In 1863, a full three years after the start of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was a very frustrated President. In those three years the 500,000 man Army of the Potomac had not engaged and followed through a major battle. Gettysburg was nowhere near the Union victory it could have been. Under the indecisive and self serving leadership of Generals Meade and McLellan the Army had maneuvered and lost a few minor battles to aggressive Confederate leaders like Stonewall Jackson. Lincoln even said out loud that all Meade and McLellan could do was accumulate things: men, horses, cannon, uniforms, food and power. Meanwhile, way out west, in Mississippi a drunken, disheveled reprobate named Grant was refusing to follow orders to sit and wait. While Meade and McLellan postured to increase their influence and prestige, Grant was out kicking butt. While Meade and McLellan feared making a mistake that might hurt their careers, Grant was taking risks.

I had no idea when I started this newsletter and put up my web page how many people would try to tell me whom and whom not to trust. I had no idea that some might accuse me of trying to profit and live a good life from this horrible scandal. For the record, in the twenty years since I was forced out of LAPD, I have earned less than seventeen thousand dollars from this while having spent more than thirty. I live in a one-room studio apartment and drive an eleven-year-old car. The money for this newsletter and the web page came from my mother's trust fund. Thanks Mom. Celerino Castillo, one of the DEA witnesses to CIA drug dealing, who CIA wants badly to silence, lives in a house trailer and has trouble paying his phone bill. If others who are fighting are doing better then that's wonderful and it should be so. But I think I can speak for Cele, DEA veteran Mike Levine, Gary Webb and a few others dedicated to exposing CIA's role in the drug trade that none of us would put our personal welfare ahead of victory. And none of us would ever waste a moment to undercut a fighter who was in the trenches with us.

In a moment you will read about former Special Forces troop Bill Tyree who is the nail in CIA's coffin. I am in possession of documents about Tyree and the CIA Watchtower missions, which are the hammer to drive that nail. As Bill Tyree fights for his life and puts the evidence necessary to hang CIA on a platter for us, he has been food poisoned three times and, as a possible pardon or a new trial for him becomes a possibility, his life is increasingly in danger. Stack that up against anyone trying to make a buck out of this and see which side you fall on. If I ever consider my welfare before the outcome of this struggle or if I ever speak ill of someone who is really fighting this fight then I invite all of you to kick my butt. In the meantime, remember that the bible offers a good rule by which to judge those who claim to be on our side, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Are so-called experts gathering information and doing nothing with it? Are they pointing only to themselves as leaders? Are they telling you to wait? Are they speaking against those who have risked their lives and fortunes? Logic will tell you whom to trust.

When Lincoln promoted Grant over about fifteen senior Generals to take charge of all Union forces, respectable Washington demanded an explanation. Lincoln gave them one. "He fights." - Mike Ruppert

A total of six attorneys showed up in a Massachusetts court room on April 29 to represent Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and Middlesex County DA Tom Riley against civil and criminal complaints filed by a former Green Beret who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his own wife. The complaints charge both men with receiving stolen property and with failing to comply with a ten year old order to return personal property taken from William Tyree when police searched his residence after the murder of Elaine Tyree in 1979. Both Tyree and his attorney, Ray Kohlman, an associate of James Earl Ray attorney William Pepper, claim that the property, if returned, would prove Tyree's innocence. In the hearing, held outside of Middlesex County where the murder and seizure occurred, the judge dismissed Tyree's complaints on grounds of venue. But he did not challenge or dispute a ten year old jury verdict finding that Tyree's personal property had been illegally seized or a previous order to return that property to Tyree. The complaints are still unresolved. Two police officers have paid Tyree damages and acknowledged guilt after a 1987 jury trial seeking return of the evidence.

"What the decision amounts to," said Kohlman, "is that no court in Massachusetts wants to hear the case. It's still open. And if we can't find a court to hear the case then the door is wide open for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor who would be appointed by the Governor since the AG is a defendant." The Middlesex County court did not want to hear the case for that reason.

Harshbarger, a republican protégé of William Weld, wants to succeed Republican Paul Celluci who was appointed to the post when William Weld resigned to campaign for the post of Ambassador to Mexico. Middlesex DA Riley is a leading candidate to replace Harshbarger as Attorney General. Elections are in November.

After the court hearing, attorneys representing both Harshbarger and Riley approached Kohlman and hinted that within a month they might be offering Tyree a pardon to avoid any embarrassment. "But the problem with a pardon," said Kohlman, "is that it still leaves Tyree a convicted murderer and raises other complications about his ability to see his daughter." "They might," he continued, "try to attach strings to ensure Tyree's silence."

Neither Harshbarger's or Riley's offices have responded to calls asking for comment.

At the heart of all of this is the CIA related documentation connected to the case and Tyree's total innocence. In the mid 1970s, while serving in Panama, Tyree and other Green Berets were lead into Columbia under the command of Green Beret Colonels Cutolo and Baker to plant radio beacons so that plane loads of cocaine could fly below Colombian and U.S. radar and land undetected in Panama. Orders for those missions came from the CIA's Ed Wilson and Tom Clines. Tyree had been a part of many secret missions and was losing his taste for it. His wife was keeping a diary.

Five Special Forces Colonels (Cutolo, Baker, Malvesti, Rowe and Bayard) have died under mysterious circumstances since. The heart of the Tyree documentation consists of an affidavit allegedly written by Col. Ed Cutolo who was also Tyree's commanding officer at Fort Devens, Mass. at the time of Tyree's arrest. Both were then with the 10^th Special Forces. That fifteen-page document gives precise details of CIA drug operations using Special Forces personnel. It also describes how Tyree was framed for the murder of his wife and how Special Forces personnel were used to intimidate and conduct illegal electronic and physical surveillance of anyone who might expose CIA's drug dealing. A letter acknowledging blackmail of the Middlesex DA John Droney, who was gay, is part of the documents.

I determined in 1994 that the Cutolo did not write the affidavit itself. Yet it was hauntingly accurate in many details already known to me. Close work with Tyree and a retired Army CID investigator resulted in the receipt of dozens of documents, including affidavits from still living people who were directly involved with the case and who not only confirmed Tyree's innocence but the details of Watchtower as well. Now more than 400 pages total, the combined set of documents includes heavily redacted releases from the Army and a written admission from CIA that it not only has Watchtower documents but is reviewing them.

In 1995 I also made contact with unnamed sources at the National Security Agency who confirmed key elements of Cutolo's affidavit and led me to believe that a doomsday file, which he secreted there before his murder, was the source of the affidavit. It was written by Cutolo's colleagues, after his murder, as a result of his murder. It remains, to this day, the single most frightening document I have ever read.

Adding further weight is the fact that the daughter of Cutolo, a resident of New Mexico, has confirmed elements of the story to Dee Ferdinand, daughter of Albert Carone, a CIA-Mafia connected money launderer who also held the rank of full colonel in Army Intelligence. Carone was murdered in 1990. Tyree knew Carone from the Watchtower missions and confirmed his role as a "money man."

I have held Carone's personal phone book in my hands and in it I found the home addresses and telephone numbers of both William Casey and Gambino crime boss Pauly Castellano. My investigation of Carone has already been given to intelligence committees from both Houses.

In spite of overwhelming evidence of Tyree's innocence it is questionable whether he will be granted a new trial. The case sounds hauntingly like that of Geronimo Pratt, the former Black Panther who served 27 years for a murder he did not commit. Rather than grant Pratt a new trial, which would have proved the existence of a conspiracy, the government released him last year. Like Geronimo Pratt, there are witnesses willing to place Tyree in another town at the time of the murder. Recently Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts wrote to the FBI asking them to reopen the case. The FBI declined, stating that there was insufficient evidence. Bill Tyree has been food poisoned three times recently. He was then punished when he was unable to report for work. He has appealed his case as a political prisoner to the Organization of American States. They, according to Kohlman, have received the appeal and will be looking at Tyree as a political prisoner.

The OAS has not returned my calls either.

The question now arises as to whether Tyree will take the pardon if it is offered. I agree with Ray Kohlman who said, "There is no one on earth who could second guess Billy on that one." Now we wonder if Tyree will live long enough to make the choice.

____________________________

Almost in the dead of night and certainly without the leaks surrounding the release of Volume I, the second Volume of Frederick Hitz's report on CIA involvement in cocaine trafficking was submitted to the Intelligence Committees of bot Houses on Friday April 8. Or was it Monday April 11? No one seems to be sure. So much for the ballyhooed open public investigation. The report is classified, sealed and locked away. No one is talking, No one knows when hearings will be scheduled but my guess is that the House will have to do something this summer. In the meantime I can't stress enough the importance of flooding the House and Senate Intelligence committees with requests for open hearings with proper advance notice. Equally important is demanding of the major media that they fulfill their promises and report on the report.

The attitude of Congress is best summarized by a source on the Senate Intelligence Committee who said, "I don't think the Chairman wants to touch this one."

____________________________

Only two of the many available law enforcement sources capable of testifying about CIA drug dealing were listed in Volume One of the CIA Inspector General's report - Celerino Castillo and me. When I received a phone call from Hitz's staff, I refused to be interviewed unless I had a tape recorder and a witness present On the basis of the phone call CIA said they had interviewed me. Cele has steadfastly refused to say a word to CIA. On the basis of his refusals CIA said Cele was uncooperative.

The truth with Cele is that he would gladly have been interviewed by CIA or DEA in the presence of Maxine Waters. He knew, as did I, that a solitary interview would be corrupted beyond all reason. CIA butchered my allegations without even talking to me about them.

By publishing this now, in the open, he has ensured that his words will not be corrupted. In the meantime he has received word from within CIA that his life is in danger (again) and that they may attempt to set him up on phony criminal charges. Cele's statement is on the web and he has 3,000 copies of his book POWDER BURNS available for sale. He bought them back when no American distributor had the courage to promote them. You can buy a copy direct from Cele by calling (956) 631-3818.

There are no words I could write to speak more eloquently than Cele's own. I am proud to include excerpts from his statement here:

(EXCERPTED)

For several years, I fought in the trenches of the front lines of Reagan's "Drug War", trying to stamp out what I considered American's greatest foreign threat. But, when I was posted, in Central and South America from 1984 through 1990, I knew we were playing the "Drug War Follies." While our government shouted "Just Say No !", entire Central and South American nations fell into what are now known as, "Cocaine democracies."

While with the DEA, I was able to keep journals of my assignments in Central and South America. These journals include names, case file numbers and DEA NADDIS (DEA Master Computer) information to back up my allegations. I have pictures and original passports of the victims that were murdered by CIA assets. These atrocities were done with the approval of the agencies.

We, ordinary Americans, cannot trust the C.I.A. Inspector General to conduct a full investigation into the CIA or the DEA. Let me tell you why. When President Clinton (June, 1996) ordered The Intelligence Oversight Board to conduct an investigation into allegations that US Agents were involved in atrocities in Guatemala, it failed to investigate several DEA and CIA operations in which U.S. agents knew before hand that individuals (some Americans) were going to be murdered.

I became so frustrated that I forced myself to respond to the I.O.B report citing case file numbers, dates, and names of people who were murdered. In one case (DEA file # TG-86-0005) several Colombians and Mexicans were raped, tortured and murdered by CIA and DEA assets, with the approval of the CIA. Among those victims identified was Jose Ramon Parra-Iniguez, Mexican passport A-GUC-043 and his two daughters Maria Leticia Olivier-Dominguez, Mexican passport A-GM-8381. Also included among the dead were several Colombian nationals: Adolfo Leon Morales-Arcilia "a.k.a." Adolfo Morales-Orestes, Carlos Alberto Ramirez, and Jiro Gilardo-Ocampo. Both a DEA and a CIA agent were present, when these individuals were being interrogated (tortured). The main target of that case was a Guatemalan Congressman, (Carlos Ramiro Garcia de Paz) who took delivery of 2,404 kilos of cocaine in Guatemala just before the interrogation. This

case directly implicated the Guatemalan Government in drug trafficking (The Guatemalan Congressman still has his US visa and continues to travel at his pleasure into the US). To add salt to the wound, in 1989 these murders were investigated by the U.S Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility.

DEA S/I Tony Recevuto determined that the Guatemalan Military Intelligence, G-2 (the worst human rights violators in the Western Hemisphere) was responsible for these murders.

Yet, the U.S. government continued to order U.S. agents to work hand-in-hand with the Guatemalan Military. This information was never turned over to the I.O.B. investigation.

I have obtained a letter, dated May 28, 1996, from the DEA administrator, to U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D), Texas. In this letter, the administrator flatly lies, stating that DEA agents "have never engaged in any joint narcotics programs with the Guatemalan Military".

* * *

* * *

On September 10, 1985, North wrote in his Notebook: "Introduced by Wally Grasheim/Litton, Calero Bermudez visit to Ilopango to estab. log support./maint. (...)"

In October of 1985, Upon my arrival in Guatemala, I was forewarned by Guatemala DEA, County Attaché, Robert J. Stia, that the DEA had received intelligence that the Contras out of Salvador, were involved in drug trafficking. For the first time, I had come face to face with the contradictions of my assignment. The reason that I had been forewarned was because I would be the Lead Agent in El Salvador.

DEA Guatemalan informant, Ramiro Guerra (STG-81-0013) was in place in Guatemala and El Salvador on "Contra" intelligence. At the time (early 80's), he was a DEA fugitive on "Rico" (Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations) and "CCE" (Continuing Criminal Enterprise) charges out of San Francisco. In 1986, he became an official advisor for the DEA trained El Salvador Narcotics Task Force. In 1989, all federal charges were dropped because of his cooperation with the DEA in Central America. Guerra is still a DEA informant in Guatemala.

December 1985, CNN reporter Brian Barger broke the story of the Contra's involved in drug trafficking

.

January 13, 1986, I wrote a report on El Salvador under DEA file (GFTG-86-9145).

January 16, 1986---HK-1217W--Carlos Siva and Tulio Pedras Contra pilots.

January 23, 1986, GFTG-86-9999, Air

Intelligence in "El Salvador" TG-86-0003, Samana and Raul.

In 1986, I placed an informant (Mario Murga) at the Ilopango airport in El Salvador. He was initiated and wrote the flight plans for most Contra pilots. After their names were

submitted into NADDIS, it was revealed that most pilots had already been document in DEA files as traffickers. (See DEA memo by me date 2-14-89.)

Feb. 05, 1986, I had seized $800,000.00 in cash, 35 kilos of cocaine, and an airplane at Ilopango. DEA # TG-86-0001; Gaitan-Gaitan, Leonel

March 24, 1986, I wrote a DEA report on the Contra operation. (GFTG-86-4003, Frigorificos de Puntarenas, S.A), US registration aircraft N-68435 (Cessna 402).

April 17, 86, I wrote a Contra report on Arturo Renick; Johnny Ramirez (Costa Rica). Air craft TI-AQU & BE-60.. GFTG-86-9999; Air Intelligence.

April 25,26 1986--I met with CIA Felix Vargas in El Salvador (GFTG-86-9145).

April of 1986, The Consul General of the U.S Embassy in El Salvador (Robert J. Chavez), warned me that CIA agent George Witters was requesting a U.S visa for a Nicaraguan drug trafficker and Contra pilot by the name of Carlos Alberto Amador. (mentioned in 6 DEA files)

May 14, 1986, I spoke to Jack O'Conner DEA HQS Re: Matta-Ballesteros. (NOTE: Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros was perhaps the single largest drug trafficker in the region. Operating from Honduras he owned several companies which were openly sponsored and subsidized by C.I.A.)

May 26, 1986, Mario Rodolfo Martinez-Murga became an official DEA informant (STG-86-0006). Before that, he had been a sub-source for Ramiro Guerra and Robert Chavez. Under Chavez, Murga's intelligence resulted in the seizure of several hundred kilos of cocaine, (from Ilopango to Florida) making Murga a reliable source of information.

May 27, 1986, I Met U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alberto Adame in El Salvador. Has knowledge of the Contra Operation at Ilopango. He was in El Salvador from 1984 thru 1987.

On June 06, 1986, I send a DEA report/telex cable to Washington DEA in regards to Contra pilots, Carlos Amador and Carlos Armando Llamos (Honorary Ambassador from El Salvador to Panama) (N-308P). Llamos had delivered 4 1/2 million dollars to Panama from Ilopango for the Contras. Information was gathered by informant Mario Murga. Leon Portilla-TIANO = Navojo 31 & YS-265-American Pilot: Francisco Viaud. Roberto Gutierrez (N-82161) Mexican (X-AB)

June 10, 1998, I spoke to CIA agent Manny Brand Re: Sofi Amoury (Cuban Contra operator and Guatemalan Galvis-Pena in Guatemala.

June 16, 1986-GFTG-86-9999, Air Intel (DEA-6) El Salvador

August 03,1986, Ramiro Guerra, Lt. Col. A. Adame, Dr. Hector Regalado (Dr. Death, who claimed to have shot Archbishop Romero) and myself went out on patrol in El Salvador.

In Aug. 1986, The Kerry Committee requested information on the Contra pilots from the DEA. The Department Of Justice flatly refused to give up any information.

Aug. 15, 1986, I spoke to CIA (Chief of Station) Jack McCavett and Don Richardson; El Salvador; Re: Fernando Canelas Sanez from Florida.

Aug. 18, 1986, I received $45,000.00 in cash from CIA Chief of Station (CIA), Jack McKavett for the purchase of vehicles for the DEA El Salvador Narcotic Task Force.

Aug. 28, 1986, I had a meeting with El Salvador US Ambassador, Edwin Corr, in regards to Wally Grasheim, Pete's Place and Carlos Amador (3:00 p.m.)

Oscar Alvarado-Lara "a.k.a." El Negro Alvarado (CIA asset and Contra pilot) was mentioned in 3 DEA files. On June 11, 1986, Alvarado transported 27 illegal Cubans to El Salvador Ilopango, where they were then smuggled into Guatemala. On Sept. 28, 1987, Alvarado picked up CIA officer Randy Capister in Puerto Barrios Guatemala after a joint DEA, CIA and Guatemala Military (G-2) operation. Several Mexicans and Colombians were murdered and raped. This was supported by the CIA. DEA File TG-86-0005.

1986, DEA El Salvador, initiated a file on Walter L. Grasheim (TG-87-0003). He is mentioned in several DEA, FBI and U.S Customs files. This DEA file is at The National Archives in The Iran-Contra file in Washington D.C (bulky # 2316). Also see attached Top Secret/Declassified Record of Interview on Mr. Grasheim, by the Office of Independent Counsel, dated Jan. 03, 1991.

Sept. 01, 1986, at approximately 5:00pm, I received a phone call in Guatemala from (C.I) Ramiro Guerra, Re: Raid at Wally's house in El Salvador Wally's plane (N-246-J).

On September 01, 1986, Walter Grasheim (a civilian) residence in El Salvador was searched by the DEA Task Force. Found at the residence was an arsenal of US military munitions, (allegedly for a Contra military shipment). Found were cases of C-4 explosives, grenades, ammunition, sniper rifles, M-16's, helicopter helmets and knives. Also found were files of payment to Salvadoran Military Officials (trips to New York City). Found at his residence were radios and license plates belonging to the US Embassy. We also found an M16 weapon belonging to the US Mil-Group Commander, Col. Steel. Prior to the search, I went to every department of the U.S. Embassy and asked if this individual worked in any way shape or form with the embassy. Every head of the departments denied that he worked for them. A pound of marijuana and marijuana plants growing in the back yard, were also found…

Some people have asked, "Why I am doing this? I reply, "That a long time ago I took an oath to protect The Constitution of the United States and its citizens". In reality, it has cost me so much to become a complete human being, that I've lost my family. In 1995, I made a pilgrimage to the Vietnam Wall, where I renounced my Bronze Star in protest of the atrocities my government had committed in Central America. I have now become a veteran of my third, and perhaps most dangerous war --- a war against the criminals within my own Government.

Heads have to roll for those who are responsible and still employed by the government. They will be the first targets in an effective drug strategy. If not, we will continue to have groups of individuals who will be beyond any investigation, who will manipulate the press, judges and members of our Congress, and still be known in our government as those who are above the law.

It has been reported by some inside the beltway that in the surprise March 16 hearing Frederick Hitz reported that CIA ordered a halt to payments to anyone involved in drug dealing in 1986. This is not true. CIA ordered a halt to payments to drug dealers in the form of U.S. dollars only. I have a note from a CIA veteran who worked in the region which says "Swiss francs were OK!" All CIA did was stop using dollars while continuing to subsidize traffickers with foreign currency.

In a rare venture into the truth Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus actually reported this on March 17. We should encourage him further.

____________________________

On Tuesday May 5, I was scheduled to do a radio talk show at KVMR in Sacramento. Forty-five minutes before the show I checked my web page to make sure all was well. Not only was my page down, but my ISP was having serious server problems. I made a frantic call to the ISP and was, admittedly, not very polite. After about twenty minutes of haranguing the tech support staff I was told that they had solved the problem by placing my page on their corporate server.

They solved the problem so well that they knocked every other client off the net for about two hours. Anyone who tried to reach a web page served by the ISP got copvcia instead. Aside from the sex pages and the electronic car pages and the personal home pages, the page of Dave Stirling, the leading republican candidate for Attorney General, was replaced by mine

After the show I checked my sourcing program and saw about twenty hits from his page. I checked it out and found out that one his major platform issues is zero tolerance for drug dealers.

Well I should certainly hope so! But I wonder what his followers thought when they saw a picture of me confronting John Deutch and pointing a finger at the biggest drug dealer of them all.

As I said in my last issue, "And they say there's no God.

U.S. Domestic consumption of cocaine in 1981 was approximately 82 tons. Current consumption is 600 tons. Marine Colonel Jim Sabow was murdered in 1991, four years after the Contra war ended, when he discovered CIA flying as much as 2,500 kilos at a time in C 130s onto bases under his command. Customs officials report tanker trucks full of cocaine crossing the Mexican border with orders from the Government not to search. 60 Minutes aired a report on CIA smuggling a ton of cocaine into the U.S. in 1995. Last month Maxine Waters was denied access to information regarding the arrests of two Latin American Generals on grounds of "National Security" What do you think?"

____________________________