April 3, 1995
April 10, 1995
April 17, 1995
April 24, 1995
World Government Deadline Delayed
Those who would be masters on the Global Plantation are deeply disturbed by the rising tide of populism.
The world shadow government has a busy spring planned: The Trilateral Commission meets April 22-25 in Copenhagen, Denmark and its senior brother group, Bilderberg, gathers somewhere in the world June 8-11.
The trilaterals will go behind locked and guarded doors at the Sheraton Copenhagen Hotel. The exact site of the Bilderbergers' meeting has not yet determined but The SPOTLIGHT's news hounds are confident of sniffing them out.
This much is known about Bilderberg: The session will involve more than the customary 120 international financiers and political leaders and they are meeting longer-four days instead of three.
As soon as this newspaper discovers the secret nest where these
vultures will gather, you will know. A highlight of the Trilateral
meeting will be a session on "American politics and U.S.
international leadership" on the opening day, April 22.
Both the Trilaterals and Bilderberg, which have interlocking leadership and a common agenda calling for a world government, are deeply disturbed over the rising tide of populism in America, according to State Department officials who have proven reliable for years.
"They are upset over what they call `rising isolationism and nationalism'-which are expletives in their vocabulary," one official said.
ELITISTS UNHAPPY
"And the publicity-from The SPOTLIGHT in this country and, to a lesser extent, from the less inhibited European press-is driving them wild," he said.
"One significant fact you have overlooked in your coverage of Bilderberg last year: For the first time, not one congressional leader attended-they caught so much flack back in their states and districts they don't dare," he said.
A check on the files confirmed that , for the first time in decades, no member of Congress attended Bilderberg in 1994. Before losing his seat, former House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Washington) had complained to The SPOTLIGHT about constituents' questions on Bilderberg and the Trilaterals.
"They are concerned that the present political climate in America endangers their plans to achieve a world government by 2002; the have already had to push their deadline ahead from 2000," the source said.
Other Trilateral topics include "current developments in Denmark," "Scandinavia in transition," "Estonia," "European Unification" and expanding the European Union to include the former Iron Curtain countries.
Two task force reports will be discussed: "Revitalizing Trilateral Democracies" and "Engaging Russia."
David Rockefeller dominates the Trilateral Commission, which includes Japanese representatives among the approximately 320 participants. He shares power in Bilderberg with the Rothschilds of Europe.
Rockefeller's valet, henry Kissinger, serves on the executive
committees of both groups to keep their agendas coordinated. Both
meet secretly each spring and share the goal of establishing a
world government.
|Top|
The nation's top cop has a big skeleton in her closet, and it's beginning to rattle.
For a year and a half, Attorney General Janet Reno has suppressed and manipulated evidence of the Mexican government's links with international drug traffickers in a persistent pattern that may warrant her own criminal prosecution on conspiracy, obstruction and malfeasance charges, narcotics enforcement experts have told The SPOTLIGHT.
Violating her oath as the nation's chief law officer, Reno "shelved and stifled detailed intelligence reports on the ever- closer collaboration of Mexican President Carlos Salinas and his top officials with the cocaine cartel," says Serge Aubry, a Canadian narcotics prosecutor who has served as a UN adviser on the North American drug traffic in recent years.
Reno's efforts to bury the facts about Mexico were driven by President Bill Clinton's peremptory insistence not to let any derogatory information interfere with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992-1994, this experienced observer asserted.
But other knowledgeable sources claim the official cover-up was set in motion by the need to protect the international financiers whose interest in Mexico multiplied exponentially under the Clinton administration.
BIG MONEY TALKS
Two Wall Street giants known for their influence over the Clinton administration-the Chase Manhattan consortium, the financial flagship of the Rockefeller empire, and the Goldman Sachs investment bank, the home office of Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin-spearheaded the invasion of Mexico by foreign speculators in the early 90s.
The "polluted tide" of drug billions, the vast "hot money" scams of New York promoters, and NAFTA's brief bonanza swamped the crime- ridden Salinas administration and set off murderous struggles among the corrupt factions of Mexico's long-established ruling party (known as the PRI), a recently retired U.S. customs inspector with long service in Latin America explained.
U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies-the FBI, with a large presence in Mexico, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the CIA and others-provided the U.S. Department of Justice with "hundreds" of secret reports on the way the Salinas administration opened itself to penetration by top drug kingpins, until "the government and the cocaine cartel became practically inseparable" asserted this knowledgeable source.
"None of those reports ever saw daylight," says a former congressional investigator who is working on a book about the U.S. Marshals Service. "Reno sat on them. When we (i.e. Congress) asked her about Mexico during the NAFTA debates, she denied she had any documentation that was really `important' or reliable."
REPORTS SUPPRESSED
But apart from the voluminous warning she was sent by U.S. agencies, Reno received-and suppressed-at least three important reports from highly reliable sources on the Salinas administration's diplomatic and law enforcement sources. They are:
* On May 12, 1993, in front of Guadalajara's bustling airport, a well drilled hit squad surrounded the limousine of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas and opened fire with M-10 submachine guns. With 14 bullets in his body, the revered Roman Catholic prelate died almost instantly. The assassination was first written off as a brutal blunder perpetrated by warring cocaine gangs.
But sources say Posadas was preparing a thunderous expose of endemic corruption-a pastoral letter based on new evidence of top level drug payoffs, assembled by deeply troubled Catholic staffers in Salinas' office.
The cardinal was silenced, but the confidential report compiled for him found its way to the attorney general's desk in the U.S. Justice Department-where it vanished sources say.
* In February 1994, Luis Donaldo Colosio, the ruling party's presidential candidate, was shot dead on a campaign swing. Salinas blamed the hit on a "lone, psychopathic" killer.
But The SPOTLIGHT has learned exclusively that shortly after Colosio's assassination, one of the prosecutors assigned to the case, Dr. Eduardo Valle, a respected narcotics expert, quietly left Mexico and sought asylum in the U.S.
He warned the Justice Department that Colosio had been killed on the orders of the "Narcodemocratic" Salinas administration. His revelations were concealed from Congress and the public.
* At about the same time, the Department of Justice began receiving reports from more than one law enforcement agency about the surreptitious cash deposits made in the U.S. banks by Mario Ruiz Massieu, Mexico's deputy attorney general in charge of all narcotics enforcement.
With an official salary of less than $50,000 a year., Massieu stashed $27 million in Florida and Texas banks during 1994. It was- as Reno knew all along-part of the drug payoffs he received in a single year.
But no information was released and no action was taken by the U.S. attorney general in this scandalous affair.
Earlier this month after Massieu left Mexico to join his money
in the U.S. he was finally arrested in Newark, New Jersey when
a Mexican extradition warrant charged him with conspiracy and
obstruction of justice-charges Reno may soon face herself if Massieu
decides to tell all.
|Top|
Sometimes the truth is painful, particularly when it is antagonistic to the entrenched bureaucracy.
Alternative medicine is effective and deserves more study, the Establishment has been forced to acknowledge in a 350-page report studiously ignored by the mainstream media.
The report to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found evidence of effectiveness in acupuncture, homeopathic and naturopathic medicine, manual therapy, herbal medicines and prayer- all of which were traditionally scorned by the Establishment.
The report, "Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons," criticizes government barriers and rejects the "stereotype" of patrons as being "people with weak minds."
"Recent studies of cancer patients indicate that, much to the contrary, well-educated persons with higher incomes are more likely to use alternative treatments, primarily because they want to take charge of their health," the report said.
"More than 60 percent of the practitioners of alternative treatments for cancer hold an MD, a Ph.D., or both from an accredited medical school or graduate school," it said.
"The barriers facing many aspects of alternative medicine
today are typical of the barriers that have faced novel scientific
ideas throughout the centuries," according to the report.
|Top|
If the internationalists in the White House who engineered the peso bailout-with the approval of Republican leadership in Congress-planned to destroy the American economy, their mission is nearly accomplished.
The House Republican conference committee voted down an America First proposal that would have required President Bill Clinton to move his Mexico bailout plans through Congress before proceeding in a secret ballot vote March 30.
To date, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has blocked every effort by America First congressmen aimed at stopping, or even slowing, the peso bailout.
But a handful of America Firsters may still throw a monkey wrench in the internationalists' plans.
Freshman Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas), for instance, recently introduced Discharge Petition 2 in a last ditch attempt at stopping the $50 billion-plus bailout.
Stockman introduced a bill, H.R. 807, in January that would require the president go through Congress in order to get approval for a bailout.
The bill was contrary to House Speaker Newt Gingrich's wishes. Consequently, "there has been no action" on it, according to a Capitol Hill staffer.
The discharge petition is a legislative maneuver to bring a vote to the floor. It takes at least 218 signatures on a petition to force as vote. As of March 29, Stockman had 38 names, including four Democrats.
"The president moans and groans about $17 billion in recisions, but the bailout could cost up to $53 billion," said kevin Bishop, Stockman's spokesman.
"Why didn't Clinton come to Congress first?" Bishop asked. "He made an end run when he saw he didn't have the votes."
House Republicans also discussed a bill by Rep. Dan Burton (r_Ind.) in their meeting. As The SPOTLIGHT went to press, sources said House Republican leaders were working on a compromise for the Burton bill.
Burton's bill would prevent the Treasury Department from releasing bailout funds, financed by taxpayer dollars, until Congress reviews all documents requested from the administration about the economic advice it gave Mexico before the peso crisis, according to the Washington Times.
On March 1, the House approved a resolution requiring the White to provide all relevant documents explaining the Mexico policy. As The SPOTLIGHT went to press, Congress was still waiting.
Gingrich is opposed to both of the bills. He has been a staunch supporter of the bailout from the beginning. The Speaker has personally blocked anti-bailout bills from making it to the floor.
The leadership's unwavering support for the failed Mexico policy-these same Republican leaders gave Clinton victories on NAFTA and GATT-has many America First Republicans looking for different approaches to have their bills discussed.
Businessmen warn they had better act soon.
Although the dollar has collapsed internationally, U.S.-made
exports are going nowhere. According to one respected financial
reporter, foreign investors are convinced Washington is
incompetent.
"Foreign investors are pulling out of the dollar," wrote Martin Weiss in his Safe Money Report in March. "Clinton has convinced them that our federal government will never do anything to manage its money intelligently.
"They've got to be asking themselves: What's Clinton going
to do in the summer or fall when the Mexican crisis erupts again...
"Foreign investors are saying"`Forget it. The whole
business is an insane nightmare.'"
|Top|
Widespread, escalating opposition by grassroots Americans is now turning the tide against the proposed Conference of the States.
Conference of States (COS) opponents, who believe the event could turn into a federal constitutional convention (Con-con), have convinced 14 states-as of March 28-to defeat resolutions calling for participation in the confab.
Of these, eight states have either voted down the COS or the legislative sessions have adjourned for the year without taking action. These states are California, Georgia, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Six other states have tabled, or set aside, their COS resolutions. These are Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana and Washington.
In Kansas, the sentiment of law-makers against a con-con is now so strong that the process has begun to rescind, or repeal, the state's 1978 call for a con-con, ostensibly on the issue of a balanced budget amendment.
On March 27, the text of the COS participation resolution, SCR 1606 was deleted and replaced with language repealing Kansas' con- con call. It now reads in part:
"Whereas, it appears that at such a convention various amendments to the U.S. Constitution might be proposed, and that some might be quite dangerous or destructive; and "Whereas, the Congress and the president are deemed to be capable of conducting our government properly, without the aid of a constitutional convention.
"The Conference of the States is absolutely the wrong
way to approach regaining states' rights," state Rep Darlene
Cornfield, a leader of the anti-con-con effort, told The SPOTLIGHT.
This is just a backdoor approach to a constitutional convention.
We have all the tools we need under the constitution. We just
need strong
leadership."
COS organizers are now targeting Oregon, Louisiana and Indiana.
Since mid-February, COS organizers have added just one other
state to their tally-Nebraska, the only state which has a unicameral
legislature. Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson (D) is a major COS proponent.
|Top|
The Montana attorney general's office has dropped all charges against five members of the civilian militia who were arrested by sheriff's deputies, March 3 in the village of Roundup in Montana's Musselshell County (SPOTLIGHT, March 20 and 27).
John Trochmann, a founder of the Militia of Montana (MOM), was one of those arrested. His is one of the most active and best organized civilian militia groups in the nation.
The five were charged by deputies with various felony counts, ranging from criminal conspiracy to illegal possession of firearms.
The charges were based on fraudulent allegations by the deputies that the militiamen were involved in crimes that included plans to rob banks, counterfeiting and the planned kidnaping and/or murder of local officials.
After a thorough investigation, the attorney general's office determined there was no substance to the allegations and no evidence or cause to warrant the men being charged.
Two men who belong to another group, known as the "Free Men" (sometimes rendered "Freemen"), were arrested the same day by deputies in Roundup.
They have also had all felony charges against them dropped but they still face minor misdemeanor weapons charges.
Full details of what is being hailed by patriotic groups all
across the nation as "a victory for all Americans who cherish
their freedom," will appear in next week's SPOTLIGHT.
|Top|
Big Brother has folded in the latest battle for constitutional rights.
The decision of the office of Montana Attorney General Joseph P. Mazurek (D) to drop all charges against five leaders of the civilian militia movement in Montana is being hailed as a major setback for forces who wish to destroy the rights of Americans as guaranteed by the Constitution.
The men were accused of a variety of trumped up charges March 3. Their original bond was set at $100,000 each (SPOTLIGHT March 20).
Federal officials were reportedly involved in urging the local officers to take the action against the men.
IGNORED BY MEDIA
The issue of civilian militias has been a major topic of feature articles in the Establishment media for months. The "patriotic" groups were usually ridiculed or linked with racist or so-called "White supremacist" elements.
Only The SPOTLIGHT, among the nation's national media carried in any detail the story of the arrest of Montana's militiamen, and the ultimate decision of the Montana attorney general's office to drop its charges.
The five men include John Trochmann, 51, of Noxon, a co- founder of the high-profile Militia of Montana (MOM).
Trochmann appeared on national television, including the Phil Donahue Show, and in feature articles in national news magazines and newspapers prior to his arrest in `Roundup, the county seat of Musselshell County. Although much of the Northwest was in an uproar over the incident, not even a whisper about the tense situation appeared in any of the national media publications other than The SPOTLIGHT.
CHARGED WITH FELONIES
Trochmann and four other militiamen, Paul Stramer, 46, of Eureka, Cajun james, 53, of Thompson Falls, Amotto "Jerry Lopex. 35, of Rexford and Marc Basque, 34, of Albetton, were arrested and charged with felony intimidation by accountability, attempted tampering with or fabricating evidence and criminal syndicalism.
The charges, all felonies, could lead to up to 10 years in prison. In addition, some faced misdemeanor charges of carrying concealed weapons.
The felony charges were also dropped against two other men, Dale Jocobi, 53, of Thompson Falls and Frank Elena, 45, of the Billings area. Both are members of a group known as the "Free Men."
Several hours following their arrest, the seven men appeared for a preliminary hearing, without the guidance of counsel. All but one, Lopez, were transferred to the Yellowstone County Detention Center in Billings.
The jail was cordoned off by guards in SWAT gear for a block away along every direction. Police with sniper rifles were posted on the roof.
Meanwhile, officials in both Roundup and Billings were flooded with telephone calls, fax messages and other communications from thousands of irate Americans all across the nation.
At the same time, Musselshell County officials, led by Sheriff G. Paul Smith and County Attorney John Bahlman, accused the men of all sorts of wild crimes.
Officials for example, said the men planned to rob banks and "capture and/or kill" local officials.
Binding the men in possession of a pack of bogus $3 bulls, which have been circulated throughout the country by the publishers of Slick Times, a humor magazine that pokes fun at President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, a sheriff's spokesman said "the bills will be examined by the Secret Service for possible counterfeiting violations."
Todd Blodgett, associate publisher of Slick Times told The SPOTLIGHT (April 10) that, "if Bill Clinton can impersonate a president, then I can print a $3 bill."-Ed.]
In a letter to Assistant Attorney General John Connor urging that the charges against the men be dropped, attorney John DeCamp said:
"As a sample of how far reality and what was being perceived as reality were separated, let me provide you with some of the evidence grabbed which was supposed to support a charge of counterfeiting.
"Attached [as Exhibit A] is the $3 bill which was the basis for the claim.
"You might note, John, that if this is counterfeiting, then every novelty store, gift shop and curio shop in America is in the business of counterfeiting and marketing counterfeit money.
"Yet, John, this was probably the closest to reason of any of the charges against the individuals.
In the letter, DeCamp said each of the defendants would be willing to undergo lie detector tests concerning their activities in Roundup.
In addition, the members of the citizens militia said they would waive their rights and consent to allowing the findings to be used in court against them, if the deputies involved in their arrest would too.
DeCAmp presented the results of his findings in the case to Connor as follows:
"I/we believe the episode culminating in the arrest and filing of charges against the `montana Seven' began with...a con job by a long-time repeat offender, call him John Doe, who was arrested and incarcerated on or about late February 1995 for very serious spousal abuse. John Doe had become obsessed with a jealous rage and anger because he believed that a certain individual, one of the Montana Seven and a so called Freeman had a `relationship" with his wife that he did not sanction while he, John Doe, was previously incarcerated
"John Doe also knew that the charges he was facing were very grave. More important, John Doe knew that the Musselshell sheriff's office (particularly Deputy Buzz Jones) was himself obsessed with concerns and fears and hatreds of the Freemen and/or the Montana Militia.
"John Doe solved his incarceration problem by spinning a tale for Deputy Jones-and later others-to the effect that the Freemen were on the verge of kidnapping and hanging public officials and particularly a judge, as well as robbing banks and doing any sort of dastardly deed that John Doe could spin a tale about and which Musselshell officials were ready to lap up without proper investigation or analysis...
ENTER FEDS
"And, with fears being driven by the con job of John Doe on certain public officials, on Feb. 27, 1995 warnings were issued from Federal and other officials that Armageddon was about to descend upon poor little Roundup from an invasion of the Freemen or Montana Militia, or whoever.
"Next, enter the fickle finger of fate and, of course,
paranoia and probably incompetence on the part of local officials
of Musselshell County, Montana. And this drama unfolds:
"Seven individuals-some who did not even know or had never even met each other before-and comprised of individuals some of whom were members of the Montana Militia and others who were members of the Freemen-all ended up in Roundup at about the same time and for different reasons.
After describing the arrest of Elena and Jacobi, who were in Roundup to file legal papers at the court house, Connor described the arrest of Trochmann and his four militia associates as follows:
"...Suddenly, with lightning speed and led by Deputy Jones, the officials assault these individuals. They believe, apparently driven by paranoia, they have a right to capture. Again led by Deputy Jones, the Montana Seven are trussed up like hogs; handcuffed with their hands behind their backs; forced to lie for six hours in pain on concrete trussed up and handcuffed. They abuse them in a variety of other ways, threaten them with loaded shotguns in the backs and chests, break out car windows, question them in violation of all legal and proper police standards; charge them with felonies of every ilk and description and fabricate allegations to support their charges and their actions. The officials lie to the relatives and friends calling in to the sheriff's office and repeatedly deny that the Montana Seven are even at the jail ar have been arrested. And these things recited here are the nicest things the local officials do...
After their arrest, The SPOTLIGHT contacted the Musselshell County sheriff's office and inquired if Trochmann had been arrested. A dispatcher said she could not comment on any arrests but that she was not familiar with the name.
"The feds figured out, we believe," DeCamp wrote Connor, "that they are in the midst of a comedy of errors and misunderstandings and after questioning the Montana Seven quickly get out of any further involvement in the matters pending and return everything to local officials..."
The state attorney general's office then concluded the charges were spurious.
Trochmann and other militiamen involved in the Roundup fiasco
are considering with their counsel whether to take action against
Musselshell County officials.
|Top|
Would a government agency try to entrap a group of patriots into doing something illegal?
The Militia of Montana (MOM) had no more than learned March 29 that spurious felony charges had been dropped against several of their leaders by the state attorney general's office, when the following day they were sent onto a state of alert.
An intercepted radio broadcast indicated their headquarters in Noxon, located near the Idaho border in the western part of the state, was to be attacked by federal forces.
A militia "listening post" in Idaho had picked up a signal on a frequency used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and `Firearms (BATF). The message said the Montana militia was to be the target of a major assault by the BATF, supported by soldiers for Fort Lewis, Washington.
The Montana militia immediately declared a state of alert and messages were promptly sent all across the country to other militia units.
The activity prompted numerous calls to radio talk shows, including Tom Valentine's Radio Free America, broadcast worldwide by satellite and short wave.
Valentine discussed the potential raid in depth with his call-in listeners. Within hours much of the country was aware of the intercepted radio broadcast.
HEARD BY OTHERS
Other reports from militia units scanning the BATF frequency sent out alerts that they, too, had also picked up the signal.
The voices heard on the frequency said a special briefing on the assault was to be held at 1800 hours (6 pm Pacific Standard Time) at "Zebra," Fort Lewis, later that day. A voice also said cold weather gear was being provided for the attack.
Further discussion indicated Army Blackhawk helicopters were being flown from a base in Texas to take part in the assault.
Voices also said Montana Gov. Marc Racicot and Idaho Gov. Phil Batt would be briefed at 0900 (9am Pacific Standard Time) the following day.
The broadcast concluded with one agent saying, "We have said too much on the air. We have to get off the air."
Montana militia leaders immediately contacted Montana Assistant Attorney General John P. Connor Jr.
Connor said a day earlier felony charges against MOM leaders stemming from an incident in rural Musselshell County in the central part of the state on March 3 were being dropped by his office (see accompanying story).
He assured MOM leaders the attorney general's office was not involved in or aware of any planned activity against the militia group. Connor spent several hours trying to get Racicot on the telephone to determine what was happening.
REPORT CONFIRMED
On March 30, MOM co-founder and leader, John Trochmann, contacted BATF officials who confirmed the broadcast had indeed been made by BATF agents but that no attack was planned on MOM headquarters.
The Officials indicated they were trying to determine the reason for the broadcast.
Trochmann insisted the matter be fully investigated. He said it constituted a serious provocation.
There have been persistent reports received by militia units across the country that federal officials are undertaking an operation, code named "Chicken Little," which is supposedly an effort to alarm and perhaps provoke militias to react by disseminating false information.
Throughout much of February and March there were persistent reports that nationwide raids by BATF and other federal agencies, working in cooperation with the National Guard and local police, were planned for March 25 against the leaders of militias and other so-called patriotic groups.
After writing to Attorney General Janet Reno about the persistent reports, Rep. James Hansen (R-Utah) received a letter from the BATF, stating no such raids were planned.
In any case, the Montana militia remained on alert throughout
the weekend but without incident.
|Top|
NAFTA chickens are coming home to roost in the U.S. Justice Department.
Attorney General Janet Reno, the back-room strategist of the broad criminal cover-up needed to ensure the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, now faces a congressional investigation that is "almost certain" to get her fired and possibly even indicted for obstruction of justice and other official misconduct, law-enforcement sources say.
Two of the Senate's most powerful panels, headed by two of the most combative congressional leaders-Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) who supervises banking, and Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) who heads the Foreign Relations Committee-introduced resolutions late last month directing federal law enforcement agencies to hand over their files on the Mexican government's covert alliance with the drug cartel.
The measure sponsored by Helms, long an outspoken critic of corrupt Mexican politicians, extends all the way to the White House. it requires President Bill Clinton to submit, within 30 days, "all information in the possession of the U.S. government on the involvement of high Mexican officials, their relatives, aides and collaborators, specifically including past and present presidents of Mexico, cabinet ministers and military commanders, in the illegal traffic of controlled substance, or any act designed to promote or protect such traffic since March 1, 1991.
DUTY IGNORED
"It was Reno's sworn duty and legal obligation to hand over these files on the systemic criminality of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's administration when congress first asked to see them during the NAFTA debate," explained Charles O. Trammer, a former senior Justice Department investigator who now works for the Department of Defense. "She didn't."
"To protect NAFTA, she decided to protect the cocaine cartel's booming operations south of the border," he added.
During the Reagan era, senior administration officials involved in the Iran-contra scandal got "criminal convictions for lesser cover-ups," this knowledgeable source added.
To make plain just what sort of vital drug evidence the attorney general deep-sixed, law enforcement sources who have long provided this populist newspaper with trustworthy information cited the following examples:
* Eduardo Valle, a senior Mexican drug prosecutor who quit in protest over the Salinas administration's rampant corruption in 1993, moved to the U.S. and gave the Justice Department documented intelligence indicating that his own boss, Mexican Attorney General Humberto Benitez Trevino-Reno's Mexican counterpart-was in the pay of the drug lords. Vale's "staggering" disclosures were "bottled up" by Reno, sources say.
* A classified FBI report warned in 1993 that two of Salinas' closest aides-party boss and Agriculture Minister Carlos Hank Gonzelez and Salinas' chief of staff, Jose Cordoba Montoya-were linked to "powerful drug-trafficking rings.
DRUG CONNECTIONS
* When the General Accounting Office wanted to know why Customs had such difficulty making a dent in the flood of narcotics smuggled to the U.S. from Mexico, Treasury investigators prepared a report suggesting the cabinet minister whom Salinas put in charge of all Mexican ports, highways and telecommunications, Ernesto Gamboa Patro, had connections" to the cocaine cartel.
But Reno argued that the memorandum was "poorly documented" and "premature" so that the report incriminating Gamboa was shelved.
While Reno's cover-up was mainly designed to shield and promote NAFTA-in itself a predatory and fraudulent pact whose ruinous effect is becoming clearer every day-it ended up "promoting an unprecedented boom in the drug trade," says Manuel Aguilar Reyes, veteran correspondent of a Mexican news-magazine group in the U.S.
"As narcotics traffic soared, churning out tens of billions of dollars, Mexico became a battleground for at least three powerful drug syndicates, all with their own high government connections," according to this knowledgeable source.
Had Reno warned the American Congress and the public of this
degenerating situation next door, there would have been no NAFTA,
and probably no sudden economic collapse in Mexico-a disaster
whose worst is still to come.
|Top|
On Wednesday, March 29, the House voted down a proposed constitutional amendment for 12-year term limits on lawmakers in the House and Senate. The vote was 227-204-1. A two-thirds vote is required for passage of a constitutional amendment bill.
Following is how Colorado voted:
Allard........No
Hefley........No
McInnis.......Yes
Schaefer......Yes
Schroeder.....No
Skaggs........No
|Top|
Want to know how terrible the United States is? Ask the UN.
"Torture and ill-treatment in jails are widespread" in the United States, which is "a world leader in executing juveniles" that practices "actual discrimination against Latin American minorities."
Those are some of the gentler charges lobbed at this country
as its leaders stood, figuratively holding their hats and
shuffling their feet, before the UN's International Human Rights
committee.
The first hearing on whether federal and state laws meet the demands of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed by the United States in 1992, is to become an annual ritual.
Cecilia Medina Quiroga of Chile said the United States
violates the treaty because the Equal Rights Amendment was not
ratified.
California's Proposition 187, which limits government benefits to illegal aliens, is "actual discrimination against Latin American minorities," said Julio Prado Vallejo of Ecuador.
The "rights" of Cuban refugees who tried to enter this country illegally and who are being held at Guantanomo Bay because they don't want to go home are being denied, Vallejo said.
U.S. treaty adherence "is purely cosmetic and has no practical value," said Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch.
ALLEGED ABUSES
Amnesty International, which accused America of executing Juveniles and ill-treatment of prisoners, said "police brutality is widespread and persistent."
But the United States is trying to improve its behavior enough to satisfy its Third World judges on the committee, according to John Shattuck, assistant secretary of state for human rights, who was sent to UN head-quarters to apologize for his country.
Deval Patrick, assistant attorney general for civil rights and another designated apologizer, presented the committee with a list of actions the administration has initiated in hopes of finding favor with the committee.
If the UN finds the United States in noncompliance, the next step is to demand that California repeal Prop. 187, the Equal Rights Amendment be ratified and any objectionable federal or state laws be changed.
"The significant part is that the press treats it so gently, if at all, that Americans who would be outraged are unaware," a State Department source said.
"We are losing our sovereignty as we sleep, and the press
is singing a lullaby," he said.
|Top|
Results are in from the U.S. military "shoot Americans" survey-and they are disquieting.
About one in four U.S. Marines would be willing to fire upon American citizens in a government gun confiscation program, according to the results of a survey undertaken nearly a year ago at a Marine Corps base in southern California.
In addition, more that four out of five of the Marines
surveyed indicated they would be willing to "participate
in missions under a U.S. National Emergency Police Force."
The SPOTLIGHT has been provided the results to the survey contained in a master's degree thesis, reportedly undertaken by a student at the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, to determine "unit cohesion" when soldiers are assigned to "non- traditional missions."
Few stories published in The SPOTLIGHT have created such a stir as when it was revealed in this newspaper's July 25, 1994 issue that the survey had been taken at the Marine base.
On May 10, 1994, the survey was undertaken by Navy Lt Cmdr. Ernest G Cunningham, purportedly as research for his thesis, Peacekeeping and UN Operational Control: A Study of Their Effect on Unit Cohesion, at the Marine base, located on the southeast corner of the Mojave Desert, about 70 miles due east of San Bernadino, California, just east of Los Angeles.
RECEIVED DEGREE
Cunningham turned in the thesis for printing on March 20
and was graduated from the Postgraduate School on March 23, receiving
his Master of Science in Manpower, Personnel and Training
Analysis degree.
According to U.S. navy and Marine Corps officials, Cunningham
administered the survey to 300 Marine veterans of the Persian
Gulf War and the earlier invasion of Panama in the base
auditorium.
He had the cooperation and permission of the base's public affairs officer, But Cunningham did not have consent of the base commander, Brig. Gen. Russell H. Sutton.
In fact, Sutton didn't know about the survey until afterwards.
The results of the survey contained 46 questions dealing with
the Marines" willingness to perform "non-traditional"
missions. Question 46, dealing with a gun confiscation scenario,
jolted both the Marines and the Navy, as well as the Department
of Defense, numerous members of the House and Senate and virtually
every American concerned about the Second Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which guarantees the people's right to keep and
bear arms."
VERY DISTURBING
This is how the question was posed to the Marines:
"The U.S. government declares a ban on the possession, sale, transportation, and transfer of all non-sporting firearms. A thirty day amnesty period is permitted for these firearms to be turned over to the local authorities. At the end of this period, a number of citizens groups refuse to turn over their firearms.
Consider the following statement: `I would fire upon U.S. citizens who refuse or resist confiscation of firearms banned by the U.S. government'."
The question was then posed as to what degree the individual Marine agreed with the Statement.
According to the results given in Cunningham's thesis, a total of 88 percent, or 264 Marines, responded to the question.
Of the 264 who responded, 26.34 percent, or 79 Marines, indicated they would be willing to "fire upon U.S. citizens."
Of that total, 18.67 percent, or 56 Marines, indicated they "agree" with the statement, and 7.67 percent, or 23 Marines, indicated that they "strongly agree."
A total of 61.66 percent, or 185, indicated that they were opposed to firing at citizens.
Of the total, 42.33 percent, or 127, indicated they "strongly disagree" and 19.33 percent, or 58, indicated they "disagree."
In his thesis, Cunningham noted: "This particular question, unlike the others, elicited from 15.97 percent of the respondents with an opinion, either heavier pen or pencil marks on their response or written comments in the margin space. The responses to this scenario suggest that a complete unit breakdown could occur in a unit tasked to execute this mission,"
However, it becomes clear that a poll would be useful in determining which soldiers, and in this case Marines, would be willing to undertake such a mission, to fire upon U.S. citizens."
In other words, if a commander asked the men of his unit to raise their hands in a simple poll, he could determine the position of such servicemen and those who responded in the affirmative could be talked for such a mission.
This is just one of the reasons the question, not to mention
the fact that it was allowed to be asked, is obviously
potentially dangerous.
In fact, several months before the survey was taken at Twenty- Nine Palms, The SPOTLIGHT, Modern Gun magazine and other publications revealed the question posed by Cunningham in his survey had been asked of members of a U.S. Seal (Sea-Air-Land) team.
In addition, despite Navy and Marine Corps denials, there have been dozens of reports, unconfirmed, that the survey has been given to other servicemen, as well as various federal law enforcement agents.
FURTHER SURVEYS?
In fact, Cunningham notes: "If the results of this survey elicit concerns in the areas queried, then further studies are warranted. Perhaps, a random sample survey should be conducted to determine whether the results of this survey are valid for the entire Marine Corps and/or Army. Also, a survey could provide an indication of the volunteer pool that would seek service in units dedicated to, and specialized in, peacekeeping operations..."
Also of concern is the fact, as reported by Cunningham in his thesis, that 97,67 percent of the Marines responded to a question an overwhelming 85.33 percent in the affirmative-that they would be willing to "participate in missions under a U.S. National Emergency Police Force..."
"Furthermore," Cunningham notes, "43 percent of the soldiers strongly agreed...
"Federal troops have been restricted from participation with local police authorities to quell domestic violence since the passage of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. That being the case, it was surprising that these soldiers seemed to not know the legal restrictions placed on them by the act."
He also noted, however, that "In May 1992, 4,000 U.S. Army and Marine soldiers were ordered by President George Bush to augment city and county law enforcement and state National Guard during the riot in Los Angeles, California, following the Rodney King trial.
"Since 1981," Cunningham states, "the majority of today's All Volunteer Force has been exposed to and participated in an environment of expanding non-traditional missions when Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies Act of 1981. This act enabled the military to participate in the drug war. This cooperative alliance of military and civilian police efforts in the name of national security may have eroded the demarcation between civilian law enforcement and our military institution first established by the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878."
The results of another question, No. 45, posed by the survey, indicates American soldiers are not eager to swear allegiance to the United Nations, although nearly on in four would do so.
Question 45 states:
"I would swear to the following code: `I am a United Nations fighting person. I serve in the forces which maintain world peace and every nation's way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense'."
A total of 69.33 percent, or 208 Marines of those surveyed,
indicated that they disagreed, with 117, or 39 percent,
indicating they strongly disagreed.
On the other hand, 71 Marines, or 23.66 percent, indicated they would be willing to swear such allegiance to the UN, with 19, or 6.33 percent indicating they were strongly in favor of doing so.
"For thousands of years," Cunningham notes in his thesis, "military organizations have required their soldiers to swear to some form of code or allegiance. A code provides a standard for the soldiers to live up to and, in many cases, to die for. A code can be a powerful tool for establishing and sustaining unit cohesion. But what if the mission a soldier is assigned to perform counters or confuses the code he has sworn to uphold? Question 45 was presented to determine if the soldiers would swear to such a code."
No one knows if the American personnel traveling in the helicopter shot down over Iraq by friendly fire" in April 1994 would have sworn allegiance to such a code. Yet, Vice President Albert Gore stated that these Americans "died in the service of the United Nations."
"It is patently clear," a retired high-ranking
Army officer told The SPOTLIGHT, "That this survey raises
some very serious issues, not the least of which is that U.S.
servicemen are not being properly educated as to the limits of
their service in the civilian sector. This is most dangerous,
and, I should think, the Congress has an obligation to the people
to take a careful look at this, not to mention the people at the
Pentagon."
|Top|
Attention Americans filing returns: Aid to Israel is a deduction.
It's April 15, you made a little more money than you thought you would and now Uncle Sam wants too large of a cut. What do you do?
You could join the thousands of Americans who contribute to Israel-above and beyond annual U.S. financial aid-and claim a tax deduction.
According to The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), a donation to any Israeli charity by a U.S. citizen can be deducted from that U.S. citizen's federal income tax.
And the plot thickens. Because Israeli charities are out of bounds of the IRS, a taxpayer could forseeably lie about the amount of the donation, i.e. write off.
The magazine used an example of an American taxpayer who made a $100,000 contribution to a charity, but asked it to credit him with a $1 million conation.
The option for the charity is to take the $100,000, or not.
The Israeli charity is out of reach of the U.S. federal
government, so lets assume they take the money and no one ever
finds out about that lie.
After the millionaire writes off the donation, he could take $320,000. Guess who has to make it up?
"As far as we know, there is no way to prove fraud and put the swindler in jail," the magazine said. "In our opinion, everyone writing and passing that law belongs in jail."
According to the American Jewish press, American Jews raise nearly $1 billion a year for Israel, in addition to federal grants.
Here's another potential scandal waiting to unfold.
|Top|
The government-engineered killings at Waco, Texas and Ruby Ridge, Idaho just won't go away-the American people won't let them.
The driving force behind an official and comprehensive investigation of government doings-and wrong doings-in its treatment of persons Big Brother perceives as enemies may very well begin at the state level.
At issue are the killings at Waco, Texas and Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
The latest call for action comes from a group of feisty freshmen in the Indiana legislature.
State Rep. Jon Padfield, (R-Kokomo) decided to write to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where an inquiry would logically begin.
Padfield asked some of his peers for their opinion and input. They promptly responded with their signatures.
"I think the BATF intentionally went way beyond their bounds to put on a huge media show just to demonize guns and self sufficient people and to win favor with a new anti-gun president," Padfield said. "I really relieve the evidence will show BATF had no intention of serving a warrant or conducting themselves in a professional manner.
ATTACK UNWARRANTED
"After all, if David Koresh was such a dangerous person, why didn't they simply pick him up when he went jogging or to town?" he added.
"In fact, I recall hearing of some evidence that the Branch Davidians actually had invited the BATF to come out to their church and home to look at anything they wanted."
Padfield stressed that he in not way agreed with the Davidians philosophy, but he emphasized: "They were just simple religious people exercising their First and Second Amendment guarantees and were not bothering anybody."
It wasn't until several months after the tragedy when someone gave him copes of video tapes of the Waco incident.
"I realized there is a very real need for thorough criminal investigations into Waco and other BATF excesses. Since the decisions for those proceedings in the hands of Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I wrote to him."
Padfield also said he had no sympathy for Randy Weavers's separatist views but cited that incident as another case in which "... a lot of money was wasted just to frame, surveil and then surround a few people who again, were not bothering anybody, and all over something about 1/2 inch or so on a shotgun barrel. I mean what was the big deal anyway?"
Rep. David Lohr (R-Terre Haute) had serious questions about the haste in razing the compound just based on media reports.
"The rapid bulldozing of the Davidians' place so soon after the fire really bothered me because they had to destroy a lot of evidence in the process and that just isn't done, unless they are trying to hide something," he said. "That really bothers me a lot to this day."
Rep. John Becker (R-Ft. Wayne), said he was appalled at the brutal use of military force and equipment against American citizens.
"Why didn't they just grab Koresh when he was jogging or some other time?" Becker asked. "The BATF and FBI could have solved the whole thing without force."
Rep. James Buck (R-Kokomo), felt Waco and Ruby Ridge were very tragic examples of big government run amok.
"There just isn't any excuse or justification for what was done in either place," he said.
Rep. Candace Morris (R-Indianapolis) said, "Waco was
a
senseless overreaction that turned into criminal action on the
part of those federal agencies."
Rep. Irene Heffley (R-Indianapolis) and a mother, was
particularly outraged at the murder of Mrs Vicki Weaver with her
infant in her arms.
Mrs Heffley said she has enough firearms savvy to know that shot was inexcusable. She proudly admitted that the Heffleys have more than one instrument of self protection in their home and she said of Waco:
"It appeared to me that the whole thing was a deliberate, well planned effort to demonize those who exercise their First and Second Amendment rights that ended in the brutal deaths of those people."
TRAGEDY SENSED
"Even from the beginning of the Waco incident I sensed that it was going to end in some sort of tragedy," said Rep. Brent Steele (R-Bedford), a recent subscriber to The SPOTLIGHT. "There was no sense in spending that kind of money-to surround their compound. My common sense told me that there was some sort of hidden agenda in it all."
Steele said he drew his conclusions from the "mainstream"
media reports and a Waco videotape viewed later firmed hi
suspicions.
Rep. Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville), said he thought both cases were tragic examples of how big government behaves left unchecked.
"It seems as though government agencies kind of take on a power of their own without regard for accountability," he added.
Rep.John Kimmel (R-Terre Haute) denounced government's conduct at Waco as, "An excessive brutal use of force way beyond their bounds, as though they had some kind of vendetta against Koresh and wanted to criminalize religion, guns and people who are individualistic."
As with all such efforts, success depends on the size of the grass roots campaign behind it.
With copies of their letter popping up all over the Indianapolis area, it appears to be well under way. Copies are being handed out at numerous patriot meetings, appearing on bulletin boards at churches, supermarkets and in shopping malls.
People are being asked to write a brief letter of gratitude and encouragement to the state representatives, a letter to Hatch asking him to take action and to circulate copies of the letters to friends asking them to write.
A Hatch spokesman said the letter from the Indiana legislators has not yet been answered.
Indiana's two U.S. senators, Richard Lugar and Dan Coats,
both Republicans, have also been contacted and asked to help with
the effort. No response has been recorded.
|Top|