Pubdate: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 Source: Vacaville Reporter (CA) Copyright: 2002 Vacaville Reporter Contact: http://www.thereporter.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/472 Author: T.J. Lock CONSPIRACY 'WHACKO' MAY NOT BE THAT FAR OFF TARGET Reporter Editor: B. Cayenne Bird has certainly struck a nerve. Devout "Bushites" are attempting to totally discredit her information. Her accusations would seem incredulous, until you start looking at past Bush family patterns. When George Bush Sr. was head of the CIA, he saw to it that it established Manuel Noriega, president of Panama, in the drug trade. When the possibility that this activity might become a political liability in his quest for the presidency, the elder Bush told Mr. Noriega time to quit. The dictator declined and continued the lucrative drug trade. Never forgetting a slight and certainly with vengeance in mind, then- President Bush went about, with our troops, to bring down Mr. Noriega. As repulsive as the Panamanian leader might be, or was, he was the head of a sovereign country - supposedly. Panama did not declare war, in fact no one did, but that did not stop President Bush from using the tried and true umbrella of "drug war." Lives were lost in that action, not just Americans, but a great many Panamanians. The collateral damage count is still shrouded in secrecy, but some say it runs into the thousands. These were poor people of shanty town and, therefore, inconsequential. The Noriega trial was held virtually in secret. (Sound like anything being proposed today?) It was his attorney who made the charge about the Bush involvement, but who then fell silent. I wonder why? When our CIA supplied the Arghanis with weapons and technical know-how against the Russians, once again never caring about future consequences, we unleashed a mad man, who has followers just as mad as he, who are willing to give their lives to kill any one who is not Muslim. It is not as if the CIA didn't know what we were dealing with. Oliver North told Congress and the world about Osama bin Laden, by name, but was largely ignored. Maybe if the CIA and George Bush Sr. weren't so busy practicing covering their backsides, thousands of innocent civilian Americans might still be alive. Then there was Sadam Hussein and Iraq. Billions of dollars later, he is still operating. Another senior Bush fiasco. Now comes Enron. This should be Enrongate for all of the Bush cronies. But the paper trail is being shredded and they new Bush administration is trying very hard to distance itself, while putting the lid on any information that will connect them to this mess. So, maybe Ms. Bird seems like a conspiracy "whacko," but one cannot ignore the possibility she is just shining the light on corruption. T.J. Lock Vacaville - --- MAP posted-by: Beth