STOCKWELL: REAGAN ADMINISTRATION LEADING U.S. TO WAR IN NICARAGUA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000201100008-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: April 10, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/17: CIA-RDP91-00587ROO0201100008-2
RR1C1.,MffA D SANTA BARBARA DAILY NEXUS (CA)'
ON 10 April 1986
Stockwell: Reagan Administration
Ni ra
ca
Leading U.S. to. War in ua
they're us' to traumatize a
or SoIIMS a society
so that it can't function."
News Editor "The contras are the people
Led by the war4ncWred ideology of President President Reagan calls `freedom
Reagan, the U.S. government is actively working to fighters.' He says they are the moral
da+tabilise countries such as Nicaragua and is equivalent of our founding fathers -,
bringing the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust, and the whole world gasps at this
former CIA official John Stockwell told a capacity confession of his family traditions."
crowd at Campbell Hall. According to Stockwell, "It is the
But he doesn't want anyone to take his word on it. game plan of the Reagan ad-
"Everything I'm sharing with you tonight is in the ministration to have a war in
public record ... I urge you not to take my word for Nicaragua," and the groundwork for
anything. rm going to stand here and tell you and give that action has been laid since 1961.
you examples of how our leaders lie. Obviously I could The U.S. has attempted to discredit the Sandinistas by
be lying, but the way you can figure it out for your- claiming their elections were undemocratic, and that
selves is to educate yourself., they smuggle arms into El Salvador and drugs out of
"If you don't fill your mind eagerly with the truth, Honduras, be said.
dig it out from the records, go and see for yourself, then "We (the U.S.) claim that the Sandinistas are
your mind remains blank and your adrenaline pumps responsible for terrorism anywhere in the world. The
and you en be medlfzed and excited to do things that COU?~'riub of terroris n-' we call it.
are not In your Interest to do," Stockwell cautioned the in "We blame a the
todea y, y, and and then the a the misery eau exists
almost entirely student audience Tuesday night. world U.S.) isery, because the
The ex-CIA officer listed books throughout his two- 's richest nation (the ) has set out to create
and-a-half-hour talk and said he provided the Student some effconditionerect. t. The misery and is not the we're bound to have
Lobby with lists of 80 publications he recommends. misery is not t fault of the San-
Stockwell - who left the CIA after serving as an be said. It is the result of our destabilization program,"
officer for 13 years during the Vietnam War and then people he said. still And still bangsd that .together w a t with the observers are Sandinistas saying the
as task force director in Angola - has since spoken Americans, said, ."
publicly on the covert actions of the agency worldwide. as "heartless , said, are communists" a who "who Re ea agan an San-
His book, In Search of Enemies, addresses the same are eras s. says
issue. are a "two-days drive from Texas." He added that the
The CIA currently operates 50 covert actions easiest way Ito incite a populace is through the "politics
destabilizing one-third of all nations, he said. The most of p al toe used by the current administration, that
famous of these today is Nicaragua, which the Reagan Stockwell appeal w emotions of machismo and fear.
administration is using "for a very special purpose," ell believes that the public is purposefully
he added. incited to be manipulated into war. "When you get
According to Stockwell, the U.S. gave life to the people worked up to hate, they'll let you spend huge
contras, the counterrevolutionary force warring with amounts on the buildup of arms."
the Sandinista government, and financially backs them "T planet is terminally ill. And it's not a long-term
in order to undermine the economic and social four- ; we're talking about the nuclear arms race," h that
dations of Nicaragua. "We created this force," he said. is said.
likely "And there is probably not anyone in this room that
"(We gave them) training, leadership, direction as ely to die of an old age."
we've sent them in to destabilize Nicashgua Stockwell outlined the social climate that points
"They (the U.S. government) pick a government they cartoons sviesewed viewed war. two-year-olds, spoke of aggrein the Rambo
don't like, they target them, they send the CIA in with its vein, armed vis , movies ieall Rambo
resources and activists, hiring people, hiring agents to can be," revisionism ads with theblo n all that ym
tear apart the social and economic fabric of the country Wnar and the m rewriting of of history books a on the destna
as a technique for putting pressure on the government," cumstances Wthat certain U.S. u legal codes. s i y
Stockwell said. are "conditioning us to the necessity
He argued that the CIA is "hoping that they can make and rightness of violence," he said.
the government comM the United States' terms or that years The U.S. has and participated in 15 an
e, wars specific average of 10
the government will collapse all together and they can drawn apart thh in each instance, species incidents have
engineer a coup d'etat." the country into those actions, he said. "And now
Stockwell said the contras systematically assassinate You and I can sit and watch what
their opposition and that various witnesses for peace kinds
of they're to triggers hest trying of the
have documented over 13,000 deaths on us in the orchestration of the
that have occurred in this manner. Central American war."
"They use terror, this is a technique CAM1104
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"President Reagan sees himself
playing the role of the greatest
leader of all time leading us into
Armageddon," he said, adding that
Reagan has the power to achieve
this end.
"We cannot take care of the poor,
we cannot take care of the old, but
we can spend millions, hundreds of
millions, to destabilize Nicaragua,"
Stockwell said. The U.S. has the
capacity to destroy the world 100
times over, he said, yet it finances more nuclear
weapons.
The public, however, wants peace and 75 percent are
against a war in Nicaragua, he said. "President
Eisenhower said `the people of the world genuinely want
peace. Someday the leadership of the world are going to
have to give in and give it to them."'
Stockwell explained that to achieve this, "we have to
join hands with the countries that have the bomb and
others that are trying to get it and give our leaders no
choice; they hate to find some other way to do business
than to motivate us through hate and paranoia and
anger and killing, or we'll find other leaders."
Individuals must educate themselves and take action,
whether it be in the form of letter-writing, reading,
traveling or physical demonstrating, he said. "You can't
wait until you graduate or next summer for the simple
reason that there may not be a world here when you
graduate or next summer."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/17: CIA-RDP91-00587R000201100008-2