ustxtxb_obs_1988_10_14_50_00009-00000_000.pdf

JIM BORGMAN REPRINTED WITH SPECIAL PERMISSION OF KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC. public to inquire about? There are other mysteries about Bush. The Nation reported in July that a FBI memorandum dated November 29, 1963 mentioned a briefing with “Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency.” After newspapers picked up on the story, the CIA denied that the Vice President worked for the agency at that date, claiming that the memo referred to another man by the name of George Bush. The Nation’s reporter, Joseph McBride, tracked down the other George Bush, who confirmed that he had worked for the CIA at the time; but he said he was a low-level analyst and that he received no such briefing as mentioned in the memo. Vice President Bush responded to McBride’s question about early CIA involvement by telling a spokesman, “I don’t have any idea of what he’s talking about.” Yet Bush, being a businessman who traveled widely in the early ’60s for his Zapata offshore oil company, might have been useful to the agency. Certainly we know enough about Bush to know he would consider it none of our business if he had worked for the CIA in his early career. And that may be as disconcerting as whether he did or not. Bush is a man who deeply believes in restricting the flow of information. Part of his role as director of the CIA was to hold off the various inquiries into agency skullduggery that were being conducted in the 1970s. A recent story by the Los Angeles Times cited correspondence at the Gerald Ford presidential library that showed Bush had actively worked to forestall a Justice Department investigation into whether CIA officials had lied to Congress about their role in overthrowing the Chilean leader Salvador Allende. A recent story in Mother Jones magazine contains similar information about Bush’s role in holding off an FBI probe into Chilean exiles who were alleged to have planned and executed the 1976 car bombing in Washington D.C. in which Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier and researcher Ronnie Moffitt were killed. The Washington Post in August noted how much Bush dislikes loose lips on his own ships. “He has grown as angry as his advisors have ever seen him over newspaper stories quoting anonymous Bush aides criticizing their boss. Bush considers such criticism betrayal, and on more than one occasion has demanded that the source be discovered and fired. This is why ‘leaks’ have become a preoccupation among Bush aides and campaign workers.” Could this be the real George Bush? Is secrecy his first passion? How much of the government’s activities would be deemed “classified” in a Bush administration? How many major policy decisions would take place in secret meetings held between professional spooks? Examination of Bush’s years as head spymaster show the same kind of rogue operations going on as later went on in the Reagan administration. Is it Bush’s style of leadership to allow subordinates to do the dirty work without his knowledge, so as to preserve future “deniability?” Bush is now campaigning around the country charging that Michael Dukakis is hiding his liberal leanings from the public. The Vice President is running a fingerpointing campaign in order to distract attention from his own mysterious persona. Meanwhile, a question hangs in the air a question he is either unwilling or unable to answer: Who is George Bush? 70154 E TE.X AS Available at the following locations: Bookstop 2922 S. Shepherd Houston Brazos Bookstore 2314 Bissonett Houston College News 1101 University Lubbock Daily News & Tobacco 309-A Andrews Highway Midland Guy’s News Stand 3700 Main Street Houston Old World Bakery 814 W. 12th Street’ Austin Paperbacks & Mas 1819 Blanco Road San Antonio The Stoneleigh P 2926 Maple Avenue Dallas Student Center Midwestern State Univ. 3400 Taft Boulevard Wichita Falls FW Books and Video 400 Main, at Sundance Sq. Fort Worth Crossroads Market 3930 Cedar Springs Dallas Garner & Smith Books 2116 Guadalupe Austin Sun Harvest #2 4904 Fredericksburg Rd. San Antonio THE TEXAS OBSERVER 9