-Caveat Lector-
>From Wall St Journal
March 3, 1999
A Place Called Mena
--Just Some Facts
By Micah Morrison, a Journal editorial page writer.
Reacting to the Juanita Broaddrick story, White House
spokesman Joe Lockhart said the Journal editorial page
"lost me
after they accused the president of being a drug smuggler
and a
murderer." We made no such charges, of course. But we'll
give
Mr. Lockhart a pass on the grounds of hyperbole; we have
indeed
reported stories about the seamy side of Bill Clinton's
Arkansas.
Most of our stories--as opposed to
gamier Arkansas tales traded on the
Internet--have revolved around Mena
Intermountain Regional Airport in western
Arkansas. Even as careful an observer
as David Frum, writing in Commentary,
criticizes "wild charges" including
"drug-smuggling via Mena airport." Since
drug smuggling at Mena is established
beyond doubt, a brief review of some
facts seems in order:
Mena was a staging ground for
Barry Seal, one of the most
notorious drug smugglers in history.
He established a base at Mena in
1981, and according to Arkansas
law-enforcement officials, imported
as much as 1,000 pounds of
cocaine a month from Colombia. In
1984 he became an informant for
the Drug Enforcement
Administration, flying to Colombia
and gathering information about
leaders of the Medellín cartel. He testified in
several
high-profile cases, and was assassinated in Baton
Rouge,
La., in 1986.
Two investigators probing events at Mena say they
were
closed down--William Duncan, a former Internal
Revenue
Service investigator, and Russell Welch, a former
Arkansas
State Police detective. They fought a decade-long
battle to
bring events at Mena to light, pinning their hopes
on nine
separate state and federal probes. All failed.
AndMessrs.
Welch and Duncan were stripped of their careers.
In 1986, Dan Lasater, Little Rock bond daddy and an
important Clinton campaign contributor, pleaded
guilty to
cocaine distribution. The scheme also involved Mr.
Clinton's
brother, Roger. Both Mr. Lasater and Roger Clinton
served
brief prison terms. Gov. Clinton later issued a
pardon to Mr.
Lasater.
On Aug. 23, 1987, teenagers Kevin
Ives and Don Henry were run over
by a
northbound Union Pacific train
near
Little Rock in an area reputed to
be a
haven for drug smugglers. Gov.
Clinton's state medical examiner,
Fahmy Malak, quickly ruled the
deaths
accidental, saying the two boys
had
fallen into a deep sleep side by
side on
the railroad tracks after smoking
too
much marijuana. A second autopsy
concluded the boys had been
murdered and their bodies placed
on
the tracks. Despite public outcry,
Dr.
Malak remained medical examiner
until
just before Mr. Clinton's
presidential
campaign.
In 1990 Jean Duffey, the head of a newly created
drug task
force, began investigating a possible link between
the train
deaths and drugs. Her boss, the departing
prosecuting
attorney for Arkansas's Seventh Judicial District,
gave her a
direct order: "You are not to use the drug task
force to
investigate public officials." In a 1996 interview
with the
Journal, Ms. Duffey said: "We had witnesses telling
us about
low-flying aircraft and informants testifying about
drug
pick-ups."
Dan Harmon, who had earlier been appointed special
prosecutor for the train deaths, took office in 1991
as
seventh district prosecutor. Ms. Duffey was
discredited,
threatened, and ultimately forced to flee Arkansas.
In 1997, a federal jury in Little Rock found
Mr. Harmon guilty
of fivecounts of drug dealing and extortion,
and sentenced him to
eight years in prison for using his office to extort
narcotics
and cash.
Mr. Lockhart to the contrary, we have never accused Mr.
Clinton of
a direct role in these events. Obviously, as governor for
12 years,
he was ultimately responsible for Arkansas law
enforcement. As
president, he has commented only once about events at
Mena.
Asked about it during a 1994 press conference, he said
that it was
"primarily a matter of federal jurisdiction" and "they
didn't tell me
anything about it."
In 1984, Seal flew his C-123K to Nicaragua in a
Central
Intelligence Agency drug sting of Sandinista
officials. The
CIA rigged a hidden camera in the plane, enabling
him to
snap photos of several men--including a high-ranking
Sandinista--loading cocaine aboard the aircraft. In
1986,
eight months after Seal's death, his plane was shot
down
over Nicaragua with an Arkansas pilot at the wheel
and a
load of ammunition and contra supporter Eugene
Hasenfus
in the cargo bay.
Three days after the 1996 presidential election, the
CIA
issued a brief report saying it had engaged in
"authorized
and lawful activities" at the airfield, including
"routine
aviation-related services" and a secret
"joint-training
operation with another federal agency." The agency
said it
was not "associated with money laundering, narcotics
trafficking, arms smuggling, or other illegal
activities" at
Mena.
The statement was issued in response to a probe by
investigators
for the House Banking Committee, directed by Chairman Jim
Leach. His report has been often promised and often
delayed.
Yesterday Leach spokesman David Runkel said that Banking
Committee investigators are "putting the finishing
touches" on
their report. "While there is an extraordinary story to
be told, it's
unlikely that the president is going to be too severely
embarrassed."
Whatever Mr. Clinton's involvement as governor, something
singular was going on at Mena. Perhaps Mr. Leach will yet
shed
some light on the mystery.
>From Wall St Journal
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