PEROT'S SWASHBUCKLING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505010010-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: February 27, 1979
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505010010-1
THE BOSTON GLOBE
Article appeared 27 February 1979
on page 18 STAT
private citizen from mounting an expeditionary, forcer he United States has lust recognized the Khomeini .re .
against a' foreign country. #, -, .~ . y. ;grme and, in view of the new government's recent rescue
of .tht bes n,
ieged. US ambassador and his staff in Tehra
-,The danger of such exploits,' however glamorous' `the Administration cannot :react. casually to Perot's
they may seem when they succeed, is hair-raising. Indi-',; ;. ,; '?
adventurer
viduals or corporations whose interests bear no relation
to overall US policy could create a situation in which this""'~ Perot attempted 'a dramatic rescue. o>t US POWs in
country is forced to act. Such uncontrolled ,escapades ' North Vietnam nearly 10 years ago and it is conceivable,
could lead to war, with dr without immediate American v, that his Texas Ranger sally into Iran happened as he said:;
involvement. Yet Perot has boasted of bribing Iranians it did z,, ; _ ?;::~: ;, r
sta.?
to stage a riot that resulted in the escape of his two. em The US government cannot sweep this incident aside;
ployees and some 11,000 Iranian and foreign inmates and call it fantasy. The Justice Department ought to ir4
from a Tehran jail. - t , , - r ; vestigate the matter. thoroughly to determine whether,
The episode is unpleasantly reminiscent of the role.. - the CIA.was involved and whether Perot, in fact, viola,.
played by ITT in the 1973 overthrow of the Allende gov-: ed the law. The incident is too serious and disturbing:to
ernment in Chile. The fact that ITT acted in that case be laughed off as a cowboy story.
acraiu1 ui .i-s aura ui neroics, it rerorS Story is';'~' agrnCy,
true, the Texas millionaire violated a law which forbids a ling out: of synchronisation with US foreign policy,
is hesitant to investigate. If the CIA was involved in the Perot incident, it con=
H. Ross Perot's claim that he organized and financed with the sanction of the Central Intelligence Agency,
a raid earlier this month on an Iranian prison to free two combined with,the revelation that former CIA pilots,
employees of his computer company raises troubling were recruited for the Iran mission, raises questions of 's
questions. Yet the State Department and Iranian offi-.-.. similar ,secret involvement by : the CIA-in the Perot'
cials argue that the incident could not have been orches- ,' exploit.
trated as Perot described it. And the Justice Department
re.rol. s-.siyashbf1cR1.1n,
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505010010-1