Lara
Afghanistan War Planned (cont'd)
Fri Oct 19 01:08:51 2001


>From something called the Intelligence Newsletter, we have these excrpted
insights into the Harkin funding process, one which reveals further Middle
East ties - again to include Ossama bin Laden, BCCI, and an important name
for us to consider further on in the dialog, The Carlyle Group:

Indeed, among the figures Bush dealt with indirectly when he ran oil
companies was Saudi banker Khaled Bin Mahfouz who, Intelligence Newsletter
has learned, is currently under house arrest in a hospital in Taef at the
behest of the American author-ities. The latter are looking into
contribut-ions Mahfouz is said to have made to welfare associations close
to terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

...In 1987 Mahfouz's representative in the U.S., Abdullah Taha Bakhsh,
acquired an 11.5% stake in a company in which the Bush was a shareholder,
director and adviser, Harken Energy...

...An American banker named Jacksen Stephens who was to also be deeply
involved in the BCCI affair moved in 1987 to invest $25 million in Harken.
The transaction took place in Geneva with the money was paid through a
joint venture set up between the Union des Banques Suisses and the Geneva
branch of the BCCI; the financial accord was signed by both Stephens and
Bakksh. Other links between Bush and Mahfouz can be found through
investments in the Carlyle Group, an American investment firm managed by a
board on which former president George Bush himself sat. The younger Bush
personally held shares in one of the components of the Carlyle group, the
Caterair company, between 1990-94. And Carlyle today ranks as a leading
contributor to Bush's electoral campaign. On Carlyle's advisory board
figures the name of Sami Baarma, director of the Pakistani financial
establishment Prime Commercial Bank that is based in Lahore and owned by
Mafouz."

We might wonder exactly how Harken could capture the lucrative and prized
contract for the Bahrain oil explorations. If it did not involve the
intelligence community or Presidential favors, and was not related to the
looming regional threat of invasion by Iraq, then what? The powerful Amoco
oil company had been negotiating for the rights to this prize since 1987.
All bets were that they would win hands down, but instead, Harken, a small
upstart with no useful capital reserves or assets and no operational
history winds out. What happened? We might get some insights from this
December 6, 1991 Wall Street Journal excerpt (italics added) from an
article by Thomas Petzinger Jr., Peter Truell, and Jill Abramson - found at
http://www.freerepubl ic.com (scroll down to find document):

Harken officials, in extensive interviews, maintain that Bahrain wanted a
small company (which contradicts what Bahrain officials were indicating
prior to the decision) that would devote full attention to the project, a
point Bahraini Oil Minister Shirawi confirms. To find one, he turned to a
longtime friend, Michael Ameen, a Houston oil consultant who had worked in
the Mideast for Mobil Corp. and Arabian American Oil Co. (Aramco).

Mr. Ameen represents yet another BCCI notation in the Harken story. As the
head of government relations for Aramco, he says he had close-up dealings
for years with the Saudi royal family and its advisers, including Mr.
Adham, the BCCI principal, who is also a former Saudi intelligence chief
(You don't suppose, that as former intelligence chief for the Saudi's, that
he might not have known and established an excellent working relationship
with the former intelligence chief for the United States, George Bush?) Mr.
Ameen was close enough to the Pharaon family that he recalls meeting a
young Ghaith on his graduation from college.

Mr. Ameen had been a friend for 25 years of Mr. Bakhsh, the large Harken
shareholder (yet another Middle East investor.) But he says that when faced
with having to recommend to Bahrain one small oil company out of the
hundreds to choose from, he chose Harken out of pure serendipity. Within 10
minutes of discussing the matter by phone with Bahrain's oil minister, Mr.
Ameen says, he got a call from one of Harken's investment bankers at
Stephens in Little Rock.

Before long, Mr. Ameen was leading Harken delegations to London and
Bahrain, where, according to the company, Harken officials displayed keen
knowledge of the region's geology and disarmed the Bahrainis with their
open negotiating style.

In the midst of Harken's talks with Bahrain, Mr. Ameen -- simultaneously
working as a State Department consultant -- briefed the incoming U.S.
ambassador to Bahrain, Charles Hostler. Mr. Ameen ultimately received a fee
of about $100,000 from Harken.

So we see a consistent pattern involving Bush Presidencies, Middle-East
investments linked to and through CIA resources, typically to include the
criminally corrupt BCCI bank, said investments both within and without the
oil industry, and political 'investments' of similar construct. And as with
the current war on Afghanistan, it should be pointed out in addition to
these coincidental consistencies, that the same old gang at work now was
present and played key roles in the Gulf War: Bush, of course, albeit the
heir; Colin Powell; Dick Cheney; and James Baker.

Of course, we donít know Harken was (or is) used by CIA, only that CIA
seems to be involved peripherally in every aspect, just as seen for his
Father's companies. But we do know this from excerpts From a HOUSTON, March
15 /PRNewswire/ -- Harken Energy Corporation announced that:

"security issues surrounding its (Harken) Colombian Operations have
increased significantly in the recent past... In addition to these security
issues, the Company has also become the subject of media focus in Colombia
that may further complicate its security position in the country... The
Company is also currently analyzing and upgrading its security procedures
and will initiate immediate action to expand security measures for both
personnel and field operations... Mikel D. Faulkner, Harken's Chairman and
CEO stated, 'Although we expect to continue our efforts in Colombia,
presently, the Company must focus more management time and financial
resources on the recently increased security issues confronting our
personnel and operations.

Columbia is a hot bed of drug king pins known to cause political unrest and
conduct terrorism against US companies (largely in the belief they are CIA
fronts aiding in the ëdrug warí - and in recognition of the fact that one
of their largest competitors in the illicit drug trade is CIA). So the
above may be seen as a ënormalí response to a tough situation perhaps faced
by many American firms in Columbia - or - as worded, it also paints a
picture which is quite suitable to insertion of additional CIA agents and
operatives into the area under cover of ëimproving security."

As I explore the oil profit motive, know that others have explored the drug
profit motive. Afghanistan has only one cash crop, and it is poppy fields
which are used only to make heroin. Once again, it is the same players:
Bush, Cheney, Baker, and CIA - but a whole different set of corporate
players, though they, too, are from the oil industry, and they, too, are
very involved in both the Gulf War and our war on terrorism. For more
information on this angle, please visit this Link.

Bush Sends Money to Taliban

But for now there are still more oil ties to follow. If it helps media to
remember, the US under Bush as President would funnel millions of dollars,
arms, and covert intelligence and other assistance through CIA to help the
Afghani Mujahadene fight Soviet forces in what would prove to be Russia's
Vietnam. While a ëvictoryí, a chief benefactor of all the training,
weapons, and money would prove to be Osama bin Laden, essentially a CIA
backed operative. The establishment of the Taliban was thus assured, thanks
to bin Laden, CIA, and George H.W. Bush.

And just in time to turn, and bite the hand of the son of the man who fed
them? What it is, and what it seems, are often two different things. Since
the war, money continued to flow to the Taliban from the Bush
administrations - both of them, up until the air attacks of 911. Here are
excerpts from TASHKENT, Aug 08, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX)

The George W. Bush administration is to provide additional financial
assistance to the people of Afghanistan... The total volume of U.S.
financial help to Afghanistan will amount to over 132 million dollars this
year. Thus, the USA will become the world's biggest financial source for
Afghanistan.

These investments stopped only after the air attacks of 911? We now know
that as recent as May, Secretary Colin Powell was announcing money for
Afghanistan. $43M in additional assistance, in fact - but within that same
time frame he was secretly making plans for war against Afghanistan? These
two facts fly in the face of logic, unless, of course, there is a broad
covert conspiracy outside of official US government - a shadow government
of profiteers and criminals. Someone is double crossing someone, and
getting paid well for it. The question is how they will get paid.

The trillion dollar oil fields (an arbitrary dollar estimate, perhaps) in
Iran and the pipeline to serve it may be financial incentive enough for
such a double cross, but there is an icing to the cake. Everybody makes
money in a war - if they are a part of the military industrial intelligence
media complex (MIIM - a term I first coined in 1996 in my unpublished book,
Fatal Rebirth). But some people want more than their fair share. Just in
time for a looming oil shortage caused by the conflict, which always spells
profits in the oil industry, certain CIA entwined oil industry players are
shifting into high gear...

The Bush-bin Laden investments in Harken Energy didnít really seem to go
anywhere, the company certainly not immediately taking advantage of its
Middle-East oil leases except to attract investors. After all, it was a
land drilling operation when founded, and had no experience, expertise, or
floating drill rigs. But a ënewí focus was established for Harken Energy
once it was put the hands of a ëblind trustí as required when entering
public office. This new direction was to enter into offshore exploration,
regardless of any inherent abilities or resources to do so. But it happens
you can subcontract such things. One such company you can subcontract with
is Global Marine.


Oil Companies Poised for War Profits

Who is Global Marine? A company which coincidentally was formed within
months of the formation of CIA, and which was essentially a Union Oil
holding by the time it got rolling. In 1973 it undertook a contract for CIA
to design, have built, and operate the Glomar Explorer (virtually all
Global Marine vessels are named Glomar something or other.) Construction
was contracted to be undertaken at Howard Hughes Shipyards.

Glomar Explorer & Howard Hughes' HK-1 (Spruce Goose)

Howard was, along with his immense corporate wealth, by now himself largely
at the disposal of CIA interests, best seen perhaps by diversion of part of
his TWA Airline Holdings to CIA proprietorship in the form of what would
eventually become Evergreen Corporation. Evergreen even wound up with
Howard's most prized possession, the Spruce Goose flying boat, now in a
museum an hours drive from where I type this. Another example is the Hughes
Medical Center in Florida which retained the name, but became the favorite
haunt of mysterious guests, many of whom checked in never to be seen again
in their original persona or state of being. Take that any way you like,
and it would be correct (for more on Hughes and CIA, see Jim Hougan, Spooks.)

1973 was a magical year, for it marked not only CIA ties to the company,
but a long 18 year period where the company did not make a profit,
according to the Corporate web site. One might ask how a major corporation
could survive 18 years of red ink, and still continually add new ships to
its inventory, which it dispatched to points around the world. The answer
might have to do with bottomless CIA funding (why the name Evergreen was
selected for CIA's Airline, Iím told ), and the need to have cover
operations near hot spots where agents might need to be inserted, listening
posts and supply lines established, and emergency extraction made easy.

This can certainly be argued by those disposed to protest the notion as
mere speculation - but one stark fact fuels this speculation. CIA lost the
right to have and endlessly fund proprietaries in 1984 - and so, a few
years later, Glomar Marine filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. This
effectively neutralized debt while keeping the firm and its ships afloat,
and when considered with the prior 18 year financial red ink magic,
certainly gives one pause to consider.

Miraculously, the company instantly took off once more, almost as if there
had never been any downturn in its business. Something about a
Bush-CIA-driven Gulf War and oil crises at the time seems to have played a
role - a war which was, by the way, on the heels of record low prices for
crude (which seemed to have no useful impact on the high prices at the
pump, which would skyrocket anyway with the war.) Remember that formula:
Low Crude Price = War = High Crude Price = Profits.

Of course, CIA also directly helped Global Marine's finances even in the
tough times and beyond, in that it continued to pay them handsomely for the
Glomar Explorer's operation through 1995 - but this also insured CIA ties
remained within the corporate umbrella. Of course, this begs the question -
did CIA walk away from a good thing just because the contract expired?
Perhaps that question can be answered by the reader once seeing where
history is taking us.

Especially with respect to that Gulf War. Looking back, how might Kuwait
adequately thank the US - specifically to thank CIA for manipulating
American public opinion and other favors, the Bush family, and friends?
Well it may have actually started right after the war, and if so, it would
seem to continue to this day - but the answer will need to be unfolded
slowly... by jumping ahead to the aftermath of 911.

As with the period just prior to the Gulf War, the price of crude has now
dropped dramatically. An article in the Sept. 26 US Today says about oil
prices based on OPECs decision not to cut production (and thus drive prices
even lower):

Suspicion they would do that sent prices to new lows Tuesday, as investors
tried to get ahead of the news, says Cameron Hanover Daily Energy Hedger
newsletter. That was after a huge sell-off Monday, which resulted in the
biggest 1-day drop in crude-oil prices since the Gulf War in January 1991

Well, at last - here is ONE media source that has a memory, but they donít
quite draw the full conclusion: The price of crude dropped BECAUSE of the
911 attack, which has chopped both aviation and ground fuel consumption
dramatically. Remember the formula? Low Crude Price = War = High Crude
Price = Profits! Perhaps it is time for another war to drive the price of
crude back up?

Well, if it is, then it might be time to do something really interesting if
you are an oil industry player - like for Global Marine to merge with Sate
Fe Industries, an American company which happens to have been a sole
proprietorship of the Kuwaiti Petroleum Corporation. You guessed it - an
interesting little investment in the American oil industry by Kuwait, one
which might be seen as a thank you in the context of our earlier question.

Who is Santa Fe? Well, coincidentally, it is another company which grew
from a Union Oil beginning and which was founded in, coincidentally, in
1946 within months of the founding of CIA. Unlike Global Marine, Santa Fe
specialized in land drilling rigs - until about the time that it became a
wholly owned subsidiary of, coincidentally, Kuwaiti Petroleum Corporation
in 1981. Like Global, it enjoyed dramatic success, even in the time frame
that Global was sinking into the sea of Chapter 11.

Now one unusual feature of this particular Kuwaiti firm doing business in
America, is that it is neither incorporated and operated out of America

• Afghanistan War Planned (Cont'd..) — Lara, Fri Oct 19 01:14