GUILT BY INNUENDO

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100040028-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2011
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: October 28, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/27: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100040028-9
A;.i:OLE APP RED
ON PAGE
NEW REPUBLIC
28 October 1985
CORRESPONDENCE
GUILT BY INNUENDO
To the editors:
In his article "The Salvador Strategy"
(October 7), Raymond Bonner falsely
charges that the Asian-American Free
Labor Institute "has historic links to
the CIA." Such accusations resurrect
ancient, unproved, and unfounded es-
pionage charges about other people and
other organizations in other parts of
the world, concerning events of nearly
20 years ago-before AAFLI existed.
Such irresponsible attempts to cobble
together linkages where none exist, to
create guilt by innuendo, threaten the
safety of our representatives and their
families.
As for Mr. Bonner's comment that
AAFLI is "ostensibly" an arm of the
AFL-CIO: since 1968 AAFLI has been
an integral part of the AFL-CIO's for-
eign affairs and assistance program.
AAFLI's president is AFL-CIO presi-
dent Lane Kirkland. Its trustees are all
members of the AFL-CIO Executive
Council. AAFLI's programs are formu-
lated under the policy directives of the
AFL-CIO and implemented under the
guidance of AFL-CIO officers.
AAFLI does receive funding from
both the Agency for International De-
velopment and the National Endow-
ment for Democracy, but this relation-
ship in no way makes the AFL-CIO an
agent of the United States government.
Any serious look at the AFL-CIO for-
eign policy over the years shows a large
number of profound disagreements
with U.S. policy. Nor is there anything
secretive about the way AAFLI receives
its funding or how it is spent.
AFL-CIO policy in the Philippines
rests on the firm belief that free-
trade unionists and their agrarian
counterparts are the essential building
blocks of the democratic center. AAFLI
implements that policy through its sup-
port of traditional labor education
activities, as well as innovative mem-
bership services programs designed to
meet the needs of workers and their
organizations.
It should go without saying that, con-
trary to Bonner's clear implication,
AAFLI is not "a conduit for U.S. funds
to the [Philippine] elections." True, our
efforts aid the building of democratic in-
stitutions, but we are in no way a kind
of political action committee for any
election campaign in the Philippines or
anywhere else.
CHARLES D. GRAY
Executive Director
Asian-American Free Labor Institute
Washington, D.C.
Raymond Bonner replies:
Confirmation of the historic connection
between AAFLI and the CIA is provid-
ed by Wall Street journal reporter Jona-
than Kwitny in his book Endless Ene-
mies. Kwitny notes that one of the prin-
cipals in AAFLI in Vietnam in the late
1960s was Irving Brown. Although
Brown has denied any CIA connec-
tions, former CIA officer John Stockwell
told Kwitny that "Irving Brown was
'Mr. CIA' in the labor movement." An-
other former CIA officer, Paul Sakwa,
says that he "served as Brown's case of-
ficer, or control, in the CIA for several
years," according to Kwitny. Finally,
Kwitnv writes, "Former CIA officer
Thomas W. Braden says that he person-
ally delivered $15,000 in CIA cash to
Brown," and that Brown used a pseud-
onym "for undercover work while serv-
ing under his own name as AFL-CI
representative in Europe."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/27: CIA-RDP91-00587R000100040028-9