Theodore Shackley

Theodore Shackley    (spook, deep politician)
Born	July 16, 1927
Died	December 9, 2002 (Age 75)
Member of	Association of Former Intelligence Officers, JFK/Assassination/Perpetrators, Le Cercle, Operation 40, Systems Services International, US/Deep state
Perpetrator of	Arms for Libya
Interest of	David Corn
"?" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.  Le Cercle/Chairman (USA) In office ? - 2002 End date uncertain. Succeeded by Richard T. McCormack  Deputy Director of Covert Operations In office May 1976 - September 1979 Employer CIA Pressured to resign by CIA Director, Stansfield Turner.  Chief of East Asia division Dates unknown Employer CIA Maybe concurrent with being Vietnam Station Chief?  Chief of Western Hemisphere division In office 1972 - 1973 Employer CIA Responsible for the 1973 Chilean coup d'état

As CIA station chief in Miami, central to the Bay of Pigs and Operation 40, Shackley was a key US deep politician. In the 1970s, in response to increased public scrutiny of the CIA's activities, he helped to 'offshore' a lot of deep state activities to more clandestine milieux such as Le Cercle and The Safari Club.

Official Narrative

Theodore 'Ted' Shackley was an American CIA officer deeply involved in many "controversial" CIA operations during the 1960s and 1970s. Commonly known as the "Blond Ghost" due to his dislike of being photographed, he was one of the most decorated CIA officers. His New York Times obituary referred to him as "enigmatic", and admitted he had "mysterious" ways. In 1979, Shackley retired from the CIA and founded Research Associates International Ltd., a Bethesda consulting firm specializing in analyzing risks and protecting executives.

Deep State

A mound of unexplained evidence and strange coincidences testify that Theodore Shackley was a key player in the formation of the US deep state. For example, Le Cercle was registered at his home.

CIA Career

Theodore Shackley was station chief of the JM/Wave station in Miami.

JFK Assassination

Full article: JFK Assassination

Shackley became station chief in Miami in 1962, so was heavily involved in the Bay Of Pigs operation. He was a member of the assassination squad Operation 40 that many researchers (such as Mark Gorton) consider player a rule in executing the JFK Assassination. In a 1994 letter, Bradley E. Ayers claimed that Shackley was one of 9 men from JM/WAVE who had "intimate operational knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the assassination" of John F. Kennedy. The others were Edward Roderick, Grayston Lynch, Gordon Campbell, Felix Rodriguez, Thomas Clines, David Morales, Rip Robertson and Tony Sforza.

Vietnam

In 1966, Shackley was placed in charge of the CIA's secret war in Laos, with Thomas G. Clines as his deputy. Michael Ruppert summarises their enduring relationship by referring to Clines as Ted Shackley's "career-long deputy and sidekick". He admitted meeting Michael Jon Hand at this time.

Lies about the 1970 Chilean ITT Plot

In 1972, syndicated journalist Jack Anderson revealed that two years earlier the CIA and the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation had been involved in a "bizarre plot" to block the election of Salvador Allende. Senior CIA and ITT officials in the United States had discussed causing economic chaos in Chile to encourage a military coup. Soon a Senate subcommittee was investigating, which Shackley was tasked to cover up. Shackley had one of his deputies conspire with an ITT operative in Chile, arranging for him to testify falsely before the subcommittee. This successfully foiled the subcommittee's efforts to uncover the truth, and the CIA's involvement in Chile was only revealed years later.

Chief of Western Hemisphere division

In 1972, he returned to the Washington area to oversee the C.I.A.'s clandestine activities in the Western Hemisphere.

Deputy Director of Covert Operations

In May 1976, Shackley was made Deputy Director of Covert Operations, serving under CIA director George H.W. Bush. He maintained close contact with arms dealer Edwin Wilson.

Departure

Shackley was pressured to leave the CIA in 1979 after Stansfield Turner has taken over, and become aware of Shackley close ties to men such as Edwin Wilson, whose Arms To Libya deal was becoming exposed.

Later activities

Shackley remained a central figure in the US Deep State by many accounts. His departure from the public halls of power mirrored a general 'offshoring' of deep political organisation to more secretive milieux. He was deeply involved in deep state operations such as the October Surprise and Iran-Contra.

Le Cercle Chairmanship

Shackley was the US chair of Le Cercle before Richard T. McCormack. Shackley is mentioned on the 1983 guest list of the Le Cercle, and also attended in 1987, 1989 (with Richard Perle) and 1990.

The Safari Club

The Safari Club started in 1979, the year Shackley was fired from the CIA.

Kuwaiti oil consulting

George H.W. Bush helped Ted Shackley set up his oil consulting business in Kuwait^[When?], which made a lot of money for Shackley and provided a cover for the work he did for Bush.

Lockerbie Bombing Cover-up

Shackley is alleged to have been involved in Lockerbie:

Following the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the CIA is apparently worried that an investigation of the attack, which may have been conducted or assisted by Iran or one of its surrogates, will uncover dealings between the US and Iran. Journalists Joe and Susan Trento will comment: “To avoid criticism that the United States was doing business with terrorists should the secret negotiations with Iran be exposed, the CIA participated in a bizarre campaign to divert blame for terrorist acts from Iran and Iran’s surrogate, Hezbollah, to Libya. If there was a comprehensive investigation into the Pan Am 103 tragedy, everything might be exposed. The major behind-the-scenes player in all this activity was the former number two man in covert operations at the CIA, Theodore G. Shackley.”

AFIO

Shackley was a leading figure in the AFIO until his death in 2002.

9/11

Van der Rejden suggests that Shackley may have had a significant role in the 9/11 event.

 

An event carried out

Event	Location	Description
Arms for Libya	Libya US	Around 20 tonnes of C-4 plastic explosive, training in bomb making, together with thousands of rifles, handguns & other weapons sold by a CIA operative to Muammar Gaddaffi's Libya in the late 1970s - early 1980s. Then "the biggest arms-dealing case in U.S. history", still lacking its own page on Wikipedia as of 2020.

 

A Quote by Theodore Shackley

Page	Quote	Source
Alexander Zakharchenko	“Keep hitting the insurgents in their base areas with small, elite anti guerilla units. Use booby traps.”	The Third Option, page 96, Dell Publishing, 1988

 

Related Quotations

Page	Quote	Author	Date
James Critchfield	“Besides the Deuss connection to Oman, Shackley's other link is James Critchfield, the former head of the CIA's Middle East desk, and later chief of intelligence for energy. Critchfield is president of Tetra Tech International, a subsidiary of Honeywell, Inc. Tetra Tech has a contract with Oman to develop the economic infrastructure of the Masandam Peninsula, which is at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz.”	Executive Intelligence Review James Critchfield	24 June 1988
Timothy Landon	“The key British power broker with influence in Oman is Timothy Landon. In 1970, the sultan ran a bloodless coup against his father with the help of Landon, a British military and intelligence figure. Known as the "Lawrence of Arabia" of Oman, Landon, who now lives in England, was the sultan's college buddy at Sandhurst. According to British intelligence sources, Shackley has a working relationship with Landon's associates and operatives.”	Timothy Landon	24 June 1988

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Colloquium on Clandestine Collection	30 December 1981	31 December 1981		A spooky colloquium in Washington DC
Colloquium on Counterintelligence	24 April 1980	26 April 1980		Spooky 1980 Washington conference
Colloquium on Intelligence and Policy	9 November 1984	10 November 1984		A spooky conference in November 1984
Le Cercle/1983 (Bonn)	30 June 1983	3 July 1983	Germany Bonn
Le Cercle/1984 (Capetown)	12 January 1984	15 January 1984	South Africa Stellenbosch Capetown	4 day meeting of Le Cercle in Capetown exposed after Joel Van der Reijden discovered the attendee list for this conference and published it online in 2011
Symposium on the Role of Special Operations in US Strategy for the 1980s	4 March 1983	5 March 1983		Spooky conference attended by the US MICC

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