Perkins John. The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption
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British politicians, diplomats and civil servants began a campaign—
in their own words—"to maintain the pretence there were no
permanent inhabitants" on the islands. This was vital, because proper
residents would have to be recognized as people "whose democratic
rights have to be safeguarded" .. . The inhabitants therefore became
non-people.
35
Many of the islanders were hustled across the water to
neighboring Seychelles. England then leased an "uninhabited"
Diego Garcia to the U.S. government. In exchange, Washington
offered the British an $11 million subsidy on Polaris submarine
technology. The
236THE "NON-PEOPLES" OF DIEGO GARCIA
lives of island inhabitants and their homes had been valued at
about $600 a person.
The Pentagon rushed ahead to build its military base.
Developed to house B-52S and, later, the radar-evading B-2
(Stealth) heavy bombers, it would play a key role in U.S. empire
building, serving as a staging site for forays into the Middle East,
India, and Afghanistan, as well as Africa.
Despite its strategic importance, Diego Garcia remained low-
profile, a relatively unknown U.S. presence off the coast of
Africa. Few people are aware that protecting it was justification
for one of the most blatant assassination attempts ever undertaken
by CIA-sponsored jackals.
James Mancham had been elected the Seychelles' first
president after independence was declared on June 29, 1976. His
primary contact with Washington and London was by way of
South Africa, a staunch corporatocracy ally. Through the South
Africans, Mancham made it clear that he supported the Diego
Garcia deal; he offered to quietly absorb displaced islanders and
understood that he and his cronies would enjoy personal benefits
from the nearby military base. In the process, he also infuriated
many of his countrymen.
Seychelles citizens placed a high value on their newfound
nationalism. This sense of pride caused a backlash against
Mancham. I n addition to resenting his deference to the United
States and the United Kingdom, the islanders abhorred the role
their government had played in forcing their neighbors off their
lands, and resented the influx of people who threatened to take
their jobs and disrupt established social patterns. While Mancham
was visiting London, Prime Minister France-Albert Rene decided
to act. In a bloodless 1977 coup, he overthrew the president. He
then embarked on a program the BBC hailed as "aimed at giving
poorer people a greater share of the country's wealth."
36
He also
proclaimed that Diego Garcia islanders should be allowed to
return to their homeland and voiced his objections to a U.S.
military base in Africa's backyard.
237
Washington flew into a frenzy, one that was kept invisible
from the voting public. While Jack Corbin was honing his skills
in Rhodesia, the corporatocracy plotted against Rene.
I was brought into the planning as Jack's EHM equivalent,
ready to take action once our leaders decided which route to
follow: subterfuge or assassination. Though in the end I was never
asked, as Jack was, to act against Rene, I was privy to
conversations that illuminate the depths to which the U.S.
government will sink to maintain its power base.
45
Assassinating a President
Jack Corbin was watching the turmoil in Seychelles from
Rhodesia. Gen. Chuck Noble and his friends in what Eisenhower
had defined as the military-industrial complex were watching
from Washington.
"Rene's chatter about helping the destitute is BS," Chuck said.
The former commanding general of the U.S. Army Engineer
Command in Vietnam had enjoyed a meteoric rise at MAIN—
from project manager to vice president to heir apparent to CEO
Mac Hall—in a dizzying couple of years. Despite my history of
avoiding the draft by joining the Peace Corps, he had taken me
under his wing. I was certain he had seen my National Security
Agency recruitment files; he valued me as a loyal EHM.
Whenever we traveled together to Washington, he invited me to
stay at the exclusive Army and Navy Club. This was one of those
times. We were sharing dinner in the formal dining room with
two other retired generals and one retired admiral—all working
for firms that did the corporatocracy's bidding.
"Rene's a Soviet puppet," Chuck continued. "He's got one mis-
sion. Throw us the hell out of Diego Garcia and turn it over to the
Russians. Then he'll invite the Cubans to join the Muscovites and
pretty soon the whole damn continent turns red."
The four military men questioned me extensively about my
nonviolent successes in places like Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. I
was impressed by the pragmatism of generals and admirals.
Unlike many politicians, they seemed to want to avoid warfare if
at all possible. Although the late seventies were a time when
political coups and assassinations against leftist leaders were
accepted Cold War weapons, high-ranking members of the armed
forces seemed more dedicated to the rule of law than their
counterparts in Congress and
239THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN
EMPIRE
the White House. Perhaps they had learned from experience
that violence begets more violence; possibly they feared that
condoning such actions in other countries might lead to similar
strategies in their own that could backfire against them; or maybe
somewhere deep in their conscience they recalled the oaths they
had taken to defend democracy.
The admiral observed that Rene seemed "determined to follow
in Allende and Prat's footsteps."*
37
All three generals immediately gave him stern glances. "Let's
not go there," one of them murmured. The conversation returned
to approaches that might be employed to bring Rene around to our
side. I was told to be prepared to fly to Seychelles at a moment's
notice.
One of the generals assigned a handsome young protege the
job of developing a relationship with the wife of a top Seychelles'
diplomat. The general had observed during the course of several
cocktail parties that she—in her mid-thirties—seemed bored by a
husband who was nearly twice her age. Sex as a tool of espionage
is not limited to professionals like the geishas I had met in
Jakarta. In my experience it is used with stunning results by a
variety of men and women in the service of building empire.
Confidences are betrayed during the heat of passion. A common
ploy for an EHM is to invoke love (or sex) as an excuse to plead
for inside information in order to help his or her "official" career.
"I just need a little information in order to get that promotion,"
goes the argument, or the more desperate, "I'm afraid I'll lose my
job if I can't find a way to help my boss learn something, just a
tidbit of news about. . ." When all else fails, blackmail usually
brings results; while spouses may lack access to the amounts of
cash perceived necessary to pay off an extortionist, they almost
always can provide information.
* The assassination of Gen. Carlos Prat, commander of the Chilean army, shortly after
that of President Allende, foreshadowed Operation Condor, a coordinated effort by
six South American military governments and U.S. jackals to hunt down and kill
oppo nents of the extreme right.
240ASSASSINATING A P.RESIDENT
My initial meeting with the generals and admiral was followed
by others in Washington and Boston. Although the individuals
sometimes changed, the profiles of those attending remained the
same: influential members of the military retired into high corpo-
rate positions or their understudies. Chuck attended several but,
always one to delegate, often left me to move forward on my
own.
The general with the handsome young protege had a long
association with Diego Garcia and initiated many of the meetings.
He reported back that his protege was making progress, although
not as quickly as had been expected. "He says she's horny as a cat
in heat, but wants to be assured that he loves her." The general
smirked at me. "I think your female counterparts have it easier
than you guys. At least they did in my case. I never demanded
love, just wanted to get inside the lady's panties. The difference
between men and women I guess. Hell, I'd hand over the keys to
the Pentagon for the right piece of ass."
Finally the protege had what the general referred to as "the
breakthrough we've been waiting for." The woman began to con-
fide in him. Eventually he reported back the opposite of what we
wanted to hear: Rene would not be bought off. Still worse, he was
planning to go public with the clandestine removal of the inhabit-
ants from Diego Garcia. "The lady says he's a very determined
man, maybe even an idealist." The general sighed. "Rene's talking
about a 'conspiracy'—apparently that's the word he uses:
conspiracy—going to spill the beans about the little game played
by London and Washington to make it look as though that place
was never occupied by those couple thousand ex-slaves. He's
pushing us to the limit."
I never knew how far up the chain of command this
information went or how many other people were involved in
attempting to corrupt the Seychelles' president. At that time,
besides being considered for the Seychelles case, I was bogged
down in my own efforts to bring Torrijos of Panama and Roldos
of Ecuador around. Because they refused to comply, these two
Latin leaders died in plane crashes,
241
CIA-orchestrated assassinations, before midyear 1981. In
November of that same year, the EHMs were pulled off the
Seychelles case. The order none of us wanted to hear was given.
Jack Corbin and a group of elite mercenaries were sent in to
assassinate President Rene.
46
The Highjacking of an Air India 707
"We assembled a team of about forty top-notch jackals in
Durban, South Africa." Jack said. "Our cover was the 'Ancient
Order of the Froth Blowers,' a rugby-playing, beer-quaffing
charity that brought Christmas toys to the children of the
Seychelles, which happens to be predominantly Catholic. The
plan was pretty straightforward. We would split up and then re-
assemble in Swaziland, fly in a Royal Swazi jet to Victoria, the
capital city on the island of Mahe, and proceed to our hotels
where we would meet up with the advance team, including a few
women who had been hand-selected to cull out vital information
from higher-ups.
"Our weapons and gear were cached on the island, so we
didn't have to worry about being caught at customs, either in
Swaziland or Mahe. This was really important to the guys. We
were told there was a Seychellois movement, mostly local cops,
ready to help out and act as our guides. But all the fighting would
be up to us.
"The main opposition would come from several hundred
Tanza-nian soldiers brought in by Rene and stationed near the
airport. Rhodesian experience taught us that the Tanzoons were
serious fighters, tough and tenacious, real threats, especially since
they outnumbered us five or six to one. On the appointed night,
early in the morning, four of us would creep into their barracks
while they slept and machine-gun the lot of them. This would
signal the uprising. We'd then take the radio station and the
presidential palace simultaneously, and blast a prerecorded
message from Mancham across the airwaves announcing his
return to power. He'd call on his people to stay inside and remain
calm.
243THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN
EMPIRE
"The Kenyan Army would have an aircraft loaded with para-
troopers standing by in Nairobi. Once the radio station call went
out, they'd go airborne, arriving shortly after first light to put an
African face on the coup, take the credit for all the mischief.
Before the press arrived, we'd quietly disappear, flying
commercial airliners back to South Africa."
The jackal team never got within sight of the presidential
palace. The plan fell apart at the Mahe airport when a security
guard spotted an assault rifle that one of the team members had
stowed in his luggage. At the last moment, some of them had
been told to bring weapons, but why he had been so careless in
packing would be a matter of intense speculation for years to
come.
A furious gun battle ensued. Jack described it as one of the
rare experiences in his career when he felt he might not escape
with his life—and had time to think about it. "We were
surrounded there in the airport. We had only a few magazines for
our weapons, from the accomplices who'd been waiting for us and
one or two grabbed from airport security. We captured more
weapons and ammo from the troops we ambushed who were
rushing back to their barracks on the other side of the airport.
Some of the guys attacked the Tan-zanian barracks, but that
attempt failed. There was a lot of fighting throughout the night. It
was getting pretty desperate, as more Tan-zoons were moving in."
Then one of his team up in the control tower heard an Air
India commercial jetliner requesting permission to land, while
asking why the runway lights were off. The mercenaries
immediately turned on the lights and granted the pilot permission
to land, explaining that the lights had been out due to "technical
problems, now resolved."
"There was a telephone discussion between us and the
Seychel-lois authorities. They agreed to a cease-fire if we would
board the aircraft and leave the island. Most of us favored
climbing on that damn plane; with daylight only an hour away,
surrounded, and hearing that Russian warships had arrived in the
harbor or were on
244THE HIGHJACKING OF AN AIR INDIA 707
the way, I didn't see any other option. The decision was made
to go. We refueled the plane, a Boeing 707, loading the body of
one of our men who had been killed earlier, along with most of
the personal gear into the cargo bay. Several guys decided to stay
behind rather than face the possibility of being sitting ducks in an
airplane. The rest of us boarded; as we took off the Tanzanians
and Seychellois did their best to shoot us down, filling the sky
with tracers in a wild send-off. Next stop was Durban, South
Africa. When the dust settled, we had one dead, seven of us
missing, captured, and taken prisoner, including one of the
women accomplices."
On landing in Durban, the Air India plane was surrounded by
South African security forces. Radio contact was made and the
head of security soon discovered that the plane had been
commandeered by his buddies. Jack surrendered, along with the
rest of the team. After a brief prison stay, he was quietly released.
The Seychelles government arrested the seven they had captured
at the airport. Charges against the woman were dropped. Four of
the men were sentenced to death; the other two to prison terms of
ten and twenty years. The South African government immediately
opened negotiations for their release. In the end, it was reported
that Pretoria paid the Seychelles $3 million to set them free, or
$500,000 each.
Although ostensibly a failure, the Seychelles Case amounted
to a corporatocracy success. Despite extensive media coverage of
the highjacking and subsequent trials, the United States and
Britain managed to avoid most of the controversy; South Africa
took the heat. Rene, who had posed such a threat, became more
cooperative, tempering his policies toward Diego Garcia,
Washington, London, and Pretoria; he remained in power for
another three decades, until 2004 when his former vice president,
James Michel, won a five-year term in national elections The U.S.
military base continues to play a significant role in Africa, Asia,
and the Middle East.
It is a standing joke among jackals that their value is clearly
defined: about ten times that of the average Diego Garcia islander.
245
47
An Environmentalist Is Executed
The Seychelles story is a dramatic case of an attempted
assassination of a head of state—particularly remarkable because
it involved a massive force of mercenaries and resulted in the
highjacking of a commercial airliner. It also underscores the fact
that such tactics generally are undertaken only when EHMs have
failed.
In Africa, the EHM failures are many; therefore,
assassinations have played a major role in the politics of that
continent. Although most have been conducted in secret, some
have taken the guise of legal executions. Perhaps the most famous
in this category is that of Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian environmentalist and member of
the Ogoni tribe who led the movement against the exploitation of
his homeland by oil companies. In 1994 he was interviewed by
Amy Goodman on Paciflca radio station WBAI, New York:
Ken Saro-Wiwa: [Shell Oil Company] decided they should keep an eye
on me, and watch wherever I go to. Follow me constantly to ensure
that I do not embarrass Shell. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm a
marked man . . . Early this year, on the second of January to be
precise, I was placed under house arrest with my entire family for
three days. In order to stop a planned protest against Shell—300,000
Ogoni people were going to move to protest the devastation of the
environment by Shell and the other multinational oil companies. . ..
All they did was simply send the military authorities to my house.