Shane O’Sullivan - Dirty Tricks: Nixon, Watergate, and the CIA

Copyright 2018 by Shane OSullivan

Foreword Copyright 2017 by David Talbot

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-2958-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2959-9

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

By David Talbot

The world is burning, and yet the firelight illuminates the way out. The times are dire, even catastrophic. Nonetheless we can sense a grand awakening, a growing realization all around the globe that people have the power, to dream, to rule, to wrestle the world from fools in the prophetic words of Patti Smith.

But in order to rouse ourselves from the nightmares that hold us in their grip, we need to know more about the forces that bedevil us, the structures of power that profit from humanitys exploitation and from that of the earth. Thats the impetus behind Hot Books, a series that seeks to expose the dark operations of power and to light the way forward.

Skyhorse publisher Tony Lyons and I started Hot Books in 2015 because we believe that books can make a difference. Since then the Hot Books series has shined a light on the cruel reign of racism and police violence in Baltimore (D. Watkins The Beast Side ); the poisoning of U.S. soldiers by their own environmentally reckless commanding officers (Joseph Hickmans The Burn Pits ); the urgent need to hold U.S. officials accountable for their criminal actions during the war on terror (Rachel Gordons American Nuremberg ); the covert manipulation of the media by intelligence agencies (Nicholas Schous Spooked ); the rise of a rape culture on campus (Kirby Dick and Amy Zierings The Hunting Ground ); the insidious demonizing of Muslims in the media and Washington (Arsalan Iftikhars Scapegoats ); the crackdown on whistleblowers who know the governments dirty secrets (Mark Hertsgaards Bravehearts ); the disastrous policies of the liberal elite that led to the triumph of Trump (Chris Hedges Unspeakable ); the American wastelands that gave rise to this dark reign (Alexander Zaitchiks The Gilded Rage ); the energy titans and their political servants who are threatening human survival (Dick Russells Horsemen of the Apocalypse ); the utilization of authoritarian tactics by Donald Trump that threaten to erode American democracy (Brian Klaas The Despots Apprentice ); the capture, torture, and detention of the first high-value target captured by the CIA after 9/11 (Joseph Hickman and John Kiriakous The Convenient Terrorist ); the deportation of American veterans (J. Malcolm Garcias Without a Country ); the ways in which our elections have failed, and continue to fail, their billing as model democracy (Steven Rosenfelds Democracy Betrayed ); the cover-up by the deep state and subsequent fallout after 9/11 (John Duffy and Ray Nowosielskis The Watchdogs Didnt Bark ); and the commodification and devastation of seeds in our current climate (Mark Schapiros Seeds of Resistance ). And the series continues, going where few publishers dare.

Hot Books are packed with provocative information and points of view that mainstream publishers usually shy from. Hot Books are meant not just to stir readers thinking, but to stir trouble.

Hot Books authors follow the blazing path of such legendary muckrakers and troublemakers as Upton Sinclair, Lincoln Steffens, Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jessica Mitford, I. F. Stone and Seymour Hersh. The magazines and newspapers that once provided a forum for this deep and dangerous journalism have shrunk in number and available resources. Hot Books aims to fill this crucial gap.

American journalism has become increasingly digitized and commodified. If the news isnt fake, its usually shallow. But theres a growing hunger for information that is both credible and undiluted by corporate filters.

A publishing series with this intensity cannot keep burning in a vacuum. Hot Books needs a culture of equally passionate readers. Please spread the word about these titlesencourage your bookstores to carry them, post comments about them in online stores and forums, persuade your book clubs, schools, political groups and community organizations to read them and invite the authors to speak.

Its time to go beyond packaged news and propaganda. Its time for Hot Books journalism without borders.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THE CHENNAULT AFFAIR

Spiro T. Agnew , Vice President of the United States, 196973.

Richard V. Allen , senior foreign policy advisor, NixonAgnew campaign committee, 19678. Senior staff member, National Security Council, 1969.

Jack N. Anderson , investigative journalist and daily newspaper columnist.

William P. Bundy , Assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 19649.

George A. Carver, Jr. Special assistant for Vietnamese affairs, Central Intelligence Agency, 196673.

Anna Chennault , Vice president, The Flying Tiger Line, Inc. Co-chair, Womens Advisory Committee for Nixon.

Clark M. Clifford , United States Secretary of Defense, 19689.

Ray S. Cline , Director of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, 196266. Special coordinator and adviser to the United States ambassador to Germany, 196669. Assistant secretary of state for Intelligence and Research, 196973.

Thomas G. The Cork Corcoran , lawyer and lobbyist.

Saville R. Davis , reporter, The Christian Science Monitor .

Bui Diem , South Vietnamese ambassador to the United States, 196772.

Everett M. Dirksen , United States senator (RIllinois), 195169. Senate minority leader, 195969.

Cartha D. Deke DeLoach , Deputy associate director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

John D. Ehrlichman , White House Counsel, 1969. White House Domestic Affairs Advisor, 196973. Served eighteen months in jail.

Thomas W. Evans , Special assistant to John Mitchell, NixonAgnew Campaign Committee.

Bryce N. Harlow , Republican political strategist.

H. R. Haldeman , White House Chief of Staff, 196973. Served eighteen months in jail for his role in Watergate.

Richard M. Helms , Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 196673.

Ambassador Robert Hill , former United States ambassador to Costa Rica (1953), El Salvador (1954) and Mexico (195761) Chairman of the Foreign Policy Task Force of the Republican National Committee, 196568.

Hubert H. Humphrey , Vice President of the United States, 196569 and nominated Democratic candidate for the 1968 presidential election.

Tom Charles Huston , Nixon aide, 196871.

Lyndon B. Johnson , President of the United States, 196369.

Thomas H. Karamessines , Deputy Director for Plans, Central Intelligence Agency, 196773.

Henry A. Kissinger , National Security Advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford, 196975.

Karl E. Mundt , United States senator (RSouth Dakota), 194873.