Arms for Libya
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| Date | 1977 - 1981 |
| Perpetrators | CIA, Deep state, Edwin Wilson, Douglas Schlachter, Ted Shackley, Thomas Clines, Frank Terpil |
| Interest of | Lawrence Barcella, Michael Ruppert |
| Description | Around 20 tonnes of C-4 plastic explosive, plus training in bomb making, together with thousands of rifles, handguns and other weapons sold by a CIA operative to Muammar Gaddaffi's Libya in the late 1970s - early 1980s. No wikipedia page as of September 2015. |
Contents
Official narrative
Before his 1980 retirement, the CIA Inspector General John H. Waller produced an internal investigation which exonerated Theodore Shackley and his "career-long deputy and sidekick"[1] Thomas Clines. This was the CIA's official story for about 20 years, endorsed by Waller's successor, the #3 man in the CIA, Charles A. Briggs who was called on to testify in Edwin Wilson's court case. The CIA had blocked the defense from gaining access to any contradictory paperwork, so the jury apparently believed the (perjured) 'Briggs Declaration' which said that Edwin Wilson has independently collected almost the entire US stockpile of C-4 (plastic explosive) and arranged to fly it to Libya, all without CIA knowledge, following up by sending US troops to train of Muammar Gaddafi's military in bomb making, and sold them a bunch of other weapons. This official narrative fell apart about 20 years later when an internal document surfaced which proved that the CIA Inspector Generals had been lying.[2]
Charged
Frank Terpil was tried and found guilty in absentia. Douglas Schlachter plead guilty to two charges in a plea deal, after providing testimony directly linking Wilson to "senior Central Intelligence officials" (presumably Ted Shackley and his sidekick Thomas Clines, who in 1981 both admitted that they had kept in touch with Wilson, though they denied knowing anything about the arms deals).[3] Edwin Wilson was hung out to dry and charged as the main culprit.
The Weapons Deals
CIA officer, Edwin Wilson, brokered a number of weapons deals to Libya. Michael Ruppert wrote that Wilson lived in Libya "for extended periods between 1977 and 1981". The most extraordinary of these deals was in 1977, when a 42,000 pound load of C-4 plastic explosive (an amount which represented almost the entire US domestic supply) was flown out of Houston International Airport to Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, followed by training in bomb making by US Green Berets.[4]
Subsequent deals involved handguns and other weapons. A scheme to ship more than a thousand M16 rifles to Gaddafi put the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms onto Edwin Wilson back in late 1977.[4]
Conviction overturned
After about 17 years in jail, FOIA requests by Edwin Wilson came across some internal paperwork which proved that those involved in the case knew that the "Briggs Affidavit" was a lie. These sufficed to allow Wilson to successfully appeal his conviction. In October 2003, his conviction on the explosives charge was overturned and Wilson was released from prison on September 14, 2004. He launched a legal claim for compensation against those who perjured evidence against him, and those who knowingly stayed silent on the matter, but they were granted legal immunity and he never received compensation.
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:Ed Wilson's Revenge | report | January 2000 | Michael Ruppert | An example of how plausible deniability worked for the CIA - their 3rd most senior CIA official produces an affidavit that they had had no dealings with Edwin Wilson since 1971. Although legions of insiders knew this was a lie, the court accepted it. Finally exposed as a lie almost 20 years later, all those who lied in court are given immunity. |
Rating
4 July 2016 Robin Summary of a very revealing event which has slipped down the memory hole.In the late 1970s, the deep state shipped the entire US stockpile of plastic explosive to Libya, and trained the Libyans how to use it to destroy jumbo jets. When this was exposed, the #3 person in the CIA perjured himself by denying any knowledge. When this deception was exposed, almost 20 years later, no legal action was taken against him.
