Top GCSB Officials

Observe Waihopai 20 Trial

(see page 5)

THE FACES BEHIND THE SPYING

Bruce Miller (left), Officer in Charge at

Waihopai, and Hugh Wolfensohn, Senior
Executive Officer in the GCSB, take a
break from the Waihopai trial in
Blenheim. 21 April 1997.

In this issue: page

• The Waihopai 20 have their day in court 2

• Spies "bug" Waihopai 20 trial 5
• Black Birch Naval Observatory - What replaced it? 6
• More Moore hyperbole on Harewood 6
• Government to put the "NZ" back in ANZUS 7
• SISsy Bits 8
• Protest against Tandem Thrust 12
• Asia-Pacific Bases Round-up 14
• The Dirty Dogs of War 16
• Chernobyl nuclear explostion confirmed in US 21
• The cost of Free Trade 22
• CIA File 24
• Sam Day visits Christchurch - Mordechai Vanunu Campaign 27
• Waihopai Warren goes (North) West 28
• Thanks Marty 28
 19 CONVICTED & DISCHARGED - WARREN THOMSON FINED $300

- Warren Thomson & Murray Horton

The January 1997 annual protest at the Waihopai
accurate - Judge Grace indicated he would not have
spybase involved a number of new features -
accepted the witness. It would have introduced a
extremely high media interest, stimulated by Nicky
"political" element, and Grace was determined not t o
Hager's bombshell 1996 book "Secret Power"; the
allow his court t o b e used for "political" purposes. But
presence of MPs for the first time; the arrest of the
focussing on Singleton did mean the media received
biggest single number 20 of any of the protests,
a useful reminder of the insidious US presence within
- -

stretching back to 1988; and the offer of his services,

the GCSB.
free of charge, by Peter Williams QC, one of the
country's top lawyers and a political progressive in
The presence at court of MPs Rod Donald (Alliance)
his own right.
and Tim Barnelt (Labour) reflected both growing
support for opposition to Government spying and
All of these features - the media, Nicky Hager, MPs,
developing Parliamentary interest in me proceedings.
20 defendants, and Peter Williams - came together
Both MPs have been active in the issue. Rod Donald
in the Blenheim District Court, on April 21. Plus, of
has introduced a private members bill to Parliament
course, a very low key police prosecution team and
to scuttle the new (and ineffective by design)
our old friend, Judge Amazing Grace (who had
Intelligence Agencies Committee (which wasn't
presided over previous Waihopai cases). And a new
apPOinted until nearly a year after the Intelligence
feature - very senior spies from the Government
and Security Agencies Act was passed) Tim Barnett
Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), which
has been promoting discussion on the GCSB and
operates Waihopai on behalf of American
Security Intelligence Service (SIS) within his party.
intelligence, and other member agencies of the
Rod, along with Labour MP Marian Hobbs, had been
UKUSA Agreement (ie UK, US, Australia, Canada
refused a visit to the Waihopai base at the time of
and NZ).
the January protest (see PR 12 for details), but his
efforts in court to explain his concerns about the
On Friday 18th of April, three days before the
GCSB were severely curtailed by Grace's inSistence
hearing, the defence of the Waihopai 20 finally came
that he was being "political".
together. We had contacted most of the defendants.
Transport and accommodation were arranged.
Defendants and supporters arrived at the Spring
Meetings with the defence lawyers were set up, and
Creek holiday camp, the day before the case, in
Glen Singleton, an American who directs policy and
bright cool sunshine and cautiously positive mood.
planning at the GCSB, had been subpoenaed (see
We discussed arrangements and confirmed
elsewhere in this issue for more detail on Singleton).
witnesses. In the evening we met with the defence
We'd canvassed for donations and support, chased
lawyers and finalised our defence strategy. Some of
up MPs circulated the media, painted banners, sold
us would have preferred a more direct testimonial
raffle i
t ckets, made a database of defendants'
onslaught on the base than was proposed, but
situations and those few wtth previous convictions,
Williams's tactic of emphasising the moral nature of
and argued about witnesses and defence strategies
the defence was to prove more viable. (Meanwhile
amongst people scattered from Chr'lstchurch to
Warren Thomson was launching his own direct
Auckland. There was little more we could do.
onslaught on any to'llet within reach - he contracted
severe, but mercifully brief, food poisoning. Be
American Spy Subpoenaed careful of Blenheim hamburgers. You might get Mad
Spy Disease).
Singleton's subpoena - delivered to his home by
Mark Roach early one morning in Wellington after In the morning the defendants and over 20
several unsuccessful efforts - was an interesting but supporters paraded in the park opposite the court
ultimately fruitless attempt to get a senior GCSB house. The media gathered. There was a meeting of
official into the witness box. We wanted to see if he lawyers and witnesses, then we all filed into the
would respond to any questions and to explicitly court. The 20 defendants were shepherded into the
demonstrate the dominating American presence jury box and the seats along the front of the barrier
inthe GCSB. Peter Williams QC was not enthusiastic that divides off the court and the public seating. Two
about this. In the end his court knowledge proved neatly suited gentlemen observed proceedings from
the back of the court. They later reluctantly reveale(j
they were Hugh Wolfensohn (now second in
command at GCSB) and Waihopai boss Bruce Miller.
Towards the end of the trial they rather upset the
judge when their cellphone rang and he ordered them
out of the court to take the call. Someone audibly
joked that it was probably the Prime Minister on the
line. You never know. (Mind you, having read about
the secret scrambler phone in the office of a very
senior police commander at Scotland Yard which
kept ringing with orders for pizzas, it could have been
anyone.)
This wasn't the only comic moment - during the
moming, a door by the judge creaked open, with
nobody to be seen. Shortly thereafter, an unearthly
yowling filled the court, and the judge's assistant
rushed down and put out an inquisitive black cat that
had come in for a looksee. A black cat might have
been right at home during some of the recent cases
arising out of "ritual Satanic child abuse", but it was
not required for a case involving a spy agency which
is very keen to keep all its cats very firmly in the bag.
Decorum was restored, the majesty of the law no
more disturbed by furry interlopers).
The court was almost full as the judge appeared and
called a roll of defendants. The police gave their
evidence, which was very perfunctory. 'They were
warned not to cross the (outer, road) fence. They did,
so we arrested them for trespass" . The prosecution
case was over in minutes. Williams rose to give the
opening statement for the defence. He placed his
papers on a lectern, then told the judge that we
sought a discharge under the judge's discretionary
powers under Section 19 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Rob Hanlon and Gwen Struik before the Waihopai trial in Blenheim
Peaee Researcher 13
The reason for this was that the defendants had
acted on the day in an exemplary fashion and there
was no element of "moral turpitude" ie criminality; the
defendants were acting in the public good. He
proceeded onto a long exposition on the importance
of civil disobedience in a "mad" world; one in which
progressive reforms had come from those who stood
up against the Establishment of the day.
Occasionally his peroration wandered, but much was
impressive and sometimes moving. He traversed the
global history of the protest movement and waved
aloft the book of the moment, John Ralston Saul's
"The Unconscious Civilization".
No "Politics" In Court
The problems started when Nicky Hager was called
as the first witness (and arrived with his five year old
daughter in tow. Julia wasn't allowed to accompany
Dad into the witness box.). Grace warned Williams
he only accepted the tenor of his argurnent to the
extent he was showing the motivation of the
defendants and would not accept criticism of the
base. Nicky began to describe what was in his book
and Grace stopped him. Williams rephrased his
question once or twice but Nicky seldom got more
than a few sentences out before Grace prevented
him from continuing. The judge was becoming more
hostile and the tension in the court was mounting as
Williams continued to try to work the defence. Grace
reminded us several times that Nicky's evidence was
all hearsay anyway. It seemed possible our defence
would stall completely.
Continued next page c::ifiF>
- August 1997 - Page 3

The judge had agreed to allow showing of the 1996
TV3 20120 documentary on WaihOpai (see PR 12 for
details) but it was clear he was antagonistic and
made the point strongly that it was just more on
Nicky's book. He watched the first part of the 17
minute film then sa! back with his little finger across
his mouth and his head lowered. At least the
policeman who had been dozing in his chair awoke.
For some reason Grace got more interested in the
last third of the video and did seem to absorb the
content.
He remained adamant that there was to be no
"politics" in the courtroom, and Williams had to take
Nicky off the stand. Rod Donald MP followed. He
managed to get across the point that he was refused
admission to the base and that Parliament had lost
control over it in between Grace telling him it was
"politics". It seems a little beside the point to ask a
politician to not talk about "politics". At this stage
Grace called a recess. We walked out in the
sunshine for a few minutes.
We filed back in. Grace seemed a little better
humoured. Williams began to call testimony from the
defendants - five designated to represent the 20.
Kate McPherson was first. It was a tough situation
given Grace's previous disposition and when Kate
referred to her notes a few times the judge stopped
her. But she spoke clearly and made, with conviction,
points about victimisation of the Pacific as she grew
in confidence.
Anna Fenwick followed. She'd learnt from the
experience and spoke without the notes she'd been
nervously writing only a few minutes before. She
added more points on the reasons we wanted the
base closed, and made an excellent impression.
Warren Thomson followed, and pOlitely reminded the
judge that he'd been in exactly the same situation a
year before (which probably served to remind Grace
to later single Warren out for harsher treatment). He
outlined the way Waihopai abused civil rights and
how assurances of control over the intelligence
agencies had been shown to be mistaken.
Hamish Bruce spoke well on the growth of
surveillance and its unacceptability. Maire
Leadbeater finished our testimony by describing how
one could not stand aside while the Western
intelligence club contributed to manipulation of the
Pacific. Experienced and committed, obviously clear
in her mind exactly what she was doing and why she
had been at the base. Maire was an effective final
witness. When the testimony was completed the
atmosphere in the court was much more confident.
The Blenheim lawyer read out the background of
each defendant, Peter Williams made his closing
remarks very briefly, then we went off for lunch.
Peace Rcscarcl1cr 13
The Judgement
We retumed to our seats. The judge came back and
gave his summation. He went over the events and
the evidence. He made one or two small errors. He
referred to the political aspects of the defence, the
hearsay, and worst of all, his inference that the
defence was in part, at least, an attempt to gain
publiCity for our cause through the medium of his
court (heaven forbid). He did take on board the
sincere beliefs of the 20, and reviewed Williams'
proposition that such actions are necessary and
publicly good. He dismissed this and said that this
would not override the basic charge that our protest
went beyond the law, and that we would be
convicted.
He informed uS that those who had no previous
convictions would be treated as one group, that the
convictions previously registered had no bearing on
the case except those of Warren Thomson, and that
he would be treated separately. He then proceeded
to go through the other 19 and declare them to be
convicted and discharged. People were relieved to
find that they were not going to be further punished.
He then came back to Warren and fined him $300. It
could have been worse.
Media interest in the trial was less than during the
protest in January. There were reports in all the
major papers although they tended to focus on what
happened in court rather than the issue of the GCSB.
The Mar/borough Express ran a good story on its
front page. But there has been a considerable shift in
public awareness over the last year. Most journalists
now know about Waihopai and have some idea what
we protest about. A number of MPs recognise the
issue and are concerned. Awareness of the existence
of the base has filtered through to a large number of
the public who take an interest in political and social
matters.
Probably for the first time since Waihopai spying
began nearly ten years ago, the GCSB is having to
deploy its defence mechanisms and polish up its
damage control. The spooks are still operating
behind closed curtains, but lots of people have
caught a glimpse of the action inside and the GCSB
is going to have a much harder job keeping the
curtains drawn.
Thanks to everyone who supported us. The large
number of donations, the messages of support, and
the phYSical presence of supporters, was hugely
encouraging. The campaign continues.
- August I tJ97 - Page-+
Spies do pretty much what they want to do, with
minimal accountability outside the impenetrable
security surrounding their own invisible intemational
society. The recent Waihopai 20 court trial is a case
in point. Glen Singleton, an expatriate American
high up in the GCSB, was subpoenaed to appear in
the court for the defendants. He didn't appear, and
the judge would not have allowed his testimony
anyway (see main article on the trial elsewhere in this
issue). Thus the 20 defendants failed to get
Singleton on the stand. Whatever the reason, that
failure illustrates the immunity from public scrutiny
enjoyed by intelligence officers. On the other hand,
the two chaps shown on the cover of this issue did
appear in the courtroom to observe the proceedings.
They were uninvited; they simply showed up
unannounced.
Who are these three men? We must turn to THE
authoritative source to find out about Singleton, and
Bruce Miller and Hugh Wolfensohn - to the book
"Secret Power" by Nicky Hager. It is worth
summarising Nicky's knowledge of them here.
Glen Singleton appeared on the NZ intelligence
scene in 1 984. An American intelligence
Officer, he held the post of Director of
Policy and Plans at the GCSB from 1 984 to
1 987. The NZ government was unaware of
that fact at the time. Singleton's office was
next to that of the GCSB Director and he
had seemingly free access to the director
(then Colin Hanson). "One of the many things [Prime
Minister DavidJ Lange did not know about the
GCSB . . .was that this new officer was not under the
control of the New Zealand government at all. Paid
in American dollars and living in a house rented for
him by the local United States embassy, Singleton
was an employee of an organisation called the
National Security Agency (NSA)." ("Secret Power", p
21)
This i s the man that the 2 0 Waihopai defendants
hoped to subject to questioning through their
attorney, Peter Williams, QC. It was not to happen.
During the lunch break in the trial, MP Rod Donald
called me across the street from the court house to
introduce me to deux eminence grise (yes, men in
grey suits), Bruce Miller and Hugh Wolfensohn. It
was a short and unrewarding chat. They were
pleasant and smiling, but with lips sealed to all but
the most superficial chitchat. (In a recent McCormick
TV show, Gary McC and Nicky Hager visited the
GCSB (unannounced) in the Freyberg Bldg in
Wellington. They were met by Wolfensohn outside
the blast-proof doors at the GCSB entrance. After
failing to get any answer of substance out of
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997
Wolfensohn, Gary said "Obviously you're doing your
Job very well. It's a top secret installation. There's
been no more secret man than you as far as I'm
concemed".) I have the impression that my
correspondence with GCSB director Ray Parker in
recent months has involved significant dollops of
Wolfensohn's legal advice. Nicky Hager describes
Wolfensohn as the Senior Executive Officer for legal
rnatters. (On McCormick, Wolfensohn introduced
himself as the Executive Director - confirmed by
Nicky Hager - which puts him close to Parker in the
command structure.)
Bruce Miller is the new Officer in Charge of the
Waihopai station. He replaced Colin Waite recently.
Walte was the original OiC having started at
Waihopai in early 1 989. Prior to moving to
Waihopai, Miller was the manager of the GCSB
SIGINT Collection Unit which "does the preparatory
work for the interception at Waihopai and
Tangimoana". His code name in that position was
"C". Presumably, his new position as an Oi "CO is a
step upwards and into the bleak paddocks of the
Waihopai Valley.
Colin Waite provides another example of
protection of the intelligence establishment
from testimony and questioning in our courts
of law. He appeared on the stand for the
prosecution in the 1 996 Waihopai trial (see
PR 9). When I , as a defendant without legal
counsel in that trial, tried to cross-examine
Waite on the functions of the Waihopai facility,
Judge Grace cut me off. I invite the reader to reflect
on the wall of silence around the GCSB that our
judicial unwittingly helps to maintain. That was a
rare opportunity for us as defendants in a court of law
to question a knowledgeable spy first hand in order to
establish the facts underpinning our defence against
the charges. No hearsay, no rumour, no second­
hand reporting - straight from the OiC's mouth. But it
was not allowed; it was deemed irrelevant.
Less than one year later, 20 arrestees had their
defence cut short by the same judge, this time on the
basis of hearsay. The testimony of an internationally
acknowledged authority on the GCSB and SIGINT
(Nicky Hager) was dismissed as hearsay. And
testimony by an elected representative of the people,
member of Parliament Rod Donald, was dismissed
as political.
Meanwhile the Singletons, Wolfensohns, Millers and
their ilk continue spying under domes and behind
blast-proof doors. But I think we have dented their
armour. They didnllike having their photos taken.
- Page 5
 BLA CK BIRCH NAVAL OBSERVATORY
What replaced it?
The tiny star representing the fourth foreign base in
the ABC letterhead map of NZ has been erased.
Black Birch Naval Observatory is kaput (although the
buildings are still there on the mountain). A circle­
transit telescope was used there for 1 0 years
mapping real stars for both civilian and military uses.
Peace Researcher published a number of articles on
Black B i rch over the years (our first article was i n
1 984 as observatory construction neared
completion). In a 1 989 article (PR 22) we discussed
the Hipparcos satellite as the way of the future in
star-mapping. (Hipparcos stands for High-Precision
Parallax Collecting Satellite.)
The Hipparcos satellite was in fact launched in 1989,
but its final orbit was a near disaster because of a
failed rocket motor. Instead of a nice stable
geostationary orbit, the satellite was placed in a
highly elliptical one that came within only 500 km of
Earth at its closest approach. The astronomers had
to cope with the orbit by rewriting the software for
controlling t h e satellite and using ground stations all
around the planet to download data. Despite these
formidable problems, the satellite observed over a
million stars and mapped their positions until June
1 993 when Hipparcos fell silent. I n less than four
years of operation it had collected over one trillion
( 1 012) bytes of data on star positions. The accuracy
of the finally published star positions is up to 1 00
times better than that of the old Black Birch data. It
took over 3 years of massive number crunching
computer power to process the raw data for
publication i n comprehensive star catalogues.
MORE MOORE HYPERBOLE ON HAREWOOD
Police Question ABC - Murray Horton
At the height of the 1 980s "ANZUS RoW", when the
US was "punishing" NZ for the crime of deciding its
own nuclear free destiny, the Tasmanian State
government pushed hard to get the Reagan
government to transfer the US Navy/Air Force
Operation Deep Freeze base from Christchurch
Airport to Hobart. It never happened and it appears
that not even the Reaganauts seriously considered it.
In response, all manner of national and local worthies
ran round plucking figures from the air as to the
purported value of Deep Freeze to the local and
national economy. These ranged as high as $20
million. Citizens for Demilitarisation of Harewood,
ABC's predecessor, asked these politicians to
substantiate their claims. Funnily enough, none of
Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1997 - Page 6
- Bob Leonard
This information comes from the magazine New
Scientist (21 February 1 997). The article made no
mention of the military uses of accurate star maps -
the reason behind the fervent opposition to the Black
Birch facility by the peace movement. Trident
nuclear missiles carried on US nuclear submarines
would be guided to their targets by stellar inertial
guidance, a system that is totally dependent on the
star positiOns generated by observatories like Black
Birch and now, Hipparcos.
In case you had forgotten about Trident nuclear
missiles the following quote is chilling: "Even with
civilians aboard, the subs are on active duty and
canry a full stock of weapons". (New Scientist,
2 November 1 996)
That quote is from an article that begins, "The Cold
War is over. The nuclear threat has faded. And with
a shortage of enemies to play underwater hide-and­
seek with, America's admirals can lie back, relax and
think about what they can do for science".
Perhaps they also think about what science (civilian
astronomers) has done for targeting nuclear
warheads.
•
them could (the only attempt at a proper costing
came from the Americans themselves).
One of the then Labour government's most excitable
proponents of retaining Harewood was Mike Moore
(who rose to the giddy heights of Prime Minister for
all of eight weeks, in 1 990, when nobody else wanted
to lead the hated Rogemaut govemment into
inevitable electoral oblivion). Now old Mad Mike's at
it again. I n the context of the Antarctic Treaty
Consultative Meeting, held in Christchurch in May
1 997, Moore was once again pushing his favourite
barrow of having Christchurch become "the capital of
Antarctica" or, at least, the site of the yet to be
created secretariat for the Antarctic Treaty nations.
To back his case, he declaimed: "The Americans are
worth $10m a year to the city' (Press, 30/5/97).
Where does he get these figures from and can he
substantiate them? I f anything, the amount of money
spent in Christchurch by the US military will lessen.
Why? Because, in 1 998, the US Navy is leaving (to
be replaced by the New York Air National Guard, for
Antarctic flights) and staff numbers are being cut, for
budgetary reasons. But don't expect that to be taken
into account by Mike Moore or others of his ilk.
An insight into how these "value of' figures are
invented was provided by lan Wishart, the noted
journalist and best selling author of "The Paradise
Conspiracy" during CAFCA's "Who Owns The
News?" seminar, in August 1996. During the 1980s
Labour government, Wishart was press secretary to
none other than Trade Minister, Mike Moore. Labour
wanted to sell the benefits of GA TT to a sceptical
nation. Wishart rang round "benefiCiaries" of GA TT.
He rang the Dairy Board and asked for a
figure. "Haven't got a clue" was the answer.
Desperate, Wishart asked for a guess. "Oh, perhaps
$3 billion".
GOVERNMENT TO PUT THE "NZ" BACK
INTOANZUS
The Minister of Defence, Paul East, has been
kiteflying on the subject of New Zealand returning to
ANZUS (from which we have been suspended since
1 986, courtesy of our nuclear free policy). East flew
his kite, appropriately, at a regimental dinner at
Hobson Air Base. He described the 1 970s and 80s
anti-nuclear movement as "irrational" but: "I believe
that the extreme anti-nuclear swing may be starting
to return to the centre...How would New Zealand
react, for example, to the sudden closure of its trade
routes to South East Asia, China and Japan, because
of a stoush in the South China Sea? (there's those
Spratlys again. Eel). How would we react to a
brushfire war in Asia where we perceived our vital
interests to be involved? What would we do if there
was an attack on Australia's Northern Territory - even
a small one? . . " (Press, 31/5/97).
.
All this stuff is par for the course for National
Ministers, who had a road to Damascus conversion
to the anti-nuclear cause prior to the 1 990 election,
because they perceived that issue as the one trump
card that Labour held over them (the 1 987 election
had featured the issue as a key difference between
the two parties). Their transparent opportunism
means that they would backslide into ANZUS as
soon as wink - if the public let them get away with it.
East has gone on a PR offensive, for example in a
New Zealand Herald article (1 1 /6/97) entitled:
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 7
Wishart promptly put that into a press release
("industry sources estimate the value of the GA TT
Agreement to be $3 billion" or suchlike). That figure
has been repeated as gospel ever since. It's as
simple as that. Ed.
On the subject of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative
Meeting, ABC (in the person of Murray Horton) was
surprised (flattered?) to be viSited by two detectives,
inquiring if we were planning any protest action
during the Meeting. We could truthfully say no, we'd
never even considered any. For the record, our
position is that we have no objection to peaceful
scientific activity in Antarctica. Antarctica per se is
not our issue. But we very definitely are concerned
about the logistical support operation for that
scientific presence (ie Operation Deep Freeze) being
used as a cover for a multi-purpose, medium level
US military base. Murray was quite happy to invite
the cops into his home to give them a free lecture to
that effect. Their visit wasn't entirely a waste - they
did bring his milk bottles in for him.
- Murray Horton
"Determined to maintain a credible defence force".
He undercuts his own argument by pointing out that,
despite our non-ANZUS status, NZ still has 1 40
separate military arrangements with Australia, of
which the ANZAC frigates are only a part. East also
claims that our ANZUS suspension left us "without
the training, intelligence and security assurances that
ANZUS offered" (Press, ibid). As far as intelligence
goes, that's nonsense, for starters. PElrhaps the
Minister of Defence should read "Secret Power".
Despite the alleged ban on US intelligence flow to
punish NZ during the ANZUS Row, it never stopped
at all. And it certainly never stopped flowing from NZ
to the US. Waihopai was built as a brand new NZ
spybase, serving US intelligence, by Lange's nuclear
free Labour government at the height of that row.
But Ministers such as East have never let the facts
get i n the way of a good story. This kite has been
flown periodically over the years by nostalgiC Tories
(who contradict their own dogma 'You Can't Turn
Back The Clock". Actually you can, i f you're a second
hand car dealer, but that's another story). It deserves
to be publicly shot down once more. New Zealand is
nuclear free and ANZUS free. ABC continues to
campaign to make it bases free. Only then will the
American military/intelligence chain have been finally
broken.
 - Murray Horton

INSPECTOR-GENERAL WHITEWASHES SIS BREAK-IN OF CHRISTCHURCH ACTIVISrS HOME

ready to take steps to approach and interview the

PR 1 0 & 1 1 gave a detailed account of the July 1 996
men. Before they did that they were instructed by a
bungled SIS break in at the Christchurch home of
senior Police Office at the Criminal I ntelligence
GATT Watchdog activist, Aziz Choudry, during the
Service of the Police headquarters in Christchurch to
Trading With O u r Lives Alternative Forum (held to
cease the enquiry. That instruction was given on the
coincide with the APEC Trade Ministers Meeting in
basis that no criminal offence had been committed.
Christchurch). The break in was interrupted by fellow
That enquiry then ended. My conclusions are that the
activist and University of Canterbury academic,
actions and procedures which affected the
David Small, who had called round to collect some
complainants were lawful, reasonable and justified.
things from Aziz's house. For their pains, both Aziz
No crime or offence was committed ... The instruction
and David were subjected to police raids on their
from the CIS to cease the inquiry was justified at law
homes, in connection with a very dubious fake bomb
and proper". You draw your own conclusions. (Aziz
(described in police files as being labelled "APEC
bomb"!) left outside the Christchurch City Council asked the Christchurch POlice for an explanation of
their role in all this. They refused to release any
building.
information except for the name of the senior officer
It was a very, very murky affair. The State clammed who ordered the enquiry to cease - he was Detective
up, confirming public and media speculation that it Senior Sergeant Lyall).
was indeed the SIS (they can't even do a simple
The Inspector General's report concluded: "This is a
break in). Rather than revisit the issue, we suggest
summary of my investigations and conclusions. It
you refresh your memory from the PR back issues.
would be improper for me to disclose any further
David Small laid a complaint with the Police
facts or infomnation, whether of an affimnative or
Complaints Authority, which has yet to be resolved.
negative nature, because to do so might compromise
Both David and Aziz also laid complaints with the
the crime detection security and intelligence
Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, the
gathering functions of the NZSIS or the Police and its
first such case under the 1 996 Intelligence and
Criminal Intelligence Section. I n the course of my
Security Agencies Act.
enquiry into those complaints, I interviewed both Mr
Choudry and Dr Small. I was impressed by their
The Inspector General, judge Laurie Greig, came to
forthright cooperation with me. I have no hesitation in
Christchurch in March 1 997, and conducted separate
expressing my opinion that they were entirely honest
"informal interviews" with both men. In June, he
in all the matters we discussed... lt is right to say that,
released his report (the unexpurgated version went to
in my opinion, both Mr Choudry and Dr Small are
the Prime Minister, who is the Minister in Charge of
completely free from blame, responsibility or
the SIS. Bolger declined to release it). The public
suspicion of any criminal conduct in any question
version can be summed up in one word - whitewash.
"I am satisfied that the NZSIS had no part directly or arising out of the inCident of the hoax bomb. Their
characters and reputations remain entirely unaffected
indirectly in instigating, promoting or providing
and unscathed by anything that occurred in that
infomnation to the Police to proceed in any way
incident. In the result then, my conclusion was that
against the complainants in connection with the hoax
the complaint could not be upheld. This was not a
bomb, break in or any other event or incident. I am
case for any recommendation of any fomn of redress
equally satisfied that the NZSIS had no part, directly
or other remedy".
or indirectly, in the hoax bomb. I accept the
assurances of the Director General. Any other
Funnily enough, neither Aziz nor David was satisfied
conclusion would defy reason and credibility".
by this report. They took it back into the political
arena, seeing MPs of several parties and released it
The key event was the break in. The report never
to the media. Aziz said it was "totally predictable and
confimns nor denies that the men found in Aziz's
thoroughly unsatisfactory. Nothing in the report
home were SIS agents. But there is one additional
suggests that the men intercepted on my property by
fact to be found in the report and it is very revealing.
"The Police acted on Dr Small's complaint promptly Dr Small were anything other than SIS operatives. It
does not even raise the question as to who these
and efficiently. Within a short while the vehicle had
men are and what they were doing on my property"
been identified and immobilised. The Police were

Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 8

 (Press, 20/6/97 , "Activist unhappy at break in report",
Greg Jackson).
Nicky Hager, author of "Secret Power", also released
a statement (20/6/97; "SIS Role In Christchurch
Break In Confirmed"). "I have been informed
specifically by colleagues of the agents concemed
that it was the SIS which arranged the break in of Mr
Choudry's home. The story circulating inside the SIS
after the agents were caught was that it was not Mr
Choudry who was the target, but supposedly some
foreigners. This is presumably the story that was
given to the Inspector General. However it lacks
credibility as there is nothing to link Mr Choudry with
dangerous foreigners. This is the kind of convenient
excuse that can be advanced to justify any
operations against political opponents of the
Govemment. A separate SIS source said to me that
the real reason for targeting Choudry will have been
that the SIS could 'expect a lot of brownie points'
from the Govemment and intelligence allies for
targeting an anti-free trade activis\...(The Inspector
General) is, in effect, accepting that the SIS may well
break into other lawful protesters' houses in future
and that, if it does, the people would be wasting their
time complaining to him. This confirms public fears
that (1996's) new intelligence oversight laws were
designed to be ineffective . . . lt would have done far
more for public confidence if Justice Greig had
confirmed the SIS was involved and discussed the
serious issue of whether it was acting lawfully".
And who were these "foreigners" who may have been
a "legitimate" SIS target?
'SUNDAY STAR TIMES' EXPOSE ON SIS
That 1 996 S I S cockup in Christchurch inspired an
enormous amount of media interest in the SIS (which
is unusual). It culminated in a two page expose in the
Sunday Star Times (1612197; "Spying on the spies";
Anthony Hubbard), which is an absolute goldmine of
information. It drew heavily on the investigative
genius of Nicky Hager who, having left the GCSB
shivering naked in "Secret Power's" spotlight,
decided to turn his attention to the SIS. Nicky was
determined to get to the bottom of the Christchurch
break in saga.
"After the break in was publicised, says Mr Hager,
the SIS told senior politicians that the operation had
been aimed not at Mr Choudry and Dr Small, but at
possible foreign terrorists. But the only foreigners
invited, says Mr Choudry, were reputable people . . .'1f
a foreign terrorist came here wanting to throw bombs
at APEC ministers', says Mr Hager, . obviously they
wouldn't go near avowed anti-APEC protesters'. If
this is the case, then the SIS break in appears to be
iIIegal...lntelligence sources have now confirmed that
the break in was an SIS operation: it was, as one
source put it, 'bungled'.
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 9
\
Aziz was accommodating Alejandro Villamar, who
spoke at Trading With Our Lives as a representative
of the Mexican Action Network on Free Trade.
Immediately after the forum finished, both Alejandro
and Aziz left on a speaking tour. They were in the
North Island when police raided Aziz's house in
connection with the hoax bomb (nobody has ever
been charged with that). Maybe the Govemment told
the SIS to see if Alejandro was forging links between
Mexico's Zapatista guerillas and New Zealand
activists, both Maori and pakeha? Dangerous
foreigners (it used to be Libyans and Cubans)
running guns to Maori radicals used to be a stock i n
trade o f backbench National MPs - Winston Peters
cut his teeth on that sort of tripe. But now it's
Mexicans, apparently.
The central fact is not that the SIS broke into the
house of a political activist. Although it is a new twist
that it was not the house of a communist or unionist,
but that of someone actively pushing an aHemative
to the Govemment's free trade ideology. This is i n
line with the 1 996 Act empowering the S I S to
investigate threats to New Zealand's "economic
wellbeing". No, the difference here is that the SIS got
caught and identified in the act. It was a cockup. The
official channels have performed their time honoured
role of covering up and whitewashing the State's
covert bungling.
This is far from the end of this saga. The possibility
of further legal action is being explored. PR will keep
you posted.
Sources have also confirmed that Amalgamated
Office Services (the mysterious Wellington company
to which the registration of the Christchurch getaway
vehicle was traced. Ed) was a front organisation for
the Service..."
The feature contained mUCh, much more, of both
current and historical Significance. It exposed the
SIS's bugging and surveillance centre (17
Kaiwharawhara Road, Wellington). Plus some
absolute bombshell throwaway details: "And it has
never before been publicly revealed that in the
1 980s, the former secretary general of the New
Zealand Communist Party, Victor Wilcox, was
recruited by the 818 ."
..
This feature is a must read for anyone interested
in a critical overview of the 818. If you haven't
seen it, contact us and we'll send you a copy.
-0
FROM COLD WARFARE TO SOCIAL WELFARE
Jim Tumer, the then Deputy General Secretary of the
The first Inspector-General of Intelligence and
Public SeIVice Association, wrote in the December
Security, retired High Court Judge Laurie Greig,
1996 PSA Journal: "The SIS has wide powers,
issued a report, in June 1997, clearing the freedom from anything but the most superficial public
Department of Social Welfare's utilisation of both the
accountability, a specific goal of national security,
Security Intelligence SeIVice (SIS) and Government
and a history of bizarre behaviour... What do you do
Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).
in the SIS when approached by a govemment
Complaints had been made about the department
department about domestic political embarrassment?
calling in the spooks, in 1996, to deal with alleged
Tell your caller they obviously have the wrong
leaks of information from its employees. The
number? Explain that domestic political matters are
intelligence agencies are supposed to deal with
specifically not your concern? Apparently not. Being
threats to national security but Margaret Bazley,
short of work, you decide it is appropriate to
Director General of Social Welfare, wanted them to
inteIVene.. ," (It's worth noting that the PSA is the
stop potentially embarrassing material being released
union for the SIS and GCSB spooks. It's further worth
by disgruntled DSW employees, specifically to the
noting that the GCSB was used to sweep the room
Alliance. In May 1996, the GCSB swept Bazley's
used for post-election coalition negotiations between
office and the DSW boardroom for electronic bugs.
National and New Zealand First).
None were found. In September the department
sought urgent S I S help, claiming that disgruntled
Greig's 1997 report said that both agencies acted
Income Support SeIVice (ISS) staff were
both properly and lawfully. It endorsed the use of the
systematically leaking information to the Alliance.
SIS to advise government departments on security,
The SIS briefed senior ISS staff and ran a half day
and the GCSB to electronically protect official
course for staff. The SIS/GCSB involvement became
information from unauthOrised disclosure. His only
known in November and complaints were laid,
critiCism was that DSW management threatened
centring on legislation which is supposed to prevent
staff that the SIS would track down leaks! Alliance
either agency from becoming involved in domestic
MP, Matt Robson, who had laid the complaint,
political matters.
described the report as outrageous, saying the party
had gone from being the complainant to being the
Greig asked the leaders of the Parliamentary parties
target. He said that it set a disturbing precedent that
for their views on the subject. Former Labour PM,
allowed the SIS and GCSB to spy on public seIVants.
Mike Moore, called the revelation "a dangerous
He was particularly angry that Greig had not
development.. a fundamental and radical redirection
approached the Alliance with the allegations that it
of the SIS's role. The SIS should not be used for
was encouraging leaks. On the other hand, Labour
internal issues.. .it is wrong that the SIS should be
leader, Helen Clark, said that she didn't think that the
used to protect National Government interests"
spooks had done anything wrong.
(Press, 18/11/96).

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO???

Newsflash! The S I S still spies on people! Before
the 1996 Act its a n n ual "report' to Parliament only
had to reveal how many interception warrants were
issued during the year in question. But now it must
also add in the number of warrants carried over from
the previous year. The 1997 figures are: five issued
during the year, and three carried over.
But the Cold War is over (we won, remember). So,
presumably all the old SIS spies who used to sit
outside the Soviet Embassy all day and night will be
redundant now, right? (The May 1997 TV1
McCormick show, with Nicky Hager, showed the SIS
sUIVeillance house oppOSite the Embassy, in
Wellington's Karori. It was easy to pick, said Nicky.
All the trees and bushes had been trimmed to a
uniform height to allow a clear line of sight. As for the
now Russian Embassy - an affable fellow wandered
out and invited both Nicky and Gary McCormick
inside).
Wrong. The SIS doesn1 like to think of itself as
useless (although everybody else does). So it is
running around trying to find activities to justify its'
continued existence. One place where it has found a
home is the previously unpublicised Combined Law
Agen c y Group, made up of the police, customs,
immigration, the Serious Fraud Office and the SIS. In
that capacity it has twice popped u p in the media -
once in connection with a specialist team launching
an Asian youth strategy to stop the spread of Asian
gangs throughout NZ; and the other in connection
with the saga of the Chinese scientist caught trying to
smuggle NZ apple tree cuttings out of the country.
But the SIS isn1 completely reduced to spying on
Asian malefactors in schoolyards and orchards.
There's still the threat of "terrorism'. June saw the
three day Exercise Guardian 97 in Wellington. POlice
Commissioner Peter Doone said it was part of the
annual training cycle for Government agencies that

Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1997 - Page 1 0

would jointly deal with a terrorist crisis - the police,
military, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the
SIS. Hopefully in the event of real terrorism, the
country won't have to depend on the SIS - it was
absolutely nowhere to be seen when French State
terrorists bombed the Rainbow Warrior and killed
Femando Pereira, in Auckland in 1 985. They were
caught by old fashioned pOlice work.
This merging of spies and police is being seen
throughout the Western world, most prominently i n
t h e US, where the C I A and FBI are working together
much more closely. The reason is the sarne - what
are the spies going to do now there's no
'international Communist threat'?
In fairness to the cops, it should be pointed out that,
at least at the rank and file level, they have a
NEW Spy COMMITTEE NAMED
One consequence of the highly controversial 1 996
Intelligence and Security Agencies Act was the
creation of a special intelligence and security
agencies committee (see previous issues of PR for
coverage of the Act, opposition to it, and discussion
of the committee). This is not to be confused with a
Parliamentary select committee - it can only consist
of the hand picked appointees of the Prime Minister
(who is Minister in Charge of the SIS). In other
words, 'indoctrinated' people. The committee is
headed by the PM and the Leader of the Opposition
is an automatic member. Bolger nominated Deputy
PM, Winston Peters, and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Don McKinnon. Helen Clark nominated former
Labour PM, Mike Moore. ACT leader Richard
Prebble had wanted to nominate former Minister,
Peter Dunne, but dipped out.
Prebble, a former Labour senior Minister has no faith
in the SIS: 'When the Gulf War was on we got better
information from CNN than we did from them. I can't
ever remember getting anything that it couldn't have
got from Time magazine' (Dominion, 23/5/97). So
now we know what SIS agents do all day - they read
Time. Funnily enough, in the famous 1 980s episode
of the SIS agent who left his briefcase at a
Wellington bus stop, it wasn't Time but Penthouse
that was found in it. It's a terrible job but somebody's
got to do it.
The committee wasn't created until nearly a year
after the passage of the ISA Act. Alliance MP, Rod
Donald, led a move to get the committee abolished
and its functions transferred to a regular select
committee. This was defeated, with Labour voting
with the Government. Not content to let it rest there,
Rod presented his own private Member's Bill to have
the committee abolished. Private Members' Bills only
make it to the floor of the House by ballot - Rod's
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 1 1
longstanding hearty dislike of the SIS. How do we
know? I nformation crops up in the strangest of
places. The Christchurch Mail, a twice weekly
giveaway, with an utterly reactionary editorial line
and Alan Duff columns to match, ran an obituary
(8/5/97) entitled: 'S91 Warwick Maloney, a dinkum
cop". Among several sidesplitting anecdotes from the
early 1 970s (who did put the elephant shit in the desk
drawer of the staff senior sergeant?) was this gem:
... intensive investigation failed to turn up the identity
•
of the ... person who penetrated the local office of the
Security I ntelligence Service, run by a failed and
gullible ex-cop with master cop aspirations. Whoever
it was flooded the office with high grade intelligence,
namely that the Russians were planning to destroy
the Canterbury wheat crop with a deadly ray and the
Japanese and Chinese were plotting to invade
Australia and New Zealand simultaneously'.
was lucky enough to be picked and had its first
reading in June 1 997.
"My bill aims to correct the aberration represented by
the Intelligence & Security Committee Act and
reassert, in relation to intelligence and security
matters, the supremacy of Parliament and its
proceedings at all stages. It is remarkable this
statutory committee should have been established at
the very time when, with the passing of the Cold War
era, it can be least justified. It's very existence
denigrates Parliament.
"The I&SC Act removed from select committee
consideration and/or scrutiny items of business that
normally have been referred to a select committee
and vested that responsibility in a closed statutory
committee, compriSing the Prime Minister, the Leader
of the Opposition and their nominees. It is highly
inappropriate in a democracy such as New Zealand,
that the one person who combines the office of Prime
Minister and the Minster in Charge of the S/S also
chairs a body that ought to be more independently
examining the activities of the intelligence and
security agencies.
"Not satisfied with this control the Prime Minister also
has the power to approve the committee nominees,
including that of the Leader of the Opposition. My bill
restores to its rightful place parliamentary scrutiny of
the activities of the intelligence and security
agencies" (Rod Donald, press statement, 1 3/6/97).
What does the new committee do? Well, the public
won't find out, because it conducts its business in
private. But at its first meeting, on an undisclosed
date, it decided to add $546,000 to the SIS's annual
Denis Doherty is the national coordinator of the
Australian Anti Bases Campaign Coalition, ABC's
Australian counterpart. Due to Australia's continued
membership of ANZUS, Denis and co have a lot
more to do than us. The AABCC organised protests
against the massive US/Australian military exercise,
Tandem Thrust, held in central and northern
Queensland in March 1997. Courtesy of our nuclear
free fall from grace, New Zealand is no longer
welcome at these exercises. Too bad. Ed.
Four days of successful protests in Rockhampton
against the Tandem Thrust military exercises ended
on Saturday, March 1 5. As the date for the protests
drew close, tropical Cyclone Justin was deepening
off Cairns. Huge seas and heavy winds threatened
the war games. Military aircraft and ships headed for
safer places.
But the cyclone weakened and the seas subsided.
Military authorities declared that "Operation Tandem
Thrust is on again", with a few minor adjustments.
The amphibious landings were put back a few days.
The protests went ahead too.
Vigil
The first event, on Wednesday (March 1 2) , was a
vigil at the gates of the Base Administration and
Support Centre (BASC) in Rockhampton, the
administrative centre for the Tandem Thrust war
"'Continued from previous page ••.
. . . budget of $9,968,000. "To spend on what? We will
never know, because the (committee) is not
accountable to Parliament..." (ibid). Subsidies and
handouts are dirty words to the free market
ideologues in power - except when it comes to the
spies. Don1 worry if your budget isn1 enough - have
some more. Perhaps they need to send their agents
on a refresher course on breaking and entering. And
in light of one agent's inability to shake off a pursuing
academic, the taxpayer had better shout the SIS a
gym as well. They're obviously unfit. Too much
sitting round reading Time.
Rod's bill was defeated in July, not proceeding past
its second reading. The vote was 1 06-13, meaning
no MPs other than Alliance ones voted for it. Jim
Bolger said, in the debate, that the SIS is necessary
because: "Unfortunately there are nasty people i n the
world" (NZ Herald, 1 017197). He added that the SIS is
now saving us from m oney launderers and foreign
terrorists disguised as refugees. Ed).
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 12
games. BASC was a huge piece of land in the middle
of Rockhampton which had been transformed into a
massive military base with over 500 tents, hundreds
of vehicles, both US and Australian, helicopters and
satellite dishes.
As US and Australian personnel anived at or left the
base, they passed large banners and placards which
messages like "Tandem Thrust practices invasion,
not defence" and "Save the reef from war games
grief' (the reef being the Great BatTier Reef. Ed).
Protesters were courteous to the military, offering
them leaflets specially prepared for American and
Australian forces.
The fence around the base had been reinforced by
masses of barbed wire. This provided a convenient
site to display over 200 signed certificates of support
for the protests against Tandem Thrust. Australian
soldiers brought cordial and biscuits out to the
protesters, having first carefully arranged for Channel
9 cameras to be in place to film it.
The military claimed the gesture showed they were
tolerant of protest. Demonstrators retorted that
Aussie soldiers clearly agreed that they shouldn1 be
taking American orders to invade but should be
defending our Great Banier Reef.
University Forum
On Wednesday afternoon a forum attended by about
80 people was held at the University of Central
Queensland. Despite much thundering against the
protests by the Rockhampton Chamber of
Commerce, the Mayor and the local National Party
State and Federal MPs, all declined to put their views
to the students. The Australian military has a policy
of refusing to debate with peace activists. All this
gave the impression that Tandem Thrust is
unsustainable and impossible to support.
As a result, the forum proceeded with only one view
put from the platform -- opposition to Tandem Thrust.
However, several university staff members who were
former members of the Australian and Canadian
military had been running a campaign via the
university's e-mail to have the forum stopped. They
attended and fiercely supported Tandem Thrust from
the floor of the forum.
Local environmental activist Pat O'Brien outlined the
environmental reasons for stopping Tandem Thrust,
and the President of the Rockhampton Democrats,
Mrs Fay Lawrence, discussed the nuclear issues
arising from the presence of a nuclear submarine in
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Denis Doherty of the
Anti-Bases Campaign spoke about the political and
military reasons for the exercise, stressing that the
Tandem Thrust was designed to practice co­
operative invasions of Asia-Pacific countries.
Occupation
On Thursday morning, protesters occupied a huge
roundabout south of Rockhampton. With US forces
approaching from the south after coming ashore in
Gladstone, protesters thought both the people of
Rockhampton and the military would see all their
banners. Roughly three to one of the civilian vehicles
passing supported the protesters -- but strangely not
one military vehicle was seen. Demonstrators later
leamt that police had established a roadblock 40 kms
south and diverted all military traffic so they would
not pass the protest. Locals were astonished because
the road that military traffic was diverted onto is
rough and dangerous.
Australian forces were coming from Townsville to the
north so protesters moved north to blockade the best
road into the Shoalwater Training area. Army
helicopters located the protesters and the Australian
convoy was diverted onto another road. The military
were forced to go over 1 00 kms out of their way,
again over rough and dangerous roads.
A combined force of ten men and women "armed"
with cloth banners was sufficient to make the might
of the US and Australian forces tremble.
Arrests
Friday was planned as a more dramatic day on which
protesters d irectly confronted the military. "We
arrived at BASC military base at 7am and proceeded
to block the main gate with our banners," protesters
report. "The response surprised us. Vehicles stopped
immediately and military police directed vehicles to
another gate.
"So we proceeded to block another entrance. The
same response occurred. Then one soldier took
exception to our people and drove through the
banner which wrapped itself around the windscreen
and forced the driver to stop. He nearly struck the
military police and was quickly arrested and led
away. This all took place in front of the media's
cameras.
"After this two us of walked right into the base and
asked to speak to the commander. We waited
politely for 40 minutes and then we warned the
authorities that we were coming in. We then walked
in. They responded with military police, Australian
Protective Services (which guard military
installations, including Australia's numerous US
spybases. Ed.) and the Queensland Police, a force of
over 25 massed to arrest just two protesters!"
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 1 3
On Friday evening, a prayer service was held at the
gates of the base. The last event was on Saturday
morning, a small gathering of all involved and an
evaluation of the protests.
A Few Can Do So Much
The general consensus was that the protest was
successful, showing how just a few can do so much.
Representatives from Brisbane, Sydney, Maitland,
Nimbin and Perth travelled to Rockhampton. Two
activists from Tahiti were among the demonstrators
who withdrew from the protest because they feared
being stranded in Rockhampton if the cyclone and
floods cut the roads.
Evidence of widespread support for the protests
included the many certificates of support that were
collected and donations which came from all round
the country. In addition, demonstrations were held in
other centres in solidarity with the Rockhampton
actions.
Perth activists boarded a warship en route for
Tandem Thrust and in Brisbane, pickets were staged
at the Defence Department on Friday, March 7 and
again on March 14. In Sydney on March 4, protesters
occupied the foyer of the Defence Department during
a lunchtime protest while outside others handed out
leaflets and collected petition signatures to a
background of banners, placards and cardboard
dugongs (an endangered marine mammal, "the cow
of the sea". Ed). On March 1 5 , activists took the
protest against Tandem Thrust to the waters of
Sydney harbour.
We also had a land and water action against the USS
Independence when it came into Sydney harbour in
April (it is a nuclear capable aircraft carrier that had
been involved in Tandem Thrust). It came in 24
hours earlier than expected and with little notice we
only managed to get 20 people on land and in the
water one yacht, two zodiacs (inflatables) and six
kayaks. But we got good media coverage and we got
one person onto the warshi p twice and off again, with
no arrests.
The impact of the demonstrations and protests will
be that another Tandem Thrust in 1 8 months will be
less likely, and if it does happen, much more strongly
resisted.
 t:lr MILITARY VS. THE GREA T
BARRIER REEF
Tandem Thrust was also criticised from another,
unexpected, quarter - the Christchurch Press. An
editorial entitled "Protecting the reef' (6/5/97) said:
•... The (Great Barrier) reef is listed as a World
Heritage marine park and is protected by an act of
Parliament designed to ensure that Its unique
qualities are not spoilt. The push to ignore that
protection is continuing. The latest offender IS the
Australian Department of Defence. It sought to have
foreign warships discharge waste at Shoalwater Bay,
the site of March's Operation Tandem Thrust, a Jomt
military exercise with the United States.
Recent issues of PR have followed the
�tt���� �lII�
titanic struggle of the people of Okinawa
! fell ill with gastrointestinal disorders
to rid themselves of an overwhelming ! uL
US military presence. A struggle which
put the entire US/Japan military
ff/ I: tf l: HJ W
relationship into jeopardy. It was
sparked by the 1 995 brutal rape of a 1 2
1 tI \
year old Okinawan schOolgirl by US
military personnel. The American military keeps
shooting itself in the foot in Japan. The latest crime
was that of a U S sailor who was arrested at
Yokosuka Naval Base, in April 1 997, for allegedly
beating his Japanese girlfriend on the base. He
pleaded provocation, saying she bit his penis (don't
ask). But that same month, the Japanese
Government caved in under relentless US pressure
(and ignoring massive protests around the country)
by renewing the l ease on all American bases,
including those on Okinawa.
And PR has documented the toxic legacy of nearly a
century of US military bases in the Philippines (the
only Asian country to have been an American
colony). The bases were closed and the US military
left, as a consequence of the historic 1 991
Philippines Senate vote not to renew the bases
treaty. But the consequences won't go away, and are
still hurting people years after the closure.
The gigantic Clark Air Force Base, in central Luzon,
was closed by the 1 991 Mt Pinatubo eruption
(volcanoes don't wait for Senate votes). The ongoing
Pinatubo-related floods and lahar (mudslides) that
strike every wet season, killing people and destroying
every1hing in their path, are predicted to continue
until at least 2006. In 1 994, 1 7,000 displaced families
Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1997 Page 14
Shoalwater Bay, near Rockhampton and within the
marine park, has for decades been a focus for
conservation groups because of its coastal
wildemess. During Operation Tandem Thrust, about
4,000 US troops came ashore in the area. The
department also told the marine park authority it
wanted to use underwater explosives there.
Conservationists were aghast. Any extenSive blasting
would damage the dugongs, marine turtles and
humpback dolphins for which the bay is an important
habitat· ...
were relocated to Clark, and promptly
I�
\'-'" and skin rashes. Environmentalists
blamed it on contaminated water from
wells dug in Clark - the relocation site
\ W � used to be the major motorpool and
vehicle maintenance area of the
base. But Bruce Byers, US Embassy
press attache in Manila, says the US won't be
cleaning up any toxic wastes at Clark, nor does it
accept that the former base was the source of any
toxic wastes. He said that the US government has
"no legal authority· to undertake the clean up after it
relinquished its authority to the Philippines
government in 1 991 (Philippine Daily Inquirer,
1 6/5/97: ·Not ours: US disowns toxic wastes").
However, there are Filipinos who want to re-establish
the US military presence. Several politiCians and
generals have been noisily campaigning for the
bases to be re-established, under the aegis of the
1 951 Philippines/US Mutual Defense Treaty, which
supposedly commits the US to defend the Philippines
from extemal aggression. The context for this is the
multi-national dispute over the Spratly Islands, in the
South China Sea. It gets virtually no coverage in the
NZ media (but it would if Tuku Morgan went there),
yet has the potential to erupt into a good old
fashioned shooting war involving the navies of
several rival Asian countries -Philippines, China,
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Spratiys
are mere rocks - the prize is the expansion of the
winners' Exclusive Economic Zone and what lies
within it, such as oil. Most recently, the Philippines
and China have been spanring over Scarborough
Shoal (Huangyan Dao to the Chinese), which is right
-
on the limit of the Philippines' EEZ.. The US has
made it clear that it does not regard the Treaty as
committing it to defending the Philippines should war
break out over the SpraUys or other contested reefs
and rocks.
Some Manila columnists have suggested that the US
re-establish a naval presence at Subic, but as a port,
not as a base. They also claim that China's
assertiveness vis a vis contested territory is precisely
because the US no longer has a military presence in
the Philippines. But Thomas Hubbard, the US
Ambassador, has said that it has no interest in re­
establishing permanent bases there, because the US
is satisfied by the very frequent US Navy visits and
joint military exercises. As the Philippine Daily
Inquirer editorialised (31/5/97; "An embarrassing
invitation: US rebuff'):
"Actually, activists and other attentive observers
have long viewed the frequent port calls and joint
exercises with suspicion, and have analysed these as
violations of the vote that put an end to US military
presence here . . . l n this day and age when US military
bases are being closed down all over the planet,
Senator Francisco Tatad's proposal that the 'difficult
and emotional' issue of the return of American
presence on Philippine soil be put to 'an informed
and enlightened debate' is nothing short of ridiculous.
The senator forgets, or perhaps pretends to forget,
that the matter was settled on September 16, 1 991 ,
by 1 2 members of the chamber to which he now
belongs. There is absolutely no reason to review it,
notwithstanding Chinese incursions into islands being
claimed by the Philippines in the SpraUys and in the
Scarborough Shoal..."
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997
But the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition wamed
that all the drumbeating about "the Chinese threat"
was designed to condition Filipino public opinion into
accepting the US military back on its soil, and with an
expanded role.
NFPC pointed out that the two countries were
negotiating a new Acquisition and Cross Servicing
Agreement (ACSA) which could allow naval access
to 22 Filipino ports. ACSA could also allow the US to
establish bases, with no Senate agreement required,
because they would be sanctioned by executive
agreements. And, in a new move, both govemments
are working on a Status of Forces Agreement (the
very thing that has caused such bitterness in Japan,
especially Okinawa, and South Korea). This would be
considerably more far reaching than its previous
equivalents, which only applied within Subic and
Clark. The US has been lobbying hard to prevent
criminal cases involving US servicemen being tried
in Filipino courts. The Philippines govemment's
refusal to grant this led to the cancellation the 1 997
"Balikatan" annual jOint exercise. But Manila is
reported to be weakening under US pressure to grant
diplomatic immunity to US servicemen taking part in
jOint military exercises in the Philippines.
And New Zealand companies, riding the coattails of
their Australian Anzac frigate partners in seeking
Filipino warship building contracts as part of
President Ramos spending $US2 billion over five
years to modernise the Filipino military (see PR 1 2
for details), would be well advised to steer clear of
getting New Zealand involved in what could very
easily become a shooting war between several of our
Asian neighbours, allies and trading partners.
- Page 1 5

The Asia/Pacific region was rocked by the crisis that
erupted in Papua New Guinea in March 1 997.
General Jerry Singirok, the commander of the
country's military, d e manded the resignation of the
Prime Minister, Sir Julius Chan and two other senior
Ministers, and a commission of inquiry into the
Government's awarding of a $US36 million contract
to a shadowy mercenary transnational corporation
(all transnational corporations - TNCs - are
mercenary. The only difference was that this one was
literally so). Chan responded by firing Singirok, and
refusing to go. Singirok, in turn, refused to leave his
barracks and insisted that Chan and his colleagues
resign. This mutiny from the very top fomented a
major popular uprisin g in the capital, Port Moresby
(fuelled by a whole raft on other causes, such as
institutionalised corruption, coupled with
institutionalised poverty and unemployment). There
was rioting and looting, and a very near armed
confrontation betwee n the Army and the police (who
stayed loyal to the Government). The pressure paid
off - Chan, and his colleagues, literally surrounded in
Parliament, agreed to "stand aside" (but not actually
resign). An acting P M was appointed, the demanded
commission of inquiry was created, and the crisis
subsided. By May, the commission had cleared Chan
to the extent that he claimed vindication, and
resumed his post, i n time for the June general
election. Despite being both fired and replaced,
Singirok remained ensconced in his barracks.
Bougainville, Panguna, Rio Tinto
So what was this all about? In a word, Bougainville.
The war of murderous suppression and blockade
being waged against the people of Bougainville since
1 988 has taken a high human toll - thousands killed;
mass illness and starvation caused by the inhuman
blockade; and systematic human rights abuses by
the undisciplined P N G military - murder, torture,
random atrocities. The full gamut of twentieth century
counter insurgency h orror. Chan had come to power
promising peace but had reverted to outright war,
manipulated by an out of control military who ran
their own unauthorised operations (such as
ambushing Bougainville Revolutionary Army [BRA]
negotiators retuming home from intemational peace
talks). Chan was deeply angered by the military's
inability to defeat a ragtag yet extremely effective
guerilla army. That too has been the story of the
twentieth century. So, within a few short years, Chan
Peace Researcher 13
- M urray Horton
went from wouldbe peacemaker to cold blooded
warmonger. It bodes ill for any future peace plans
that, as Singirok's replacement, Chan appointed
Brigadier General Leo Nuia, known as The Butcher
of Bougainville for his atrocities there (including
using Australian helicopters to dump the bodies of
murdered rebel suspects into the sea).
What's so special about Bougainville that it's worth
all this terrible cost? Simple - it is blessed/cursed with
the Panguna copper mine, one of the world's very
biggest and richest mines of any kind. The
environmental devastation wrought (including whole
rivers destroyed by millions of tonnes of tailings and
toxic waste), and the lack of any Significant financial
benefit to the Bougainvilleans led to the revolt in the
first place. The BRA initially demanded several
billion dollars in compensation - when that led to an
ironfisted response from faroff Port Moresby, the
Bougainvilleans upped the ante and fought for
independence (it was only a 1 9th century colonial
carveup between Britain and Germany that led to
Bougainville being lumped in with PNG. Racially and
geographically, n is part of the Solomon Islands,
which is only a few kilometres away. The BRA has
announced that an independent Bougainville will be
renamed Mekamui - "holy").
And Pang una is owned by Bougainville Copper Ltd,
which is owned by Conzinc Rio Tinto of Australia
(CRA) , which in tum is owned by Rio Tinto Zinc
(RTZ) of Britain. Most recently, RTZlCRA have
merged to become Rio Tinto. This British behemoth
is the biggest single mining TNC in the world and one
of the very nastiest. In New Zealand, it owns
Comalco and its controversial Bluff aluminium
smelter. Whole books have been written about Rio
Tinto and the definitive one is "Plunder", by Roger
Moody (PARTIZANS/CAFCA, London, 1 99 1 ) . It
covers everything you need to know about this
company - in Bougainville, New Zealand, and the
rest of the world. Panguna has been closed since the
war of independence started, and both Rio Tinto and
the PNG govemment were loath to see such a major
moneyspinner sitting idle. Pang una has been
described as "the jewel in Rio Tinto's crown" .
The BRA certainly understands the mine's worth as a
bargaining chip, and has indicated that it would be
prepared to allow it to reopen after talks are held on
independence. Francis Ona, the President of the
- August 1 997 - Page 16
Bougainville Interim Govemment, said: "We truly
believe that all of Bougainville is under threat of
destruction by these foreign companies of
mining ...We are standing for independence because
only through independence all these mines will be
under control.. .. (Time, 1 0/3/97; "Resolute Rebel").
Francis Ona is fully aware of the advantages of
modem technology. Dismissing as "propaganda"
PNG claims that he wants to lead Bougainville back
to a "Year Zero" a la the Khmer Rouge, he replied: " I
a m talking t o you b y mobile phone. Is that Year
Zero? It is powered by hydro electric power. We will
be a modern country" (NZ Herald, 3/4/97).
Sandline International
By 1 996 the war had reached a stalemate.
The PNG military, completely driven from
the island at the start of the conflict, was
back in large areas. But it was not in
control of the island, the BRA was
undefeated, and most crucially, Panguna
remained closed and firmly in BRA hands.
Troops were committing atrocities against
civilians, and losing the will to fight.
Bougainville had become PNG's Vietnam. So it was
time for a new, and desperate, throw of the dice -
foreign mercenaries (this seems to be Chan's
personal style. He and his family are major
shareholders in a security company run by two
Australians, which hired and armed Australian police
and former anti-terrorist soldiers for two secret para­
military operations in PNG).
In 1 996, contact was made with a number of
transnational "security companies' (mercenaries to
you and me) , and PNG was soon engaged in secret
negotiations with Sandline Intemational, which is
intimately bound up with Executive Outcomes, both
of London (see below for details of who they are,
what they do and to whom they do it). It's worth
pointing out that General Singirok, who had been
wounded on Bougainville, was no angel - he was
intimately involved in setting up the mercenary deal
(hence the mercenaries' strong sense of betrayal
when Singirok turned against them).
And the prize of Panguna was dangled from the
outset. Rupert McGowan, an assistant director of
TNC broker Jardine Fleming, of Hong Kong, first
travelled to PNG to advise the Government how it
could buy a stake in Panguna from Rio Tinto. Very
soon he was allegedly acting as an intermediary
between the Government and Sandline, and
transferring money on behalf of the mercenaries.
Indeed proof emerged at the commission of inquiry
that the mercenaries were paid via Hong Kong.
McGowan's role was unmasked at that inquiry and he
was suspended by Jardine Fleming, pending
investigation.
By the beginning of 1 997, the PNG government and
Sandline were ready to come to a secret deal
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 17
(presumably Sand line was named by its macho men
in honour of President Bush's "line in the sand" that
he punished Saddam Hussein for crossing, by
invading Kuwait and setting off the Gulf War).
Private armies don� come cheap - for the supply of
90 black Angolan/South African warrant officers and
35 white officers, plus helicopter gunships, and a
giant Antonov aircraft to transport the whole lot into
and around PNG, Sandline charged $US36 million. It
actually received $US18 million in advance (and is
demanding the rest, despite the "job" not being
done). When the PNG military rebelled and kicked
out the mercenaries, $US400,OOO in cash was found
on the British commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tim
Spicer. And the gunships, which would have been the
first of their kind in PNG, have never arrived.
Australia seized them en route and they continue to
sit at an Australian air force base until
their ownership and legality are
determined.
One of the most disgraceful things about
the whole shabby affair was that the
Govemment diverted money from other
parts of the economy to pay for it - from
defence, road maintenance, police, education,
transport and Intemal Revenue. The Government
also secretly siphoned tens of millions from the sale
of its mineral and oil interests to pay the hit men.
This unbudgeted expense has cost the PNG
economy so severely that Ministers have estimated it
will take up to six years to recover and has incurred
the wrath of both the International Monetary Fund
and the Wond Bank, major funding agencies for
PNG.
"Repossess The Panguna Mine"
So what services were the mercenaries being
contracted to provide? The cover story was that they
were simply going to train PNG special forces on how
to win what Spicer referred to, in best British Army
patronising tone, as "a nasty little war" (NZ Hera/d,
4/3/97). That seemed implausible, so they allowed
that, yes, the mercenaries would actually go to
Bougainville - but only in a training role. That was
rendered equally unbelievable by their request to
have hospitals in northern Australia put on standby to
treat wounded mercenaries. It soon became obvious
that their intended role was to do the actual fighting,
theoretically in "surgical strikes" by crippling the BRA
(including killing its leadership), in reality by good old
fashioned terrorising and killing anyone who got in
their way. The closely guarded PNG/Sandline
contract (31/1/97), which was exposed when the
crisis blew up, was extremely clear on Sandline's job:
'to conduct offensive operations in Bougainville in
conjunction with PNG defence forces to render the
BRA military ineffective and repossess the Panguna
mine".
And Panguna was the prize. Throughout its
numerous dirty little wars in Africa, Sandline
International/Executive Outcomes has been involved
in securing control of valuable mines and actually
getting a cut of the mineral spoils by way of payment
(see below for details). Firstly, Panguna served a
strategic military purpose - one proposed Sandhne
tactic was to capture it, thus luring the BRA there to
fight them, rather than chasing guerillas all over
Bougainville. But it was also very much a glittering
prize in the usual sense too - and not only for the
foreign mercenaries. Whilst secretly setting the stage
for the mine's recapture, the Government moved to
buy out Rio Tinto's share of Bougainville Copper, the
mine's owner (Rio Tinto wasn't that silly). The
Government and the mercenaries stood to have a
nice little joint venture eamer. In his testimony to the
commission of inquiry, Spicer denied that Sandline
had shown any interest in the mine - but counsel
aSSisting the inquiry produced an August 1 996 letter
from him to the PNG Defence Minister suggesting
just such a joint venture to "reopen and operate the
Bougainville mine once recovered" (Press, 4/4/97).
Despite producing what Herald correspondent Mary­
Louise O'Callaghan headlined as a "wishy washy
report" (4/6/97) the commissioner, Australian judge
Warwick Andrew, had no doubt about the Pang una
connection: "Take its section on the suspicious
increase in the price and volume of Bougainville
Copper shares traded on (one day in February 1 997).
This occurred at a time when only the key
protagonists knew of the Sandline contract...No
reason, other than knowledge of the State's plans to
recapture the Panguna mine has been suggested for
the demand for BCL shares, the Andrew report
states. 'There were relatively few people who
knew. . . and amongst those who knew, fewer still who
would have had the financial resources to buy large
parcels of shares. In these circumstances it stretches
credibility to think that the demand for shares ...was
unconnected'".
Of course, this m u rderous little scheme came to
nought. It was exposed, there was huge regional and
national uproar and a combined military/civilian
uprising led to the hired killers being
unceremoniously being kicked out of the country. A
reality check is n e cessary - the military did not
suddenly endorse Bougainvillean independence and
peaceful co-existence. Its sense of honour was
offended and there was a widespread belief, amongst
both soldiers and civilians, that foreign mercenaries
had no place in an internal dispute, that the business
of oppressing and killing PNG citizens (albeit ones
who vehemently don't want to be) should be left up to
PNG. There isn't much of an anti-war, pro­
Bougainville independence movement discernible in
PNG.
The Government had to blame somebody for the
uprising - it left the military well alone and sent police
to raid arrest and harass various NGOs.The inquiry
' president of the World Jewish Congress; John A.
found nothing amiss, Chan resumed office, and
Spicer, back in London, pronounced Sandline ready
to finish the job if requested. Sand line went on a PR
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 18
offensive to repair the damage - one result was
TVNZ's 60 Minutes screening an Australian piece, in
June 1 997, depicting Sandline as professional
soldiers who clean up the Third World's messes, all
to the highest First World military standards, with
sympathetic English academics saying that this is the
pointer to the future. At its most mawkish it featured
Sand line promo clips of its "gentlemen soldiers of
forlune" singing karaoke!
Mercenaries - Global Overview
Which brings us to the final
question who are these
mercenary TNCs and who is
behind them? Time (26/5/97;
'Soldiers For Sale") detailed some
of them: Executive Outcomes
(intimately connected with
Sandline) - founded by apartheid
era, former South African military officers, fought i n
Angola and Sierra Leone; Vinnell Corporation - partly
owned by an American merchant bank, whose
chairman is a former US Defense Secretary, trains
Saudi Arabia's national guard; and Levdan, an Israeli
firm which trained troops and bodyguards for the
Congolese President, who then spent up large on
Israeli weaponry. Notice how trouble follows these
guys around - in June 1 997, both Sierra Leone and
Congo erupted with coups and civil wars.
The most succinct and revealing study of these hired
guns came from Louis Cauchy in the April 1 997 L 'A ut
Journa/, of Canada. Some extracts:
'In January 1 993, in the city of Soyo, Angola's most
important petrochemical centre that was also right in
the middle of an area wracked by war, the Canadian
company Ranger Oil spent $C30 million financing a
cleanup operation by Executive Outcomes, a South
African mercenary army. At the request of the
Luanda government and in exchange for important
oil concessions in the Soyo region, the Alberta oil
company also financed the assassination of
members of Jonas Savimbi's UNITA guerrilla army.
The killings were carried out by some 500 former
members of the South African armed forces recycled
as mercenaries (this is extremely ironic, as UNITA
was the creature of South Africa and the West earlier
in the interminable Angolan civil war. Ed),
•At a time when the Canadian politico-financial
establishment is denouncing any attempt to tie
Canadian foreign investment to human rights, a brief
look at some of the directors of Ranger Oil is quite
revealing. Waming: hold on to your seats, this gets
complicated!
'On the board of Ranger Oil we find Edgar M.
Bronfman, president and CEO of Seagram and also
Rae, executive vice-president of Power Corporation;
Simon Reisman, president of Trade and Investment
Advisory Group Inc.; Lord Colin B. Moynihan, the ex­
Under Secretary of Energy in Great Britain during the
Thatcher and Major governments who is presently
with CMA Associates; not to mention a half dozen
other businessmen from Canada and the United
States.
"Executive Outcomes, the mercenary company that
carried out the Ranger Oil contract, was set up in
1 989. It was incorporated in South Africa by one
Eeben Barlow and in England by Anthony
Buckingham - who also owns Heritage Oil, a British
petroleum company which helped Ranger Oil to
finance the Soyo cleanup. This was at the very
moment that the apartheid regime was beginning to
falter in South Africa (they were planning their
future!). Note that Anthony Buckingham is a
businessman with close ties to Sir David Steel , the
former leader of the British Liberal Party.
"For his parl, Eeben Barlow is a former killer with
apartheid's death squads; along with Lafras Luitingh,
one of his former colleagues in the South African
special forces, he recruited the five hundred
mercenaries to satisfy Ranger Oil's needs in Angola.
"The need to guarantee payment from the
governments of the 31 countries with which it does
business, several of whom are on the verge of
bankruptcy, led EO to set up a company called
Branch Energy. This company was intended to run
the oil installations, gold, copper or diamond mines
that cash strapped countries like Angola and Sierra
Leone give EO rights to in lieu of hard currency.
The Canadian Connection
"Why am I telling you this?
Because Branch Energy, the
vampiric camouflage of this
private army, has just been
purchased by a Canadian
company, Carson Gold, which is
owned by the Canadian financier
Eric Friedland. Following this purchase Friedland
made sure to change Branch Energy's name to
Diamond Works, and it was registered as such with
the Vancouver Stock Exchange on October 21 st,
1 996 under the acronym DMW. And who should
appear on the board of directors of the Canadian
company Diamond Works? None other but Anthony
Buckingham, along with Branch Energy's former
executive director Michael Grundberg and one
Beverly Downing. The latter is also in charge of
administration and corporate development at
Ivanhoe Capital Corporation, which is owned by
Robert Friedland, Eric Friedland's brother. I n 1 994
Ivanhoe Capital Corporation was called the "poisoner
of the Americas" by Multinational Monitor because of
the environmentally destructive methods it uses to
get gold out of the ground around the world (several
people intimately
Peace Researcher 1 3
connected with Sandline's PNG operation are listed
on the Vancouver Stock Exchange as having
substantial interests in Diamond Works, led by Tim
Spicer. Ed).
"It should be noted that Anthony Buckingham - as
director of Diamond Works - has been called upon to
advise upon how to handle the Native communities
who are dealing with this company's planned mining
projects in the North-West TerritOries and the Yukon.
Now there's a thought to give you goosebumps!
" Ivanhoe Capital Corporation, whose head office is i n
Singapore, has t h e same Vancouver address as
Diamond Works: 200 Burrard Street. Along with
Robert Friedland, Diamond Works has bought a 40%
interest in the Lihir project in Papua New Guinea: the
largest known unexploited gold deposit outside of
South Africa. The Lihir project and Mount Kare
project (also in Papua New Guinea) are essential for
the economic "recovery" of this former Australian
colony.
"They are especially essential for the re-election of
Sir Julius Chan (Chan has been dubbed the country's
"elected dictator"). So guess who landed in Papua
New Guinea at the beginning of March ... Executive
Outcomes, that's who! (for the modest fee of $36
million for a three-month cleanup contract!). It is
perhaps worth noting that the Diamond Works office
in England is located at 535 Kings Road in downtown
London, which just happens to be the address of. . .
Executive Outcomes!
Executive Outcomes: "Kill Everyone"
"Executive Outcomes is the most important of over
90 private armies presently active in Africa. These
armies, whose directors may live in the United
States, Belgium or France, are in fierce competition
to corner the lucrative market in repression. Their
clients include many dictators who, not daring to arm
their own people, have let their national armies
deteriorate.
"Armies by the name of Saracen International, Stuart
Mills International, Shibata Security, Bridge
Resources, Corporate Trading International, Alpha
Five or Military Professional Resources Incorporated
(MPRI), work hard to make themselves key players
in areas where, hypocritically, even the United
Nations relies on them to do its dirty work.
"And they know how to exploit strategiC interests. For
instance, when the peace accords were being signed
in Angola, President Clinton threatened to cut off aid
if a contract the Angolan State had given to
Executive Outcomes was not handed over to an
American firm. That's how MPRI landed the contract
to train Angola's armed forces (foreign mercenaries
were involved in Zaire's 1997 civil war, with Mobutu's
undisciplined Serbs committing atrocities against
- August 1997 - Page 19
civilians, before being defeated by Laurent Kabi/a's
victorious anny. Ed).
"Around the world, but most notably so in Africa, we
are seeing the privatisation of water, electricity, gas
and public services followed by the systematic
privatisation of violence, the rise of mercenary
armies. The most important of these, Executive
Outcomes, has on occasion been paid by misused
funds from the . . . IMF ($C1 5 million in Sierra Leone)
and also by the concession of important deposits of
oil, diamonds, copper, etc. In May 1 995 two South
African mercenary pilots, Arthur Walker and Carl
Alberts, approached a Sierra Leone military
commander about their difficulties telling the rebels
from the civilians in their air attacks around
Freetown, the country's capital.
"'Kill everyone!" was the simple answer. And
so that's what they did. This bloody anecdote
was reported by the journalist Elizabeth
Rubin in the February 1 997 issue of
Harpers. It tells a lot about the scorched
earth methods used by that band of South African
killers in Executive Outcomes. Primarily composed
of former members of the assassination and
espionage unit set up by the apartheid regime, EO is
a veritable privatised murderer's multinational.
"Eeben Barlow, the main director of EO, was
formerly in charge of the South African special
forces' 32nd battalion. He is also a former agent with
the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) , which is the
euphemism for the death squads who were charged
with eliminating apartheid's enemies. Barlow worked
for the CCB in Western Europe, trying to discredit the
African National Congress and setting up shell
companies to get around anti-apartheid sanctions
and sell South African arms. Barlow set up Executive
Outcomes in 1 989, which enabled him and his
cronies to survive the dissolution of the CCB by
President F. W. D e Klerk in 1 99 1 .
"According t o L e Monde Diplomatique (October
1 996), the privatisation of the South African security
forces goes back to 1 978, and was inspired by the
CIA's strategy of "farming out" intelligence gathering
and covert operations to "private" groups in order to
maintain the illusion of distance between those who
carry out these bloody acts and those who order
them. This was exactly the kind of service that
multinationals like Ranger Oil, De Beers, Diamond
Works, etc. needed to maintain a social calm in
those areas where they carry out their savage
exploitation of natural resources, areas where often
the local population is becoming more and more
sensitive to environmental and social concerns...
Yesterday it was i n Angola and Sierra Leone, today
in Zaire and Papua New Guinea... "
Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1997 Page 20
PNG People Show How To Lick LIe
The "renowned strategist and war theoretician" Martin
Van Creveld (quoted in the Press, 2712197; "The
Diamond Dogs of war - 'peace-keeping' services for
hire", Stuart McMillan) has written: "Much of the day
to day burden of defending society against the threat
of low intensity conflict will be transferred to the
booming security business and indeed the time may
come when the organisations that comprise that
business will, like the condottieri of old (mercenary
armies led by military entrepreneurs), take over the
State". Which overlooks the point that in conflicts
such as Bougainville's, there is no threat to "society"
- only to the operations and megaprofits of mining
TNCs and the local elite who comprise the client
government.
Low Intensity Conflict (LlC) was the post­
Vietnam warfare invented by the US to stop
its boys having to come home in body bags.
Instead it would train and aid the local
m ilitary, and more importantly, create
paramilitary death squads to fight its "nasty little
wars" in countries such as the Philippines. The
privatisation of death squads and hit teams, with the
global deployment of well paid and heavily armed
mercenaries (invariably former professional soldiers),
is the logical sequel to that. But the strategy came an
almighty gutser in PNG. They were powerless
against the angry citizenry of a democracy (however
imperfect) who rose up and non-violently threw them
out on their ear. And, in the June 1 997 general
election, the voters of PNG gave their verdict - after
29 years in politics and two terms as Prime Minister,
Sir Julius Chan lost his seat. So did the Defence
Minister and the Minister elevated to Acting PM in
Chan's temporary absence.
And Bougainville came to New Zealand - literally. In
July, dozens of Bougainvilleans, from all sides of the
war, were temporarily uplifted from the tropics and
deposited in the frozen midwinter setting of Bumham
Military Camp, outside Christchurch, for inter­
Bougainvillean negotiations hosted by NZ,
preparatory to full peace talks with PNG. (And if you
think that NZ is an "honest broker", I suggest you re­
read "Secret Power's" frequent references to New
Zealand spying on Bougainville via Waihopai and
Tangimoana and assorted frigates. I guarantee
Burnham was thoroughly bugged and every call, fax
and e-mail out of those talks intercepted by NZ and
Australian intelligence).
The world owes a hearty vote of thanks to the
courageous people of PNG. They have shown us the
simple answer to this ugly phenomenon, this
imported killer virus that breeds and spreads in the
tropiCS. In the memorable words of the Rolling
Stones' song, "You've got to scrape that shit right off
your shoe". PNG showed the rest of us how to do it.
-
 U.&.
- Bob Leonard
Peace Researcher initiated a letter to the Union of
have positive reactivity coefficients and lack
Concerned SCientists (UCS) in the United States to
containments. ") There is no indication in the letter
ask their opinion of the nature of the explosions that
that the UCS attempted to correct the "discounting"
destroyed one of the Chernobyl nuclear reactors in
by the nuclear Industry that a nuclear explosion in a
1 986. PR-9 contained an article describing
reactor would destroy any reactor regardless of its
substantial evidence that the explosions were nuclear
design or the existence of a containment. This pOint
and not chernical or steam explosions. We can
was strongly made by Amott and Green as
confirm that both the UCS and the US government
described in our article in PR-9: " . . . no containment
consider that the Chernobyl accident involved at
could ever survive a nuclear explosion, however
least one nuclear explosion. .
ineffiCient the 'bomb' might be". The RUSSian reactor
deSigners seem to have accepted the possibility of
The UCS is the leading independent watchdog
an uncontrollable nuclear reaction: "The loose-fitting
concerned with safety in the Arnerican nuclear
2000 tonne RBMK pile-cap acted in effect as a
industry. They have a long history of campaigning
'safety valve' by prematurely terminating the chain
for nuclear safety and we considered that their
reaction. This reduced the energy of the explosion
evaluation of the articles we reviewed in PR-9 would
and hence fission product release. It also confined
be of considerable interest. Portions of the UCS
damage to Unit 4, sparing three adjacent reactors
response, written by nuclear safety engineer David A.
and two highly radioactive spent fuel stores".3
Lochbaum, are quoted here:

Arnott and Green went on to state emphatically that

"The data presented in the Martinez-Val paper'
western reactors were also susceptible to nuclear
is consistent with the findings reported in
explosions. And on this point David Lochbaum of
NUREG-1250, 'Report on the Accident at the
UCS seems to concur: "There were several
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station,' the official
invaluable lessons to be learned from Chernobyl.
United States government inquiry into the
The plant was found to be in non-conformance with
accident and its domestic implications. For
several safety regulations . . . . These precursors are
example, Figure 4.3 from NUREG-1250
found in numerous minor incidents at nuclear power
indicates that integrated energy depOSited into
plants in this country [USA], yet our regulators fail to
the fuel to be approximately 1 ,400 cal/gm
recognize the importance of these warning signals. "
[calories per gram]. For the core loading, this
represents approximately 1 ,1 1 2 gigajoules or
Peace Researcher is disappointed that UCS would
0.265 kilotons. These results compare very
state "regulators fail to recognize the importance of
closely with the values reported by Martinez­
these warning signals". It is naive to think US
Val."
regulators don't know preCisely what they are doing
when they whitewash the "containment" issue. Arnot!
"In your letter, you SOlicited our opinion on the
and Green's conclusion applies equally to the US
nature of the Chemobyl explosions. I agree
regulators: " . . . Chernobyl was not enough to jolt the
with the conclusions presented in the Martines­
AtomiC Energy Authority into preferring scientific
Val paper. I also hasten to point out that the
integrity to the vested interests of the nuclear power
official US inquiry also pointed to the second
industry".
explosion being a 'nuclear explosion', although
the industry term for such an event is a
'prompt critical excursion'.' Thus, it is
1. Martinez-Val, J.M. et al. 1 990. An analysis of
officially recognized that Chernobyl was
the physical causes of the Chernobyl accident.
essentially a nuclear explosion." [Emphasis
Nuclear Technology, 90:371-378.
added, ed.]
2. The nuclear explosions that destroyed
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were also "prompt critical
"Your letter indicated that if the nature of the
excursions". This is nuclear industry nukespeak at its
Chernobyl accident were clearly understood,
finest.
the implications for the nuclear industry would
3. Arnott, D.G. and R.D.Green. 1 992
be substantial. Unfortunately, we have not
Chernobyl: unique safety valve for a reactor nuclear
found that to be the case. The lessons of
explosion. Proc. of a national conference: "the legacy
Chernobyl were largely discounted due to
of Chernobyl - Lesson for the U.K.".
differences between the RUSSian RMBK design
and western reactors (e.g., the RMBKs

Peace Researcher 13 - August 1 997 - Page 2 1


New Zealand has only ever been graced by one US
Presidential visit, that of Lyndon Johnson, way back
in the 1 9605. That was i n the midst of the Vietnam
War and was part of the 'All the way with LBJ"
hysteria whipped up by the US and its client
governments (such as the Holyoake one here).
Well we're going to get another one. None other than
Bill Clinton is coming to Auckland, in November
1 999, as one of those attending the annual APEC
Leaders Summit. His visit will coincide with the start
of the America's Cup series, being raced off
Auckland, so it is expected that he will take in some
yachting. It will also be just after New Zealand's next
general election, and will be getting into the Last
Days of the Second Millenium, so all in all it should
be some party.
Clinton is only one of the 1 8 national leaders coming.
Security for all of them will be like nothing New
Zealand has previously seen. At least 2,000 New
Zealand cops will be on 24 hour duty to protect them.
But that's not the half of it. All will be bringing their
own security entourages who, in the usual manner for
Asian autocratic regimes, will be armed and twitchy.
But security around US Presidents is something else
again - Clinton's travelling circus is estimated to
include more than 330 Secret Service agents. They
will provide the biggest test for New Zealand's
hallowed rule for visiting VIPs - no guns. The
Americans are adamant on their Godgiven, global
right to bear arms to protect their President and have
already intimated that if New Zealand doesn't come
to its senses, then Clinton won't come (thus depriving
Bolger, or whoever the Prime Minister is in 1 999, of a
wonderful photo opportunity). The betting is that New
Zealand will buckle and let the SS boys carry their
guns (and thus provide a precedent for the other
security entourages who will press for the same
right). There is a h istory of this, most famously during
a 1 960s Wellington visit by an American bigwig. An
SS agent dropped his pistol in public, in a crowded
street, right at the feet of a student leader during an
anti-war demo. O n e can imagine what would have
happened if the student had picked it up.
Clinton's 1 996 Australian visit provides some inkling
of what is to come. 'In the days before the visit, the
Americans flew in two C5 Galaxy transport planes
laden with security gear including armoured plated
Lincolns, vehicles so heavy they cannot be driven
ongrassed surfaces , and as many as six
Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 22
- M urray Horton
helicopters... Motorcade routes were sealed off hours
in advance as police teams with metal detectors
checked and rechecked culverts, drains, bridges and
hedges. Secret Service agents drove around in four
wheel drive vehicles, complete with blacked out
windows and communications aerials .. "(New
.
Zealand Herald, 1 3/3/97; 'Big guns may test our
security"; John Andrews). The America's Cup
shemozzle adds another dimension to the security
scenario - Auckland harbour will be home to scores
of lUXUry craft, 'some bigger than the Royal New
Zealand Navy's frigates" (ibid), which will be bristling
with their own anti-pirate armouries, such as
machineguns and rocket launchers. Security experts
are concerned at the prospect of those waterborne
weapons falling into "the wrong hands" and being
used against the downtown hotels hosting the APEC
leaders. It would make a great movie.
Filipinos describe their traditional politicians as
epitomising The Three Gs - guns, goons and gold.
Well the 1 999 APEC Summit will see plenty of the
guns and goons. What about the gold? How much is
this going to cost the New Zealand taxpayer?
Including security, the final bill is expected to be $28
million.
A l l this has ramifications for New Zealand political
activists of all persuasions. Kiwi cops have already
shown, at the 1 995 Asian Development Bank and
CHOGM conferences, both in Auckland, that they
can be as thuggish as any of their overseas
counterparts. Add to the mix a whole raft of other
security and intelligence agencies, and they'll be
falling over themselves to bludgeon, suveil,
intimidate or set up anyone who "threatens" the
hallowed event.
The bungled SIS break in at the home of
Christchurch activist Aziz Choudry (see elsewhere in
this issue) took place in the context of GATT
Watchdog organising an alternative forum on free
trade to coincide with the July 1 996 APEC Trade
Ministers' Meeting. When the 1 999 APEC security
details were revealed, GATT Watchdog warned that:
' ... the New Zealand government will use 'dirty
tactics' to put down legitimate, lawful dissent against
opponents of APEC in Auckland in 1 999. It also
warns of massive disruption to the lives of ordinary
Aucklanders in order to present a 'false image' of
New Zealand society to the international officials and
media expected to be present for the APEC meeting.
..... APEC is anti-democratic, unaccountable and
driven by the interests of big business. Anyone who
may in any way try to expose the myths of free trade
is likely to be labelled a 'threat to national security'
by the Government. The kind of stability and security
which the Government wants to offer visiting
dignitaries to the 1 999 meeting and potential
overseas investors is a Clayton's version. It is not
based on o pen debate, genuine participatory
democracy and equality. It is built on secrecy,
economic extremism, and the exclusion of increasing
numbers of people from taking part in determining
the kind of development that they want for
themselves and their children."
"GAIT Watchdog, a non-governmental group which
advocates fair trade and lobbies against unrestricted
trade and investment liberalisation, is writing to the
Minister in C harge of Security and the Minister of
Police seeking assurances that people engaged in
legitimate protest activity against APEC will not be
targeted with anti-democratic tactics by intelligence
agencies and the Police.
..... Last year's operations directed against GAIT
Watchdog make us believe that the Government is
far more concerned about people VOicing alternative
views on free trade than it is in 'terrorist' threats. Our
only 'crime' was to challenge the APEC agenda as
promoting socially unjust and environmentally
unsustainable outcomes. New legislation passed last
July (1 996) gives the SIS a carte blanche to surveil
any group or individual considered to be a threat to
'national security'.
Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1 997 - Page 23
'Security' is now defined as 'the making of a
contribution to New Zealand's international well-being
or economic well-being; and the protection of New
Zealand from acts of espionage, sabotage, terrorism,
and subversion, whether or not they are directed
from or intended to be committed within New
Zealand'. Given that one of the Government's central
tenets is a commitment to market refornns and
through GAIT and APEC, trade and investment
liberalisation, it seems that those who challenge this
economic recipe are deemed to be threats to security
and fair game for SIS surveillance and harassment.
And the heavy-handed tactics of the Police at
CHOGM and ADS meetings show that they too are
being used to provide the muscle to protect New
Zealand's free market economy . . ... (press release,
24/6/97; "The Shape Of Things To Come:
'Unprecedented Security' for 1 999 Auckland APEC
Meeting: NZ Government Dirty Tactics Warning").
For those concemed about the broader implications
of both APEC and free trade in general, contact
GA TT Watchdog, Box 1905, Christchurch, NZ, ph
(03) 3662803; fax (03) 3668035; e­
mail:gattwd@corso.ch.planet.gen.nz. A subscription
to its newsletter, The Big Picture, costs $15 per year.
The definitive NZ book on the subject is "The Cost Of
Free Trade: AotearoalNew Zealand At Risk", by
Dennis Small. Send $20 to CAFCA, Box 2258,
Christchurch, NZ.
 - M urray Horton

M OBUTU - " H E MAY BE A SON OF A BITCH BUT HE'S OUR SON O F A B ITCH"

This cynical old adage (first applied by President

early cables was alarmist: 'Embassy and (CIA)
Roosevelt to particularly repellent American client
station believe Congo experiencing classic
dictators in Latin A merica) was never truer than with
Communist effort to take over government. Whether
the unlamented President Mobutu Sese Seko, who
or not Lumumba actually commie or just playing
murdered and looted for over 30 years in his
commie game ... anti-West forces rapidly increasing
benighted Zaire (now renamed the Democratic
power in Congo ... may be little time left...to avoid
Republic of the Congo by new leader Laurent Kabila.
another Cuba'.
Whether he will be any better is another story). Along
with Presidents Marcos of the Philippines and
"Washington fell for it - it made Devlin's advice that
Suharto of Indonesia, Mobutu personified the
Lumumba be replaced an 'urgent and prime
staggering kleptocracy that has so bedevilled Third
objective' and Devlin was given a $US1 00,000
World nations inflicted with dictatorships that serve
cheque to see that it happened. Mobutu rejoined the
Western strategic interests.
army, from where he consolidated the power base he
needed to overthrow and murder Lumumba. And so
As Mobutu was forced out of Kinshasa by Kabila's
the Cold War came to Zaire, where 70% of the non­
victorious army, Western politicians and media fell
Communist world's cobalt and a stash of other
over themselves to proclaim how they'd always been
minerals were locked in the ground.
opposed to him. But Mobutu had stayed in power so
long precisely because he was "our" son of a bitch.
"Though he styled his leadership on Nicolae
When the Cold War got hot in Africa, he was in the
Ceaucescu in Romania and Kim 11 Sung in North
thick of it. For example he was heavily involved in
Korea, Mobutu became the West's main man in post­
the terrible civil war that is still devastating
colonial Africa, which meant there was no
neighbouring Angola. But once the Soviet Union was
international criticism of his excesses; ridiculous
no more (and the superpowers' proxies, the Cubans
amounts of aid money were thrown at him ... "
and South Africans, pulled their troops out of Angola)
he was merely an embarrassment to the West.
Lawrence Raymond Devlin fills a page of references
in NameBase, the definitive American database on
Mobutu was a d irect creature of the CIA. Some
the CIA. His postings included 1 957-60 in Belgium
details are given in the New Zealand Herald (31 /5/97;
(the woeful colonial power in the Congo), Laos from
"Heart of Evil"; Paul McGeough; from the Sydney
1 963-70 (during America's overt and covert war in
Morning Herald): Indochina), and Zaire, off and on, from 1 960-89. He
typifies the operatives who secretly implemented the
"Zaireans looking for somewhere to lay the blame for
American policy of installing and maintaining in
the Mobutu excesses could try Washington. . . At age
power any murderous, thieving Third World son of a
25 Mobutu quit t h e army with the rank of sergeant
bitch so long as he was "our" son of a bitch. In the 30
�
m jor. As a journalist he went to Europe where, in
years that Mobutu was in power, the US supplied
1 959, he befriended the man who would make him
Zaire with $US1.S billion in economic and military
king - CIA operative Lawrence Devlin. These were aid, most of which was stolen by Mobutu. Successive
dangerous times. Washington and Moscow were dug
US presidents actively helped Mobutu quash
in for the Cold War and the Rightwing Mobutu
provincial seceSSionist rebellions and ignored their
wanted to challenge the popular Leftist Patrice
own advisors who recommended pressing for
Lumumba for the post-colonial leadership of Zaire.
democratisation and Mobutu's retirement. The long
suffering people of Zaire and neighbouring countries
"Certain that Zaire was ripe for an East-West stoush,
paid with their lives and their wealth because of that
the CIA assigned Devlin to Kinshasa. One of his policy. Mobutu is gone but that evil legacy will last a

Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 24

long time. And you can bet that the CIA will be
working hard to ensure that the new leaders do
nothing to impede Westem economic or strategic
interests.
As for Mobutu, his old mates in Western intelligence
agencies looked after him to the end. The South
African Secret Service helped him smuggle $NZ58
million in cash, and diamonds plus million more, into
South Africa before his downfall. Mind you, by
Mobutu's kleptocratic standards, that is chicken feed.
Anthony Lewis wrote, in the New York Times
(reprinted i n the International Herald Tribune, 26-
27/4/97; "Made by the CIA: Mobutu and Other
Disasters"):
"'Mobutuism is about to become a creature of
history', Mike McCurry, the White House spokesman,
said . . .washing America's hands of its SOB at long
last. I would like to be around when a presidential
spokesman says, 'CIA corruption of other countries'
policies is a creature of history'".
SADDAM - ONCE "OUR SON O F A BITC H " , H U M I LIATES CIA
When Saddam Hussein was tying u p the
revolutionary mullahs of Iran in a particularly bloody
war from 1 980 to 1 988, he was the darling of the
West (rather like Hitler when he was only
slaughtering Communists). He was showered with
Western arms and intelligence. But he ceased to be
"our" son of a bitch when he invaded Kuwait in 1 990.
He then became another sort of blessing for the US -
with its military/intelligence empire desperately
looking for new enemies with the collapse of the
Soviet Union, Saddam fitted the bill exactly. Despite
his overwhelming defeat in the Gulf War, he is still
Demon of the Month and whenever US presidents
feel testosterone defiCient, they fire off a few Cruise
missiles at Baghdad so that the American public can
shout "Alia boy. Way to go".
Actually Saddam has outwitted the best efforts of the
CIA since that war. The most spectacular example of
that came in 1 996 when his omnipresent security
forces wiped out CIA fostered opposition within the
military, and then he sent his tanks into Iraqi
Kurdistan and completely eradicated the whole vast
apparatus that the CIA had established on Iraqi soil
since 1 99 1 . That debacle ended with the American
spooks fleeing in panic over the nearest border, with
hundreds of I raqi operatives left to their fate (torture
and imprisonment at best, instant death at worst) .
"Iraqi intelligence was triumphant. As CIA operatives
were evacuated to Guam, the CIA officer in charge
(of the operation) in Amman, the Jordanian capital,
received a telephone call from Baghdad from a man
who asked for him by name. In the conversation
Peace Researcher 1 3 - August 1997 - Page 25
Only now is the CIA opening its books a fraction on
some of its worst crimes - and then only after more
than 40 years. In 1 997, it has declassified 1 ,400
pages (out of 1 80,000) on the coup it engineered in
Guatemala in 1 954. That overthrew the nationalist
and mildly Leftist Arbenz government and sparked
several decades of some of the most brutally
repressive regimes anywhere in the world. By the
time a negotiated settlement was reached, in 1 996,
the Guatemalan military had killed more than
1 00,000 civilians in its dirty war, backed by the US.
Even though these files represent less than 1 % of
those held on the coup, they still shed light on it - the
policy explicitly approved 58 assaSSinations,
including that of Arbenz, if necessary (the CIA claims
they weren't). The only reason that any Guatemalan
coup files were still available to be declassified was
because they had been the subject of a 1 982
Freedom of Information Act request. Files on other
CIA atrocities from the 1 950s and 60s - such as the
Iranian coup that overthrew the Mossadegh
government and installed the Shah; secret missions
against Sukarno's Indonesia; and a coup against
Guyana - have all been destroyed.
which followed, according to a Washington source
familiar with the intelligence world, the caller,
presumably an Iraqi security officer, displayed an
extensive knowledge of the CIA's plans for a coup in
Iraq and the names of those involved. He concluded
by suggesting the CIA pack its bags and go back to
Langley, its headquarters outside Washington .. ."
(Press, 3/5/97: "Saddam, the CIA, and an abortive
plot"; Patrick Cockburn, from The Independent).
Despite this fiasco - the worst and most public defeat
for the CIA since Vietnam - the US keeps pouring
taxpayers' money into covert operations to overthrow
Saddam. Responsibility for the 1 996 blood bath rests
with George Tenet, who was CIA Deputy Director,
and who has risen to be Director in 1 997 (replacing
George Deutch; Anthony Lake withdrew his
nomination under Republican pressure). The general
perception among outside analysts is that Saddam
suckered the CIA and that the whole Agency
operation was completely penetrated by I raqi
intelligence. This view was expressed most
succinctly in the New Zealand Herald (1 4/5/97; Close
Cover, Jim Hoagland), under the headline " New CIA
boss a victim of Saddam sting":
"The CIA has spent six years and $US1 1 0 million
trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the most
expensive sustained failure in Agency history. Iraq is
the Bay of Pigs in unending free fall, with fresh
humiliation looming around the comer. The Agency
could not stop throwing money at the Saddam
problem if it wanted to. Refusing to admit defeat, the
White House orders this international embarrassment
to avoid being accused of doing nothing about Iraq. in Jordan and Kuwait. Senators who normally line up
This year (1 997) covert operations against Iraq will to rail at executive agencies for wasting taxpayer
cost about $US5 million, the price tag for ineffective money have kept quiet on the CIA debacle ....
propaganda broadcasts by clandestine radio stations

"TH E TROUBL E WITH THE CIA"

very own SIS is struggling to stay in business by the
This was the headline on a particularly insightful and
joining with the police and other law enforcement
pithy article by John Carlin of The Independent (UK),
agencies (see elsewhere in this issue), the CIA is
reproduced in the Press (1 9/4/97). Some quotes:
moving into a convergence with the FBI. The latter is
the big winner in this, stealthily building a physical
"Since the devastating revelation in 1 994 that the
presence in over 20 foreign countries (including
drunken sybarite Aldrich Ames, a senior CIA officer,
Australia, but not NZ), with plans to add another 20+
had sold secrets to the KGB which led directly to the
by 1 999. The former Communist countries of Eastem
execution of at least ten CIA informers in Russia, the
Europe are the FBI's big growth area, purportedly to
Agency has been afflicted with one disaster after
battle the Russian and other organised crime mafias
another. . . . Harold Nicholson, who was more senior
that have exploded onto the scene since the collapse
than Ames, also confessed to having sold secrets to
of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. In 1 995
the Russians (Nicholson was recently sentenced to
the FBI and State Department opened the
over 20 years in prison. cd). Before that there were
Intemational Law Enforcement Training Academy in
flaps in France and Germany after the CIA's clumsy
Budapest, the Hungarian capital. In 1 996 it trained
efforts to branch out into economic espionage. The
cops from Albania to Ukraine. Wolf concludes:
Agency's links to human rights violations in Honduras
and the publication of the CIA's 'torture manual' also
"The disturbing implications of a growing CIA-FBI
hurt (the CIA has recently made public training
marriage are very clear. Moreover it seems clear that
manuals that it used with at least five Latin American
the CIA's role has not declined as the FBI's
security agencies in the early 1980s. They outlined
international involvement has grown. The merger of
methods of psychological torture to coerce
purposes has not led to shrinkage but to expansion.
information. cd). Under interim Director John Deutch,
The likely result: More meddling abroad, not less".
who quit in December (1 996), an efforl was made to
clean out the stables. The outcome . . .was that 1 ,000
of the CIA's 3,000 overseas informants have been
'scrubbed' off the books, about 1 00 of them because
they had engaged in torture, kidnapping and Any Consolation?
murder. . .
If it's any consolation to the CIA, it's not the only US
"Here are the real life words of Daniel Patrick intelligence agency to have recently leamed that it
Moynihan, the venerable Democratic senator from employed traitors. In May 1 997, it was revealed that
New York, in a television interview. . .Asked whether the FBI is investigating six former West Berlin
he felt the CIA should be abolished, he replied: employees of the National Security Agency (NSA,
'There is a sense in which it has been abolished. ultimate boss of the NZGCSB, and recipient of
There have been seven directors or acting directors Waihopai's output). The KGB allegedly paid them to
in six years. That's not an organisation. That's an betray secret NATO internal communications codes,
institutional collapse' . . . at the end of the Cold War. The Secure Telephone
Unit is still used by NATO and German intelligence -
"David Wise, a Washington author who has written the betrayal means that Russian intelligence now has
eight non-fiction books about the CIA, (says): 'The access to NATO's innermost communications. And in
Cold War is over but it's not at all clear that the CIA June 1 997, Earl Pitts, a former FBI agent, was
has retooled. The m indset remains fixed on the Cold gaoled for 27 years for selling secrets to
War Soviet target, now the Russian target. They are Soviet/Russian intelligence from 1 987-96.
not very experienced at dealing with terrorism,
organised crime, narcotics traffic or nuclear
proliferation, all of which areas they might
concentrate on'"

Covert Action Quarterly (# 60, Spring 1 997) has a

fascinating article by its Director of Research, Louis
Wolf, entitled: "The New National Security Merger:
Law Enforcement and Intelligence". Just as NZ's

Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 26

 - Bob Leonard

Sam Day is a leading figure in the US Campaign to
Free Mordechai Vanunu. He was in Christchurch in
late June to help publicise Vanunu's long isolation in
an Israeli prison and to give the New Zealand
campaign a boost. Sam spoke in a total of seven
centres during his short NZ tour.
In a well-attended public meeting at the WEA Sam
gave a moving biography of Mordechai Vanunu, the
man who in 1 986 in Sydney quietly spilled the beans
about Israel's nuclear weapons capability. He was
entrapped and kidnapped shortly thereafter by agents
of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, and has
been in solitary confinement for over 1 0 years since
his trial. He was convicted of espionage, treason and
breach of the oath of secrecy that he took when he
began work at the Dimona nuclear weapons facility in
Israel's Negev desert.
Sam Day himself has been in prison (including a
month in solitary -he didn't say why) a number of
times in the US for protesting against US nuclear
weapons. Sam emphasised the urgency of getting
Vanunu released because his years of confinement
were taking a toll on his sanity. He is becoming
paranoid and less responsive to those dedicated to
helping him.
If he is held for his full period of sentence, 1 8 years,
he is likely to be hopelessly insane on release. This
treatment is inhumane and amounts to torture.
Groups in many countries, including the US, UK,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand are pressuring
the Israeli prime minister to release Mordechai
Vanunu.
Larry Ross of the Nuclear Free Peacemaking
Association organised Sam Day's public address in
Christchurch and is helping to form a local group to
support Vanunu and press for his release from
prison. A goal of the group is to raise funds to send a
New Zealand representative to a weeklong mobile
vigil in Israel in late September. Sam emphasised
the vital importance of having Nuclear Free NZ
represented at the vigil at the Dimona weapons
facility, at Ashkelon prison where Vanunu is being
held, and at the Knesset (Israel's parliament).
If you want to make a donation, volunteer to help
or want more information, Larry can be contacted
at P.D. Box 18541, Christchurch 9.

About Peace Researcher

Peace Researcher is published quarterly by the Anti-Bases Campaign, Christchurch. The

editors are Murray Horton and Bob Leonard (Warren Thomson is on overseas leave). Our
journal covers a range of peace issues with emphasis on foreign military bases and
intelligence topiCS. Contributed articles will be considered for publication based on subject
matter and space requirements. We are particularly interested in reports of original
research on peace topics in Aotearoa and the wider region of Australasia and the Pacific.
Our address is:

Peace Researcher
P.O. Box 2258
Christchurch
Aotearoai New Zealand

Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 27

 WAIHOPAI WARREN GOES (NORTH) WEST
Yes, it's true. The ABC's very own Warren Thomson,
co-editor of Peace Researcher, our Waihopai
campaigner, and the man who has singlehandedly
saved the Blenheim police station and court from
closing down throughout this decade, has buggered
off to the Far East. Actually, having removed the
ridiculous colonial mentality that afflicts New
Zealand, right down to how we describe the world,
he's gone to the Near North West. From our end of
the planet Asia is certainly neither Far nor East (and
what we persist in calling the Middle East is really the
Wild West).
To be specific, Warren has gone to Bangkok, to
teach English in a business college for nearly a year.
He applied for the job, was interviewed in Auckland,
got it and flew to Thailand, all in very short order.
Getting the job was a surprise to everyone, most of
all h imself. He is an experienced teacher, with years
in a variety of Christchurch secondary schools, and
an expertise in teaching English as a second
language. It was all done in such a mad rush that his
starring role in the Waihopai court case (see main
story in this issue) came less than a fortnight before
his departure. Although he was singled out for harsh
treatment by Judge Grace, as a Waihopai recidivist,
THANKS, MARTY
Since its rebirth in 1 994, Peace Researcher has been
laid out by Marty Braithwaite. He worked on it in his
own time and for minimal reward. It's thanks to him
that it has become such a professional looking
newsletter. Unfortunately, the pressure of being a
fulltime union official, plus time consuming university
work (studying law), has meant that Marty can no
longer do it.
Not only has Marty laid out PR for several years, but
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Peace Researcher 13 - August 1997 - Page 28
Warren was relieved to get only a fine and not
something like community service or periodic
detention. We made sure that his fine was paid
before he fronted up at intemational departures.
What this means for Peace Researcher is that
Warren will obviously not be co-editing it. M urray
Horton joins Bob Leonard as co-editor while he's
away.
What it means for the ABC is that our high profile
and indefatigable Waihopai campaigner is sidelined
until midway through 1 998. For those of you reading
this who received a letter from Warren soliciting
money, followed shortly thereafter by his hasty
departure for exotic Asian climes, rest assured that
the two events are in no way connected. As his last
ABC task before leaving, he did a superb job
fund raising for the legal costs of the Waihopai 20
(including himself). Any money not used in that will
be put towards the ongoing Waihopai campaign.
And to the spies and cops - if you find any testicles
dangling on the Waihopai fence in the next 1 2
months, Old Gingemuts has got the perfect alibi.
also Foreign Control Watchdog and the Philippines
Solidarity Network of Aotearoa's Kapatiran
(Solidarity) plus innumerable flyers and leaflets for
CAFCA, ABC and related groups.
So he is a great loss, not only to ABC, but to the
broader movement. We offer heartfelt thanks for
years of a job done extremely well. All that we ask is
that you don1 forget us when you're Mr Justice
Braithwaite.
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