-
It's that time of year again - our ISP is asking for money. If you have some spare change, please click the Donate link... Thanks!
- About Us
- Search
- Need Help?
- Donate
- Login/Register
Latest Entries
Actions Menu
Blog Roll
- 4F Facebook Page
- Turn Up The Night with Kenny Pick
- Stephanie Miller Show
- The Tim Corrimal Show
- The Rachel Maddow Show
- Angry Americans with Paul Rieckhoff
- Thom Hartmann Program
- Turnips! Fans of Turn Up the Night Facebook Page
- Snopes.com
- Factcheck.org
- Official White House Page, if you must.
- The Brad Blog / Green News Report
- The Poorly Written Political Blog (Joe Santorsa)
The Guy with the Secrets
Author: velveeta jones
Date: 08/21/2011 14:28:45
Racing around this morning and I was going to post an open blog, then ran across this:
Clair George, Spy and Iran-Contra Figure, Dies at 81
Worth a read, especially with your tin foil hat on. This is the guy that would be the bad-good guy in every Bourne movie.
Some snips:
The Washington Post Magazine in 1992 quoted a colleague as calling Mr. George “a top-notch street man” who operated in what spies call the “night soil circuit” — the less desirable posts of the world. He worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He was the C.I.A.’s station chief in Beirut when civil war erupted there in 1975. He then volunteered to replace the Athens station chief, who had just been assassinated by terrorists.
Bob Woodward, in his 1987 book, “Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987,” said veteran spies regarded Mr. George as “an old warhorse symbol of the C.I.A. at its best and proudest.”
In The Post, Richard Viets, a Foreign Service officer who was in India at the same time as Mr. George and who went on to become an ambassador, said Mr. George had the perfect personality for the agency. “He exudes trust and friendliness,” he said, “but in fact is duplicitous as hell.”
Mr. George’s loyalty to the C.I.A., however, was unshakable — and ultimately wrecked his career. He was convicted in 1992 of lying to Congressional committees and a grand jury to keep from disclosing what he knew about the agency’s participation in the Reagan administration’s illegal scheme to sell arms to Iran and divert profits from the sales to help the contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Mr. George said that his conscience was clear and that he felt like “a pawn in a continuous drama of political exploitation.” Earlier, he had explained that he had been “almost megalomaniacal” in striving to use his testimony to Congress to “protect the agency.”
Mr. Walsh wrote that the verdict refuted the view that the illegal operation had been confined to the White House and showed that it in fact extended to various agencies, like the Defense and State Departments, as well as the C.I.A. He said that if Mr. George had told the truth to Congress, the wrongdoing could have been stopped years sooner.
[Bold highlights mine]
Have a great day!
Clair George, Spy and Iran-Contra Figure, Dies at 81
Worth a read, especially with your tin foil hat on. This is the guy that would be the bad-good guy in every Bourne movie.
Some snips:
The Washington Post Magazine in 1992 quoted a colleague as calling Mr. George “a top-notch street man” who operated in what spies call the “night soil circuit” — the less desirable posts of the world. He worked in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He was the C.I.A.’s station chief in Beirut when civil war erupted there in 1975. He then volunteered to replace the Athens station chief, who had just been assassinated by terrorists.
Bob Woodward, in his 1987 book, “Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987,” said veteran spies regarded Mr. George as “an old warhorse symbol of the C.I.A. at its best and proudest.”
In The Post, Richard Viets, a Foreign Service officer who was in India at the same time as Mr. George and who went on to become an ambassador, said Mr. George had the perfect personality for the agency. “He exudes trust and friendliness,” he said, “but in fact is duplicitous as hell.”
Mr. George’s loyalty to the C.I.A., however, was unshakable — and ultimately wrecked his career. He was convicted in 1992 of lying to Congressional committees and a grand jury to keep from disclosing what he knew about the agency’s participation in the Reagan administration’s illegal scheme to sell arms to Iran and divert profits from the sales to help the contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Mr. George said that his conscience was clear and that he felt like “a pawn in a continuous drama of political exploitation.” Earlier, he had explained that he had been “almost megalomaniacal” in striving to use his testimony to Congress to “protect the agency.”
Mr. Walsh wrote that the verdict refuted the view that the illegal operation had been confined to the White House and showed that it in fact extended to various agencies, like the Defense and State Departments, as well as the C.I.A. He said that if Mr. George had told the truth to Congress, the wrongdoing could have been stopped years sooner.
[Bold highlights mine]
Have a great day!
Comments:
Order comments Newest to Oldest Refresh Comments
Comment by 
Will in Chicago on 08/21/2011 15:11:47
Will in Chicago on 08/21/2011 15:11:47
Good morning, bloggers!!
Velveeta, thanks for an interesting blog. I would argue that a problem we have in the USA is that some people are more loyal to party, agency, or company than their country. Mr. George seemed to have been a case in support of that proposition.
Here is a little bit of news on Libya:
From Al Jazeera English:
Velveeta, thanks for an interesting blog. I would argue that a problem we have in the USA is that some people are more loyal to party, agency, or company than their country. Mr. George seemed to have been a case in support of that proposition.
Here is a little bit of news on Libya:
From Al Jazeera English:
Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital
Regime forces use machine guns and mortars to confront armed opposition groups in Tripoli, witnesses say.
Security forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have used heavy machine guns and mortars to confront lightly armed opposition forces and protesters who took to the streets of Tripoli on Saturday night in anticipation of a final rebel advance on the capital.
Fighting continued into Sunday morning in a few central and eastern neighbourhoods, and rebel flags were raised over some buildings, witnesses said. Much of the population took cover inside their homes.
Outside of Tripoli, rebel fighters closed in. They advanced tens of kilometres from Zawiyah, to the west, seizing the town of al-Mayah and putting themselves within several kilometres of the capital's suburbs. Other rebel formations remained further way, stationed to the south, in Gharyan, and to the east, in Zlitan.
Despite the greatest challenge yet to his power, Gaddafi remained pugnacious, issuing a telephoned audio address in which he exhorted his followers and congratulated them for defeating the "rats".
Comment by 
BobR on 08/21/2011 23:52:57
BobR on 08/21/2011 23:52:57
This was an interesting blog, btw, so thanks. I read it this morning, and failed to acknowledge it.
Comment by Will in Chicago on 08/22/2011 00:41:25
Will in Chicago on 08/22/2011 00:41:25