1984

national bipartisan commission of Central America
Report came out on Jan 11th. It conscluded there was a crisis and the US must act to meet it. Military, political, economic and social aspects of the crisis cannot be considered independently of each other – indigenous reform is not a security threat to the US. The true threat is the intrusion of aggressive outside powers exploiting the local grievances to expand their own political influence and military controls.
Recommended - $8bn of US aid over 5 years. Increase military aid to El Salvador and linked to human rights, elections etc. Continue campaign waged by contras. Reagan to meet Central American leaders to plan economic development. Us consider using force against Nicaraguan government as a “last resort” if it refused to stop supporting guerrilla movements in other countries. Against use of US military forces to fight in Central America.

NATO and Warsaw Pact limitation talks started 17th January.

As early as February, Reagan’s national Security advisor Robert C McFarlane had suggested to other administration officals that one way to fund the contras would be to encourage other countries to contribute support.

The last of a series of Boland amendments was passed to reduce CIA aid to the Contras. This last one was intended to cut it off completely. However, Wlliam Casey (CIA Director) is already prepared to “hand off” the operation to Col. Oliver North. North illegally continues supplying the contras through the CIA’s informal, secret, and self-financing network. This includes “humanitarian aid” donated by Adolph Coors and William Simon, and military aid funded by Iranian arms sales. DATE?

By May McFarlane had convinced one of these countries, Saudi Arabia, to contribute $1m a month to the contra cause. McFarlane instructed his “trusted assistant” on the national security council (NSC) Lt Col Oliver L North to arrange for a covert bank account to move the Saudi funds into contra hands.
The Saudi contributions came just as it was clear that congress would not increase direct US support for the contras. From April it became known that the CIA had secretly mined Nicaraguan harbours. This went on to bugger up any chance of congress lifting its $24m contra aid cap. According to McFarlane, Reagan instructed him, and he passed it on to North, that the NSC staff had to keep the contras alive “body and soul”.

March 1984
Rumsfeld’s second meeting with SH in March 1984. The state department had expressed concern about Iraq’s use of chemical weapons, Rumsfeld was silent on the matter with SH – though claims he told Tariq Aziz that the international community took a dim view of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. Clearly indicating that it wasn’t a significant issue for the administration.
March 30th 1984 – UNSC made a condemnation of chemical weapons to Iraq.
“In March 1984 the UN secretary general submitted an experts’ report to the Security Council on Iraq’s use of chemical weapons...but the US took no significant actions to support its allies. The State Dept did meet with Nizar Hamdoon, Iraq’s ambassador to the US, to discuss how the SC might handle the issue in a way that would cause the fewest objections in Baghdad. The Iraqis did not want the SC to adopt a resolution on the matter (which would have been legally consequential) and asked instead for US support in limiting any Security Council action to a statement by the council’s president. The Reagan administration obliged and the Iraqis got the outcome they desired. At the UN Human Rights commission, the Reagan Administration went a step further and actively opposed a resolution condemning Iraq’s use of chemical weapons.” Peter W. Galbraith

June 1984
June 25th Casey and McFarlane at meeting of National Security Planning Group – consisting of Reagan, Bush, Casey, McFarlane, Shultz, Weinberger, UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, chairman of the JCS John Vassey, and Meese – broached the subject of increaisng third country contributions to the contras.
Shultz warned that any approach to a third country could be viewed as an “impeachable offense”, and convinced the group that it needed a legal opinon from the attorney General, William French Smith. McFarlane agreed & told the group not to approach any foreign country until the opinion was delivered. McFarlane said nothing about what he already had obtained from the Saudis. The next day Casey met with Smith who believed that discussions with third countries would be permissable as long as it was made clear that the countries would spend their own funds and not be reimbursed by the USA.
Early August, the House of Representatives passed toughest restrictions on contra aid yet, restrictions that became law in October 1984 – North’s role grew.
To comply with the law both the CIA and the Defence Department withdrew large number sof personnel from Central America leaving a void that Ollie North wasabout to fill.
Casey reorganised the leadership of the CIA’s operations directorate that had been responsible for the contra war. Out was the “flamboyant” chief of the Latin American Division of the Operations Directorate, Duane R “Dewey” Claridge. In came Alan D Fiers Jr made chief of the Central American Task Force (CATF) within the Latin American Division. Claridge told Fiers he needed to work with North who had tken the reigns on contra activities.
Summer of 1984, on Casey’s recommendation, North reached out to retired USAF Maj Gen Richard V. Secord and asked him to help contra leader Adolfo Calero buy arms with his new Saudi money.
Secord soon became an arms broker for the contras. North also convinced an employee of Gray and Company, Robert Owen, to meet regularly with Calero and other contra leaders to learn of their needs, deliver valuable intelligence o them, and supply them with money raised by North.

July 1984
July 7th, Charles Howard, 23 and gay. Was attacked and killed by 3 teenagers. They were only convicted of manslaughter.

LA Olympics in August boycotted by most East European countries.

Elections
Nicaraguan elections in 1984. Unwanted by the USA as it undermined their ‘communist dictatorship’ argument. US media reported untruths with no evidence presented, for instance, Sandinista support for Salvadoran guerillas and Salvadoran use of Soviet MIGs. This was timed carefully to overcome the threat posed by honest coverage of the Nicaraguan elections, which were fair as judged by international observers.

Jesse Jackson made a bid for Democratic Presidential nomination. He won 3,000,000 votes in 1984 and came 3rd. Enough to stop Mondale from winning?

Election result
Reagan 58.8 525
Mondale 40.6 13

Arms to Iraq
Iraq used chemical weapons against Iran – the shipments from USA and allies continued.
Center for Strategic and International Studies said: US sent anthrax cultures to Iraq; GB sold anthrax to university of Baghdad which was transferred to the military. Swiss also sent cultures. Pathogens shipped to Iraq according records from Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Senate Banking Committee and UN weapons inspectors.

Union Carbide
Bhopal in India – world’s worst industrial accident December 2nd, 1984.
Maimed or killed more than half of the city’s population – final settlement in 1989 – inadequate.
Twenty years later survivors are still desperately in need of medical treatment and have not been properly compensated
The plant site has still not been cleaned up and no-one has been held to account for the leak and consequences.  Local state government claim 2,000 died in immediate aftermath.
AI found 7,000 died in immediate aftermath, and 15,000 more have died of related diseases since 1984, and 100,000 still suffer from chronic or debilitating illnesses.
Report: “UCC transferred technology that was not proven and entailed operational risks. It did not apply the same standards of safety in design or operations to Bhopal as it had in place in the USA. Unlike in the USA, the company failed to set up any comprehensive emergency plan or system in Bhopal to warn local communities about leaks.”
“The report is severely critical of the Indian government for “its failure to assess adequately the risk from the Bhopal plant”, and for agreeing to a ‘derisory’ settlement with Union Carbide in 1989 without consulting survivors, and for agreeing that this settlement ended Union carbide’s liability.”
The Indian government abruptly agreed to end legal proceedings for a settlement of only $470 from Union Carbide – and this has not been distributed in full to the victims.

Libya
WPC Fletcher killed in St James Square, London, helped foster public opinion against Libya.
Allegations of a second gunman. Dispatches.

notes
Far East
British film “Killing Fields” released. At last the US public find out about Pol Pot’s mass murder and brutality.

Israel
1983/84: the death of 230 US marines in the Lebanon. Forces were withdrawn. (1983 – August?)

El Salvador
Duarte was able to win a decisive election victory over the extreme right in 1984 and began modest reforms.

PR
Polls taken this year showed Reagan’s cold war rhetoric and “evil empire” talk was costing votes. PR demanded a softening in tone.

UK
Miners’ strike in Britain, the use of uniformed force. Soldiers in police uniform. Application of anti-union legislation. Phone tapping and hysterical media treatment.

Turkey
In Turkey, the Kurdish workers’ party (PKK) led by Abdullah Ocalan initiated an armed struggle; a reaction to terrorism and ethnic cleansing policies being dished out by US ally Turkey.

Noriega was lauded by Reagan, Schultz et al even though he had stolen the election with fraud and violence.

Iran – 2 Iranian jets shot down over Persian Gulf.