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the north of Iraq but failed to gain the influence it needed. Sceptical readers should note that all Kurds inside Iraq are now known as "Freedom Fighters" while their brethren north of the border in NATO Turkey are labelled "Terrorists". The governments of Iraq and Libya had managed to foil dozens of CIA attempts aimed not only at infiltration but also at assassi- nating the Iraqi and Libyan heads of state. One CIA report written in 1985 referred to a failed attempt to murder Colonel Al Qadhafi, stating the hired killers were inefficient. Ex-CIA Deputy Director John McMahone echoed the criticism. the north of Iraq but failed to gain the influence it needed. From that point forward, white became black and black became Sceptical readers should note that all Kurds inside Iraq are now = white—courtesy of the CIA "Psychological & Paramilitary Staff" known as "Freedom Fighters" while their brethren north of the —_unit operating under the direction of the Deputy Director Plans border in NATO Turkey are labelled "Terrorists". (DDP). For decades the unit has specialised in deception and The governments of Iraq and Libya had managed to foil dozens abuse at the psychological level, fitting it perfectly for the role of of CIA attempts aimed not only at infiltration but also at assassi- turning both President Hussein and Colonel Al Qadhafi into ‘non- nating the Iraqi and Libyan heads of state. One CIA report written democratic dictators’ in the eyes of the West. in 1985 referred to a failed attempt to murder Colonel Al Qadhafi, The most memorable (and successful) of the ploys used was to stating the hired killers were inefficient. Ex-CIA Deputy Director turn President Hussein into the man who ‘gassed his own Kurds' at John McMahone echoed the criticism. Halabja. The same devastating images of dead women and chil- dren lying in the streets were shown thou- “ . . sands of times on all Western television P If baw | ny _ Se production was » - channels, placing President Hussein well rastically reduced to increase world oi * ; beyond Western ‘rehabilitation’ under an prices to ae poet Lena = — bh. Sceptical readers should circumstances, ; SAvOglwe e@euateab et mote that all Kurds inside, Unowmay de ei xe wt cal was the need for large numbers of sneak Iraq are now known‘as cae qd Gabrnane J ow bombing attacks on Middle East civilians in aae ‘ uv H College pen aye tes am order to shatter public morale as quickly as Freedom Fighters while . responsible for the Halabja attack, stating possible. heir brethren north of the _ “that it was the Iranian bombardment that On 12 July 1990 during a small ceremony the x 0 oft had actually killed the Kurds". The War at the Lockheed "Skunk Works" in border in NATO Turkey are College findings were hardly surprising: THE GULF WAR _——————— California, the last of 59 deadly F117A . i j i oaks rine ey bm handed om 2 its new labelled "Terrorists". he eine us temeeendte owners: the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, the Iranians but not the Iraqis. Though normally hidden deep in the remote Nevada Iraq did use war gas on the battlefield, it desert at its secret ‘black’ air base at was Mustard, an entirely different chemi- Tonopah. cal which causes death in a visibly different way, enabling US Though the F117A was labelled the "Stealth Fighter" in orderto | Army chemical warfare experts to easily identify the attack as deceive American taxpayers, it was no such thing. The F117A _ Iranian in origin. was designed using low-visibility data provided by the CIA as a Though many readers may say "So what?", the distinction is black project killing-machine capable only of slaughtering under —_ important in identifying CIA media techniques used to deliberate- the cloak of darkness, very much in the tradition of assassins of Jy distort the perception of the Western public. When the US old. Nor was the F117A very accurate: during the only opera- Administration was looking for an excuse to use ground forces to tional mission before the Gulf débacle, two stealth bombers __ finish off the people in Kuwait, the CIA flashed a story round the attacked an army barracks in Panama where both missed their targets completely. There would be many more ‘misses’ in the densely populated city of Baghdad. Three weeks after the last stealth bomber flew into Tonopah, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait and the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing was given a new commander, Colonel Alton Whitley. Within four hours of Whitley taking command, the stealth bombers were ordered to fly to Saudi Arabia via Langley Air Force Base in Virginia under cover of darkness. The United Nations had not yet responded to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, but the stealth bombers were already being positioned for their attacks. The CIA was well aware of President Hussein's armed forces massing to the north of the Kuwaiti border during 1990. Despite the fact it had many days of advance warning, the CIA failed to tell the Kuwaiti government of the forthcoming attack. With all the sophisticated communications at its disposal it was a truly damning omission that escaped Western media attention, pointing directly at CIA manipulation of the invasion itself. THE GULF WAR CIA MANIPULATION OF THE MEDIA Millions of television viewers watched the most damning evi- dence of CIA premeditation but most failed to recognise it. Though European troops were rushed to the Gulf in out-of-date ill-fitting desert camouflage, there was no such problem for the US forces. Despite the fact America has never fought a large- scale desert campaign, nearly a quarter of a million US troops arrived in Saudi Arabia wearing well-fitting post-Viemam-pat- tern desert camouflage. Someone somewhere had done a vast amount of covert advance planning and purchasing for the desert campaign, because no nation on Earth keeps a quarter million uniforms on hand for every different climate zone in the world. NEXUS¢13 DECEMBER 1993 - JANUARY 1994