The Butcher of Honduras could be your Intelligence Chief
John Negroponte, war criminal and now your Intelligence Chief
John Negroponte is now Intelligence Chief. His history is one that
would make Hitler proud and now he is aiming for you. The death squads
and mass murder experienced by Hondurans has left a human rights scar
that still has not been recognized by the fascist leaders in the USA.
This is very serious boys and girls. Either get your bags packed or
bunker down for the worst.
The following articles should illustrate the deep shit non-fascist
citizens are in:
Veteran of dirty wars wins lead US spy role
Written off by many after his role in Central America, John
Negroponte's revived career hits a new high
Duncan Campbell
Friday February 18, 2005
The Guardian
John Negroponte's nomination by President Bush yesterday to be his
chief of intelligence represents the pinnacle of rehabilitation for a
man who, for many people, will always be associated with US
involvement in the "dirty wars" in Central America in the 1980s.
While Mr Bush has restored to office other figures from that period of
American history, none has been promoted to the same extent as the
former ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the UN and Iraq.
Mr Negroponte, 65, was born in London, the son of a Greek shipping
magnate who emigrated to New York during the second world war.
After Harvard law school, he began a diplomatic career that has
spanned more than four decades and taken in some of the most
challenging posts on three continents.
He has described his time as a political officer in Vietnam during the
war in the 60s as a "career-defining experience". He only left the
diplomatic service for a three-year stint with the New York publishers
McGraw Hill, a "sabbatical" which ended when he became the US
ambassador to the UN in 2001.
To his admirers, he is a powerful, experienced, charismatic figure of
patrician bearing who has earned the trust of successive American
administrations, whether they were led by Presidents Reagan, Bush
senior or Clinton. He is often described as "the diplomats' diplomat"
and credited with a steely determination in negotiations in eight
foreign postings. With his wife, Diana, he adopted five children in
Honduras.
To his detractors, he is tainted by his time between 1981 and 1985 in
Honduras, a country that was being used as a launchpad for the illegal
US-backed war waged by the contras against the leftist Sandinista
government in Nicaragua. The Honduran military was accused of taking
part in torture and extra-judicial killings.
Had Mr Negroponte reported this to the US Congress, military aid to
the country could have been suspended and their cooperation in the war
on the Sandinistas might thus have ended.
The Baltimore Sun re-investigated the US actions there in 1995. One
former Honduran congressman, Efrain Diaz, told the paper that the
attitude of Mr Negroponte and other US officials at the time was "one
of tolerance and silence".
"They needed Honduras to loan its territory more than they were
concerned about innocent people being killed."
For their cooperation with the US, the Honduran government had its
military aid increased from $4m to $77m a year. Reed Brody of Human
Rights Watch has accused Mr Negroponte of "looking the other way when
serious atrocities were committed".
Last year, Mrs Negroponte told the Washington Post that the Honduras
accusations made in the media were "old hat" and added: "I want to say
to those people: Haven't you moved on?"
Mr Negroponte's career has moved certainly on. When he was appointed
by Mr Bush to be ambassador to the UN in the summer of 2001, he was
subjected to lengthy questioning about how much he knew of the
atrocities being committed during his time in Honduras, but the senate
debate on the issue was cut short by September 11. Mr Negroponte's
appointment was speedily confirmed in the haste to fill the post.
Politically, he is seen as a conservative, although he is not regarded
as being as far to the right as the hawkish neo-cons in the Bush
administration.
He was regarded as being closer ideologically to the former secretary
of state Colin Powell, and was even spoken of in some circles as a
potential successor to the post now held by Condoleezza Rice.
Last year he was given the difficult task of being the US ambassador
to Iraq, which made him the head of the biggest diplomatic staff in
the world, some 900 people.
It was a role that came to fruition with the recent elections, which
he has made clear he regards as a major success.
In an opinion article which appeared in the Guardian this month,
co-authored by George Casey, the commander of multinational forces in
Iraq, Mr Negroponte wrote: "Although the heroic vote for freedom here
in Iraq was humbling, it did not surprise us. Since the transition to
Iraqi sovereignty seven months ago, we have seen daily manifestations
of Iraqi courage and determination. Once again, as in South Africa, El
Salvador and Ukraine, democracy proved stronger than fear."
He praised "the journalists who chronicled this victory of ballots
over bullets" and noted the "Herculean and indispensable efforts of
American servicemen and women."
Now the man whose diplomatic career many had regarded as finished five
years ago is about to become one of the most powerful figures in the
United States.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1417267,00.html
...
John "Death Squad" Negroponte Nominated as DNI
Kurt Nimmo
February 17, 2005
It figures, in fact makes perfect sense: Iran-Contra criminal and
death squad facilitator, John Negroponte, currently "ambassador" to
occupied Iraq, will fill the new position of director of national
intelligence.
"The director's responsibility is straightforward and demanding. John
will make sure those whose duty it is to defend America have the
information we need to make the right decisions," said Bush upon
announcing Negroponte's appointment to the contrived post.
"The newly created intelligence chief position will oversee 15 U.S.
intelligence agencies and emerged as a central recommendation of the
[Bush whitewash] commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks last year," reports Reuters ( http://story.news.yahoo.com/news...
m/20050217/pl_nm/bush_intelligence_dc ).
"The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is the title of United
States cabinet-level post that will split the post of Director of
Central Intelligence into two separate positions: the DNI, which would
coordinate all segments of the Intelligence Community and be the
principal intelligence adviser to the president," Wikipedia explains (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Director_of_Natio
nal_Intelligence ). In short, Bush has nominated a serial violator of
human rights (in Honduras), a coordinator of the illegal war against
the people of Nicaragua, and a confirmed liar as DNI.
No doubt a perfect choice, considering how the Bushcons have
"reformed" intelligence over the last few months, most notably by
sending Porter Goss, the most partisan CIA director in history, to
crack heads and purge "realists" at the spook agency. As we know,
Cheney and the Strausscons, in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq,
leaned heavily on the CIA to adopt its fictional case for invasion,
manufactured by the Office of Special Plans, a disinformation and
deception factory installed in the Pentagon at the behest of Douglas
Feith, a rabid Zionist, and the Strausscons. As soon as Negroponte is
confirmed by the Senate—and this confirmation is all but a done
deal—the entire "intelligence community" will become a sprawling
Office of Special Plans.
Over the next four years, the Bushian vision of intelligence—lies and
half-truths devised as pretexts to invade "rogue nations," i.e., the
"axis of evil" roster—will dominate and Bush's sadism, torture, and
rape gulag will expand. Negroponte's appointment as DNI dovetails
perfectly with the Pentagon's covert activity (minus accountability to
Congress or the American people), as recently spelled out by Seymour
Hersh and essentially confirmed by the Pentagon. Negroponte has the
ideal curriculum vitae: organizing death squads, covering up human
rights abuses, and facilitating illegal terror campaigns against
sovereign nations, as he did with the Contras in Nicaragua.
http://www.uruknet.info
...
Thursday, June 24th, 2004
Noam Chomsky on John Negroponte's Career From the Death Squads of
Honduras to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
John Negroponte was sworn in as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq on
Wednesday. We hear from MIT Professor Noam Chomsky on Negroponte's
time in Honduras. As ambassador, he played a key role in US aid to the
Contra death squads in Nicaragua and shoring up the brutal military
dictatorship of General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez in Honduras.[includes
transcript]
Negroponte is due to arrive in Baghdad at the beginning of July soon
after the so-called transfer of sovereignty. He will preside over the
largest US embassy in the world, manned by thousands of employees,
fortified within the Green Zone. Baghdad will be his fifth post,
including his most recent assignment as the U.S. representative at the
United Nations.
The Senate approved Negroponte to the Iraq appointment in record time,
holding his confirmation hearing just eight days after he was
nominated and approving him soon after.
After being sworn in, Negroponte addressed Secretary of State Colin
Powell:
* John Negroponte, newly-appointed Ambassador to Iraq
At the ceremony yesterday, Secretary of State Powell called Negroponte
a "pillar of confidence and courage" but his record as ambassador to
Honduras tells a different story. From 1981 to 1985 he earned a
reputation for supporting widespread human rights abuses and campaigns
of terror in Honduras. As ambassador, Negroponte played a key role in
US aid to the Contra death squads in Nicaragua and shoring up the
brutal military dictatorship of General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez in
Honduras.
Days after President Bush appointed Negroponte to the US embassy in
Baghdad, MIT Linguistics professor Noam Chomsky spoke about Negroponte
at a forum in Cambridge. He begins by referring to a Washington Post
article from late April.
* Noam Chomsky, speaking in Cambridge, MA on April 29, 2004
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AMY GOODMAN: After being sworn in on Wednesday, John Negroponte
addressed Secretary of State Colin Powell.
JOHN NEGROPONTE: (from a video clip) Mr. Secretary, I also want to
thank you for your unstinting support over the years. I was proud to
serve as your Deputy on the National Security Council under President
Reagan, and I am proud to serve you here at the Department of State
under President Bush.
AMY GOODMAN: At the ceremony, Secretary of State Colin Powell called
John Negroponte a "pillar of confidence and courage," but his record
as ambassador to Honduras tells a different story. From 1981 to 1985,
he earned a reputation for supporting widespread human rights abuses
and campaigns of terror in Honduras. As ambassador, John Negroponte
played a key role making Honduras the launching ground for the Contra
War in next-door Nicaragua. Days after President Bush appointed
Negroponte to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, M.I.T. Linguistics
professor, Noam Chomsky, spoke about Negroponte at the Cambridge
Forum. He began by referring to a "Washington Post" article from late
April.
NOAM CHOMSKY: The sub-heading - it says: "Negroponte Has Tricky
Mission". Then, the sub-heading is: "Modern Pro Consul". It begins by
saying as ambassador to Honduras in the 1980's, Negroponte was known
as the Pro Consul, a title given to powerful administrators in
colonial times. Now he has been chosen to take up that same role in
Iraq, assuming -- there's one problem -- assuming that the Pentagon is
willing to cede its control. The big question is whether the Pentagon
will control Iraq after they retransfer full sovereignty to them, or
whether the Pro Consul, the Modern Pro Consul will run Iraq the way he
ran Honduras. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but a day or
two after Negroponte's appointment was announced, the government of
Honduras withdrew its forces from Iraq. There are not many, a couple
of dozen, I guess, but it might have been a coincidence. Or maybe they
remember something from what happened there, the kinds of things that
Amy was telling you about. He did have a job -- he had quite an
embassy there, not the size of the one he's going to be running in
Iraq, but in Honduras, which, as you know, is a centerpiece of world
power. He had a huge embassy with 1,000 people. I'm sorry, that's --
he had a huge embassy, and he ran one of the biggest embassies in the
country, in the world, and he also had the biggest C.I.A. station in
the world in Honduras - obviously a terribly important place for the
C.I.A. to concentrate. He had two jobs there. The article explains -
one was to insure that congress didn't get upset about the fact that
the Honduran security forces were carrying out tortures and massacres
of the famous Battalion 316 that Amy was talking about. He had to deny
those so that the military aid would keep coming for him to be able to
carry out his major task, which was, of course, supervising the Contra
Camps in Honduras from which the C.I.A., the Mercenary Army was
attacking Nicaragua - not a small affair. The death toll in Nicaragua
from the U.S. terrorist war based in Honduras per capita relative to
population would be the same as about 2 1/2 million dead in the United
States which turns out to be higher than the total number of American
deaths in all wars in U.S. history, including the Civil War. So, from
the Nicaraguan point of view, this was not a small event. It did lead
to establishing democracy with a gun at their heads after Bus ah
warned them that this was going to go on, unless they vote for our
candidate. This was Bush number 1. The Nicaraguans voted for the U.S.
candidate and were rewarded by that with tremendous applause in the
United States. "The New York Times," ran big headlines saying
"Americans United In Joy" kind of like north Koreans. Americans united
in joy at the victory for U.S. Fair play. You know, that's pretty much
what happened. Since then -- since the U.S. took it over again,
Nicaragua declined to the second poorest country in the hemisphere
after Haiti. Again, by accident, Haiti happens to be the main target
of U.S. military intervention in the 20th century. Nicaragua was
second. But that's just another coincidence. About 60% of the
Nicaraguan children under two are now suffering from severe anemia
from malnutrition. You will guess they probably have permanent brain
damage and half the active labor force is out of the country because
there's no way to survive there. It's described in the "Wall Street
Journal" as an economic miracle where you can buy anything that you
want. That's true. There are 24-hour malls open for people that can
afford it, and then you can buy computers and plenty of great things
-- great place for retired Americans to go. They can live very cheaply
in wonderful mansions and so on. But for children under two, the
prospects are permanent brain damage. That's what we call victory for
democracy. So, that tells you something about the Bushes' Messianic
vision to bring democracy to Iraq using the same experienced official,
and we don't have to go on about the kind of democracy that he wrote
to Honduras or that the present incumbents and their Reaganite phase
brought to the rest of Central America that we're supposed to forget
about.
AMY GOODMAN: Noam Chomsky speaking at the Cambridge Forum in
Massachusetts about the record of John Negroponte. He has just been
sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, presiding over the largest
U.S. Embassy in the world. 1981 to 1985, he presided over the largest
C.I.A. Station in the world in Honduras. This is Democracy Now!
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here
for our new online ordering or call 1 (800) 881-2359.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl
...
(Editors Note : As his confirmation hearings get under way Bush's
nominee for US ambassador to the UN, former U.S. Ambassador to
Honduras, John Negroponte has come under fire for his role in human
right violations during his tenure in Honduras. Below are two letters,
the first "Dear Colleague" by Congresswoman Julia Carson urges fellow
Members of Congress to oppose the nomination. The second "Dear
Senator" reaches out to members of the Senate. The final piece is a AP
account of bodies unearthed at a mass grave site located on a US built
training base in Honduras, from the time period that corresponds with
Former Ambassador Negroponte's tenure there.)
**********
BUSH NOMINATES ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS OFFENDER TO
POSITION OF U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS!
August 7, 2001
Dear Colleague:
I write to you regarding a situation of tremendous concern to our
brothers and sisters in Latin America. Former U.S. Ambassador to
Honduras, John Negroponte, who played a significant role in the
C.I.A.-sponsored terrorism of Hondurans and Nicaraguans during the
Nicaraguan Contra War, has now been nominated by President Bush for
Ambassador to the U.N. During his years in Honduras, Negroponte was
one of the principal figures in carrying out a U.S. policy which was
declared in violation of international covenants by the International
Court of Justice at the Hague in 1986. Specifically, I would like to
share the experience of one Honduran community, Guadelupe Carney,
whose land was transformed into a U.S. military base and detention
center under the supervision of then U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, John
Negroponte. This Regional Military Training Center, (Centro Regional
para el Entrenimiento Militar - CREM) operated during the course of
U.S. intervention in Central America.
During this time; hundreds of U.S. military instructors taught "low
intensity warfare" tactics, such as mass torture training etc. The
CREM also operated a detention center that held many of those
"disappeared" during the war. Guadelupe Carney was named after a North
American Jesuit priest, Fr. James Carney, who was believed to have
passed through the CREM detention center before being moved to another
military base, in Aguacate, where he was assassinated.
Negroponte has been associated with such incidences, and in the mass
torture training, disappearances and assassinations that were part of
the U.S. war against the Nicaraguan government.
With international mistrust of the U.S. at an all-time high, it would
be incredibly contemptuous to have our country represented to the U.N.
by a known human rights obstructor. Negroponte's role in the suffering
and death of thousands of Nicaraguans at the hands of the U.S.-trained
and funded contras as well as his role in the tragic militarization of
Honduras make him shockingly unqualified for the post of ambassador to
an international body which was founded to end conflict and promote
international law and human rights.
I urge you to join in solidarity with our brothers and sisters of
Latin America to oppose this nomination by signing this letter of
concern to Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by close
of business Sept. 5. Attached you will find the letter from Members of
Congress that will be sent to each Senator on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
Sincerely,
Julia Carson MEMBER OF CONGRESS
**********
(Plea to members of Senate)
DRAFT August 15, 2001
Dear Senator:
Former Ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte has been nominated for
the position of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. With the recent
ejection of the United States from the UN human rights panel, it would
be highly egregious for the U.S. to make a known human rights
obstructer our representative to the United Nations. We, the
undersigned Members of Congress, write to urge you to oppose the
nomination of John Negroponte.
As U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from 1981 and 1985, Negroponte oversaw
the cover-up of human rights violations by Honduran military and CIA
in the region. In particular, he helped conceal from Congress the
murder, kidnapping and torture abuses of a CIA-equipped and trained
Honduran military unit, Battalion 3-16. No mention of these human
rights violations ever appeared in State Department Human Rights
reports for Honduras.
Honduran Congressman Efrain Diaz Arrivillaga complained to Negroponte
on numerous occasions about the Honduran military's human rights
abuses to no avail. Rick Chidester, a junior Embassy Official under
Negroponte, was forced to omit all human rights violations from his
1982 State Department report. Former Battalion 3-16 commander General
Luis Alonso Discua Elvir, who has publicly claimed to have information
linking Negroponte to the Battalion's activity, was kicked out of the
U.S. in February, shortly after Negroponte's nomination was decided.
We urge you to summon the testimony of these three individuals, in
particular General Discua, and proactively research others involved
whose testimony might be valuable in Negroponte's confirmation
hearings. In addition to their testimony, we insist that you consult
the classified 211 page report entitled "Report of Investigation:
Selected Issues Relating to CIA Activities in Honduras in the 1980's,
96-0125-IG," which CIA Inspector General Frederick P. Hitz released on
August 27, 1997.
Though John Negroponte has support from the diplomatic community, his
actions as Ambassador to Honduras render him completely unqualified
for the post of ambassador to the international body which was founded
to end conflicts and promote international law and human rights. The
facts will speak for themselves. Please take the time to consider them.
Signers thus far:
Wynn, Towns, McKinney, Waters, Carson, Conyers (Members US Congress)
**********
More Bodies Found at Contra Base Updated: Fri, Aug 31 1:01 PM EDT
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - After days of intense digging, forensic
researchers have uncovered the remains of 15 people in a former U.S.
base used to train the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980s.
Working under the watchful eye of human rights groups and local
prosecutors, the researchers began their search at El Aguacate air
base on Monday and will continue digging for a total of 20 days, then
will conduct laboratory analyses until the end of September.
The federal prosecutor's office expects to find the remains of as many
as 80 of 185 leftists who disappeared between 1979 and 1990. Human
rights groups say some of the disappeared were tortured and buried at
the base. The United States built El Aguacate in 1984 as a training
center for the Contras, who were fighting the leftist Sandinista
regime in neighboring Nicaragua during the 1980s. The base is located
near the border of the two countries, about 80 miles east of Tegucigalpa.
It was turned over to the Honduran military before being abandoned in
1994. Thus far, investigators have identified only one set of remains:
those of Francisco Guzman, a member of the Contras who died when his
plane was forced down by Sandinistas, according to his brother Dennis
Manuel.
Human rights groups have been urging officials to investigate at the
site since 1994. They uncovered three bodies in 1999, but were forced
to curtail their work after the government diverted money to Hurricane
Mitch recovery efforts. Digging resumed Monday.
The list of missing people includes 105 Hondurans, 39 Nicaraguans, 28
Salvadorans, five Costa Ricans, four Guatemalans, two U.S. citizens,
an Ecuadorean and a Venezuelan.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/0573.Negroponte.Allegs.htm
...
To show the world how serious Bush is about making sure that no more
Iraqi prisoners will ever be tortured, the Bush pick for US Ambassador
to Iraq is a qualified expert in the science of torture, with years of
hands on experience.
John Dimitri Negroponte has served as the United States Representative
to the United Nations since September 2001. On April 19, 2004,
President George W. Bush nominated Negroponte to become U.S.
Ambassador to Iraq following the projected June 30, 2004, handover of
sovereignty to as yet undetermined Iraqi authorities. [1] [2]
The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Dick Lugar
(R-Ind.) has backed the nomination and indicated he will work with
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to provide a prompt public hearing
for Negroponte.[3] If confirmed by the Senate, Negroponte would head a
U.S. embassy in Baghdad that will be temporarily housed in a palace
that belonged to Saddam Hussein. When up and running, the embassy will
be the largest in the world, with a diplomatic staff of over 3,000
personnel. [4]
Negroponte's Senate confirmation may be neither smooth nor certain,
due to his complicity in supporting Nicaraguan death squads during the
Iran-Contra affair, and his support of the brutal military
dictatorship of General Gustavo Alvarez Martínez in Honduras.
When, in early 2001, Negroponte was nominated by George W. Bush to be
appointed as United States Representative to the United Nations, human
rights groups opposed, and a concerned Senate questioned, his
nomination, causing a six-month delay in his ulimate appointment,
which was acceeded to after September 11, 2001.
It's outrageous that Negroponte would even be considered as US
Ambassador in Iraq. Here we can see how serious Bush really is about
remedying the systemic torture of Iraqi prisoners by US troops and
private military contractors. It gives us a clue as to what sort of
government the US wants to install there.
Negroponte
http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2004/05/104043.shtml
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