 

              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 1  Num. 17
             ======================================
                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")


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MENA -- ONE MORE TIME
by Brian Francis Redman, Editor-in-chief, Conspiracy Nation
Copyright (c) 1994 -- All rights reserved

I am grateful to one of the readers of "Conspiracy Nation" (CN) 
for sending me some clippings from the *Wall Street Journal* 
regarding the Mena, Arkansas matter.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a "fundamentalist," don't 
belong to the "religious right," and in fact have not seen the 
inside of a church for *years*. I have also *never* voted for a 
Republican and have actually *always* voted Democratic, except 
for the last election when I voted for Perot. So I have voted for 
McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis and should not be considered a 
right wing reactionary or whatever.

So this is by way of a preface. I have nothing against Clinton, 
except that he is an asshole.

I know we have all heard about Mena, Arkansas and the activities 
that were supposed to have gone on down there. (That is, unless 
you get your news from the television or from most newspapers, in 
which case you probably haven't heard a thing about it.) But 
let's just review the situation. Again, I am not part of a 
Republican plot against Clinton; I am not part of a Christian 
Fundamentalist plot against Clinton. Also, LaRouchies please 
note: I am not a British agent. I am just the everyday editor of 
a great metropolitan conspiracy column, trying to figure out what 
the hell is going on.

So to summarize, we have:
1) During the 1980s, a small airport outside of Mena, Arkansas 
was used by the CIA to illegally smuggle arms to the Contras down 
in Nicaragua. Nicaragua, for you sports fans, is a country in 
Central America. {1}.
2) After delivering weapons to the Contras, many of the pilots 
allegedly smuggled cocaine back into the U.S., back to Mena. 
According to Edward Jay Epstein, writing in the *Wall Street 
Journal*, "This led to the Mena complex being investigated in 
1984 by the Arkansas State Police." {2}. But, obviously, *for 
some reason*, the investigation never reached full term.
3) A lot of money was flowing into Arkansas as a result of these 
activities. This money was laundered through local businesses and 
Arkansas banks. "This, in turn, led to an Internal Revenue 
Service investigation of the companies involved." {3}.
4) Guess who was the Governor of Arkansas while all this was 
going on? Why shucks! None other than that "young man in a 
hurry," Beeeel Cleeeenton.

What's that you say? "Why Brian, this is the first I've heard 
about this!" Don't feel bad. Most Americans who rely on 
television for their news are probably equally uninformed. "The 
original report on Whitewater by Jeff Gerth of the New York Times 
was ignored for many months. The Mena story probably will suffer 
the same fate..." write Bill Plante and Michael Singer of CBS. 
{4}.

At this point, I can't help but wonder: Why aren't we hearing 
more about this story? It's quite a shocker, the government 
selling cocaine to American school children to finance an illegal 
operation in Central America -- and with Beeeel Cleeeenton and 
Heeeely Cleeeenton in the vicinity. Did they know what was going 
on?

Did they know what was going on? Well Larry Nichols, longtime 
associate of the Clintons and then-employee of the Arkansas 
Development Finance Authority says that *Mr.* Slime, at least, 
knew what was going on: "Bill Clinton was involved with people 
who gave cocaine away to young girls. Bill Clinton was involved 
with people who were laundering drug money." {5}.

Did Bill Clinton allow the CIA to use his state as a "banana 
republic" in return for a portion of the money from cocaine 
smuggling and money laundering? Here are the ABC's: (A) A *lot* 
of money was coming into Arkansas as a result of this CIA 
operation; (B) It is alleged by several persons involved with the 
operation that Bill Clinton made sure that Arkansas law 
enforcement personnel "looked the other way"; (C) So one hand 
washes the other -- Arkansas, Arkansas bankers, and Arkansas 
businessmen get large cash infusions during the 1980s and in 
return, Clinton's troopers, etc. don't get too nosy about what 
all those planes are doing at Mena late at night.

As Bill Duncan, a former IRS investigator, put it: Yes, 
corruption is involved. Yes, a cover-up has taken place. {6}.

So maybe you think Clinton is innocent. But the real question is, 
why isn't there a real investigation going on? Even more than 
that, why are so many Americans uninformed about these shocking, 
plausible and corroborated charges? It is alleged by many 
knowledgable persons, *including former insiders*, that Bill 
Clinton permitted and benefited from the smuggling of *millions 
of dollars worth* of cocaine into the United States. That is 
quite a story. Why haven't we heard about it?

--------------------------<< Notes >>----------------------------
{1} "On the Mena Trail" by Edward Jay Epstein. *Wall Street 
Journal*. Sorry, date and page unavailable.
{2} Ibid.
{3} Ibid.
{4} "Still a Strong Scent on the Mena Trail," by Bill Plante and 
Michael Singer, CBS News. *Wall Street Journal*, Letters to the 
Editor. Sorry, date and page unavailable.
{5} "The Truth Will Set Us Free," by Larry Nichols. *For The 
People News Reporter*, May 30, 1994, p. 13.
{6} "Mena Airport: Arkansas' Contra Connection?" *700 Club* Fact 
Sheet.

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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et 
  pauperem.                    -- Liber Proverbiorum  XXXI: 8-9 

