COLORADO TO KOKO NOR THE AMAZING TRUE STORY OF THE CIA'S SECRET WAR AGAINST RED CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000800210001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 30, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: February 6, 1972
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

STATINTL ?
Approved For Releas~EOI~S~ ~ ~
6 Feb ?1972
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STATINTL
By L FLETCNER P~OUTY
IGHT HAD obscured the
mountains when the Air
Force cargo plane finally
approached the Pikes Peak
country from the west. Wearily,
~it seemed, the aircraft crossed
the south shoulder of the peak,
turned left, dropped flaps and
began the long, gradual descent
to Peterson Field ~~hich serves
both -as an Air Force base anti
the municipal airport of Colora-
do Springs.
The landing was uneventful.
But from that point some strange
things happened.
The aircraft, a heavy-bodied
C130 powered by four turbo-
prop engines, taxied to a remote
end of the field rather than to the
regular ramp. A military bus
quickly pulled up alongside.
If any outsider had been there
to witness some 20 men. disem-
bark, he would have been told
they, were soldiers from India
scheduled for training at nearby
Ft. Carson under a military aid
program.
But the troops weren't Indians
and they never got to Ft. Carson.
The loaded bus headed west-
ward out of Colorado Springs,
up the Ute Pass highway, and
disappeared 'into the night.
During the months that fol-
lowed, other men like those in
y?,~_
:the first conti~g~~?~~ide~~el~ele+a~lB~~OlA1~/C~~~IAPR-f~,
...7;....11., ;.. (~ntnrn~n Ct,rtnac to a ~ __t t__~ a,. -.,.,...? ~mnrtn~nc ln~ Or 1
? The author, L. Fletcher Prouty, is
a retired Air Force colonel who is
now with the Center of Political Re-
search in Washington, D.C.
~ who connected it vaguely with a -
the same mysterious manner Ronald Coleman movie about
and vanished into the mountains. Shangri-la.
The identity of these men and There is nothing mythical;
the nature of their mission about Tibet. It is an ancient
makes a fascinating story -and, country with an area four times
in some respects, a frightening that of Colorado, separated from
one - with vast international India to,the. south by the Hima-
implications. Recent develop- layan Range, many of whose
ments in relations between the peaks are twice as tall as Colora-
United States and Communist do's highest mountains. The
China, which portend so much country's average elevation is
for an era of peace, give that about 15,000 feet. Soon after the
story a special t;>,ti~rlY t~c~},i.~
Approved For~Relea~~ 2~~~1~~~/04 : CIA-RDP80-0
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Y,, av:', i'C'IJ~_.t znci Arrcios fled mainly into north-
Flea:r~' Iissi:~fcr's trip to I es:- eru It`~?p:ll alt?r .tile 1859 revolt
ir]~ r.rill tl-:o foi tllcv~];ill~ visit a! ana sim}-,1}' loo': Geer the country
Yresitrl]i 1~+iY.v;1 t~ tlic Peo~~le's ~ ~ Cirl arld
~ 111 CoI1jl121Ct1GI1 vJltll t:;c
jir'1'~itbi_C G: (:P:lrl'r i:rC 1':G1'1 ~:;t- U.S. rn211tdJ'}' 1i1 !\ri'~1. AS far' a5
1. ?';
tia t-::rn:alc::+~.ts pul;licity i;] tL?e anti?bcdy !:noti,~s, most of thorn are
'. '~t tl'lS cjii)ai'%Ilt ~I. S.-Pliv
tlGrl.. i,,1G~
rap; rc~;:^_~:~nt rerr~.in u,ans~,,er-
ed-at lsast, !:ublic] ' arc. the de-
}- '
t~liled spoci:'aticn in t17~ U.S.
press d^':iL~rateiy sLei',a tG avoid
these areas. 't'hey are the folloti?r-
in~: .
11 n~Gl'tiiI'il lit!I'ma and Laos:
ever ~.inc~ file Chinese civil v~ar,
t1rC t).S. CeiU'al _ I:rtC'lirl;:'r1Cc'.
Agency has bei!e the i]?abiGly to
hOi~ClE~S.? ~ SU,EC~J Or l(iOiu ~'1~'i?i r~ r2fll? 11111ii~c:ii1 fl~;htlll~ fCl:'E'CM Ili Tl-
But the Tibetali ,,.ojlle are gees irI IIld1:i has l,oPr under- . liet, efforts cmtinttc to be ?
contil;ui?l~ to cphus ^Chires. taken to s~?ttL> these Nep:.l. mad' to heel; an.intelligcnce
based aa?ls from the The C}linese have trice, to
?inlo.h'illrul,.1 have fai.Et ,o
~. use Til)ctan.~ in their acL :u?is-
cLstroy nationalism in iii rc,ag;:: ccnunuaity ~~.re coll?
high, Inr,;llltainous Iona north tinui~a, to join this secret . triaian. ~ Youths were tl:ken
force.' away irc;~n Tibet he;,~intling in
'ot the Iii:,l.^.l:;y~_s. the eal?ly 19~Os for edacztioil in
-This nationalism is no?,'; e~- Colllrounist China raca~ertecl Cenfra] China. Some of these
ressed ,I?imari'_ ~ in ?:.ssive the olci iln )erial Cllir,^se claim ;
P 1 3 I Chilies: tra.ned Tibetans `sere
Pro ',~, 1]0P: i:vC?r. Tfi~. l'Cl'1?Ill'; tO 1'li::a. lit l~i~'J it?]Cj fClly 0^_Ch-
} ~; ]11POly'Cd.
forces 1'~i?iCi] fOi7oht. ti?v GC- pled tf]e 111Ootlj' u:? c~ . l~!iia 111 Ip QCtOb?]', 1G j'Otil]n TIi)itall
o- r:
Ctlrlyl"tig Cll'.l,E?sl 8.]'llly h%IGC 1~?JI. Jet?;' t:15t a1'lll"%i 1'CSI:?t" ~ ll n 1 O l' 8.dinllll?tCi?tO1'S ?.??Cl
boon grorna datyn, ~uce Logan in hhaln ab:,nt, translators erere al?restec;. The.
four years later. enact chr,r~~. are uravailat;l~
1?1I11 L^li,#'S Orde;? It spread, le;:dir.g Lo the 1S:i9 here hilt invol ecj epj)osition to
Heavy 2ttriiion of th