Another episode which illuminates the murky doings of the deep state in the US; we hear the soundtrack from a 1995 film which gives an insider's eye view of "The Enterprise". Terry Reed was a CIA spook whose distaste for drug trafficking lead to him attempt to blow the whistle on what the corporate media - misleadingly - referred to as "Iran-Contra". After outlining the drugs for weapons operation that was run out of Mena, Arkansas - including how the money was laundered through the Arkansas bond market with the help of the Clintons' entourage - the show centers on how the Reeds took flight from a rogue US Justice system which had labeled them as "armed and dangerous" drug traffickers.
Our whole show this week is from a single source. In 1994, Terry Read wrote a book entitled Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA, which gives insider's perspective on some aspects The Enterprise. In 1995, he produced a film entitled The Mena Connection, which we adapt and slightly condense (the original runs to 2h 20 minutes, of which we omit the last 17 minutes).
The show begins with an outline of the importance of Mena, Arkansas in the "Iran-Contra" affair, and includes several of the reports from Theresa Dickie which first broke the affair of Mena airport to a national audience. Her suspicions were aroused by logical inconsistencies, such as the presence of a huge military transport plane (the "Fat Lady" piloted by Barry Seal which was shot down in 1986, exposing Iran-Contra) and in particular the extreme security measures.
The second hour is a made up of a pair of testimonies, first of Terry Reed, explaining how he got involved in the affair as a spook chosen for "Task Force Alpha", "the deniable link between authorized military operations and the unauthorized activities of the Central Intelligence Agency". Several colleagues from South East Asia would later play important parts in Iran-Contra, such as William Cooper, who was piloting the cargo plane which was show down in 1986, exposing Iran-Contras.
It concludes with the testimony of his staunch supporter, Janis Read who corroborates his account of life on the run from the US justice system., and tells how she was maliciously prosecuted in a vindictive effort to suppress her husband. We conclude with the sad note that their legal "offensive" came to nought after the judge who presided over it refused to hear testimony about Terry Read's blackops, or about Bill Clinton - who as governor of Arkansas gave him the job. Small world...
Thanks to Terry Read for the film.
The show begins with an outline of the importance of Mena, Arkansas in the "Iran-Contra" affair, and includes several of the reports from Theresa Dickie which first broke the affair of Mena airport to a national audience. Her suspicions were aroused by logical inconsistencies, such as the presence of a huge military transport plane (the "Fat Lady" piloted by Barry Seal which was shot down in 1986, exposing Iran-Contra) and in particular the extreme security measures.
The second hour is a made up of a pair of testimonies, first of Terry Reed, explaining how he got involved in the affair as a spook chosen for "Task Force Alpha", "the deniable link between authorized military operations and the unauthorized activities of the Central Intelligence Agency". Several colleagues from South East Asia would later play important parts in Iran-Contra, such as William Cooper, who was piloting the cargo plane which was show down in 1986, exposing Iran-Contras.
It concludes with the testimony of his staunch supporter, Janis Read who corroborates his account of life on the run from the US justice system., and tells how she was maliciously prosecuted in a vindictive effort to suppress her husband. We conclude with the sad note that their legal "offensive" came to nought after the judge who presided over it refused to hear testimony about Terry Read's blackops, or about Bill Clinton - who as governor of Arkansas gave him the job. Small world...
Thanks to Terry Read for the film.
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