Article
RICHARD BRENNEKE SAYS HE WORKED AS A contract agent for Mossad and the CIA for two decades. His curriculum vitae reads as much like an anat- omy of the off-the-books world that produced the Iran- contra affair, as the career history of a Portland, Oregon property manager and one-time philosophy professor with a taste for excitement.
IN FEBRUARY 1987 THE INVESTIGATION into the Iran-contra affair ran up against an enigma-a $20 million stockpile of East bloc weapons gathering dust in a warehouse in Honduras. It would be over a year before Congressional investigators led by Sen.
After the results of the plebiscite came in, the joy in the streets of San- tiago was palpable. It was a moment to savor.
ALTHOUGH THE TAUNT "WHERE WAS George?" became something of a joke during the 1988 presidential campaign, President-elect Bush was not, as he claimed, "out of the loop" in the Iran-contra affair. Indeed, Bush was fully briefed on the Administration's arms sales to Iran, and, long before Oliver North became a household word, an unauthorized contra resupply opera- tion was operating out of the Vice President's office under the direction of his national security adviser Donald Gregg, formerly a high-ranking CIA officer.
On Tuesday, August 9, the Guate- malan army's top officials met to decide the fate of the civilian govern- ment of Christian Democrat Vinicio Cerezo. The president and his cabinet were also meeting in an emergency all-day session, as helicopters hov- ered above the National Palace and coup rumors spread.
AS SHE ESCORTED REPORTERS TO HER booth at the 1988 National Religious Broadcasters convention, Beverly LaHaye crowed, "Let me tell you what we're doing in Costa Rica." A decade ago, the Concerned Women for America exhibit might have fea- tured a life-size display model of an aborted fetus.
JUST AS PEACE WAS SETTLING OVER NICARA- gua last spring, as if ordained by some cosmic see- saw, the Reagan Administration began to pay increased attention to the situation in Angola. The familiar signs of intervention appeared.
Coverup: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair, a film produced by Barbara Trent, Gary Meyer and David Kasper. The Empowerment Project (1653 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA), 1988, 75 mins.
Want Ad WANTED: PRESIDENT Requirements: - Must have no ties to institutions or coun- tries -Charisma -- Political and parliamentary experience - Spirit of service and proven probity -English desirable but not indispensable -And other qualities to put El Salvador, Inc. in good working order Salary and Benefits: -$50,000 negotiable, depending on expe- rience and adjustable for inflation -Guaranteed prestige and place in history -- Expense account - Telephone -Cars.
PATRICK LEAHY, DEMOCRATIC SENATOR from Vermont, ranking member of the Senate In- telligence Oversight Committee, votes against contra aid. In late 1982 or early 1983, he goes on an inspection tour of the Central America CIA stations.
EFRAIN RIOS MONTT, THE BORN-AGAIN GUA- temalan general whose 1982 coup turned him into Latin America's first evangelical head-of-state, is still a darling of the Christian Right, even though he established one of the worst human rights records in recent history. Following his ouster by coup in 1983, the usually centrist evangelical magazine Christianity Today argued that Rios Montt had been undeservedly libeled in the press, and the National Religious Broadcasters Associa- tion organized a speaking tour for the former dictator.
Armies of the Night THE STORY HAS IT THAT AT AN INTERNA- tional gathering of scientists General Jos6 Checo of the Dominican Army announced a forthcoming mission to the sun. Reporters cornered the General: How will the spacecraft withstand such high temperatures? "Oh, that part is easy," General Checo replied.
REV. PHIL DERSTINE OF GOSPEL CRUSADE, Inc.
MANY OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE REAGAN Administration's war against Nicaragua shared a common desire to consolidate support for right-wing guerrillas. While their schemes ranged from political ad- vocacy groups to profit-making entities like the Enterprise of North, Secord and Hakim, all offered ways to keep wars going after funds are cut off by Congress.