As I write this in late May 1998, the world is watching two Indonesian traditions, locked in a dramatic struggle to determine that country’s future. One, representing one of the world’s most tolerant Muslim cultures, seeks a non-violent return towards the democratic civil society that prevailed in the early 1950s. The other apparently hopes to … Read more
[…] and drug consultant to, the Center for International Development Policy, gathering information in support of the investigation into Drugs and Foreign Policy conducted at that time by Senator John Kerry. In that capacity I consulted with a number of experts in Washington inside and outside government. I was also a personal eyewitness to the […]
[…] the many, Hersh (in note 15); the new book by James Bamford, reviewed below; and the section under the names of Vice Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, Senator Carl Levin and Senator Richard Durbin at the end of the Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence on the U.S. Intelligence Community and Prewar Intelligence […]
[…] MKULTRA records in financial files held by the Office of Technical Services which had not been indexed under the name MKULTRA. These documents became the subject of Senator Edward Kennedy’s hearings in 1977. The 1963 CIA Inspector General investigation report on MKULTRA states that the program was ‘concerned with research and development of chemical, […]
[…] this area.’ Among the half dozen senators supporting the programme, were Clairborne Pell and Robert C. Byrd . In the course of the programme, C. Richard D’Amoto, Senator Byrd’s staff member, and an intelligence specialist, several times successfully quashed DIA’s effort to kill the RV programme. British newspapers gave a variety of figures. The […]
Reflections on the ‘cult of the offensive’: pre-emptive war, the Israel lobby and US military Doctrine In our book, Spies, Lies and the War on Terror,(1) a central theme is the ascendancy of pre-emptive war doctrine in US military strategy and its impact on public perceptions and the construction of political narrative. A parallel and … Read more
A spook, moi? One of the formative experiences of my youth – and we’re talking early 1960s here, beatnik days, when wearing a narrow leather tie was pretty hip – was going to the Mound in Edinburgh on Sunday nights. The Mound is like Hyde Park Corner in London, a place where local by-laws allow … Read more
[…] It is not completely clear how Garrison’s enquiry started or why Shaw became the chief suspect. It is said that Garrison became interested following a suggestion from Senator Russell Long, later named as a principal figure in the ‘Save Hoffa’ campaign. (1) If Long’s association with Hoffa undermined the credibility of the inquiry from […]
[…] dead and 159,705 veterans injured or ill. That is a casualty rate of 29.3% for combat related duties between 1990 and 1991! Details at < http://traprockpeace.org/gulfcasualties.html > Senator Robert C. Byrd (Democrat, West Virginia) pointed out in the Senate on 26 September: ‘We have a paper trail. We not only know that Iraq has […]
Wick the forgotten One of the most prestigious, yet least challenging, posts in British journalism is that of Washington correspondent. Prestigious because of the importance of the United States; but least challenging because the natives speak English, more or less; and there are so many ready-made stories ripe for recycling to Britain, as the Internet … Read more
