What's far more difficult to discover is the nexus of
funding and support. As Hal Holbrook famously said in 'All the President's
Men,' "Follow the Money."
Much is hidden and protected by law but there are some
investigative reporters who have done some good work. The best way to sift
through it is when you find something of interest...keep looking and find some
more sources. Be careful. There are a lot of disreputable sources. I'm
disreputable too, but what I mean is, watch out for unreliable people like Alex
Jones who like Glenn Beck mix some truth with a lot of error and wild
supposition. In the end they do a lot of harm because they end up discrediting
the tidbits of truth they have picked up on. Sometimes you're dealing with
circumstantial evidence which is problematic and often inconclusive, but there are
indeed times it becomes overwhelming.
But beware of leaps of logic, the error in most conspiracy
theories. I don't believe there's a conspiracy here per se. The conspiracies in
our society are mostly open. Most of the time they're not secret, they're just
quiet and far too complicated for the average person to see. They're too busy
stuffing their faces, listening to degenerates like Toby Keith or Miley Cyrus,
shopping and watching the idiot box. The handful of people that read history or
current events are often doing it with political motivation and are more
interested propaganda. Our culture has erected a pretty impressive mental and
spiritual wall that prohibits people from getting through and understanding
what really make it all work and the nature of the power that dominates it.
It's really a spiritual problem. The Bible has been twisted. As a former
Christian Rightist I can testify to this. But the Holy Spirit can open our eyes
and soften our hearts....
There are those who see more organization than what actually
exists and there are also those who are very naive concerning human nature.
Many people foolishly believe that people are generally good at heart. The
Bible teaches the exact opposite. When power is involved there are quite
literally no limits to what man is capable of.
We know what people are after, namely power. That's all
money is in the end. It's simply the means. In American society how do many
powerful business sectors and Right-wing ideologues go about acquiring it?
What's in their toolbox? What's their blueprint? How do they find allies? How
can they build their political power and make money at the same time? Political
victories will enable them to make even more money at which point they can go
after bigger political victories. And on it goes....
The Think Tanks are one of the most powerful tools available
to those who would accumulate and expand power.
Heritage played a key role in shaping the Reagan foreign
policy. Their 'Mandate for Leadership' was something of a blueprint for his
administration. While not slavishly followed the main ideas were acted on and
implemented. And a lot of people grew very rich through the implementation of
these plans. The War Machine cashed in and many Americans who invested in it
expanded and enriched their portfolios.
Though he denied knowledge of Iran-Contra, Reagan was on the
record wanting to support the Contras in Nicaragua. In addition he was active
in backing the government of El Salvador. This is undisputed and this uptick
and escalation in the Cold War was orchestrated by Heritage. If you watch their
promo videos on YouTube you can see they're quite proud of it. They believe the
implementation of their policies led to the end of the Cold War.
Of course I don't accept the narrative that the
Reagan-Thatcher-John Paul triad won the Cold War. Not for a second. I don't
accept that SDI (also floated at least in part by Heritage) made the Soviets
tremble and the arms race broke their economy. This is fantasy.
Nor do I believe the United States 'defeated' the Soviet
Union. The Soviet Union collapsed on its own and in all actuality would have imploded
even sooner if it were not for Reagan. When Brezhnev died they were ready to
put in someone like Gorbachev but a saber-rattling cowboy had taken over the US
presidency and they felt they had to protect themselves. So instead of a
reformer they appointed the ex-KGB Andropov. The following year, 1983 was one
of the most dangerous of the entire Cold War. There were three 'warm' points to
the Cold War where it almost turned hot, '62, '73, and 1983. This was the year
of the Evil Empire speech, SDI, KAL 007 and Able Archer.
In addition to a battlefield of spies and technology the
Cold War was a series of endless and very destructive proxy wars. Heritage formally
encouraged this and their policies did much to foment and expand these
conflicts. That's not controversial. That was their policy. It's on the record
in their documents. Many of these proxy wars were barely noticed by the
American public, were certainly misunderstood, and today are largely forgotten.
One terrible episode was taking place in Southern Africa and was generated by
the Portuguese coup in the 1970's. The Fascist government backed by the United
States collapsed and the African colonies entered an open civil war. In Angola
there were three factions, two backed by American interests, one by the
Soviets.
Michael Johns represented the Heritage Foundation in Angola
and was very tight with the militia leader Jonas Savimbi. Heritage actively
supported his UNITA and advocated for them in the White House.
At one point Citizens for America (a Heritage affiliated
group) held a big internationalist gathering at UNITA's HQ in Jamba, Angola. Jack
Abramoff, Oliver North, Calero the leader of the Contras, Mujahideen leaders,
some investment bankers and other Reagan allies were all in attendance. Later
in addition to Heritage's Michael Johns, Savimbi would be visited by the not
yet famous Grover Norquist. This gathering also spawned Abramoff's IFF group
which acted as a pro-South African lobbyist in the United States and worked to
discredit Mandela's ANC.
If you're not familiar with Savimbi you nevertheless know
the type. We're talking nasty stuff....blood diamonds, child soldiers....lovely
Christian causes right? Pat Robertson thought so. He thought Savimbi was great,
Mobutu and Charles Taylor as well. These folks were coming to Washington in the
80's to shake hands with our great cowboy president. In previous writings I've
mentioned a couple times I saw Mobutu of Zaire/Congo in a hotel on one his
Washington visits in the 80's. It's not every day you get to see an African
dictator in the flesh.