http://www.envirosagainstwar.org/know/read.php?itemid=1574
"....Halliburton's History in Drug Smuggling
Sibel Edmonds has provided a huge clue in her generalized statements, a
clue
that points directly at the Bush family and Dick Cheney. Haliburton, the
oil
services company formerly headed by Cheney, has a long history of
involvement in drug smuggling and gunrunning -- especially through its
Brown
and Root subsidiary.
Brown and Root also has a long history of providing cover for CIA agents.
In
the late 1970s Brown and Root was implicated in drug smuggling and
gunrunning from oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico built by Brown and
Root
and using ****ps owned by Brown and Root. In the 1990s Brown and Root was
implicated in smuggling heroin to Europe through Russia. The heroin
originated in Laos.
The Russian Incident
The Russian incident surfaced in 1995 after thieves stole sacks of heroin
concealed as sugar from a rail container leased by Alfa Echo. Authorities
were alerted to the problem after residents of Khabarovsk, a Siberian
city,
became intoxicated from consuming the heroin.
Alfa Echo is part of the Russian Alfa group of companies controlled by
Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven. The FSB, the Russian equivalent of the
FBI,
firmly proved a solid link between Alfa Tyumen and drug smuggling. The
drug
smuggling route was further exposed after the Ministry of Internal Affairs
raided Alfa Eko buildings and found drugs and other compromising
do***entation.
Under Cheney's leader****p of Haliburton, Brown and Root received a
taxpayer-insured loan through the Ex****t-Im****t Bank of $292 million
dollars
for Brown and Root to refurbish a Siberian oil field owned by Alfa Tyumen.
The Alfa Bank is also implicated in money laundering for the Colombian
cocaine cartels.
Richard Armitage, the CIA and Drugs
This convoluted route from Laos to Europe through Russian was quickly set
up
after George Bush sent Richard Armitage as his special envoy to Russian in
1989 allegedly to help with economic development. Due to the internal
strife
inside Russia Armitage had to work out the bottlenecks to fix this route.
Armitage a retired Associate Deputy Director of Operations for the CIA has
repeatedly been linked to drug smuggling from Southeast Asia.
Aschroft's gagging of Sibel Edwards becomes even clearer when George W's
2000 election campaign is examined. Alfa Tyumen's lead Wa****ngton attorney
James C. Langdon, Jr. coordinated a $2.2 million fund-raiser for Bush in
June 2000 and agreed to recruit 100 lawyers and lobbyists in the capital
to
raise $25,000 each for W's campaign.
Kosovo, Brown & Root and a New Route for Drugs
Moreover, the drug smuggling elements extend beyond Iraq. The Russian
discovery of the drug route may have been the precipitating reason for
starting the Kosovo War. The only reason George Bush, the father,
established the route through Russia was the instability in Yugoslavia.
With
the Russian discovery of the route, a new route had to be established even
if it took a war to do so. As a major military contractor, Brown and Root
was well positioned in Kosovo to assure itself a part of the profit in
drug
smuggling.
Indeed the Iraq War may well have been due to Saddam demanding too high a
kickback for smuggling opium from the poppy fields of Afghanistan. Under
the
Taliban growing poppies was suppressed severely, but since George W.
invaded
Afghanistan and displaced the Taliban the poppy fields are once again in
bloom.
Bush's Vision of Dearth-squad Democracy
Right-wing death squads and a hub for drug smuggling is Bush's vision of
democracy in Iraq--all orchestrated by the ambassador of death,
Negroponte.
The old Iran-Contra gang are all in place once again ready to flood the
streets of America and Europe with cheap heroin from Afghanistan.
The Bush administration's reluctance to hand Saddam over to the interim
government of Iraq may be based not on a fear of Saddam's military
capabilities but on a fear of him telling what he knows about drug
smuggling. Saddam may have been removed for the same reason George the
elder
removed Noriega from Panama -- because of his demands for too large a cut
in
the cocaine traffic coming from Columbia...."
http://www.tarpley.net/bush20.htm
from: 'George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography' --- by Webster G. Tarpley
&
Anton Chaitkin
Chapter -XX- The Phony War on Drugs
" ...But the whole truth is much uglier. We have do***ented in detail how
the Iran-contra drug-running and gun-running operations run out of Bush's
own office played their role in increasing the heroin, crack, cocain, and
marijuana brought into this country. We have reviewed Bush's relations
with
his close sup****ters in the Wall Street LBO gang, much of whose liquidity
is
derived from narcotics payments which the banking system is eager to
recycle
and launder. We recall Bush's 1990 meeting with Syrian President Hafez
Assad, who is personally one of the most prolific drug pushers on the
planet, and whom Bush embraced as an ally during the Gulf crisis.
Bush's "soft on drugs" profile went further. In the Pakistan-Afghanistan
theatre, for example, it was apparent that certain pro-Khomeini formations
among the Afghan guerillas were, like the contras, more interested in
trafficking in drugs and guns than in fighting the Soviet-backed regime in
Kabul and the Red Army forces that maintained it in power. There were
re****ts that such activities on the part of such guerilla groups were
seconded by parts of the Pakistani secret intelligence services, the
Inter-Service Intelligence, and the National Logistics Cell. According to
these re****ts, Bush's visit to Pakistan's President Gen. Zia ul-Haq in
May,
1984 was conducted in full awareness of these phenomnena. Nevertheless,
Bush
chose to praise the alleged successes of the Zia government's
anti-narcotics
program which, Bush intoned, was a matter of great "personal interest" to
him. Among those present at the banquet where Bush made these remarks
were,
re****tedly, several of the officials most responsible for the narcotics
trafficking in Pakistan. [fn 2] But there is an even more flagrant aspect
of
Bush's conduct which can be said to demolish once and for all the myth of
the "war on drugs" and replace it with a reality so sinister that it goes
beyond the imagination of most citizens.
Those who follow Bush's frenetic s****ts activities on television are
doubtless familiar with Bush's speedboat, in which he is accustomed to
cavort in the waters off his estate at Walker's Point in Kennebunk****t,
Maine. [fn 3] The craft in question is the Fidelity, a powerboat capable
of
operating on the high seas. Fidelity is a class of boat marketed under the
brand name of "Cigarette," a high-priced speedboat dubbed "the Ferrari of
the high seas." This detail should awaken our interest, since Bush's
profile
as an Anglo-Saxon aristocrat would normally include a genteel predeliction
for sailing, rather than a preference for a vulgar hotrod like Fidelity,
which evokes the ethos of rum-runners and smugglers.
The Cigarette boat Fidelity was purchased by George Bush from a certain
Don
Aronow. Bush re****tedly met Aronow at a boat show in 1974, and decided to
buy one of the Cigarette boats Aronow manufactured. Aronow was one of the
most celebrated and successful powerboat racers of the 1960's, and had
then
turned his hand to designing and building these boats. But according to at
least one published account, there is compelling evidence to conclude that
Aronow was a drug smuggler and suspected drug-money launderer linked to
the
Genovese Purple Gang of New York City within the more general framework of
the Meyer Lansky organized crime syndicate. Aronow's role in marijuana
smuggling was re****tedly confirmed by Bill Norris, head of the Major
Narcotics Unit at the Miami US Attorney's office and thus the top federal
drug prosecution official in south Florida. [fn 4]
Aronow numbered among his friends and acquaintances not just Bush, but
many
international public figures and celebrities, many of whom had purchased
the
boats he built. Aronow's wife was said to be a former girlfriend of King
Hussein of Jordan. Aronow was in touch with King Juan Carlos of Spain,
Lord
Lucan (Billy Shand-Kydd, a relative of Princess Diana's mother), Sir Max
Aitken (the son of British press baron Lord Beaverbrook), Prince Rainier
and
Princess Grace of Monaco, Eastern Airlines chairman and former astronaut
Frank Bormann, Kimberly-Clark heir Jim Kimberley, Alvin Malnik (one of the
reputed heirs to Meyer Lansky) and Charles Keating, later the protagonist
of
the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal. Some of these exalted acquaintances
are suggestive of strong intelligence connections as well.
In May of 1986, Aronmow received a letter from Nicolas Iliopoulos, the
royal
boat captain to King Hussein of Jordan expressing on behalf of the King
the
latter's satisfaction with a powerboat purchased from Aronow, and
conveying
the compliments of King Juan Carlos of Spain and President Hosni Mubarak
of
Egypt, who had recently been the Jordanian sovereign's guests on board.
Aronow sent a copy of this letter to Bush, from whom he received a reply
dated June 6, 1986 in which Bush thanked him "with warm regards" for
forwarding the royal note and added: "I can repeat that my old Cigarette,
the "Fidelity" is running well too. I've had her out a couple of weekends
and the engines have been humming. I hope our paths cross soon, my
friend."
[fn 5]
Aronow was re****tedly a close friend of George Bush. In his book-length
account of the life and death of Aronow which is the basis for the
following
analysis, Thomas Burdick quotes an unnamed Justice Department official
relating the comments of one of his friends on the Bush-Aronow relation:
"My
friend said, 'I guarantee you I know what the connection was between him
and
Bush. It's the boats. The guy loves ****ing boats." A Secret Service agent
also referred to Bush as a "boat groupie." [fn 6] But does this exhaust
the
topic?
Over the years, Bush had apparently consulted with Aronow concerning the
servicing and upkeep of his Cigarette boat. During 1983, Bush began to
seek
out Aronow's company for fi****ng trips. The original engines on Bush's
Cigarette boat needed replacement, and this was the ostensible occasion
for
renewing contact with Aronow. Aronow told Bush of a new model of boat that
he had designed, supposedly a high-performance catamaran. Bush planned to
come to Florida during the New Year's holiday for a short vacation during
which he would go bonefi****ng with his crony Nick Brady. During this time
he
would also arrange to deliver an antidrug pep-talk.
On January 4, 1984, George Bush rendezvoused with Don Aronow at Islamorada
in the Florida Keys. Earlier in the day, Bush had delivered one of his
"war
on drugs" speeches at the Omni International Hotel in Miami. Bush and
Brady
then proceeded by motorcade to Islamorada, where Aronow was waiting with
his
catamaran. Accompanied by a flotilla of Secret Service and Customs agents
in
Cigarette boats that had been seized from drug smugglers, Bush, Brady,
Aronow, and one of the latter's retainers, the catamaran proceeded through
moderate swells to Miami, with White House photographers eternalizing the
photo op****tunity at every moment. Bush, who had donned designer racing
goggles for the occasion, was allowed to take the wheel of the catamaran
and
seemed very thrilled and very happy. Nick Brady, s****ting his own
wrap-around shades, found the seas too rough for his taste.
After the trip was over, Bush personally typed the following letter to Don
Aronow on his vice presidential staionery, which he sent accompanied by
some
photographs of Bush, Aronow, Brady and the others on board the catamaran:
January 14, 1984
Dear Don,
Here are some pretty good shots which I hope will bring back some pretty
good memories. I included one signed shot in your packet for [Aronow's
pilot] Randy [Riggs]. Also am enclosing a set of picture [sic] for Willie
not having his address or knowing how he spells Myers? Will you please
give
them to him and thank him for his part in our wonderful outing. He is
quite
a guy and I learned a lot from him on the way up to Miami from the Keys.
Again Don this day was one of the greatest of my life. I love boats,
always
have. But ever since knowing you that private side of my life has become
ever more exciting and fulfilling. Incidentally, I didn't get to tell you
but my reliable 28 footer Cigarette that is, still doing just fine...no
trouble at all and the new last year engines.
All the best to you and all your exciting ventures. May all your boats bee
[sic] number one and may the hosres [sic] be not far behind.
At the end of this message, before his signature, Bush wrote in by hand,
"My
typing stinks." [fn 7]
As a result of this outing, Bush is said to have used his influence to see
to it that Aronow received a lucrative contract to build the Blue Thunder
catamarans at $150,000 apiece for the US Customs Service. This contract
was
announced with great fanfare in Miami on February 4, 1985, and was
celebrated a week later in a public ceremony in which Florida Senator
Paula
Hawkins and US Customs Commissioner William von Raab mugged for
photographers together with Aronow. The government purchase was hyped as
the
first time that the Customs would receive boats especially designed and
built to intercept drug runners on the high seas, a big step forward in
the
war on drugs.
This was the same George Bush who in March, 1988 had stated: "I will never
bargain with drug dealers on US or foreign soil."
As one local resident recalled of that time, "everyone in Miami knew that
if
you needed a favor from Bush, you spoke to Aronow." [fn 8] It was
proverbial
among Florida pols and powerbrokers that Aronow had the vice president's
ear.
The Customs soon found that the Blue Thunder catamarans were highly
unseaworthy and highly unsuitable for the task of chasing down other
speedboats, including above all Aronow's earlier model Cigarette boats,
which were now produced by a company not controlled by Aronow. Blue
Thunder
was relatively slow class, capable of a top speed of only 56 miles per
hour,
despite the presence of twin 440-horsepower marine engines. The design of
the catamaran hulls lacked any hydrodynamic advantages, and the boats were
too heavy to attain sufficient lift. The stern drives were too weak for
the
powerful engines, leading to the problem of "grenading" : when the drive
shafts severed, which was often, the engines began to rev far beyond their
red line, leading to the explosion or disintegration of the engines and
the
sharpnel-like scattering of red-hot steel fragments through the boat. This
meant that the boats had to be kept well below their maximum speed. Most
Blue Thunders spent more time undergoing repairs than chasing drug runners
in the coastal waters of Florida. Blue Thunder was in boating parlance
"wet," a complete lemon, useful only for photo op****tunities and publicity
shots.
Do***ents found by Burdick in the Dade County land records office show
that
USA Racing, the company operated by Aronow which built the Blue Thunder
catamarans for the Customs service was not owned by Aronow, but rather by
a
one Jack J. Kramer in his capacity of president of Super Chief South
Cor****ation. Jack Kramer had married a niece of Meyer Lansky. Jack
Kramer's
son Ben Kramer was thus the great nephew and one of the putative heirs of
the top boss of the US crime syndicate, Meyer Lansky. Ben Kramer was also
a
notorious organized crime figure in his own right. On March 28, 1990 Jack
Kramer and Ben Kramer were both found guilty of 23 and 28 counts
(respectively) of federal money laundering charges. In the previous year,
Ben Kramer had also been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for
having im****ted half a million pounds of marijuana. Bush had thus given a
prime contract in waging the war on drugs to one of the leading
drug-smuggling and money-laundering crime families in the US.
Don Aronow was murdered by Mafia-style professional killers on February 3,
1987. During the last days of his life, Aronow is re****ted to have made
numerous personal telephone calls to Bush. Aronow had been aware that his
life was in danger, and he had left a list of instructions to tell his
wife
what to do if anything should happen to him. The first point on the list
was
"#1. CALL GEORGE BUSH." [fn 9] Lillian Aronow did call Bush, who
re****tedly
responded by placing a personal call to the MetroDade Police Department
homicide division to express his concern and to request an expeditious
handling of the case. Bush did not attend Aronow's funeral, but a month
later he sent a letter to Aronow's son Gavin in which he called the late
Don
Aronow "a hero."
When Lillian Aronow suspected that her telephone was being tapped, she
called Bush, who urged her to be calm and promised to order an
investigation
of the matter. Shortly after that, the suspicious noises in Mrs. Aronow's
telephone ceased. When Lilian Aronow received re****ts that her husband
might
have been murdered by rogue CIA operatives or other wayward federal agents
and that she herself and her children were still in danger, she shared her
fears in a telephone call to Bush. Bush re****tedly later called Mrs.
Aronow
and, as she recalled, "He said to me, 'Lillian, you're fine.' He said that
'ex-CIA people are really off.' That's the truth." [fn 10] Later, Mrs.
Aronow heard that Gen. Noriega of Panama was interested in buying some of
her boats, and she began to prepare a trip to Panama in the hope of
generating some orders. Before her departure, she says she called Bush who
advised her against making the trip because of Noreiga's involvement in
"bad
things." Mrs. Aronow cancelled her reservations for Panama City. But in
the
summer of 1987, Bush snubbed Mrs. Aronow by pointedly avoiding her at a
Miami dinner party. But during this same period, Bush frequently went
fi****ng with former Aronow employee Willie Meyers, whom he had mentioned
in
the letter cited above. According to Thomas Burdick's sources, Willie
Meyers
was also a friend of Secretary of State George Shultz, and often expressed
concern about damaging publicity for Bush and Shultz that might derive
from
the Aronow case.
According to Thomas Burdick, Meyers says that Bush talked to him about how
the vice president's staff was monitoring the Aronow investigation. Bush
lamented that he did not have grounds to get federal agencies involved. "I
just wish," said Bush to Meyers, "that there was some federal aspect to
the
murder. If the killers crossed state lines. Then I could get the FBI
involved." [fn 11] The form of the argument is reminiscent of the views
expressed by Bush and Tony Lapham during the Letelier case.
In May or June of 1987, several months after Aronow had been killed, Mike
Brittain, who owned a company called Aluminum Marine Products, located on
"Thunderboat Alley" in the northern part of Miami (the same street where
Aronow had worked), was approached by two FBI special agents, Joseph Usher
and John Donovan, both of the Miami FBI field office. They were
accompanied
by a third FBI man, whom they presented as a member of George Bush's staff
at the National Drug Task Force in Wa****ngton DC. The third agent,
re****tedly named William Temple, had, according to the other two, come to
Miami on a special mission ordered by the Vice President of the United
States.
As Brittain told his story to Burdick, Special Agent Temple "didn't ask
about the murder or anything like that. All he wanted to know about was
the
merger." [fn 12] The merger in question was the assumption of control over
Aronow's company, USA Racing, by the Kramers' Super Chief South, which
meant
that a key contract in the Bush "war on drugs" had been awarded to a
company
controlled by persons who would later be convicted for marijuana smuggling
and money laundering. Many of the FBI questions focussed on this
connection
between Aronow and Kramer. Later, after Bush's victory in the 1988
presidential election, the FBI again questioned Brittain, and again the
central issue was the Aronow-Kramer connection, plus additional questions
of
whether Brittain had divulged any of his knowledge of these matters to
other
persons. A possible conclusion was that a damage control operation in
favor
of Bush was in progress.
Tommy Teagle, an ex-convict interviewed by Burdick, said he feared that
George Bush would have him killed because information in his possession
would implicate Jeb Bush in cocaine smuggling. Teagle's story was that
Aronow and Jeb Bush had been partners in cocaine trafficking and were $2.5
million in debt to their Columbian suppliers. Dr. Robert Magoon, a friend
of
Aronow, is quoted in the same location as having heard a similar re****t.
But
Teagle rapidly changed his story. [fn 3] Ultimately, an imprisoned convict
was indicted for the murder of Aronow.
But the cir***stances of the murder remain highly suspect. Starting in
1985,
and with special intensity during 1987-88, more than two dozen persons
involved in various aspects of the Iran-contra gun-running and
drug-running
operation met their deaths. At the same time, other persons knowledgeable
about Iran-contra, but one or more steps removed from eyewitness knowledge
of these operations, have been subjected to campaigns of discrediting and
slander, often associated with indictments on a variety of charges,
charges
which often stemmed from the Iran-contra operations themselves. Above and
beyond the details of each particular case, the overall pattern of these
deaths strongly suggests that they are coherent with a damage control
operation by the networks involved, a damage control operation that has
concentrated on liquidating those individuals whose testimony might prove
to
be most damning to the leading personalities of these networks. The death
of
Don Aronow occurred within the time frame of this general process of
amputation and cauterization of the Iran-contra and related networks. Many
aspects of Aronow's life suggest that his assassination may have been a
product of the same "damage control" logic... "
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