The World Anti-Communist League: the Internationale of Crime, by Thierry Meyssan

**The Fourth Congress of the World Anti-Communist League (WACL)**

VAt the end of the Second World War, US secret service agents use Nazi,fascist and Ustashi agents to create an anti-communist network: theStay-behind [1]. While agents recruited in the States of the futureAtlantic Alliance had to remain secret, agents operating in States that hadpassed into Soviet control had to act publicly. In 1946 a fascistinternational organization is established to coordinate the action ofagents, originally from the East who had immigrated to the West. Thisorganization is the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN). Ukrainian,Hungarian, Romanian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Lithuanian (the listgoes on) fascists are brought together under the leadership of YaroslavStetsko. The former collaborationist leader in Ukraine, Stetsko, isconsidered responsible for the massacre of 700 persons, the majority ofwhom are Jewish, at Lvov on 2 July 1941.

VEight years later, at the end of the Korean War, the United States replacesFrance in Indochina [2]. President Eisenhower sets up a regional defensesystem against the USSR and China. On 8 September 1954, SEATO, based on theNATO model, is established. This brings together Australia, New Zealand,Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates. On 2 December, the system was completed by a US-Taiwan bilateraldefence treaty [3].

VWhile this is going on, the CIA, led by Allen Dulles, structures theintelligence services of these States and puts in place an organization toput anti-communist parties in the region in contact with each other. And soaround Chiang Kai-Shek, the Asian People’s Anti-Communist League (APACL)is born.

VIn addition to the President of Taiwan (Chiang Kai-Shek), APACL’smembership includes the following:- Park Chung-hee, the future President of South Korea;- Ryiochi Sasakawa, a war criminal who became a billionaire and abenefactor of the Japanese Liberal Party;- Reverend Sun Myung Moon [4], the prophet of the Church of Unification;- General Prapham Kulapichtir (Thailand); - President Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines);- Prince Sopasaino (Laos) [5];- Colonel Do Dang Cong (representing President Nguyen Van Thieu, Vietnam),etc.

VAPACL is totally controlled by Ray S. Cline, the then CIA Chief of Stationin Taiwan and the future Vice-Director of the CIA [6]. It publishes theAsian Bulletin, whose editing is entrusted to Michael Lasater, who willhead the Asian department of the Heritage Foundation [7].

The Establishment of WACL

VFrom 1958, the President of the Anti-Bolshevist Bloc of Nations (ABN)participates in the annual conferences of the Anti-Communist League of theAsian People held in Taipei. Cline and Stetsko supervise the establishmentof the Political Warfare Cadres Academy at Taiwan. This academy is taskedwith training cadres from the Regime of Chiang Kai-Shek for anti- communistrepression.

VThe academy is the Asian equivalent of the Psychological Warfare Centre atFort Bragg (USA) and the Panama School of Americas [8]. Gradually, the CIAforms a global network of political groups and instructors incounter-insurrection. In 1967, ABN and APACL merge under the banner of the,“World Anti-Communist League (WACL)” and extend their activities acrossthe entire “free world”. Its new members include Los Tecos or Legionof King Christ, a Mexican fascist organization established during theSecond World War. The League experiences its first development phase in theperiod 1973-1975, when Richard Nixon and his security adviser HenryKissinger reside in the White House.

VFunding is extravagantly guaranteed by the Church of Unification. Howeverfrom 1975, this is no longer acknowledged. Reverend Sun Myung Moon thenclaims to break ties with the League but continues to exercise hisleadership through his Japanese representative Osami Kuboki.

WACL’s role in implementing the Phoenix Plan (1968-71) and the CondorPlan (1976-77), providing for the assassination of thousands of peoplesuspected of sympathizing with communists in South East Asia and LatinAmerica, is still inadequately reported.

VThe Phoenix Plan was probably implemented in Vietnam by the JointUnconventional Warfare Task Force of General Major John K. Singlaub, whowent on to become President of WACL. However Singlaub has consistentlydenied any involvement in this operation.

VFurthermore, General Hugo Banzer Juarez, who imposed a dictatorship inBolivia in 1971 to 1978, chaired the Latin American branch of WACL. In1975 he organized a plan (the Banzer Plan) for the systematic eliminationof communist opponents. In 1977 a WACL Latin American conference was heldin Asuncion and Plan Banzer was presented as the way forward.Participating at this conference was the dictator of Paraguay, GeneralAlfredo Stroessner. The Paraguayan delegation presented a motion followingthe design of Plan Banzer, to eliminate priests and religious disciples ofthe theology of liberation across Latin America. This motion was adopted bythe World Conference of WACL in 1978 [9].

VSimilarly, we do not know for sure what role WACL played in the strategy oftension that hit Europe in this period. The Frenchman, François Duprat,founder of a New French Order, the Italian Giorgio Almirante, founder ofMSI, the Spaniard Jesus Palacio, founder of CEDADE, the Belgian PaulVankerhoven, President of Circle of Nations and others like them havemilitated in WACL. And it is WACL that filtered Stefano delle Chiaie out ofItaly [10], when the Italian judiciary having charged him with terrorism,was searching for him. WACL smuggles him to the Bolivia of Hugo Banzer,where he is immediately appointed the right hand man of Klaus Barbie, headof the death squads.

VFinally, we have little documentation on WACL’s role during the Lebanonwar. All we know for sure is that it had recruited mercenaries integratedinto the ranks of Christian militias of the former President CamilleChamoun in 1975, a week before the conflict broke out.

VOn entering the White House in 1977, Jimmy Carter hopes to put an end tohis predecessors’ sordid practices. He appoints Admiral Stanfield Turnerto head the CIA and sets about toppling authoritarian regimes in LatinAmerica. It is a difficult period for WACL which is no longer financed byits members. Thus WACL becomes the den of the anti-Carter preparing forbetter days and spontaneously creates ties with the principal anti-Carterorganization in the US: the National Coalition for Peace Through Strength.This front of rejection is an off-shoot of the American National SecurityCouncil, that President Eisenhower designated under the term “themilitary-industrial matrix” [11]. It is co-chaired by General DanielO’Graham [12] (who participated with George H. Bush in the PipesCommission - known as Team B, re-evaluating the Soviet threat) [13] andGeneral John K. Singlaub [14]

VA number of officers in the League are involved in Campaign Committees forRonald Reagan’s election. For many of them, the Republican Governor ofCalifornia is not an unknown quantity. In fact, at the end of the SecondWorld War, Reagan participated as spokesperson for the Crusade for Freedom,raising the necessary funds to settle Eastern European immigrants fleeingcommunism in the United States. In actual fact, the funds were used totransfer Nazis, fascists and Ustashis into the ABN. As for Vice PresidentGeorge H. Bush, he is also a friend. As head of the CIA, he was the leaderof Operation Condor.

The Golden Age of WACL

VWhen Ronald Reagan and George H Bush enter the White House, WACL regainsits strength and continues developing. The former contacts bear theirfruit. The US industrial military complex finances the establishment of aUS section of WACL called Council for World Freedom (USCWF). General JohnK. Singlaub is the president and General Daniel O’Graham, the VicePresident. But matters do not end there. The military industrial complexmakes WACL a central tool for anti-communism repression all over theworld. Singlaub is thus elected the president of WACL.

VThe League acts on all fronts:_ In order to combat Soviet presence in Afghanistan, the American SecurityCouncil finances [15] a thematic section of WACL: the Committee for a FreeAfghanistan. Its headquarters are provided by the Heritage Foundation. Theoperation is launched when Margaret Thatcher and Lord Nicholas Bethell(Head of MI6) are on an official visit to the United States. The operationis led by General J. Milnor Roberts. The Committee is directly involved inproviding logistical support to “freedom fighters” authorized by theCIA’s Director, William [16] and managed by Osama Bin Laden [17]. Thelink between WACL and the Saudi businessman is guaranteed by two men: SheikAhmed Salah Jamjoon (who works with the public works giant, the Saudi BinLaden Group), and a former Prime Minister of South Yemen. [18]

VIn the Philippines, WACL is represented by President Ferdinand Marcos. Butwhen he is ousted in 1986, John K. Singlaub and Ray Cline go to thePhilippines to choose new partners. They put in place a paramilitary unitof counter-guerrillas and choose General Fidel Ramos [19], friend of FrankCarlucci [20], George H. Bush and the Bin Laden family.

VTo fight the Sandinistas revolution in Nicaragua, WACL sets up a logisticalbase with Argentine trainers at John Hull’s premises in Costa Rica. Italso uses facilities in Honduras offered by the Chief-of-Staff, GeneralGustavo Alvarez Martinez, who recruits mercenaries by using thehumanitarian cover of Refugee Relief International.

VIn Guatemala, WACL’s man is Mario Sandoval Alarcon, leader of theNational Liberation Movement. Sandoval, vice president from 1974 to 1978,is the only true master of the country; General-President Romeo LucasGarcia is nothing but a puppet. He sets up death squads that will slay morethan 13,000 victims in five years.

VIn Salvador, WACL relies on the safe hands of Roberto d’Aubuisson, whohad been trained at the Taiwanese academy and who is the recipient of aidfrom the Guatemalans. D’Aubuisson becomes both the head of ANSESAL, thelocal equivalent of CIA, and the leader of an extreme right-wingparamilitary organization, the nationalistic Republican Party (ARENA).D’Aubuisson sets up death squads and notably murders Archbishop OscarRomero.

**Generals Harry Aderholt and John Singlaub, members of the Secret Committee for the Defence of Liberty**

But the success of WACL will also be its downfall. In 1983, theUnder-Secretary for Defense, Fred C. Iklé, [21] establishes the Councilfor Defense of Liberty within the Pentagon. This Council is a secretcommittee of eight experts, that is chaired by General John K. Singlaub [22]. We know that the Committee decides that its secret intervention inAfghanistan would also be a model to follow in Nicaragua, Angola, Salvador,Cambodia and Vietnam but the detail of its actions is insufficientlydocumented.

VIn 1984, Ronald Reagan chooses to entrust to the League generally, and toJohn Singlaub particularly, all the private financing of Irangate under thedirect authority of Colonel Oliver North in the National Security Council.The scandal erupts in 1987, revealing everything and destroying the WACL.

Thierry Meyssan

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa

An incomplete list of members of WACL, drawn up by Scott and Jon Lee Anderson and published in Inside the League, (Dodd Mead & Company ed., 1986) can be accessed from our electronic library.

[1] See “Stay-hebind : les réseaux d’ingérence américains” byThierry Meyssan, Voltaire, 20 August 2001.

[2] The French army loses the battle of Diên Biên Phu on 7 May 1954.

[3] Furthermore, on 29 January 1955, Congress gives a carte-blanche toPresident Eisenhower, authorizing him to defend Taiwan by military force ifthe island is attacked by Communists.

[4] See ‘Révérend Moon, le retour’, Voltaire Network, 26 March2001.

[5] Prince Sopaisano, Vice-President of the National Assembly of Laos, wasarrested at Paris-Orly airport, on 23 April 1971. He was carrying 60 kg ofpure heroin in his bag.

[6] Ray S. Cline had been the most authoritative analyst on the causes ofthe Korean War. He was the CIA Chief of Station at Taipei from 1958 to1962. His cover was director of the US Naval Auxiliary CommunicationsCenter. He then became the Vice-Head of the CIA thanks to the change inpersonnel caused by the Bay of Pigs fiasco. He published his memoires,Secrets, Spies and Scholars, Acropolis Books ed., 1976.

[7] Michael Laseter was the head of the Universal and Triumphant Church(CUT) of Elizabeth Claire. The sect was at the centre of a scandal duringthe seventies when a military arsenal was discovered at its Californianheadquarters. One of its leaders was appointed executive director of thehead of WACL in Afghanistan in the eighties.

[8] The School of Americas then relocated to Fort Benning, USA. Ourelectronic library provides a complete directory of the pupils at theschool from 1947 - 1996.

[9] This operation seems to have been conducted in connection withMonsigneur Alfonso Lopez-Trujillo, who was then the Secretary-General ofthe Latin American Episcopalean Conference (CELAM).

[10] See “1980: Massacre in Bologna, 85 dead”, Voltaire Network, 6 July 2005.

[11] The National Coalition for Peace by Strength had up to 257 members ofCongress.

[12] Lieutenant General Daniel O’Graham was the CIA vice –director incharge of relations with other intelligence agencies (1973-74), then thedirector of DIA (1974-76). He was the Executive director of the AmericanSecurity Council and one of the chief advocates of “Star Wars”. Heestablished “High Frontier” which he chaired until his death in 1995.

[13] In 1975, the Far Right accuses the CIA of being infiltrated bycommunists and of downplaying the red danger. President Ford then appointsGeorge H. Bush to lead the Agency and authorizes counter- expertise.Richard Pipes establishes “Team B”. It will publish an alarming reportthat will justify re-launching the arms race. Today we know that the PipesCommission deliberately distorted the facts to open markets for themilitary-industrial complex. On this subject, see: “Washington’s manipulators”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 13 November 2002; and “Daniel Pipes, the expert of hate”, Voltaire Network, 2 March 2006.

[14] John K. Singlaub was an officer of the US Secret Service during theSecond World War. He formed the Guerrilla of Kuomintang of Tchang Kaï-Chekagainst Japan. During the Korean War, he was the CIA Chief of Station. Thenduring the Vietnam War, he led the Green Berets. Following this, he wasthe trainer in the counter-insurrectionary movement at Fort Benning. Onretirement, he became Training Director of the American Security Council.It is for this reason that he became the co-president of the Coalition,then the President of the League.

[15] NED finances the Committee from 1984. It will then transfer a part ofthe funds received to humanitarian organizations with political ends inAfghanistan, notably Médecins sans frontiers of Bernard Kouchner and Aidemédicale internationale.

[16] The US deliberately destabilized Afghanistan but the extent ofMoscow’s military reaction took it by surprise. Washington thereforemobilized their allies to get involved in the war, not to “liberate”the Afghans, but explicitly to prevent the USSR from carving out a corridorto the Sea of Oman.

[17] In 1983, WACL prints tee-shirts with a “portrait of Osama Bin Ladenand this caption “Support the Afghan Freedom Fighter. He Fights For You !“

[18] In this period, Osama Bin Laden does not feature as a pious Muslim butan anti-communist businessman, chosen by Prince Turki, Director of SaudiSecret Services, to participate on the US’s side in the war against theSoviets. Bin Laden is first of all directing the construction of necessaryinfrastructure for “fighters for liberty”, then he manages thesupplies to the foreign mujahidin that join them. It will only be laterthat he transforms into a pious Muslim to assert his authority over thelatter.

[19] General Fidel Ramos will be elected president in 1992. At the end ofhis mandate in 1998, he will form part of the Carlyle Group. See « Le Carlyle Group, une affaire d’initiés », par Réseau Voltaire, Réseau Voltaire, 9 février 2004.

[20] « L’honorable Frank Carlucci », par Thierry Meyssan, Réseau Voltaire, 11 février 2004.

[21] Fred C. Iklé was the second-in-command to Caspar Weinberger at thePentagon. This historical “cold war warrior” is today a member of theCenter for Security Policy (CSP), Project for a New American Century (PNAC)and the administrator of Smith Richardson Foundation.

[22] This Committee includes Generals Harry Aderholt and Edward Lansdale,Colonel John Waghelstein, Seale Doss, Edward Luttwak, Major F. Andy MessingJr and Sam Sarkessian.