical scandals like Watergate or the CIA abuses started rolling down the tracks and building up steam, the conservatives took pains to keep hold of this advantage over what information sped through to the public and what didn't. Though often disparaged for being behind the times, conservatives - far better than liberals -grasped the strategic advantage that came with controlling these logistics of information. With the ability to rush public relations shock troops and media artillery to political battle fronts, conservatives recognized that they could alter the tactics and the strategies of what they called "the war of ideas."

Not losing any time, Republicans began devising new ways to manage, manufacture and deliver their message in the weeks and months after the Reagan-Bush victory. Some would call the concept "public diplomacy"; others would use the phrase "perception management." But the idea was to control how the public would perceive an issue, a person or an event. The concept was to define the political battlefield at key moments - especially when a story was just breaking - and thus enhance the chances of victory.

The Republican approach would be helped immeasurably by President Reagan's communication skills and by the image wizardry of White House aide Michael Deaver. But the administration's capability was given an important boost, too, by the intelligence backgrounds of two key figures, former campaign chief William Casey, who was named Reagan's CIA director, and Vice President George H. W. Bush, a former CIA director and a veteran of previous battles fought to contain political scandals. From their experiences in the intelligence fields, they understood what the CIA Old Boys, like Miles Copeland, meant when they talked about setting the "the spirit of the meeting" as a crucial element in managing political events.

And (almost) speaking of the Iran Contra crimes, I'm reading up on the supposed replacement for disgraced and dumped warmonger Rummy as Sect of Defence--Robert Gates. He seems to have been a key figure in the Iran-Contra Scandal... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates

This administration really likes to recycle their thugs.

Then there are those who think it's not a coincidence that John Lennon, world famous anti-war activist, was murdered just as the Reagan/Bush warmongers were fixin' to come to power in 1980. http://www.john-lennon.net/whoauthorizedth...fjohnlennon.htm

[Myra Bronstein]

Wasn't Hinkley also stalking Jimmy Carter with a gun. I seem to recall he was picked up at an airport Carter was due to land at.. Sorry for the paucity, but I am running on pure memory here.

That's what it says in the link given in my previous post Stephen. But I hadn't read that far until you mentioned it. That's just fascinating... Glad you pointed it out.

Also, that link suddenly seems unreachable (... ...) but the cached version is viewable:

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:NCL-rI...lient=firefox-a

"The day after his Nazi-seeking mission, Hinckley flew to Nashville to stalk Jimmy Carter, but was arrested at the airport when authorities discovered three handguns in his suitcase. Oddly, after only five hours in custody, this unstable character - who had attempted to transport weapons across state lines and into a city soon to be visited by the president of the United States - was fined and released without further ado. Even more oddly, the authorities apparently didn't bother to examine his journal, which in Dear Diary fashion, detailed Hinckley's plans to kill Carter. Was this a case of bumbling negligence or something more ominous? Most likely they had found a perfect fall guy, similar to Oswald, to be used in some future covert operation."

[Myra Bronstein]

Wasn't Hinkley also stalking Jimmy Carter with a gun. I seem to recall he was picked up at an airport Carter was due to land at.. Sorry for the paucity, but I am running on pure memory here.

That's what it says in the link given in my previous post Stephen. But I hadn't read that far until you mentioned it. That's just fascinating... Glad you pointed it out.

Also, that link suddenly seems unreachable (... ...) but the cached version is viewable:

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:NCL-rI...lient=firefox-a

"The day after his Nazi-seeking mission, Hinckley flew to Nashville to stalk Jimmy Carter, but was arrested at the airport when authorities discovered three handguns in his suitcase. Oddly, after only five hours in custody, this unstable character - who had attempted to transport weapons across state lines and into a city soon to be visited by the president of the United States - was fined and released without further ado. Even more oddly, the authorities apparently didn't bother to examine his journal, which in Dear Diary fashion, detailed Hinckley's plans to kill Carter. Was this a case of bumbling negligence or something more ominous? Most likely they had found a perfect fall guy, similar to Oswald, to be used in some future covert operation."

More...

"It took me almost 22 years to figure out who most likely authorized the assassination of John Lennon, the greatest singer songwriter and the most influential political artist of our time. I believe it could have been the CIA that manipulated the assassin of John Winston Lennon, but more likely, I believe a new army of old school CIA, which was let go under President Carter, manipulated the assassin. I believe the assassin was a mind-control experiment, like all their old tricks of MKULTRA, only much more sophisticated. I believe their old boss authorized it. The person the CIA building in Washington D.C. is named after. I believe he was the same person who tried to assassinate President Ronald Wilson Reagan on his sixty-ninth day in office -- March 30, 1981. He is the person with the most to gain from both of these assassinations. So, who authorized the assassination of John Lennon? I believe it was the 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush."

http://www.john-lennon.net/whoauthorizedth...fjohnlennon.htm

I didn't realize Carter had canned CIA guys:

"The CIA Old Boys were reeling. In the 1970s, exposure of their dirty games and dirty tricks made the Cold Warriors look sinister -- and silly. Then, President Carter ordered a housecleaning that left scores of CIA men out in the cold. "

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/xfile7.html

Then of course...

"WASHINGTON -- With little more than a week left in the 1980 campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee George Bush was nervous. New polls put Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in a dead heat. Then, while going to campaign in Pittsburgh, Bush got an unsettling message from former Texas Gov. John Connally.

Connally, a onetime-Democrat-turned-Republican, said the oil-rich Middle East was buzzing with rumors that President Carter had achieved his long-elusive goal of a pre-election release of 52 American hostages held in Iran. If true, Ronald Reagan's election was in trouble.

So, at 2:12 p.m., Oct. 27, 1980, George Bush called Richard Allen, a senior Reagan foreign policy adviser who was keeping tabs on Carter's hostage progress. Bush ordered Allen to find out what he could about Connally's tip. Allen's notes, which I discovered many years later in an obscure Capitol Hill storage room, made clear that Bush was in charge.

"Geo Bush," Allen's notes began, "JBC [Connally] -- already made deal. Israelis delivered last wk spare pts. via Amsterdam. Hostages out this wk. Moderate Arabs upset. French have given spares to Iraq and know of JC [Carter] deal w/Iran. JBC [Connally] unsure what we should do. RVA [Allen] to act if true or not."

In a still "secret" 1992 deposition to House investigators, Allen explained the cryptic notes as meaning Connally had heard that President Carter had ransomed the hostages' freedom with an Israeli shipment of military spare parts to Iran. Allen said Bush then instructed him to query Connally, who was in Houston, and to pass on any new details to two of Bush's closest personal aides...."

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/xfile7.html

[Pat Speer]

[

So, at 2:12 p.m., Oct. 27, 1980, George Bush called Richard Allen, a senior Reagan foreign policy adviser who was keeping tabs on Carter's hostage progress. Bush ordered Allen to find out what he could about Connally's tip. Allen's notes, which I discovered many years later in an obscure Capitol Hill storage room, made clear that Bush was in charge.

"Geo Bush," Allen's notes began, "JBC [Connally] -- already made deal. Israelis delivered last wk spare pts. via Amsterdam. Hostages out this wk. Moderate Arabs upset. French have given spares to Iraq and know of JC [Carter] deal w/Iran. JBC [Connally] unsure what we should do. RVA [Allen] to act if true or not."

In a still "secret" 1992 deposition to House investigators, Allen explained the cryptic notes as meaning Connally had heard that President Carter had ransomed the hostages' freedom with an Israeli shipment of military spare parts to Iran. Allen said Bush then instructed him to query Connally, who was in Houston, and to pass on any new details to two of Bush's closest personal aides...."

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/xfile7.html

It also seems likely that it was Allen who gave Reagan's campaign manager William Casey President Carter's notes for the Presidential debate.

[John Simkin]

I have posted my page on Michael Deaver here:

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

My next target is Robert Gates.

[Dawn Meredith]

My next target is Robert Gates.

Good target. I will look forward to what you post John.

And welcome to Dr. Gary Aguilar; great to see you here.

Dawn

[Myra Bronstein]

John, I think The Nation magazine warrants some kind of mention in "Masters of Deceit: Propaganda, Disinformation and Corruption!"

Ref:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...=6440&st=15

And possibly Matt Taibbi.

Here is the jaw-dropping smear piece he wrote--in The Nation--on General Wesley Clark.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20031215/taibbi

I promise you I can pick apart every inch of it.

(Good lord, he accused him of liking Napoleon...the *pastry*. )

[John Simkin]

My next target is Robert Gates.

Good target. I will look forward to what you post John.

You can find my web page on Robert Gates here:

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

Interestingly, Wikipedia, do not allow you to edit the page on Robert Gates. Therefore I have added it to the Wikipedia page on Richard Helms. It seems that he is not being protected by the CIA (my page on him is at number 2 at Google).

I am very concerned about the pages on Robert Gates that appear at the top of the search-engines. Given the importance of exposing the criminal behaviour of this man, it is important that we get this information out to the people who will confirm or reject him as Secretary of Defense.

[Terry Mauro]

.

Reagan appointed Casey as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this position he was able to arrange the delivery of arms to Iran. These were delivered via Israel. By the end of 1982 all Reagan’s promises to Iran had been made. With the deal completed, Iran was free to resort to acts of terrorism against the United States. In 1983, Iranian-backed terrorists blew up 241 marines in the CIA Middle-East headquarters.

The ultimate Iran-y, of course, was that Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada to cover his retreat from Lebanon. I'd been skeptical that the move into Grenada was so calculated until reading Maggie Thatcher's memoirs. She claimed that Reagan invaded Grenada, a British protectorate, without even discussing it with her, and that the U.S. invasion was unnecessary.

************************************************************

"The ultimate Iran-y, of course, was that Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada to cover his retreat from Lebanon."

I was absolutely appalled when that ridiculous fiasco was going down! They carried on as if it were Pearl Harbor or something, those damned arm chair warriors! How embarrassing to have to claim to be an American after witnessing that total display of ineptitude. Grenada was about as threatening to the sovereignty of the United States as Jamaica, or Bermuda, or Nassau and the Bahamas, for chrissakes! Is that all the Reagan/Regan regime could muster up was to go and invade a resort town? Or, maybe the "Resorts International" front was somehow at risk, or in danger of losing most of its clientel from the in-coming spring-break cruise lines, what with the bad PR being aired on the newswires and all? What a bunch of worthless yahoos!

Edited November 11, 2006 by Terry Mauro

[John Simkin]

I see my page on Roger E. Ailes is currently ranked 2nd at Google.

[Michael Hogan]

What a bunch of worthless yahoos!

Once again, Terry masters the art of understatement.

I do admire her passion in every one of her posts.

[Terry Mauro]

What a bunch of worthless yahoos!

Once again, Terry masters the art of understatement.

I do admire her passion in every one of her posts.

****************************************************

Thank you, Michael.

I guess I really get pissed off by things that inadvertently equate me [as an American citizen] with asinine gov. strategies deployed in my name [as an American citizen], and with my tax dollars. Especially, when these strategies appear to me [as an American citizen] to be a complete exercise in banality, a comedy of errors, and a total embarrassment due to the waste of resources which could have been put to better use on projects here at home.