US Lied About Soviet MIGS in Nicaragua

Horhey · Mar 27, 2012

This is one of the stories that were planted in the media by the Office of Public Diplomacy.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sstDwKTCpM"]Bill Moyers: The Secret Government[/ame]

The Miami Herald: REAGAN AIDES AND THE 'SECRET' GOVERNMENT

by ALFONSO CHARDY, HERALD WASHINGTON BUREAU

ORCHESTRATED NEWS LEAKS

In addition to North's role as contra commander and fund-raiser, North became secret overseer of the State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy, through which the Reagan administration disseminated information that cast Nicaragua as a threat to its neighbors and the United States.

An intelligence source familiar with North's relationship with that office said North was directly involved in many of the best publicized news leaks, including the Nov. 4, 1984, Election Day announcement that Soviet-made MiG jet fighters were on their way to Nicaragua.

McFarlane is now believed to have been the senior administration official who told reporters that the Soviet cargo ship Bakuriani, en route to Nicaragua from a Soviet Black Sea port, was probably carrying MiGs.

The intelligence official said North apparently recommended that the information be leaked to the press on Election Day so it would reach millions of people watching election results. CBS and NBC broadcast the report that night.

CLARK HAD KEY ROLE

The leak led to a new clash between the regular bureaucracy and the president's advisers. The official State Department spokesman, John Hughes, tried hard to play down the report, pointing out that it was unproven that the Bakuriani was carrying MiGs. At the same time, employees of the Office of Public Diplomacy, acting under North's direction, insisted that the crates were inside the ship and that MiGs were still a possibility.

To take a closer look, the source said, North requested a high-flying SR-71 Blackbird spy aircraft be sent from Beale Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., to fly over the Nicaraguan port of Corinto while the Bakuriani unloaded its cargo. The pictures showed that the Bakuriani unloaded helicopters, not MiGs.
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US Lied About Soviet MIGS in Nicaragua

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US Lied About Soviet MIGS in Nicaragua

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