Old CIA trick used in Latin America
Prologue
"Early in 1981, the Roldos administration formally presented his new hydrocarbons law to the Ecuadorian Congress. If implemented, it would reform the country's relationship to oil companies...He died in a fiery airplane crash on May 24, 1981...
[In Panama, General] Torrijos...adamantly refused to give in to the Reagan administration's demands to renegotiate the Canal Treaty. Two months after Roldos's death, Omar Torrijos's nightmare came true; he died in a plane crash. It was July 31, 1981"
John Perkins, former economist, MAIN, Inc.
Act One
"Rove has past ties with Ashcroft as an adviser to the former Missouri
senator's political campaigns. A company that Rove controlled was
reportedly paid more than $300,000 by Ashcroft's 1994 Senate campaign
for direct mail and other services, according to a New York Times
report. Rove also reportedly played a role in two earlier Ashcroft
campaigns for governor. "
Village Voice, Oct 2003
"Small pieces of plane and human remains were scattered over a large
area in rocky and densely wooded terrain. Democrats, in particular,
were stunned by the loss. Mr Carnahan was a two-term Governor who was
hugely popular in the party. Politically, moreover, he died at a
crucial time. His race against Senator Ashcroft, a darling of the
conservative Christians, was among the most closely contested in the
country.
The Independent, Oct 2000
Act Two
"Paul Wellstone is a hunted man. Minnesota's senior senator is not
just another Democrat on White House political czar Karl Rove's target
list, in an election year when the Senate balance of power could be
decided by the voters of a single state. Rather, getting rid of
Wellstone is a passion for Rove, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush "
The Nation, May 2002
"The mangled remains of the plane in which Sen. Paul Wellstone died
were so badly damaged by the impact and subsequent fire that some key
clues to help investigators understand the cause of the crash appear
to have been lost."
CNN, Oct 2002
Act Three
"Karl Rove has threatened a GOP high-tech guru and his wife, if he
does not "'take the fall' for election fraud in Ohio." ...[Mike]
Connell and his firm are currently employed by the John McCain
campaign."
The Huffington Post, July 2008
"A single-prop, private airplane crashed next to a vacant house on
Charolais Street Northwest Friday evening, exploding into flames and
killing the pilot. Michael Connell, 45, of Bath Township, was alone
in the plane, according to State Highway Patrol Lt. Eric Sheppard."
Akron Beacon Journal, December 19th 2008
More coverage:
CBS
DemocracyNow
That Amy Goodman & Mark Crispin Miller interview in Democracy Now is worth a read.
I dread Rec'ing this, and commenting, as it risks triggering the eloquence of the numerous ANTI-conspiracy theorists out there... However, it being Christmas, and the guy being dead, fark it.
Thanks for the post, and the links.
December 25, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm rec'ing this just because it's interesting to contemplate the fortuitous confluence of accidents as regards the conservative agenda. Definitely recommend reading the Democracy now interview. That said, the hardest part for me to believe in this or any conspiracy theory remains my reluctance to believe that the alleged perpetrators are smart enough and organized enough to pull it off.
December 25, 2008 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Small planes goes down every day. I do not buy this.
December 25, 2008 5:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
OH! Then it could not have been intentional. Hey, thanks for discouraging us from asking any questions about this.
December 26, 2008 1:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
it's fine to ask questions, but the police are supposed to conduct investigations and determine one way or the other whether someone was a murder victim or an accident victim. in the case of a plane crash that is not always easy to do, but that fact doesn't help us establish any other facts.
In terms of likelihood, I rate a murder of Senator Paul Wellstone as much less likely than the murder of someone who might be an informant about stolen elections. Nobody is afraid of a single Senator. Especially not a Senator whose own party often abandoned him and left him to be the lone voice of sanity. That kind of person is already marginalized, there is no need to kill him or her. I also don't think it likely anyone would kill a governor so that Ashcroft could win an election. They have plenty of jobs to give Ashcroft, as was shown by what happened after he lost.
But killing Connell might have mattered, if his death keeps people out of federal prison. So by all means an investigation should be done.
December 26, 2008 1:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
You can ask questions and I subscribe to Tigger's comment. Paul W was a statesman in a long line of statesman from Minnesota, Humphrey, Mondale, Eugene McCarthy, Frazier...The loss for me was emotional. Like I lost a brother.
Do government operatives kill people internationally? That has been established.
But more than just the Big Bopper died in plane crashes in this neck of the woods. And government had nothing to do with it.
I didn't mean to blow you off.
December 26, 2008 3:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
History will shed light on much long after we are gone. A quick glance through the history of all governments, especially empires, is fraught with murder. The rate of murder increases as power is consolidated into dynasties. Of course, a secret police culled from military elite is the usual killer.
The irony is that the citizens of the old empires were well aware of these intrigues. Now, with the advent of a free press, modern people are trained not to believe in conspiracies, cartels, and political murder/espionage.
What is OPEC if not a cartel? What is the Fed if not a cartel? What is the WTO if not a consortium? When certain politicians died, what legislation passed along party lines that benefitted these cartels?
It is not madness to see the world for what it is. Competition requires scheming, alliances, and conspiracies. Progress comes from improving liberty, enhancing equality, and minimizing the machinations of the power mad elites. But simply look at the concerted efforts it took to drive us into Iraq and you see conspiracy writ large.
Merry Christmas from the Black Irom Prison.
December 25, 2008 8:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess the question is, how often have conservative politicians/operatives died in such sabotage-friendly circumstances at moments where this provided crucial advantages to liberal causes?
Accidents happen, and you can expect that they will happen randomly enough to kill people on both sides at critical points. If that's not how things shake out, though, then there are prima facie grounds to doubt that it's entirely random.
December 26, 2008 10:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
John Kennedy Jr was getting ready to enter politics. He couldn't do it while his mother was alive; she was terrified of him being killed if he did.
December 27, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink