(continued from Part 11)
Did you every think of having your own country? Consider the advantages. No
export controls. You could manufacture your own armaments. Do biological
warfare research. Even build casinos. Hey, do whatever you wanted!
You could also avoid those pesky ITAR restrictions. Cryptology software is
classified as a munition by the U.S. State Department. This designation is
found in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. So software products
that use cryptography can't be exported without State Department permission.
(The State Department, however, turns all such decisions over to the
National Security Agency [NSA].)
For convenience, locate your country in the middle of California. And run an
interstate freeway right through it! Say Interstate 10, which goes from Los
Angeles to Phoenix.
A dream? No, consider it done. It's called the Cabazon Indian nation,
located near Indio, California. This little nation of two dozen individuals
is very entrepreneurial. They've set up the Cabazon Arms Corporation, the
Cabazon Security Corporation, the Cabazon Trading Company, the Cabazon Gas &
Oil Corporation--lots of interesting companies come and go in this nation.
Maybe you could make a deal with them, and set up your own ventures! But
you'll find someone got there ahead of you. Namely, a private security firm
called Wackenhut. Wackenhut is a funny outfit. Among other things, it
provides security to nuclear installations and to U.S. military bases, jobs
previously held by the U.S. Marine Corps.. And its officers have included an
amazing number of ex-CIA or NSA people. Bill Casey was an outside counsel to
Wackenhut. Admiral Stansfield Turner, whose Saturday Night massacre in 1977
provided Wackenhut with a number of ex-CIA employees, has served on the
Board of Directors, as has ex-Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci. One Vice
President of Wackenhut, Robert Chasen, had been CIA head of station and Vice
President of ITT during the time of Allende.
Have these people, too, considered the advantages of having their own
country? Yes, it seems they have. They seem to have taken over the Cabazon
Indian nation. And they don't want any competition from you, thank you.
But the corporate rulers are very good to this little tribe. They've put
everyone in a medical and drug treatment program! And they are very strict
about seeing that each person shows up regularly to take their medicine!
It was at the Cabazon Indian nation that modifications were first made to
the PROMIS software for installation of a surreptitious surveillance
mechanism. (Another modification would take place in Little Rock, Arkansas,
to tailor the PROMIS software for use by banks.)
The modifications were made by a guy called Michael Riconosciuto.
Riconosciuto was a bright guy who, at age 16, showed up at Stanford's Cooper
Vapor Laser Laboratory, having built his own argon laser. His family were
friends of Richard Nixon. Riconosciuto became an expert on explosives and
software. In an affidavit he states:
"1. During the early 1980's, I served as the Director of Research for a
joint venture between the Wackenhut Corporation of Coral Gables, Florida,
and the Cabazon Band of Indians in Indio, California. The joint venture was
located on the Cabazon reservation. . . .
"3. The Cabazon Band of Indians are a sovereign nation. The sovereign
immunity that is accorded the Cabazons as a consequence of this fact made it
feasible to pursue on the reservation the development and/or manufacture of
materials whose development or manufacture would be subject to stringent
controls off the reservation. As a minority group, the Cabazon Indians also
provided the Wackenhut Corporation with an enhanced ability to obtain
federal contracts through the 8A Set Aside Program, and in connection with
Government-owned contractor-operated (GOCO) facilities. . . .
"6. Among the frequent visitors to the Wackenhut-Cabazon joint venture were
Peter Videnieks of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and a
close associate of Videnieks by the name of Earl W. Brian. Brian is a
private businessman who lives in Maryland and who has maintained close
business ties with the U.S. intelligence community for many years. . . .
"7. In connection with my work for Wackenhut, I engaged in some software
development and modification work in 1983 and 1984 on the proprietary PROMIS
computer software product. The copy of PROMIS on which I worked came from
the Department of Justice. Earl W. Brian made it available to me through
Wackenhut after acquiring it from Peter Videnieks, who was then a Department
of Justice contracting official with responsibility for the PROMIS software.
I performed the modifications to PROMIS in Indio, California; Silver Spring,
Maryland; and Miami, Florida. . . .
"8. The purpose of the PROMIS software modifications that I made in 1983 and
1984 was to support a plan for the implementation of PROMIS in law
enforcement and intelligence agencies worldwide. Earl W. Brian was
spearheading the plan for this worldwide use of the PROMIS computer
software. . . .
"11. In February 1991, I had a telephone conversation with Peter Videnieks,
then still employed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Videnieks attempted
during this telephone conversation to persuade me not to cooperate with an
independent investigation of the government's piracy of INSLAW's proprietary
PROMIS software being conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary of the
U.S. House of Representatives. . . .
"13. Videnieks also outlined specific punishments that I could expect to
receive from the U.S. Department of Justice if I cooperate with the House
Judiciary Committee's investigation." (Affidavit of Michael J. Riconosciuto,
March 21, 1991.)
Michael Riconosciuto's ties to the National Security Agency are illustrated
in the testimony of Robert Nichols:
"Robert Nichols told . . . about an incident in the early 1980's when a
colonel from the NSA Headquarters at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland,
allegedly flew out to the Cabazon Reservation for the day for the single
purpose of assuring that FBI agents, investigating a triple homicide of the
Vice Chairman of the Cabazon Tribe and two associates, did not attempt to
probe the classified U.S. government work being performed under the auspices
of the Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture.
"Robert Nichols also told . . . about having accompanied Michael
Riconosciuto on a visit to a classified NSA contractor facility in the
Silicon Valley and to have observed Riconosciuto's apparently unrestricted
and unescorted access to both the contractor's employees and to offices
within the contractor facility that were prominently marked as off-limits to
any unescorted visitors.
"Robert Nichols also told . . . about frequent alleged telephone
conversations at the Wackenhut-Cabazon Joint Venture between Michael
Riconosciuto and Bobby Inman. Bobby Inman served in the early 1980's
consecutively as Director of the National Security Agency and Deputy
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency" ("Inslaw's Analysis and
Rebuttal of the Bua Report, Memorandum in Response to the March 1993 Report
of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United
States Responding to the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc." --hereafter Bua
Rebuttal).
The modified software was marketed around the world by Earl Brian, one-time
owner of Financial News Network (sold to NBC), UPI, and the Hadron
Corporation. Brian was a friend of Ronald Reagan's Attorney General Ed
Meese:
According to Ari Ben-Menasche, Brian marketed the PROMIS software to Israel
in conjunction with Robert McFarlane, Reagan's National Security Advisor:
"3. In 1982, the Israeli Prime Minister's Anti-Terrorism Advisor was Mr.
Rafael Eitan.
"4. In a meeting that took place in December 1982 in Mr. Eitan's office in
the Kirya in Tel Aviv, Israel, Mr. Eitan told me that he had received
earlier that year in the United States, from Mr. Earl W. Brian and Mr.
Robert McFarlane, PROMIS computer software for the limited use of the IDF's
Signals Intelligence Unit for intelligence purposes only. Mr. Eitan stated
on this occasion, and on earlier occasions as well, that he had special
relationships with both Mr. Brian and Mr. McFarlane." (Affidavit of Ari
Ben-Menashe, March 21, 1991).
According to Richard Babayan, Brian also made a sales presentation (and
later sale) to Iraq, in conjunction with Richard Secord,
"2. . . . I attended a meeting in Baghdad, Iraq, in October or November,
1987, with Mr. Abu Mohammed of Entezamat, an intelligence and security organ
of the Government of Iraq. Mr. Abu Mohammed is a senior ranking official of
Entezamat and a person with whom I had had extensive dealings over the
previous three years
"3. During the aforementioned meeting with Mr. Abu Mohammed, I was informed
that Dr. Earl W. Brian of the United States had recently completed a sales
presentation to the Government of Iraq regarding the PROMIS computer
software. Furthermore, it is my understanding that others present at Dr.
Brian's PROMIS sales presentation were General Richard Secord, of the United
States, and Mr. Abu Mohammed.
"4. In early to mid-1988, in the course of subsequent visits to Baghdad,
Iraq, I was informed that Dr. Earl W. Brian had, in fact, provided the
PROMIS computer software to the Government of Iraq through a transaction
that took place under the umbrella of Mr. Sarkis Saghanalian, an individual
who has had extensive business dealings with the Government of Iraq since
the late 1970's in the fields of military hardware and software. (Affidavit
of Richard H. Babayan, March 22, 1991.)
The sale of the PROMIS software was the one of the principal topics that
Danny Casolaro was investigating at the time of his death either late
Friday, August 9, or early Saturday, August 10, 1991. On Saturday around
noon he was found dead in his room, Room 517, at the Sheraton Martinsburg
Inn in Virginia.
According to an affidavit signed by a friend of Casalaro on March 15, 1994
(hereafter F Affidavit), Casolaro had documents received from an NSA
employee named Alan Standorf that were classified "top secret" and "SCI".
SCI, or Sensitive Compartmented Information, is a more restrictive
classification than Top Secret. "Sensitive Compartmented Information is data
about sophisticated technical systems for collecting intelligence and
information collected by those systems" (NFIB Security Committee, "Sensitive
Compartmented Information: Characteristics and Security Requirements," June
1984).
"The systems that generate SCI are imaging and signals intelligence
satellites; aircraft such as the U-2 and RC-135; submarines involved in
Special Navy reconnaissance missions; and ground stations involved in the
interception of foreign signals. Information about imaging and signals
intelligence satellites also falls into the SCI category" (Jeffrey T.
Richelson, The U.S. Intelligence Community, Westview Press, 1995).
By its nature SCI-type information could reveal the characteristics of the
systems that collect the information, which makes such these systems
vulnerable to countermeasures. Countermeasures could destroy the ability to
collect this type of information in the first place. Or the mechanism, once
known to the other side, could be used by the other side to feed
disinformation into the collected data.
One variety of SCI information is produced by the Defense Mapping Agency:
". . . 80 percent of DMA's [the Defense Mapping Agency's] 9,500 employees
hold Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) clearances. SCI data is
employed in producing the data that allow the targeting of cruise missiles
by Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM). Such data are also required for
precise specification of target location in the Single Integrated
Operational Plan (SIOP) and for accurate target- ing of U.S. warheads"
(Richelson).
Another variety may be found at the NSA:
"The NSA's COMSEC responsibilities also include ensuring communications
security for strategic weapons systems such as the Minuteman missile so as
to prevent unauthorized intrusion, interference, or jamming. In addition,
the NSA is responsible for developing the codes by which the President must
identify himself in order to authorize a nuclear strike" (Richelson).
Casolaro had other documents related to BCCI and the sale of PROMIS,
according to the F Affidavit:
--Casolaro had documents proving that the PROMIS software was modified by
Michael Riconosciuto.
--Casolaro had copies of wire transfers of money from accounts held at the
World Bank and BCCI and paid to Earl Brian at shell companies in the Cayman
Islands and Switzerland.
--Casolaro had copies of checks drawn on BCCI accounts and paid to shell
accounts held by Richard Secord and Earl Brian.
--Casolaro had copies of documents of arms, gold, and software shipments
cleared for export by Peter Videnieks at U.S. Customs.
--Casolaro had a document that Casolaro alleged showed the involvement of
Bobby Inman and Robert McFarlane in the sale of PROMIS to Israel.
--Casolaro had meetings in Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania with a
number of individuals of Arabic origin, including Iman Mashhad.
--Casolaro had documents showing shipments to and from Pakistan by air that
were approved by William Casey, and related documents with notes from Peter
Videnieks.
--Casolaro had documents related to "First American Bankshares" [Financial
General Bankshares = First American ?] showing monies paid to officials in
Justice and Treasury.
On August 9, the last day of his life, Danny Casolaro said he had arranged a
meeting with Peter Videnieks and Robert Altman to trade them documents for
further documents regarding the sale of the modified PROMIS software.
(Robert Altman--see Part X in this series--has served as an attorney to Bert
Lance, and as the president of BCCI-controlled First American.)
Casolaro picked up two packages of documents he had given to a friend for
safe-keeping. The exchange was to take place at a meeting said to have been
arranged by a covert intelligence operative of the U.S. Army Special Forces
named Joseph Cuellar.
"Danny had told me that meeting had been arranged by Joseph Cuellar. That he
was to meet with someone from Sen. Byrds office and from the I.R.S., plus
Peter Videnieks and Robert Altman. He was to exchange some documents that
was to their interest in order to get more info on Promis. He had told me
that Altman only agreed after he was told papers would be sent to Robert
Morgenthau" (F Affidavit)
Some background on Casolaro's relationship with Joseph Cuellar is detailed
in the Bua Rebuttal:
"Casolaro also told the Hamiltons [Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hamilton of INSLAW]
about a series of meetings he had had during the final months of his life
with a covert intelligence operative of the U.S. Army Special Forces whose
name is Joseph Cuellar. According to Casolar, Cuellar, during a purportedly
chance encounter at Casolaro's neighborhood pub in mid-July 1991, asked
Casolaro what line of work he was in and, upon hearing Casolaro describe his
journalistic investigation of the INSLAW case, asserted that he knew all
about INSLAW because Peter Videnieks was one of his closest friends.
According to Casolaro, Cuellar also stated that his ex-wife worked for Ms.
Barbara Videnieks in Senator Byrd's office. Casolaro told the Hamiltons that
Cuellar had later persuaded Peter Videnieks to meet Casolaro and discuss the
INSLAW case with him." (Bua Rebuttal)
The next day after picking up two packages of documents for the meeting with
Videniecks and Altman, Danny Casolaro was found dead in his hotel room at
the Sheraton. Several days later a friend of Casolaro's who had attended two
meetings between Casolaro and Cuellar received a phone call from Cuellar:
"Lynn Knowles, a friend of Casolaro's, attended at least two of the meetings
between Casolaro and Cuellar . . . [Lynn Knowles said] that she and Cuellar
had spoken by telephone several days after Casolaro's death and that Cuellar
said the following to Knowles, in words or substance:
'What Danny Casolaro was investigating is a business. If you don't want
to end up like Danny or like the journalist [Anson Ng] who died a
horiffic death in Guatemala, you'll stay out of this. Anyone who asks
too many questions will end up dead.'" (Bua Rebuttal)
Well, I don't want too ask too many questions myself, Mr. Cuellar, so I'll
ask just this one: Did you, in conspiracy with Peter Videnieks and Robert
Altman, murder Danny Casolaro?
[To be continued]
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