-Caveat Lector-
From: Activist Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Activist Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: CIA's Paramilitary Operations
Date: Thursday, April 29, 1999 3:31 PM
Activist Mailing List - http://get.to/activist
4/29/99
CIA's Paramilitary Operations
A recent reference to retired CIA paramilitary officer Tony Poe or
Tony Poshepny below, raises the question of CIA paramilitary
operations in general. As we read these accounts we should ask, can we
really expect that PM officers will ever produce intelligence? Did we
not run a PM war in Vietnam for years without ever understanding the
other side? Did we not conduct a PM war in Afghanistan that led to
the creation of "International Terrorism?" Did not all PM wars
contribute to the international drug traffic? Did not the CIA's
committment to paramilitary wars engage this country in many other
destructive activities?
In a speech in October 1998, by John Millis, Staff Director of the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), he dicussed
the future of the CIA. Millis is a former CIA operations who became
Staff Director of HPSCI in 1997. Mr. Millis said re CIA paramilitary
operations:
"We believe we have to keep a very strong paramilitary capability on
the shelf for the Directorate of Operations. It's always hard to
anticipate what the next crisis is going to be, but we can be sure
that it will be there. And the paramilitary capability the DO has is
uniquely well suited for many of the types of situations that we're
seeing around the world."
The reference item on Tony Poe said:
"...his life helped to create the greatest cinema icon to come of the
Vietnam war. This man...is the real Colonel Kurtz, whose fictional
counterpart was played by Marlon Brando in Francis Ford Coppola's epic
movie Apocalypse Now...
The reality of the Kurtz legend is far stranger than fiction... [It]
confirmed the existence of a US super-spy code-named Upin. Upin was a
pararmilitary expert....Like the fictional Kurtz, he recruited a
private army of 10,000 tribesmen, married a princess turned his back
on the US and became as savage as the jungle he made his home."
...Agent Upin, also known as Pat Gibbs, was Anthony Poshepny, one of
the CIA's most notorious and effective agents deployed in the Vietnam
war. Orders were to enter Laos illegally in 1961 and conduct a secret
war against the communists that would be denied in Congress and hidden
from the US public...."
Ralph McGehee http://come.to/CIABASE
The below are brief extracts from CIABASE files on Tony Poe.
Laos, Tony Poe ran the secret ground war in Laos and kept pickled
heads. Poe was a Hungarian refugee who began his CIA career training
Khamba tribesmen to fight the Chinese in Tibet. Poe said "we got the
Dalai Lama out of Tibet." In Laos he rewarded his men for producing
the ears of communists. Harper's 7/85 60
Laos 53-75 book by Roger Warner, Back Fire: the CIA's Secret War in
Laos and its Link to the War in Vietnam, (1995). Discusses Vang Pao
of the Hmong tribesmen. The Secret War gained momentum - with Bill
Lair - an ideological cold warrior, using Thai paratroopers to train
the Hmong. Lair had his hqs in Udorn, Thailand. Tony Poshepny, an
ex-marine of Hungarian origin - who had worked with the CIA's ops with
the Khamba in Tibet and in Sumatra, Indonesia was ultimately thrown
out of op, a broken-down drunk. This is a wry, compassionate
narrative. "from 63 to 73, Laos was a secret annex to Vietnam war,
overseen by the ambassador, run by CIA, and bombed by the U.S.
military, without the consent of Congress." Warner focuses on CIA's
misbegotten strategy of the Hmong counterinsurgency. A horrific tale
of blindsighted do-gooders, ambitions and bungled intentions. Bill
Lair/CIA recruited 10,000 Hmong. Clothed, fed and armed by CIA and
trained by Thais, they helicoptered to elaborate skirmishes against
the Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese. At peak strength of 30,000
they were the only effective Lao army. Vang Pao took his cut from the
opium trade. He deserted to the U.S. in 75, six months before the
Pathet Laos' triumph. The Nation 9/18/95 288-90
Laos, China, 67-68 Tony Poe sent T-28 planes to bomb in China. Corn,
d. (1994). Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades 154-5
Laos, Vietnam, 63 In 8/63 Lair received an order to disrupt NVN
truck traffic thru Laos by blowing up parts of route 7. From an Air
America plane, Tony Poe dropped demolition charges. Thais supervised
twelve platoons of elite Meo troops called Special Guerrilla Units as
they blew up a section. Warner, R. (1995). Back Fire 100-1
Laos, Thailand, Vietnam. Edgar Buell, Tony poshepny and William Young
had personal imprint on secret war. Tony Poe in 58 was one of two
operatives sent to support separtists revolt in Indonesia. His first
assignment was with anti-Sihanouk mercenaries along the Cambodian
border in South Vietnam. In Laos he offered one dollar for an ear of
enemy and more for a head and cap. McCoy A.W. (1991). The Politics of
Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Traffic 306-7
Laos. Beginning in 64 Vang Pao became drug lord of the Hmong. Per
Ouane Rattikone, commander of Laotian army, and Gen Thao Ma, then
commander of the Laotian air force, Air America began flying Hmong
opium to markets in Long Tieng and Vientiane. Tony Poe, a CIA officer
who worked with Vang Pao, said Vang Pao made millions in drug traffic.
Air logistics for opium trade further improved when CIA and USAID gave
Vang Pao financial assistance in forming his own air line, Xieng
Khouang Air Transport. Formed in late 67 with two C-47s acquired from
Air American and Continental Air Services. McCoy, A.W. (1991). the
politics of heroin: CIA complicity in the global drug traffic 318
Laos, Thailand, 62-72 CIA worked with the Thai Border Police who
were assigned to run the Meo op from Thailand -- from Udorn airbase.
Thai BPP served as radio operators, training cadre, and support troops
for Vang Pao's men. Thais operated under control of only 2 CIA
officers - who lived with Vang Pao - Vint Lawrence one and Anthony
Poshepny. They lived in a mountain hut for nearly 2 years - this early
after 62 Geneva agreements. Further details of Vang Pao and the drug
traffic. Grant, Z. (1991). Facing the Phoenix 148-160
Laos, 59-75 Op momentum was the support of the Meo with the Thai
PARU with Vang Pao the commander. If they ultimately lost Vang Pao's
Meos could move to Sayaboury province. If Thais refused they might
take him in Thailand and make him a border security force. Bill Lair
part of op as was Lloyd "Pat" Landry, Tony Poe aka Anthony Poshepny -
Poe had run PM missions in the Korean war, worked with the Tibetan
Khamba tribesmen for a rebellion against China, in 58 Poe and Landry
to Sumatra, Indonesia to jump start a rebellion there, until they
rescued by submarine. Tony Poe 's hobby was collecting enemy ears.
Warner, R. (1995). Back Fire 47-54
Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, 70-71 Cambodia, indirectly, would feature
another, far bigger Lao PM program when in 6/70 the Thai gvt declared
it would be sending Thai volunteers to help defend Khmer republic. The
DOD stepped in and agreed to pay for a 5,000 man contingent. Bangkok
waffled and men were sent directly to Laos. A force to total one
artillery and nine infantry battalions. the Project called Unity. The
Pentagon funded but CIA administered the program in field. Case
officers were Tony Poe, Dunc Jewell, Chuck Campbell; and, Doug
Swanson. On 12/15/70 two Thai battalions entered Laos under op
code-named Virakom (patriot) - they were sent to MR-4. Conboy, K. &
Morrison, J. 1995). Shadow War: CIA's Secret War in Laos 285-6
Laos, China. Background on Tony Poe who led the Hmong forces in Laos
for many years. He offered rewards to Hmong for the ears of
communists. Harper's 7/85 60
Laos, Thailand, Vietnam. Edgar Buell, Tony Poshepny and William Young
had personal imprint on the secret war. Tony Poe in 58 was one of two
operatives sent to support separtists revolt in Indonesia. His first
assignment was with anti-Sihanouek mercenaries along the Cambodian
border in South Vietnam. In Laos he offered one dollar for an ear of
enemy and more for a head and cap. Details re Pop Buell. Mccoy, A.W.
(1991). The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug
Traffic 306-7
China, 69-72 Commando raider company in 70 used as passive
intel-gathering role along the Chinese built road in North Laos. CIA
supporting an autonomous agent net run by RTA intel against Chinese
road-building. Thai-run assets produced no significant intel. George
Kenning was responsible for liaison with the Nien. Due to news
dispatches revealing Tony Poe's role, he was reassigned to Thailand as
Pat Gibbs. Fox ops against China had been wrapped up years earlier,
and many Tartar and Scope teams - whose incursions into China had
never been deep or frequent - were recalled. Conboy, k. & Morrison, j.
(1995). Shadow War: CIA's Secret War in Laos 317-9
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