Sarah McClendon and Mena

White House News Briefings | 1/9/03 | Scholastic

[Scholastic]

A little known fact is the only person to ever ask Clinton a public question about the events in Mena Arkansas, while he was President, was Sarah McClendon in 1994.

She also drilled Mike McCurry over the issue in September of 1996, an interesting exchange, in which a person named Helen (my guess is Helen Thomas) told McClendon to "put a sock in it" so she could get her question in. [both transcripts are bellow]

Hats off to this little old lady, not to mention prayers.

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October 7, 1994, Clinton Speech on His Administration's Progress.

CLINTON: Yes, Sarah?

SARAH McCLENDON, McClendon News: Sir, the Republicans are trying to blame you for the existence of a small airbase at Mena, Ark. This base was set up by George Bush and Oliver North and the CIA to help the Iran-Contras, and they brought in planeload after planeload of cocaine there for sale in the United States, and then they took the money and bought weapons and took them back to the Contras, all of which was illegal, as you know, under the Boland Act. But tell me, did they tell you that this had to be in existence because of national security?

Pres. CLINTON: Well, let me answer the question. No, they didn't tell me anything about it. They didn't say anything to me about it. The airport in question, and all the events in question, were the subject of state and federal inquiries. It was primarily a matter for federal jurisdiction. The state really had next to nothing to do with it.

The local prosecutor did conduct an investigation based on what was within the jurisdiction of state law. The rest of it was under the jurisdiction of the United States attorneys who were appointed successively by previous administrations. We had nothing - zero - to do with it, and everybody who's ever looked into it knows that.

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HEADLINE: THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON, DC REGULAR BRIEFING September 23, 1996, Monday

BODY:

MR. MCCURRY: Anything else? Any other subjects?

Q Yes.

MR. MCCURRY: Yes, ma'am?

Q You know, all this talk that we're getting every five minutes about the Republicans saying that Clinton hasn't done enough against -- to curb narcotics, why doesn't he answer that? Why doesn't he come out and say: The last two or three days around here there's been documented evidence that it was George Bush and Oliver North and the CIA that was bringing in the narcotics, and they're still doing it. The CIA is still bringing in the narcotics through Mena, Arkansas. Now why the devil doesn't -- excuse me for saying that -- but why in the world doesn't Clinton come out and say the Republicans are the ones who have bringing in narcotics?

MR. MCCURRY: Well, the president is on the --

Q Can you ask the president, for me, that question?

MR. MCCURRY: The first part of that question, the president is satisfied, as Director Deutch has indicated, that they are conducting an independent review of those allegations at the CIA and that is underway, as has been announced. Secondly, the president is --

Q I didn't quite understand what you said just then.

MR. MCCURRY: What I just said just then is, as Director of Central Intelligence, John Deutch has said, and assured members of Congress, an independent inspector general at the CIA is looking into some of the allegations that you just referenced. On the first --

Q They're looking into allegations?

MR. MCCURRY: They're --

Q Is that what you said, that they are looking into the allegations?

MR. MCCURRY: They're conducting an independent inspector general's review of the matter. On the first part of the question, the president is happy to talk about his record during the time he has been president and, frankly, his commitment going back all the years he's been in public service to combat drug trafficking and drug use.

Q Well, then --

MR. MCCURRY: This president has requested more funding from the Congress for anti-drug efforts than his predecessors did. He has put together a drug strategy now with the leadership of a four-star general. He supported the death penalty for drug kingpins, and he's worked vigorously to combat drug use and spoken to the issue publicly.

Q But why doesn't he just come out --

MR. MCCURRY: Helen?

Q -- and tell the Republicans: After all, you have been bringing them in for years.

MR. MCCURRY: Well, I believe that's what we are in the process of doing. I think we are attempting, as effectively as you can during a political season in which many misbegotten charges get made, to rebut some of that information. Helen?

Q Ambassador Deutch said that he's been waiting on some allegations --

Q [Helen Thomas?] Come on, Sarah, put a sock in it.

Q -- and his inspector general to find out something. (Laughter.) And all he has to do it turn around in his office and find it.

MR. MCCURRY: Well, we've -- that's exactly what he's doing. Helen?

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[Scholastic]

Ping

[Abcdefg]

You should have heard the Sinkmiester's answer when she asked him about the nonsense the radical conspiracy theorists were putting out about the national parks being taken over by the UN.

[Scholastic]

I do remember that, a bit. She always seemed to ask the good questions, even if she didnt buy into them. I wish I was in her shoes.

[JohnGalt]

"The local prosecutor did conduct an investigation based on what was within the jurisdiction of state law. The rest of it was under the jurisdiction of the United States attorneys who were appointed successively by previous administrations. We had nothing - zero - to do with it, and everybody who's ever looked into it knows that."


That is a gem; that local prosecutor/US Attorney Clinton is reffering to was none other than the current head of the DEA Asa Hutchinson who had the largest cocaine smuggling operation in the country running under his nose.

[HAL9000]

SARAH McCLENDON, McClendon News: Sir, the Republicans are trying to blame you for the existence of a small airbase at Mena, Ark.

Typical revisionism from McClendon. That airbase existed for decades before Clinton. The "Mena scandal" started with Democrats trying to portray Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Oliver North and the CIA as cocaine smugglers.

When Bush lost the election, a couple of guys (Terry Reed and Gene Wheaton) came up with the bright idea to shift substitute Clinton as the culprit in this phony scandal.

The net result of the Mena scandal was to provide a cover for the Tyson cocaine-smuggling operation in Arkansas, where Clinton received most of his money while he was governor. The whole mess was buried when Clinton pardoned everyone who was successfully prosecuted by Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz. But that led to the Pardons for Sale scandal...

[philman_36]

You should have heard the Sinkmiester's answer when she asked him about the nonsense the radical conspiracy theorists were putting out about the national parks being taken over by the UN.
Nonsense? What do you call the U.S. Biosphere Reserves

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Location Map
The UN started the Biosphere Reserves program, not the U.S.! Are you sure you know of what you speak of?

[Red Jones]

republicans ... ... democrats ... ... the only serious question about them seems to be 'which one is worse?'. Seriously, these two parties don't serve us. The reason why we are being treated as peasants or slaves by a ruling class that is behaving likes kings did 500 years ago is because we elect about 98% of the republicans and the democrats whenever they run for re-election. If we re-elected only 30%, then it would be a whole different ball-game.

Everyone knows McClendon was a very biased liberal. But she had a sense of right and wrong, she was sincere, she had the integrity to ask a question where she knew she was confronting the corrupt about their evil deeds. We used to have a whole country of people who would diligently protect us from this corruption. Now, we have people who pretend it doesn't exist, who wink at it, who are happy if the party they're loyal to is involved in the corruption if only the other party is punished. We are being treated like peasants or slaves and our interests manipulated by our rulers who don't even show their faces to us.

For those who are unaware: At Mena, Arkansas our own government brought in not just large quantities of cocaine, but actually around 80% of all the cocaine that came in during the 80's. To those who are skeptical, why have so many people with real CIA ties say that this happened? Why do so many authors quote un-named sources in important places who confirm it. Why do different ex-CIA people tell corroborating stories? Ex-LAPD people say they remember when CIA came to them and told them they were going to show black gangs how to make crack cocaine. The CIA itself released info in late 98 and in early 99 saying themselves that they had been involved in smuggling drugs into the US for 20 years.

The people who tell these dark stories say that George Bush was the guy in charge. It was done in Clinton's Arkansas because that was the easiest place to get away with it; Clinton was involved as a person who covered up and took payoffs, but he did not create that corruption. A nation that accepts these types of leaders (the Bushes) is a nation headed for big trouble.

Bush/Clinton/Bush, they're all on the same team.

[aristeides]

Sarah McClendon just died at age 94. She at least was not Arkancided.

[Abcdefg]

Sarah called it nonsense, then Slick rambled but never denied it. He talked about how resources must be shared or something like that.

[Abcdefg]

started by Nixon.

[philman_36]

Sarah called it nonsense...
Then Sarah didn't know diddly!

[Abcdefg]

No, she didn't.

[Red Jones]

Democrats trying to portray Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Oliver North and the CIA as cocaine smugglers.

so, those two press releases by the CIA, one in late 98 and one in February of 1999 where the CIA said that they've been involved in smuggling drugs into the US for 20 years were just lies, just propaganda put out by the democrats to blame the republicans.

I can remember that idiot who led the CIA in LA back in 97 or so talking to locals after the San Jose article came out. He was saying emphatically that all the stories about CIA involvement in cocaine epidemic were lies. Then in late 98 and early 99 they (CIA) themselves issued a press release admitting to the involvement in drug smuggling.

But it doesn't matter, blind ideologues don't care about reality. Republicans are happy if only we can blame the Democrats. Democrats are happy if only they can blame the Republicans. America's welfare, truth, right & wrong, these things mean nothing.

Meanwhile, the Republicans and the democrats work together to do things that the overwhelming majority of americans disapprove of and that are bad for our country. And the slimeballs who rule us privately smile at our stupidity and think smugly that they are superior to us masses lost in our primitive passions.

[Sal]

...Slick rambled but never denied it. He talked about how resources must be shared or something like that.

Worse'n that. He made some reference to how the economy had become global, the world had changed, and that we were now interdependent. And you're right--he didn't even attempt to refute any of the charges she mentioned in her question.

[Scholastic]

I couldnt have said it better myself.

[Red Jones]

that local prosecutor/US Attorney Clinton is reffering to was none other than the current head of the DEA Asa Hutchinson who had the largest cocaine smuggling operation in the country running under his nose.

That was so incredible what you said about Asa Hutchinson. and exactly true too. He was a prosecutor in Arkansas and allowed all that corruption. So, now he's promoted to being head of DEA. But he's a Republican so that's good people say. Maybe back in 99 when he voted to impeach he was just establishing his credentials with certain portions of our population, but he still serves the machine that rules us.

Here's another interesting set of facts. In February of 1993 the US government abruptly cut spending on the DEA by 50%. They were ordered to lay off 50% of all employees including 50% of the 470 undercover agents they had actively chasing bad guys in Miami Vice types of operations. Many of those laid off were actively on the trail of real smugglers. Our own government's statistics showed that between 92 and 96 drug use in america nearly doubled. But all the tv media told us that this was unrelated to any government policy.

The spending cutbacks did not result from a congressional vote either. Clinton merely asked leaders of the Senate and leaders of the House if they would agree to the unusual and immediate cutbacks in previously approved budget items. They said 'yes' and the cutbacks were implemented.

Of course, real, professional and uncorrupted law enforcement people will all tell you that the undercover agents of the DEA were the most effective, dollar for dollar, way to spend money to keep drug availability more rare. The drug smugglers in essence were given a green light, they did their marketing thing and drug smuggling went up dramatically, that's what happened.

In 1995 funding for the DEA was restored and in fact increased. But Clinton had already put his own boy into the top DEA position. What are the odds that he was not corrupt? This new head of DEA decided that 50% of all DEA resources should be spent chasing drug smugglers inside the US rather than their historical and congressionally mandated role of strictly trying to stop drugs from coming into the US.

I'm sure that Bush is not a big coke-snorter the way Clinton used to be. I'm sure Bush doesn't lie about everything the way Clinton used to. I'm sure that Bush doesn't ask 21 year old employees to go down on him and then give them an 80 grand a year job as a reward. But Bush is part of the machine that rules us, just like Clinton. Otherwise, why is Asa Hutchinson, the person accused of corruption regarding Mena head of the DEA? Someone merely accused of such corruption shouldn't be allowed anywhere near that job.

[philman_36]

There is always Larry Patterson's testimony which blows away Clinton's "I know nothing" attitude.
"Attic dust"...The Crimes of Mena (Penthouse Magazine - July 1995 issue)
AIR AMERICA ACTS I-V
Clinton made his first public statement on Mena at a press conference in 1991 in which he said " there are apparently linkages to the federal government", he also said, "there are all kinds of questions as to whether Seal had any links to the CIA and whether that banked into the Iran-Contra deal".
Snip...Of Clinton’s reticence to discuss the Mena case, Bill Plante and Micheal Singer of CBS news have written "That a Republican administration was apparently sponsoring a contra aid program in his state and protecting a smuggling ring that flew tons of cocaine through Arkansas was indisputable". One thing is certain, that is that Bill Clinton, on most occasions, has an unusually keen faculty for sniffing out political advantage. It stretches the boundaries of plausibility that he would have missed the possible political bonuses inherent in the Mena situation, that is unless he unless he had a good reason for missing them.

[Cicero]

My own reading of the situation is that V.P. George H. W. Bush and Oliver North conducted a cocain-smuggling operation in order to raise money to fund the Contras, who were defunded by an act of a Democratic congress who preferred having a Communist regime in Nicaragua. Noriega was also involved. It was probably a grievous mistake, but their reasons, at least, were patriotic. It was the only way they could come up with to continue their war against a Communist takeover of Latin America that was threatened by Castro and the Sandinistas, absent congressional funding. Ronald Reagan doubtless gave his approval but was not directly involved.

Bill Clinton, governor of Arkansas at the time, took a rakeoff and supervised the operation locally. He seems to have been behind the killing of the boys on the railroad track. It has also been said that $100,000,000 in drug smuggling money disappeared, and that clinton probably was the guy who took it.

Tyson was also heavily involved in smuggling operations at the time, possibly in connection with Mena.

Finally, I don't think George W. Bush is the same as George H. W. Bush. At least I hope not, and so far I have been encouraged by his actions.

[JohnGalt]

I suspect your an unrepentant left-libertarian so we probably disagree on many aspects of Mena.

From where I am sitting, and having read a fair amount on the subject, the operation involved uber patriot Ollie North hiring some pilots to fly guns down to the Contra's. The program would be funded with monies from the arm sales in Iran.

The CIA mentioned they had an old contact who was now a Governor in Arkansas. Clinton of course spied on anti-war protestors at Oxford for the CIA. So Clinton gets paid a visit and told that the they would use a little strip called Mena Airport to fly out guns.

They hire the greatest pilot in the world, Barry Seal to form a team. Barry goes along with it because he was facing trouble with the DEA in Miami. Barry gets a team together, and the gun running begins, only Barry and the Boys are bringing loads of cocaine back with them. Dan Lassiter was the point man in Arkansas, and the famous quote attributed from Clinton by LD Brown, "That's Lassiter's deal."

When the operation ends, things get murky, because someone told LD Brown to fly to Mexico and murder, as it turned out to be, Terry Reed. LD got cold feet.

I should also mention, Senator John Kerry investigated Mena in the late eighties and proclaimed a clean bill of health.

There is no evidence that I am aware of the CIA orchestrating a drug running operation to fund anything. That sounds like the left wing spin to make an otherwise unsexy story of Southern Dixie Mafia corruption look like a grander conspiracy with old foe the CIA.

[philman_36]

Bush/Clinton/Bush, they're all on the same team.
Kinda scary isn't it. I seem to recall that the Clinton and Bush families had known each other for quite some time.
I seem to remember Clinton visiting the Bush mansion at Kennebunkport, Maine during the '80s too.

[Red Jones]

I seem to remember Clinton visiting the Bush mansion at Kennebunkport, Maine during the '80s too

that is really scary. We've also read that a photo exists of Jeb & GW Bush in the cockpit of a small plane after it landed, leaning out and waving and smiling. Allegedly the plane was used in drug smuggling and the two boys were required to go on the drug smuggling trip and get their photo snapped by DEA people apparently all so that the organization could have the goods on these two before their rise to power began.

[Red Jones]

that corresponds to a lot of what I read also. Except that I'm not a liberal, I'm a right-winger and very non-republican.

The story I believe is that Reagan told his people to fund the contras after congress had specifically shut down funding for the contras. I remember those days, there was a big effort in conservative press to support contras, I wanted to send them money. Reagan was kept in the dark as to how the money was raised. But the cocaine smuggling was what paid for the guns for the contras. The effort was successful. The communists were shut down in central america.

Another thing the CIA did to fund the contras was they brought about 10% of El Salvadoran population to California as illegal aliens and created some big businesses that employed these people all so that these El Salvadorans would send money to contras in appreciation.

There are legitimate reasons for the CIA to want to penetrate and even to control or set up a drug smuggling operation. But I think that the people who rule our country and use this CIA for dark purposes have gone way too far. They are short-circuiting and bypassing the democracy completely and in an illegitimate manner. Problem is that they control the media, and any politician who stands up to them will either be discredited or killed through covert activities.

What happened at Waco? That was CIA murdering 90 americans. Things have gotten out of hand, but we as free citizens are finding it impossible to get the CIA under control.

[philman_36]

I chalk up very little as being "beyond belief". The levels of lowness, manipulation and corruption which can be stooped to...
Anything to maintain control.
If the public only knows 1/4 of what goes on "behind closed doors" think of how horrid the other 3/4 must be.

[philman_36]

They are short-circuiting and bypassing the democracy completely and in an illegitimate manner.
There is that word again...
"A Republic, if you can keep it."
There is not, and never was, any "democracy" to short-circuit or bypass. The Republic, however, was bypassed and short-circuited a looooooong time ago.
You're not helping with your faulty wiring either.

[AdA$tra]

Web Hubble's father-in-law and his parko-meter company supplied weapons parts. The Arkansas Developement and Finance Administration set up by Clinton, Lasiter and others, laundered the money. All of the land deals. The flights to Angel Fire. The actual cocaine use and abuse. The sex. The parties. All are these are tied somehow to the "rake-off" by Clinton that you mentioned. His ascendancy to office and his non-removal from office are all tied the the same events mixed with a little blackmail and perhaps....murder.

I almost sound like a native Arky....yikes.

[AdA$tra]

Your scenario at #20 is probably closer to the truth than the one I resonded to at #19. All my stuff still stands though.

[AdA$tra]

I have actually trod upon the Kanza Prairie Biosphere. I suppose a blue helicopter will land in my yard and eradicate my family tonight since I posted that fact here. I knew it was a restricted area, but I had no idea it was UN related at all.

[HAL9000]

So, those two press releases by the CIA, one in late 98 and one in February of 1999 where the CIA said that they've been involved in smuggling drugs into the US for 20 years were just lies, just propaganda put out by the democrats to blame the republicans.

If my recollection is accurate, those press releases did admit some unspecified involvement in narcotics traffiicking, but not in Mena. If you have some specific quotes from the CIA press releases to contradict that, please post them.

My interpretation was that they were probably admitting to the activity of a few rogue agents and independent contractors in Laos during the Vietnam War.

I seriously doubt that the CIA has ever condoned drug importation into the US - even during the Clinton administration.

[Abcdefg]

I found the transcript of the press conference where McClendon asked Clinton giving the country to the UN. It can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/march97/press_3-7.html

Let's take one from Sarah. And then I've got to take one from Jill Dougherty because she's about to go to Moscow and she needs to have her parting shot. Go ahead.

Q Sir, this is on another subject. We have a very great problem in this country today, and I wonder if you would use your leadership to counteract the rumor-mongers that are abroad in the land who are spreading all these rumors that are scaring people to death -- large segments of our citizens believe that the United Nations is taking over whole blocks of counties in Kentucky and Tennessee.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q And some of them, they believe that --

THE PRESIDENT: Now, you all are laughing, but --

Q -- you're going to put us in a concentration camp and you're going to give our army to Russia and all that baloney. Could you do something about this? Because it's hurting the unity of the United States.

THE PRESIDENT: I don't know, because the people who believe that think I'm the problem. (Laughter.) We're all laughing about it, but there is a not insubstantial number of people who believe that there is a plan out there for world domination and I'm trying to give American sovereignty over to the U.N. There was a --I read in our local Arkansas newspaper, one of them the other day had a letter to the editor saying that, there I go again, there's Clinton out there trying to give American sovereignty over to the United Nations.

Let me just say this: For people that are worried about it, I would say, there is a serious issue here that every American has to come to grips with, including Americans that don't much think about foreign policy until some great problem occurs, and that is, how can we be an independent, sovereign nation leading the world in a world that is increasingly interdependent, that requires us to cooperate with other people and then to deal with very difficult circumstances in trying to determine how best to cooperate.

That's the issue that you will all be reporting on for the next week in the Mexico certification issue. Did I do the right thing to certify Mexico? Are the members of Congress who disagree with me right when they say we should have decertified Mexico and then give it a national interest waiver so we could continue to cooperate economically and in others ways?

I strongly believe I was right. But we don't -- if you want to go into that, we can later, but the issue is, we live in an interdependent world. We have to cooperate with people. We're better off when we do. We're better off with NATO. We're better off with the United Nations. We're better off when these countries can work together. So I just think for folks that are worried about this out in the country, they need to be thinking about how -- we're not going to give up our freedom, our independence, but we're not going to go it alone into the 21st century either. We're going to work together and we have to.

[Freee-dame]

bump

[TBall]

Thanks for the inclusion and thank goodness that truth is more absolute.

[Arthur McGowan]

She also drilled Mike McCurry over the issue in September of 1996, an interesting exchange, in which a person named Helen (my guess is Helen Thomas) told McClendon to "put a sock in it" so she could get her question in. [both transcripts are bellow]

Any transcript of Sarah and Helen would be!

[Verginius Rufus]

Sarah McClendon just died at age 94. She at least was not Arkancided.

Dee Brown (author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee also just died (December 12, 2002) at age 94 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Just coincidence?

[Red Jones]

your recollections are 100% correct; and your gullability is very impressive also.

Of course it's true that the two CIA statements from late 98 and early 99 didn't have anything in them about Mena, no specifics. They were very short statements. The 1'st one said they'd beeninvolved in drug smuggling into the US. The second one said they'd been involved in this for 20 years. Also, in 1983 Attorney General William F Smith signed a letter that has been made public and I've seen here on FR that told the various 92 US Attorneys that there were cases where the CIA did not want them to prosecute drug cases and that the various 92 US Attorneys were to cooperate with the CIA. So, the only kind of person who denies that the CIA has been involved in drug smuggling are stupid idiots who don't give a damn about the truth.

But we must consider the context of the statements. There were many ex-CIA people and associates who were telling the press fantastic stories about drug smuggling. This included the fantastic Mena stories and other stories. In my opinion the purpose of the two statements was to tell the agents who were talking to the press to shut up. The CIA was confirming that they knew all about it and just didn't want to talk about it and didn't want anyone else to talk about it. Some CIA agents apparently didn't understand that top management was behind the drug smuggling and they had to be publicly told to get them to shut up.

Obviously the purpose of the press releases was not to inform the american public. The 2'nd press release was made on the saturday morning that Clinton was impeached, just a half hour after the vote. Obviously, they wanted to make the press release, but they didn't want the americans to know. They wanted their own CIA people to know that top management wanted them to shut up, that it was OK what happened and that if they continued, then they'll be killed. That, IMHO, was the purpose of the press releases.

To me it verifies that the fantastic stories are more true than false. But you are right in that the press releases did not actually confirm the wild fantastic stories.

[Red Jones]

'republic not a democracy' bump

[Red Jones]

1 more thing about the CIA for those who are interested:

Did you see how they killed William Kolbe? I'm not sure I have the name or spelling exactly correct. But there was a man who was named William Colbe. But let me tell you a story about William colby so that you all can ask yourselves if it is good for our nation to be ruled by a monster that uses the CIA as it's enforcer.

As a young man they dropped Colby behind enemy lines in Germany. He worked as a spy. He survived. Then he became a part of the CIA, he worked as an agent undercover in many venues. He became eventually director of the CIA in mid 1980's?. Then he retired. But he stayed active. He had an association with Investor's Business Daily I think. He had a consulting firm.

Like all americans he knew those people at Waco were going to be murdered in the end. He got friends of his at the Alabama Air Guard to fly a plane from Alabama all the way to Texas to take a video of the terrible Waco events on April 19, 1993. This air crew flew without their commander's OK to Texas with an Alabama national guard plane. It was against Texas law, it was against all procedure. They did it because Bill Colby asked them to do it.

On that day they flew 5 miles away from the terrible spot where the Branch Davidians were. To fly closer would cause the federal monster's people to force you out of the sky. They filmed the terrible events with the special infra-red camera that would work from 5 miles away. That tape was funneled to William Colby after they made it. Then Colby circulated it to others. Because of this the Americans were able to see the video that shows American soldiers shooting guns at American civilians at waco Texas on that terrible day.

But of course you know the story. The americans are very gullible, whatever their tv masters tell them they believe. The tv masters refused to acknowledge the terrible evidence on waco, just as they refuse to acknowledge so much else. The CIA official who testified in the mid-1970's that they had 450 'assets' among the mainstream media knew what he was talking about. When the president said that the evil face on the smoke cloud that came out of the first building hit on 911 was quickly scrubbed by the US government's censors in the networks' own offices on that day was speaking the truth. They can kill stories at will.

But nevertheless, William Colby had done something bad. The media censors were able to control the damage, but the CIA was unhappy with its' former director, Bill Colby. So in the spring of 96 they had the Associated Press release a press statement. The press statement said that William Colby had drowned in a boating accident. People called William Colby's house to give condolences to his wife. At that time William Colby found out about the fake press release which reported his own death.

But the press release was just a warning, or a demonstration of their power. Maybe Colby didn't swear an oath of fealty, maybe they had always planned to kill him anyway. Either way, just one month after the fake press release William Colby did drown (spring of 96) in a boating accident just as the press release from a month earlier had said. Colby was found barefoot. The door to his house was open, his computer was on, logged onto the net, his food was at the table, not eaten. His wife said it was very uncharacteristic of him to leave his computer on like that and that it had never happened that he left his food partially eaten like that and left. So, they came to his house in the woods and forced him to the little river nearby where he normally rode his canoe and killed him there. He went out like a man, in his mid-70's the government assasins couldn't get him to put his shoes on.

He was director of the CIA, he was a war hero, he was a loyal american and they killed him over a policy dispute. Because Colby thought traditional American rule of law was important and the others didn't. Colby thought the waco killings were wrong.

Then we should consider Mr. Wilcher. Mr. Wilcher of the CIA defected and told some journalists about the real reasons for the Waco murders. Wilcher said it was to protect a CIA mind-control program located according to Wilcher very near Waco. What a coincidence, George Bush's ranch is very near Waco. Perhaps he is a subject of the program. According to Wilcher David Koresh and others were involuntarilly pressed into this program as teenagers. Koresh of course started out as the janitor at the branch davidians and became their leader. Wilcher says he was programmed to do it so the CIA could keep an eye on this group. But then Koresh and others allegedly 'woke up' and realized aspects of the mind control program. According to Wilcher the Branch Davidians had some chemical weapons and were going to use them. So, the CIA responded to this by dictating that all Branch Davidians should die in order to protect the public from having any knowledge of the mind control program. Colby disagreed with this out-of-control mentality and the murders. So, Colby eventually was murdered over it. Wilcher was murdered of course too, just 6 weeks after he defected. Wilcher died of a very rare disease in his home. Carlos Gugliatti(spelling incorrect) died of the same rare disease just a few days before he was scheduled to testify in the Waco case in federal court. Gughliatti was the expert who could interpret the funny infra-red video images. He was telling people horrible stories about how it was on video that they murdered those people at Waco. I remember reading here on FR posts from Gughliatti's lawyer just days before he was killed saying that he hopes Carlos is OK and then the same guy posted the news about Carlos being dead. Then the news media had the story about Carlos being killed.

These are the people we're dealing with, these are the people who rule us. The same people who killed John Kennedy are still in charge. Reagan didn't work for them, probably Carter didn't work for them, but the other presidents have ever since 1963.

They think they know what is best for the whole world. They bypass our democratic process and ignore our laws. They short-circuit and rig our elections. They discredit or even kill politicians they don't like. But they're bi-partisan, they work with both parties.

[HAL9000]

your recollections are 100% correct; and your gullability is very impressive also.

Red, with all due respect, I've got a couple of questions for you.

When did you first hear of the so-called Mena scandal?

How much time did you spend in Mena and Springdale, Arkansas, talking to who were in a position to know the truth? What were their roles in the alleged events?

How many real Clinton scandals have you personally uncovered and publicized? If there were several, it will be sufficient to name the biggest two or three scandals you're responsible for exposing.

After you reply, we can compare our credentials and level of access in investigating the Mena allegations, and decide who is gullible and who isn't. Thanks in advance.

[Red Jones]

well, Hal9000, I haven't personally investigated any scandals. I'm just an armchair general whose read a bit. Including Ambrose Evans Pritchard's book, a lot of Chris Ruddy, many articles on the net and in magazines, maybe more I can't remember. My hat is off to those who really have investigated.

I only called you gullable because you don't believe that CIA actually was involved in large-scale coke importation. Based on info that I've read it seems they have, but of course, that information I read could be not 100% accurate.

Maybe I should tone down my sometimes obnoxious rhetoric, but I have such fun doing it!! In the future I'll remember not to be obnoxious to you specifically. But with others I just can't resist.

I don't think for a second that GW Bush wants cocaine and other illegal drugs inside the US. Clinton was a slimeball who really did want this. I believe that GHW Bush and others at CIA in the 80's organized efforts that included the large-scale importation of cocaine into Mena. They knew it was happening. They pumped up the market for it by showing gangs in LA how to make crack. They knew the Mena operation was doing this for years. They tolerated it. And in my opinion they tolerated it for what they believed was very legitimate reasons rather than corruption. There may be very good arguments to support those legitimate reasons. I could make those arguments, but I won't bore you.

So, I just think the CIA has gone way too far. It isn't just the Mena cocaine stuff. It's a lot of things. So I rail against them always.

[Red Jones]

I first heard of the Mena scandal after Clinton was elected.

[HAL9000]

When I first received a pre-publication copy of Terry Reed's book, I was intrigued and strongly inclined to believe his story. The original allegations of a CIA-cocaine conspiracy had already been circulated by leftist radicals like Alexander Cockburn and the "Arkansas Committee" in an effort to smear President Reagan and Oliver North, but Reed's portrayal of a Clinton's involvement in Arkansas was interesting.

After several years of checking it out - mostly by other people, but also myself - Reed's story was discredited. The efforts to blame the CIA for cocaine smuggling in Arkansas have only diverted attention from the true culprits - the Tyson organization. It was the perfect cover story, and shifting the blame to the CIA served Tyson, Clinton and Hutchinson well.

To give one example of why I don't believe Terry Reed - he alleged that missile nose cones were being manufactured at the POM parking meter factory. It happens that my college roommate was the night watchman at that factory during the time period of Reed's allegations. He has been a good friend of mine for over 30 years, and he has always been honest with me. When I asked him whether he noticed any nose cones around POM when he worked there, he said certainly not.

There are dozens of other allegations in Reed's book that don't check out either, and the bottom line is that Terry Reed is a liar. There are many other people who started out believing Reed, but after some time dealing with him have come to the same conclusion.

I'm not particularily a fan of the CIA but I realize that they perform a necessary function for the US in dealing with foreign countries. There are plenty of legitimate problems to criticize the CIA for - but Mena ain't one of them.

[monkeywrench]

Didn't Sarah investigate Promis and Danny Cassalero, also? Promis just resurfaced, and with her death on the heels of that, I seemed to vaguely remember her connection to it.

[Red Jones]

well, I appreciate you being patient enough to explain those things to me and to others hopefully. I didn't read Terry Reid's book. But I certainly agree with you that the CIA does have a lot of very legitimate purposes. If some hot-heads like me were to just eliminate funding for them, then that would be a pretty big mistake. I'm convinced that they do protect us from WMD.

Some people (liberals) bash the CIA in order to get america to dis-arm and be weak. Some people do it because they think the CIA has stepped over the line and become a tyrant. I'm in the 2'nd group.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me.

[Tymesup]

"42-year-old Carlos Ghigliotti, the infra-red imaging expert who proved the government fired shots during the Branch Davidian stand-off, was found dead Saturday (April 29, 2000) afternoon." [http://www.888webtoday.com/waco4.html]

"FREE REPUBLIC BREAKING NEWS: Carlos Ghigliotti Death Ruled A Result of Natural Causes " [http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a391b214632df.htm]

The story seems to have died out.

Coincidentally, Laurel, MD figures in this story and in the sniper story last year - "And some of the hijackers stayed at a motel in Laurel, which is also in PG County, and not far from Bowie. And Laurel has a radical mosque." [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/765210/posts]

Also, researching this, I can't help noticing that FreeRepublic was on both the Ghigliotti and sniper stories.

[HAL9000]

Didn't Sarah investigate Promis and Danny Cassalero, also? Promis just resurfaced, and with her death on the heels of that, I seemed to vaguely remember her connection to it.

Whether DOJ violated the terms of use for Promis is a legitimate point of contention, but it is merely a contractual dispute. Mark Levin, whom I have the highest respect for, insists that Inslaws rights were not violated, but I'm not so sure.

But the allegations that Promis was some sort of Orwellian Big Brother software capable of tracking every person and financial transaction on the planet is a wild fantasy. There are not termite-embedded Promis terminals with micro-satellite uplinks. There was no Fifth Column of Kentucky hackers blackmailing politicians into resigning. This crap came straight out of a fictional novel about the NSA written in the early 1980s.

[HAL9000]

Office of Former President William Jefferson Clinton
New York, New York
For Immediate Release
January 8, 2003

Statement Of William J. Clinton On The Passing Of Sarah McClendon

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Sarah McClendon, a remarkable journalist who covered more Presidents than anyone in American history. Few women covered the White House when Sarah arrived in 1944 and wrote about Franklin D. Roosevelt. Since then, presidents and White House correspondents came and went, but for decades there was nothing to keep Sarah McClendon from doing her duty, reporting the news for her readers.

Time never diminished Sarah's feisty spirit or her quest for the facts. She never held back. All the trappings of the presidency did not sway her in the least. And all of us who called on her in news conferences did so with a mixture of respect and fear, I suspect, because we would never quite know what she might say. But whatever it was, she brought such enthusiasm and tenacity to the issue at hand that I couldn't help but admire her spirit. She didn't just ask questions. She demanded answers. Answers to questions that may not have dominated conversations inside the proverbial Beltway, but were very much on the minds of American families. She had a way of cutting through the process stories and insider gossip to ask about real issues that mattered to real people.

My thoughts are with Sarah's family and friends at this moment of loss. And I pray that the legacy of her full life will comfort them. Her voice will be missed at news conferences. Her stories will be missed by her readers. But I hope St. Peter is prepared for the kinds of questions that nearly a dozen presidents had to face. Because for Sarah McClendon, I imagine, Heaven is a place where her every question gets a good answer.

###

[Scholastic]

Duncan, Welch and Charles Black are still waiting for his $$$.

[Askel5]

started by Nixon.

Republicans generally are responsible for most of the really great ideas ... it's they who made abortion a "vital" prong of our national defense policy.

Given the way the Dems always take the blame -- and the heat (as at Waco, for example) -- after a while you have to figure it's they who are the Stupid Party.

But don't tell David Keene that ... he's PROUD to be a member of the Stupid Party.