Copyright (c) 1991 by Chip Berlet. All rights reserved. RIGHT WOOS LEFT: Populist Party, LaRouchian, and Other Neo-fascist Overtures To Progressives, And Why They Must Be Rejected by Chip Berlet Political Research Associates December 16, 1991 "Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite." (George Seldes ) , 1938 Political Research Associates 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 205 Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 661-9313 ------------------- Part 1 begins here --------------------------------- Introduction "...fascism is not confined to any specific era, culture or countries. Far from being a phenomenon limited to the European states which have experienced fascist regimes, movements of this type are to be found in practically every western country, and indeed are growing more strident in the leading democratic societies which have never experienced fascist rule--Britain and America." (Paul Wilkinson ) , 1981 Fascist political movements are experiencing a resurgence around the world. In Eastern Europe, racial nationalism, a key component of fascism, has surfaced in many new political parties. In the United States, the presidential campaigns of David Duke and Patrick Buchanan echo two different strains of historical fascism. Duke's neo-Nazi past resonates, in a consciously sanitized form, in his current formulations of white supremacist and anti-Jewish political theories. Buchanan's theories of isolationist nationalism and xenophobia hearken back to the proto-fascist ideas of the 1930's "America First" movement and its well-known promoters, Charles Lindbergh and Father Charles Coughlin. Both Duke and Buchanan blame our societal problems on handy scapegoats, and both feed on the politics of resentment, anger and fear. Most progressives vigorously reject Duke and Buchanan, and are not reluctant to point out fascist elements in both candidacies. But there are other strains of domestic fascism active today, and the siren calls of those movements may mesmerize progressives whose anti-government fervor blinds them to historical lessons. Since the early 1980's, persons from far-right and fascist political groups in the United States have attempted to convince progressive activists to join forces to oppose certain government policies. The fascist right has wooed the progressive left primarily around opposition to such issues as the use of U.S. troops in foreign military interventions, the CIA and covert action, and domestic government repression and civil liberties. As the far right made overtures to the left, some of the classic conspiracy theories of the far right began to seep into progressive, and even mainstream, analyses of foreign policy and domestic repression. An audience was created for these conspiratorial assertions through public speaking, radio interviews, sales of audiotapes and published articles. This audience elevated to leadership roles those persons who were willing to make the boldest and most critical (albeit unsubstantiated) pronouncements about the U.S. government and U.S. society. As a result, some progressives now confuse demagoguery with leadership, and undocumented conspiracism with serious research, and are unable to determine when an analysis supports or undermines the progressive goals of peace, social justice and economic fairness. This is primarily a problem within the white left, but in some Black nationalist constituencies the same dynamic has also popularized conspiracy theories which in some cases reflect anti-Jewish themes long circulated by the far right. While there is inevitable overlap at the edges of political movements, the far-right sector being discussed in this study is separate and distinct from traditional conservatism, the right wing of the Republican Party, libertarianism, anarchism, and other political movements sometimes characterized as right wing. The John Birch Society, discussed here, is a far-right reactionary political movement, but it attempts to distance itself from racialist and anti-Jewish theories. Other groups analyzed in this paper, such as the Populist Party, Liberty Lobby, and the LaRouchians, on the other hand, represent a continuation of the racialist, anti-democratic theories of fascism. The phenomenon of the right wooing the left became highly visible during the Gulf War. Followers of Lyndon LaRouche attended antiwar meetings and rallies in some thirty cities, and other right-wing organizers from groups such as the John Birch Society and the Populist Party passed out flyers at antiwar demonstrations across the country. While these right-wing groups undeniably opposed war with Iraq, they also promoted ideas that peace and social justice activists have historically found objectionable. Many people seeking to forge alliances with the left around anti-government and anti-interventionist policies also promote Eurocentric, anti- pluralist, patriarchal, or homophobic views. Some are profoundly anti-democratic; others support the idea that the U.S. is a Christian republic. A few openly promote white supremacist, anti- Jewish, or neo-Nazi theories. The John Birch Society, for instance, is highly critical of mass democratic movements for social change, including those that seek equality for women, gay men and lesbians, Blacks, Hispanics, and recent immigrants from Asia and Central America. The Birchers believe most world governments, including the U.S. and the Soviet Union, are secretly controlled by a handful of conspirators they dub "The Insiders." The Populist Party (and groups to which it has historically been related such as the Liberty Lobby and its newspaper), created a national constituency for David Duke and other white supremacist political candidates. Duke was the 1988 Populist Party presidential candidate. These forces believe a conspiracy of rich and powerful Jews and their allies control banking, foreign policy, the CIA and the media in the United States. Like Duke, they also believe in an America controlled by white Christians of exclusively European heritage. The LaRouchians have supported foreign dictatorships such as the Marcos regime in the Philippines and the Noriega regime in Panama. LaRouche has written that history would not judge harshly those who beat homosexuals to death with baseball bats to stop the spread of AIDS. For LaRouchians the conspiracy consists of secret elite groups engaged in an epic battle between moral forces who want order, and sinister forces who champion chaos. LaRouche claims he can trace the key players in these secret conspiracies decade-by-decade back to Plato and Aristotle--and beyond. A remarkable number of the sinister conspirators turn out to be Jewish. This study seeks to sharpen the debate over how to handle the phenomenon of the right wooing the left, and is not meant to divide or attack the left, which is being victimized by these approaches. As anti-fascist author George Seldes pointed out over fifty years ago, "The enemy is always the Right. Fascism and Reaction inevitably attack. They have won against disunion. They will fail if we unite." There is considerable evidence to show that far-right groups are serious about wooing the political left and that their conspiracist theories have been taken seriously in some quarters. Consider the following, all of which will be discussed in greater detail later: *** Several far-right commentators affiliated with the Liberty Lobby and its newspaper sought and obtained lengthy interviews on radio stations affiliated with the progressive Pacifica network. KPFK in Los Angeles and KPFA in San Francisco also aired long programs with radio personality Craig Hulet whose cynical views echo longstanding Birch Society conspiracy theories. Hulet urges progressives to join with rightists in attacking the government, and audiotapes of his radio interviews quickly became some of the Pacifica Archives' best-selling tapes. According to the program manager of KPFA, Hulet was one of the most requested radio personalities during and after the Gulf War. *** A catalog from Prevailing Winds Research mixes material from mainstream, progressive, and far-right sources. One can order material from the Christic Institute (a public-interest law foundation based in Washington, D.C.) and dozens of other left and liberal organizations and writers (including this author). Also available is material from persons affiliated with the fascist Populist Party or the Liberty Lobby network, and information on how to order a tape of a speech by Eustace Mullins, one of the world's most notorious anti-Jewish conspiracy theorists. Mullins envisions a world where Jews have been exterminated by Christians. *** A West Coast affiliate of the Christic Institute sells , edited by Prevailing Winds. Prominently featured in the publication is material by Bo Gritz, presidential candidate of the Populist Party, and David Duke's original vice-presidential running mate in 1988. Gritz, one of the most decorated veterans of the Vietnam war (his exploits were used in scripting the popular Rambo movies) has told his constituents to reach out to recruit from the left. Gritz himself invited Father Bill Davis of the Christic Institute to speak at a 1990 Las Vegas conference organized by Gritz's Center for Action. *** At the April, 1991 conference of the respected Latin American Studies Association in Washington, a panel on Panama included Carlos Wesley, the LaRouche organization's Central America operative. The LaRouchians have been involved in the Panamanian anti-intervention movement for years. *** More than 6 percent (49 out of a total 771) of the footnotes in Barbara Honneger's widely-popularized book cite LaRouche publications such as and (now ). Honneger, a former White House aide, alleges in her book that officials connected to the Reagan Presidential campaign plotted with Iranian officials to delay the release of hostages in the Middle East until after the election. In one chapter on "Project Diplomacy," LaRouche-linked citations account for over 22 percent of the total number of footnotes. While information from the LaRouchians is sometimes accurate, it is often laced with unsubstantiated assertions and biased by the peculiar LaRouchian brand of conspiracist bigotry against Jews and homosexuals. *** The current issue of , a periodical promoting the idea that the historical account of the Holocaust is a hoax, contains an article urging recruitment from "a powerful potential source of supporters--the radical Left! Leftist disillusionment with Israel and Zionism is growing rapidly." Further confusing matters is the rebirth in Europe of the national socialist wing of fascism, with adherents calling themselves Strasserites or Third Positionists. These groups, which now operate in the U.S., are critical of Hitler's Nazi brand of fascism; they support the working class and encourage environmentalism. They also, however, promote racially segregated nation-states. Third Position groups claim to have evolved an ideology "beyond communism and capitalism," and actively seek to recruit from the left. One such group is the American Front in Portland, Oregon, which runs a phone hotline that in late November, 1991 featured an attack on critics of left/right coalitions. Conspiracism and demagoguery feature simplistic answers to complex problems. During periods of economic or social crisis, people may seek to alleviate anxiety by embracing simple solutions, often including scapegoating. This scapegoating often manifests itself in virulent attacks on persons of different races and cultures who are painted as alien conspiratorial forces undermining the coherent national will. In part, the fascist right has been able to forge ties to the left due to a serious lack of knowledge on the left regarding the complex history, different forms, and multiple tactics of fascism. Among those tactics are the use of scapegoating, reductionist and simplistic solutions, demagoguery, and a a conspiracy theory of history. Theories of racialist nationalism and national socialism are not widely known in the United States. If they were, it is unlikely that any serious progressive would be seduced by the right's idea of an alliance to smash the powerful corrupt center, based on a shared agenda critical of government policies. This concept has an unsavory historical track record. The European fascist movements in the 1930's flourished in a period of economic collapse, political turmoil, and social crisis. The German Nazi party, during its early national socialist phase, openly enlisted progressive support to smash the corrupt and elitist Weimar government. But when the government began to collapse, powerful industrial and banking interests recruited Hitler to take control the government in order to prevent economic chaos, which would have displaced them as power brokers. In return for state control, Hitler quickly liquidated the leadership of his national socialist allies in a murderous spree called the "Night of the Long Knives." Once state power had been consolidated, the Nazis went on to liquidate the left before lining up Jews, labor leaders, intellectuals, dissidents, homosexuals, Poles, Gypsies (the Romani), dark-skinned immigrants, the infirm, and others deemed undesirable. While conditions in the United States may only faintly echo the financial and social turmoil of the Weimar regime, the similarities cannot be dismissed lightly, nor should the catastrophic power of state fascism and the repression of an authoritarian government be confused. Some people who consider themselves progressive even argue that a fascist government could not be any worse than the Reagan and Bush Administrations, with their devastating effects on the poor and persons of color. Because current policies are nearly genocidal, they say they will work with any ally to smash the status quo. This view dangerously underestimates the murderous quality of fascism. Similarly, other progressives argue in favor of supporting Duke or Buchanan for President in order to draw votes away from Bush and thus elect the Democratic candidate. While Duke and Buchanan currently have little chance of election, any progressive support for their candidacies minimizes the dangers involved in supporting a national political movement which uses fascist themes.[f-1] The largest problem, however, remains the unnerving ability of fascist and right-wing conspiracists to attract a left audience through attacks on the government and its policies. There are four separate but related dilemmas posed by the phenomenon of the fascist right wooing the left: *** How to educate progressive forces about the history of fascism, so the left is not lured into a repetition of past mistakes, and can more readily identify anti-democratic theories. *** How to reject unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, demagoguery and scapegoating (from the right or the left), while at the same time promoting a vigorous critique of government repression, covert action, and social injustice. *** How progressive journalists and researchers should handle contacts with the political far right, and how rightists should be identified by journalists when they are used as sources. *** How progressive political coalitions should handle overtures by the political right which suggest tactical or strategic alliances around issues of common concern, and to what extent it is necessary for groups and individuals to distance themselves publicly from fascists who imply an alliance when one does not exist. In some cases progressive groups have begun to address the problems created by this courtship by the right. Radio station WBAI aired several hours of programming within a week of discovering that their broadcasts had included interviews with persons whose right-wing affiliations were not disclosed to the listeners. The progressive periodicals and have run articles and commentaries on the situation. KPFK and KPFA in California, however, waited months before their listeners even learned there was a debate over these issues. The Christic Institute has been especially reluctant to renounce publicly attempts by the fascist right to imply an alliance with their organization. Conspiratorial Roots While some information provided by the far right may be factual, other material is unsubstantiated rumor or lunatic conspiracy theories. Some material is bigoted. Widely publicized examples of right-wing conspiracism creeping into popular critiques of government misconduct can be found to varying degrees in the "October Surprise" story, the Christic Institute's "Secret Team" theory, and the late writer Danny Casolaro's "Octopus" theory. While some of these conspiracy theories are very attractive on the surface, and are undeniably entertaining, they ultimately serve to distract people from serious analysis. All of these theories share elements of traditional right-wing conspiracy themes in which sinister global elites secretly manipulate world events. The theories echo themes promoted by the LaRouchians, the John Birch Society and the Liberty Lobby and its newspaper. Unsubstantiated conspiracy theories usually start with a basis in fact and relate to a legitimate issue. The current phenomenon traces back to the rise of counterinsurgency as an arm of U.S. foreign policy, and the role it played in the Vietnam War. The public debate over this issue expanded in 1973 with publication of by retired Air Force Colonel and intelligence specialist L. Fletcher Prouty. In the book, Prouty criticized the CIA's penchant for counterinsurgency and clandestine operations, which he argued prolonged the war in Vietnam and resulted in the unnecessary deaths of many U.S. soldiers. The Liberty Lobby's newspaper took Prouty's thesis and overlaid it with a conspiracy theory regarding Jewish influence in U.S. foreign policy. Sometime in the 1980's, a number of right-wing critics of U.S. intelligence operations began to drift towards the analysis. The "Secret Team" apparently became the "Secret Jewish Team" in their eyes. They began to feed information from their sources inside the government to publications with an anti-Jewish agenda. While the Liberty Lobby network was recruiting Fletcher Prouty, Bo Gritz, longtime CIA critic Victor Marchetti, and assassination conspiracy researchers Mark Lane and Dick Gregory, the LaRouchians were probing government misconduct and linking U.S. political elites to their global conspiracy theory. The LaRouchians were among the beneficiaries of the information flow from right-wing anti-CIA circles. LaRouche's periodicals mix anti-Israel views with anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, but they also were among the first publications in the U.S. to cover aspects of the covert Contra aid network, although their coverage included typical LaRouchian distortions. Many reporters in the mid 1980's were contacted by LaRouchians who offered assistance and documents to help research the Iran-Contra story. Critics of the Christic Institute say undocumented conspiracy theories, perhaps first circulated by the LaRouchians and the , were inadvertently drawn into Christic's lawsuit against key figures in the Iran-Contra Scandal. The Christic Institute no longer uses the "Secret Team" slogan, which it employed for the first few years of its Iran-Contra lawsuit, . The suit, filed in 1986, is also called the La Penca case, after the Nicaraguan town where a 1984 bombing killed three journalists and at least one Contra and wounded dozens, including television camera operator Avirgan and the intended target, Contra leader Eden Pastora. The named plaintiffs in the Christic La Penca case were Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey. According to Avirgan, "There were, indeed, numerous undocumented allegations in the suit, particularly in Sheehan's Affidavit of Fact. As plaintiffs in the suit, Martha Honey and I struggled for years to try to bring the case down to earth." Dr. Diana Reynolds, an assistant professor of politics at Bradford College in Massachusetts, read thousands of pages of depositions taken during the Christic case and has concluded, "Leaving out the circumstances of the La Penca bombing and the specific Iran-Contra material, I think it is fair to say that some right- wing conspiracy theories were woven into the theory behind the Christic case." Author Jane Hunter, editor of , worries about the rise of conspiracism on the left, including some of the allegations made in the Christic lawsuit. "If you keep looking for all the connections, all you are going to see is something so powerful that there is no way to fight it. We have to look at the system that produces these covert and illegal operations, not who knew so and so three years ago." Hunter and some two-dozen other progressive researchers (including the author) have been discussing these issues for several years. The one point of agreement is that this is a problem long overdue for debate. As Hunter explains, "In my speaking engagements I have found in audience questions an alarming increase in conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism." She also is worried that as conditions for African-Americans in the U.S. have continued to deteriorate, there has been an increase in the scapegoating of Jews by African-Americans. While scapegoating and turning to conspiracy theories is a common phenomenon in communities experiencing financial or social stress, it should never be tolerated. It is important to differentiate between the fascist right and persons on the left who in a variety of ways have been lured by the overtures of the fascist right and its conspiracist theories, or who have ended up wittingly or unwittingly in coalitions with spokespersons for the fascist right, or who have contact with the fascist right as part of serious and legitimate research into political issues. Nonetheless, there is substantial evidence to suggest that the circulation and tolerance of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories by groups such as the Christic Institute and Pacifica Radio stations has created a large audience, especially on the West Coast, that gullibly accepts undocumented anti-government assertions alongside scrupulous documented research, with little ability to tell the two apart. In some cases, people who believe themselves to be progressive activists see no moral problem with alliances with the fascist right, so long as the shared enemy is the Bush Administration. Furthermore, rightists such as Bo Gritz and Craig Hulet continue to imply that they work closely with Daniel Sheehan and Father Bill Davis of the Christic Institute, while the response from the Christic Institute has been tardy and equivocal. The most troublesome and widespread aspects of this phenomenon have occurred in California where some radio hosts have promoted Sheehan and Davis of Christic along with right-wing persons in Liberty Lobby and the conspiratorial right as jointly working together to expose the government's corrupt maneuverings. Radio personality Craig Hulet has encouraged this belief in interviews by warning of attempts to criticize those who are "kicking George Bush." Hulet, in fact, specifically named Sheehan, Davis, Marchetti, Prouty, Gritz, and himself as researchers who needed to be defended against those who criticized coalitions between the left and the right. There is little agreement among progressive researchers and journalists on how material from far-right sources should be handled. Some progressive researchers are suspicious that government intelligence agents and rightist researchers may leak information to progressive journalists to achieve a right-wing political goal, perhaps as part of a faction fight over government foreign policy strategies. Journalist Russ Bellant is highly critical of those who tolerate or apologize for people who work with the LaRouchians, the Populist Party or the Liberty Lobby network. "I think you discredit yourself when you work with these bigoted forces," says Bellant, "and mere association tends to lend credence to these rightist groups because people assume the group can't be that bad if a respected person on the left is associated with them." This study begins with a brief overview of several paranoid conspiracy theories prevalent in contemporary right-wing circles. It then examines the right wing's anti-government critique and rightist influences on Christic Institute's theories of Iran- Contragate. There is an extensive examination of the LaRouchians' attempts to penetrate the progressive antiwar movement, as well as a brief look at the activities of other far-right groups (both pro-war and anti-interventionist) during the Gulf War. This section includes a discussion of the surprising involvement of some formerly prominent civil rights leaders with LaRouchian and other neo-fascist groups. This is followed by a discussion of how prejudice, racism and anti-Jewish theories are enmeshed in a variety of political movements in the U.S., especially the Populist Party. The next section examines the emergence of anti-Jewish bigotry within Black nationalist movements. A discussion of left/right coalition building is followed by a preliminary attempt to establish some criteria for discussion of these complex political issues, including sections on logical fallacies and the pitfalls of unsubstantiated conspiracism. Finally, there is a brief discussion of the overall dilemma and a suggestion that further study and open discussion are needed to sort out the complex and confusing issues raised by but, alas, not answered by this report. Right-Wing Critics of U.S. Intelligence Agencies and Foreign Policy Populist Party/Liberty Lobby Recruitment of Anti-CIA Critics It was the casualties of the Vietnam war that crystallized a right-wing critique of U.S. foreign policy for its reliance on covert action, counterinsurgency and political deals as tactical alternatives to military confrontation to achieve geo-political goals. The right-wing analysis raised questions that many citizens were asking. If we didn't want to fight a war to win in the traditional sense, then why did all those soldiers have to die? What was the purpose? Where was the benefit to the U.S.? Who gained from this process? These questions were not asked only by persons on the right, but the answers and theories the right developed were far different than those proposed by the left. Fletcher Prouty's 1973 book was among the first wave of non-left treatises to take a critical view of the U.S. intelligence establishment's role in designing the failed counterinsurgency policies in Vietnam. Liberty Lobby and the took the Prouty thesis and combined it with its bigoted conspiracy theory about Jewish control of U.S. foreign policy. Since writing the book, Prouty has drifted far to the right, as has another CIA critic, Victor Marchetti, and both now have allied themselves with the Liberty Lobby network. Prouty's was recently republished by Noontide Press, the publishing arm of the historical revisionist Institute for Historical Review (IHR). IHR promotes the theory that the accepted history of the Holocaust is a hoax perpetrated by Jews. In 1974, Marchetti, a former executive assistant to the deputy director of the CIA, co-authored , a well-received best-seller and the first book the CIA tried to suppress through court action. By 1989, however, Marchetti had been recruited into a close alliance with Carto's Liberty Lobby network. In 1989, Marchetti presented a paper at the Ninth International Revisionist Conference held by the Institute for Historical Review. The title of Marchetti's paper, published in IHR's , was "Propaganda and Disinformation: How the CIA Manufactures History." Marchetti edits the newsletter, which as one promotional flyer explained, was designed to "document for patriotic Americans like yourself the excess of pro-Israelism, which warps the news we see and hear from our media, cows our Congress into submission, and has already cost us hundreds of innocent, young Americans in Lebanon and elsewhere." Marchetti describes himself as a person whose "intelligence expertise and well-placed contacts have provided me with a unique insight into the subversion of our democratic process and foreign policy by those who would put the interests of Israel those of America and Americans." Marchetti is also the publisher of a Japanese-language book , written by LaRouche followers Paul Goldstein and Jeffrey Steinberg. Marchetti was co-publisher of the newsletter when it was endorsed in direct mail appeals on Liberty Lobby stationery by the now deceased Lois Petersen, who for many years was the influential secretary of the Liberty Lobby board of directors. The October 5, 1987 reported that Mark Lane had been named associate editor of , which is housed in the same small converted Capitol Hill townhouse as Liberty Lobby/. While concern over Reagan Administration participation in joint intelligence operations with Mossad is legitimate, the use of anti-Zionism as a cover for conspiracist anti-Jewish bigotry can be seen in an article in the August 24, 1981 issue of : "A brazen attempt by influential "Israel-firsters" in the policy echelons of the Reagan administration to extend their control to the day-to-day espionage and covert-action operations of the CIA was the hidden source of the controversy and scandals that shook the U.S. intelligence establishment this summer. " "The dual loyalists, whose domination over the federal executive's high planning and strategy-making resources is now just about total, have long wanted to grab a hand in the on-the-spot "field control" of the CIA's worldwide clandestine services. They want this control, not just for themselves, but on behalf of the Mossad, Israel's terrorist secret police. " The LaRouchian Critique While the Carto empire was recruiting Prouty, Marchetti and other critics of the CIA, the LaRouchians were probing government misconduct and linking U.S. political elites to their worldview in which the oligarchic families of Great Britain are the font of all world evil. Over the years LaRouchian literature has maintained that political leadership in Great Britain is really controlled by Jewish banking families such as the Rothschilds, a standard anti-Jewish theory that influenced such bigots as Henry Ford and Adolph Hitler. In their book [f-2] first published in 1978, the LaRouchians assert that the oligarchy in Great Britain is in league with Jewish bankers to control the smuggling of drugs into the United States. Arch-rightist and former U.S. intelligence operative, the late Mitchell WerBell said the book was of "outstanding importance," because it told "the history of a political strike against the United States in an undeclared war being waged by Great Britain." LaRouche's publications were among the first periodicals to run articles exposing aspects of the covert Contra aid network, well before a fateful plane crash first tipped off the mainstream press to the full extent of the story. Right-wing coverage of government intelligence abuse is not unique to the LaRouchians. Other far-right groups such as Liberty Lobby and its newspaper have also circulated similar information. Herb Quinde, an intelligence policy analyst for the LaRouchians, says that in the 1980's the LaRouchians were contacted by a group of disaffected former and current intelligence specialists who Quinde referred to as "the Arabists." Both government and private sector analysts confirm that there are persons critical of current U.S. foreign policy reliance on Israel whose ideas are discussed in policy meetings. These persons are sometimes referred to as "Arabists." They represent a minority viewpoint in government circles that needs to be factored into political equations. Most of these persons are geo-political pragmatists who think that oil is the key to the Middle East and so support for Israel is misguided since Israel doesn't have oil. Others simply support a more even-handed policy in the Middle East, especially concerning Palestinian rights. The so-called "Arabists" are more accurately seen as a diffuse and broad theoretical tendency rather than an ethnic group, pro-Arab faction, or specific political organization. Some of these persons, however, have fierce anti-Jewish views and have sought alliances with overt bigots and persons who circulate paranoid conspiracy theories in which Jews are believed to control the world. Their theory at its most paranoid believes Great Britain's intelligence services have influenced U.S. intelligence agencies since the inception of the Office of Strategic Services, precursor to the CIA. Great Britain's intelligence empire is seen as predominantly Jewish, riddled with communists and homosexuals, and with an open line to Moscow. Mossad is believed to manipulate U.S. foreign policy and direct much of U.S. intelligence activity. The CIA is believed to be full of moles, probably inserted by a Anglophile/Jewish/Communist network. True patriots are urged to try to expose this "dual loyalist" reality and push the U.S. to ally with its real friends in the Middle East, the Arab monarchies and familial oligarchies. These theories have little to do with democracy, social justice or peace in the Middle East, and they use legitimate criticisms of Israeli policies and U.S. pro-Israel policies as a screen to cover prejudice against Jews. Many reporters were contacted by the LaRouchians offering assistance and documents to help research the Iran-Contra story. LaRouche's even gets a passing nod from author Ben Bradlee, Jr. in his . Bradlee acknowledges the help of in decoding the shorthand used by North in his notebooks. Peter Dale Scott, Jonathan Marshall and other authors who researched the Iran-Contra story say that in the mid to late 1980's, LaRouchians such as Herb Quinde, who had researched the Oliver North network, were involved in the traditional game of the Capitol press corps--circulating documents and trading theories. The LaRouchians as Anti-Interventionists During the late 1980's the LaRouchians covertly sought to expand their contacts with the left and attempted to link up with progressive groups over issues such as anti-interventionism, covert action, government domestic repression, civil liberties and Third World debt. Many progressive researchers report that during this period they began to receive telephone calls from LaRouchian operatives suggesting joint work or offering documents or story ideas. Progressive activists also were targeted. For instance, LaRouche organizers involved themselves in an international anti-interventionist conference held in Panama, and have worked behind the scenes around the issue of U.S. involvement in Panamanian affairs ever since. Although conference organizers say they tried to isolate the LaRouchians at the conference, there is little doubt that the LaRouchians managed to leave the impression with some activists that they were a key component in the alliance against U.S. intervention in Panama. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has become a vocal opponent of U.S. intervention and was a major critic of the U.S. invasion of Panama. Clark has regularly worked in the same anti-intervention projects as the LaRouchians, where their presence would have been difficult not to notice. While there is no evidence (or even a reasonable suspicion) that Clark willingly works with the LaRouchians or shares any of their bigoted views, it is clear the LaRouchians delight in implying that just such a relationship exists between themselves and Clark, especially since Clark agreed to represent the LaRouchians in filing legal appeals flowing out of a series of federal criminal convictions of LaRouchian fundraisers and LaRouche himself. The ability of the LaRouchians to inject themselves into mainstream debate around the issue of Panama is astonishing. For instance, at the April, 1991 conference of the Latin American Studies Association in Washington, D.C., a panel on Panama included LaRouchian expert Carlos Wesley. Wesley was not the first choice. Two panelists from Panama who were originally scheduled to appear did not receive funding to attend the conference, so panel co-coordinator Donald Bray from California State University in Los Angeles then called a person he respected as an expert on Panama for advice on a last minute replacement. "I called Carlos Russell, a Panamanian who now teaches in the U.S., and who was a former Ambassador to the OAS for a former Panamanian government," explains Bray. "He said `you are not going to believe this, but I am going to recommend a LaRouchite, Carlos Wesley.'" A slightly bemused Bray says he knew Wesley from long ago and knew he was a reporter for LaRouche's . Still, this was a recommendation from a credible Panamanian source so with some misgivings Bray scheduled Wesley as a panelist. Wesley was identified as a correspondent for () but, according to author Holly Sklar, who attended the session, many in the audience were not aware that was a LaRouche publication. "Of course if we had identified him as a LaRouchian, nobody would have paid any attention to what he said," explained Bray. The ties between LaRouche and Panama go back several years to when LaRouche intelligence collectors began trading tidbits of information with Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Following Noriega's indictment for conspiracy in drug deals, journalist William Branigin, writing in the of June 18, 1988, noted that among Noriega's few supporters in the United States was "political extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., who has praised the general as a leader in the war on drugs." According to a January, 1990 report, LaRouche sent Noriega a cable after his indictment, telling the dictator "I extend to you my apologies for what the government of the United States is doing to the Republic of Panama." LaRouche told Noriega "I reiterate to you what I have stated publicly. That the Reagan administration current policies towards Panama are absolutely an offense to your nation and all of Latin America." This type of rhetoric shows how the LaRouchians can adopt a critique of U.S. foreign policy ostensibly similar to that of the left, while weaving in an converting a drug-running dictator into a drug-fighting humanitarian. LaRouche also has high praise for other dictators, including the late Ferdinand Marcos. The LaRouchians claim Marcos actually won his last election. Another example of ideological cross-fertilization involves Cecilio Simon, a Panamanian who is an administrator at the University of Panama. Simon spoke along with Ramsey Clark and others at the April 6, 1990 "Voices from Panama" forum held at New York City's Town Hall auditorium. Simon later spoke at the LaRouchian "Fifth International Martin Luther King Tribunal of the Schiller Institute," on June 2, 1990 in Silver Spring, Maryland. These incidents demonstrate how the LaRouchians continue to insert themselves into anti-interventionist work and gain credibility on the left. Rightist Influences on the Christic Institute Theories The problem of conflating documentable facts with analysis and conclusions and then merging them with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories popular on the far right has plagued progressive foreign policy critiques for several years. The Christic Institute's "Secret Team" theory is perhaps the most widespread example of the phenomenon. While many of the charges raised by Christic regarding the La Penca bombing and the private pro-Contra network are documented, some of their assertions regarding the nature and operations of a long-standing conspiracy of high-level CIA, military, and foreign policy advisors inside the executive branch remain undocumented, and in a few instances, are factually inaccurate. There are two related questions in this matter. One is whether or not the case was handled properly with regard to the actual clients, Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan. The other is how much unsubstantiated conspiracism was made part of the case and its surrounding publicity. This paper will focus on the issue of the undocumented conspiracy theories. It is arguable that while Christic pursued the broad conspiracy of the "Secret Team", the bedrock portions of the case involving the actual La Penca incidents took a back seat. A few weeks before the case was slated for trial, the Christic Institute still had not diagramed the elements of proof, a legal procedure where the text of the complaint is broken down into a list of single elements that have to be proven with either valid documentation, a sworn affidavit, or a live witness. This had created problems for researchers and lawyers who had no master list of what needed to be proven when devising questions for depositions and witnesses. When a special meeting was convened shortly before trial, it turned out that for some of allegations concerning the alleged broad "Secret Team" conspiracy, the only evidence in possession of the Christic Institute was newspaper clippings and excerpts from books--and in a few instances there was no evidence other than uncorroborated assertions collected by researchers. Raised at the meeting was the issue of whether or not the case had unwittingly incorporated unsubstantiated conspiracy theories from right-wing groups such as the LaRouchians. The staff was warned that some defendants would likely prevail at trial due to lack of court-quality evidence and would then likely pursue financial penalties (called Rule 11 sanctions).[f-3] These matters are important because Christic press statements have fueled the idea, and many Christic Institute supporters believe, that the dismissal of the case was just another example of a massive government conspiracy and cover-up. It is undeniable that the presiding judge was hostile to Christic and stretched judicial discretion to the breaking point in dismissing the case. The dismissal was unfair. However, according to a statement issued by Christic client Tony Avirgan, the Institute must share at least "partial responsibility for the dismissal of the La Penca law suit." "It's sad that these issues have to be raised by `outsiders' such as Berlet. But the truth is that criticism-self criticism, an essential tool in any social movement, has never been tolerated by the leaders of the Christic Institute. Those who criticized the legal work of Sheehan were labelled as enemies and ignored. " "There were, indeed, numerous undocumented allegations in the suit, particularly in Sheehan's Affidavit of Fact. As plaintiffs in the suit, Martha Honey and I struggled for years to try to bring the case down to earth, to bringing it away from Sheehan's wild allegations. Over the years, numerous staff lawyers quit over their inability to control Sheehan. We stuck with it--and continued to struggle--because we felt that the issues being raised were important. But this was a law suit, not a political rally, and the hostile judges latched on to the lack of proof and the sloppy legal work. " "The case, before it was inflated by Sheehan, was supposed to center on the La Penca bombing. On this, there is a strong body of evidence here in Costa Rica. It is enough evidence to get a reluctant Costa Rican judiciary to indict two CIA operatives, John Hull and Felipe Vidal, for murder and drug trafficking. Unfortunately, little of this evidence was successfully transformed into evidence acceptable to U.S. courts. It was either never submitted or was poorly prepared. In large part, this was because Sheehan was concentrating on his broad, 30-year conspiracy. " "The exercise Berlet suggested--breaking each allegation down and compiling evidentiary proof for it--was indeed undertaken by competent lawyers on the Christic Institute staff. But it was an exercise begun too late. The case had already been spiked by Sheehan's Affidavit. " "We feel that it is important to openly discuss these things so that similar mistakes are avoided in the future. " Jane Hunter of agrees that some of the Christic research is problematic. "As a researcher I have over the years found nothing in the Christic case worth citing," says Hunter. A number of other researchers and journalists have raised similarly harsh criticisms of some of the allegations made in the Christic case. David Corn, for instance, wrote a stinging assessment of the Secret Team theory for the . Other criticisms were aired in other Jones>. Dr. Diana Reynolds is one of the many critics of portions of the Christic thesis. Reynolds thinks undocumented conspiracy theories hurt the case. She believes there is much solid evidence concerning the actual La Penca bombing and aftermath, and some specific Iran-Contra material, but she thinks "it is fair to say that some right-wing conspiracy theories were woven into the theory behind the Christic case." Reynolds read thousands of pages of depositions taken by the Christic Institute while she was researching a story on federal emergency planning, later published in . According to Reynolds: "It is clear to me from the depositions of Ed Wilson and Gene Wheaton that the notion of a broad conspiracy conducted by the so-called Enterprise, beyond the La Penca bombing and the specific Iran-Contra scandal, has many holes. I am thoroughly convinced that those two depositions contain the nub of the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, and I have said this for a very long time. When we get into the Christic allegations regarding the Middle East and Asia and the Camp David accords and forty years of conspiracy, their thesis falls apart. " Reynolds suggests it is fair to ask whether or not Christic was manipulated by right-wing persons associated with factions in the intelligence community. "It is curious that Wilson is a former intelligence operative, and that Wheaton, at the same time he was working for Christic, was also alleged by Mr. Owen in his Christic deposition to be passing information to Neil Livingston at the National Security Council to protect some of the people who were implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal," says Reynolds. At least two former Christic investigators say they warned Sheehan not to rely on conspiratorial analysis and to be suspicious of material from right-wing sources. Nevertheless, Sheehan was rebuked by his own staff and others in Christic leadership for repeatedly lapsing into an overly conspiratorial analysis in public appearances, and for making claims that the Christic staff could not document or otherwise support when responding to follow-up inquiries by reporters. While the allegation that right-wing conspiracy theories were woven into the case is hotly denied by Christic, the contacts by the LaRouchians during the mid and late 1980's are not disputed. According to a Christic spokesperson: "In conducting investigations historically we have sometimes had to get information from persons with whom one would not normally associate. People like drug dealers, mercenaries and intelligence agents. During our investigation, there were some meetings with LaRouche staffers conducted by Lanny Sinkin and David MacMichael. The information was always viewed very skeptically and none of it found its way into our casework or courtroom materials. All those contacts were stopped by 1989. We take seriously the view that the LaRouche organization is an organization with whom progressives should be very wary. " David MacMichael and Lanny Sinkin are no longer affiliated with the Christic Institute. Sinkin says his contact with the LaRouchians while at Christic was limited to a few brief conversations. MacMichael, a former CIA analyst turned agency critic who now writes and lectures on covert action, has had a more extensive relationship to the LaRouchians. MacMichael and Sinkin, however, were not the only Christic investigators who received information from the LaRouchians. Christic investigator Bill McCoy also received information from the LaRouchians as did at least one other Christic researcher, according to former staffers. Sheehan was warned by his own staff in 1988 that contacts with the research circles around LaRouche and Liberty Lobby were a problem on both factual and moral grounds. Later Danny Sheehan appeared on the program broadcast on WBAI-FM and other Pacifica and progressive radio stations. Christic told the radio audience that it was untrue that LaRouchians had supplied information to the Christic Institute, and blasted a passing reference to this matter in Dennis King's book, . Shortly after Sheehan's statements, an offer to promote King's book as a premium gift during an annual fundraising drive for the radio station was withdrawn. King believes Sheehan's unequivocal denial undercut the credibility of his book and was responsible for WBAI withdrawing the original offer. - The Right-Wing Roots of the "Secret Team" Theory - Christic no longer uses the "Secret Team" slogan, but for the first several years of the case, the Christic Institute used the term "Secret Team" to describe the legal conspiracy they alleged in court (a copy of the Prouty book sat in Sheehan's personal bookshelf in his Christic office). There is no dispute that the "Secret Team" theory came from the political right. The "Affidavit of Daniel P. Sheehan" filed on December 12, 1986 and revised on January 31, 1987, refers frequently to the "Secret Team," and states explicitly that the term came from right-wing sources. "...I was contacted by Source #47, a right-wing para-military specialist, former U.S. Army pilot in Vietnam and military reform specialist in January of 1986. " "Source #47, the Specialist, who was unaware of my investigation, informed me that he had met--at a right-wing function--a former U.S. military intelligence officer, Source #48...this source began to discuss with Source #47 the existence of a "Secret Team" of former high-ranking American CIA officials, former high-ranking U.S. military officials and Middle Eastern arms merchants--who also specialized in the performance of covert political assassinations of communists and "enemies" of this "Secret Team" which carried on its own independent, American foreign policy--regardless of the will of Congress, the will of the President, or even the will of the American Central Intelligence Agency. " Critics of the Christic thesis say the "Secret Team" was not a cabal operating against the will of the president or the CIA, but was an illegal, secret government-sponsored operation established by CIA director William Casey and coordinated by White House aide Oliver North, with assistance from a network of ultra-right groups who were determined to circumvent the will of Congress. This "Enterprise" at times worked closely with the Mossad and carried out clandestine counterinsurgency missions. Some of these counterinsurgency missions were based on the same model of pacification used by U.S. Special Forces and clandestine CIA operations in Vietnam. It is just this emphasis on counterinsurgency and clandestine operations rather than direct military battles that forms the basis of criticism in Fletcher Prouty's book . Prouty criticized the CIA for promoting covert action techniques which he traced to the influence of the British intelligence service MI5 on the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA. Prouty said such meddling and convoluted efforts at fighting communism resulted in the needless deaths of American servicemen. There is no evidence of any obvious anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in the Prouty book. Some of the undocumented conspiracy theories regarding the CIA and U.S. foreign policy that were widely circulated in progressive circles before the Iran-Contragate scandal hit the headlines seem to have appeared first in the LaRouchian's or (later ), or in the pages of Liberty Lobby's newspaper. The for instance carried the first exclusive story on "Rex 84" by writer James Harrer. "Rex 84" was one of a long series of readiness exercises for government military, security and police forces. "Rex 84"--Readiness Exercise, 1984--was a drill which postulated a scenario of massive civil unrest and the need to round up and detain large numbers of demonstrators and dissidents. While creating scenarios and carrying out mock exercises is common, the potential for Constitutional abuses under the contingency plans drawn up for "Rex 84" was, and is, very real. The legislative authorization and Executive agency capacity for such a round-up of dissidents remains operational. The April 23, 1984 article ran with a banner headline "Reagan Orders Concentration Camps." The article, true to form, took a problematic swipe at the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith along with reporting the facts of the story. The Harrer article was based primarily on two unnamed government sources, and follow-up confirmations. Mainstream reporters pursued the allegations through interviews and Freedom of Information Act requests, and ultimately the Harrer article proved to be a substantially accurate account of the readiness exercise, although did underplay the fact that this was a scenario and drill, not an actual order to round up dissidents. Many people believe that Christic was the first group to reveal the "Rex 84" story. According to the 1986 Sheehan "Affidavit" revised in 1987: "During the second week of April of 1984, I was informed by Source #4 that President Ronald Reagan had, on April 6, 1984, issued National Security Decision Directive #52 authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency director Louis O. Giuffrida and his Deputy Frank Salcedo to undertake a secret nation-wide, `readiness exercise' code-named `Rex 84....' " The impression left is that a Christic source exclusively developed this information and quietly handed it over to Sheehan. In fact, the second week of April 1984, the "Rex 84" story was bannered on the front page of the and available in coin-boxes all over Capitol Hill. had previously reported extensively on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other government initiatives that threatened civil liberties. Sheehan has told reporters that the "Rex 84" story did not come from , but would not respond to questions as to whether or not Source #4 could document where the information came from. This is important because in at least one other instance, previously published research was attributed by Sheehan to Source #4. According to the 1986 Sheehan "Affidavit" revised in 1987: "In early May of 1984, I was supplied by Source #4 with a number of documents describing, in some detail, a project supervised by then Special Assistant California State Attorney General Edwin Meese code-named "Project Cable Splicer"...part of a larger program, code-named "Project Garden Plot"--which was a nation-wide war games scenario...to establish a nation-wide state of martial law if Richard Nixon's "political enemies" required him to declare a State of National Emergency. " While the descriptions of Cable Splicer and Garden Plot are accurate, the source is deceptively obscured. The original story of Cable Splicer and Garden Plot broke in the alternative press in 1975 in an article by Ron Ridenhour with Arthur Lublow published in Arizona's . Garden Plot was also the cover story for the Winter 1976 issue of magazine. Dozens of pages of the unedited official documents from Garden Plot and Cable Splicer were reprinted in the magazine. Copies of the official documents were made available to trial teams in several cities litigating against illegal government intelligence abuse. Several former Christic staffers, who asked to remain nameless, suggest that, at the very least, a critical reevaluation of some allegations made in the Christic case would be beneficial in light of the possibility that material from far-right, conspiracist or anti-Jewish sources was uncritically woven into the original "Secret Team" Christic thesis. They say that the Christic theories need to be reassessed with the ulterior motives and credibility of those sources in mind. The Christic Institute was supplied with the text of the criticisms raised in this section of the report, as well as an extensive list of written questions. With the exception of the quote regarding the LaRouchians, they chose not to respond. Barbara Honneger, The October Surprise & The LaRouchians In many way the LaRouche organization, with its slickly repackaged conspiracy theories, serves as a nexus for a number of tendencies on the political right, ranging from ultra-conservatives to outright fascists and white supremacists. LaRouchian material on AIDS, for instance, is cited by homophobic organizations such as the fundamentalist Christian group Summit Ministries. It seems clear that the LaRouche network reaches out to many constituencies, including some that seem improbable on the surface, including some on the left. Over the past few years the LaRouchians have solicited contacts with a number of critics of U.S. foreign policy and intelligence agency practices, sometimes with surprising success. In many cases, it is the LaRouchian intelligence network that serves as a broker for information flowing between left-wing and right-wing groups. LaRouchians appear to have first penetrated the left in recent years when they began to trade information on covert action and CIA misconduct. The LaRouchians were early critics of the Oliver North network. In the early 1980's, LaRouche intelligence operatives such as Jeffrey Steinberg maintained close ties to a faction in the National Security Council which opposed Oliver North's activities. At the same time the LaRouchians quietly began providing information to mainstream and progressive reporters and researchers. The Christic Institute and the Empowerment Project which distributes the film "CoverUp: Behind the Iran-Contra Affair" are major promoters of Barbara Honegger's theories regarding an alleged "October Surprise." The October Surprise was the term used among Reagan campaign aides to describe the possibility that the Iranian government might arrange for the release of U.S. hostages prior to the election which pitted incumbent Jimmy Carter against challenger Ronald Reagan. Barbara Honneger alleges in her book that Reagan campaign aides did negotiate with representatives of the Iranian government to delay any hostage release until after the 1980 election. Substantial circumstantial evidence exists to suggest such a charge might be true, but there is little incontrovertible proof. Honneger's research and analysis are questionable. In the 1989 edition of her book , Honneger cites frequently to LaRouche's . While some material in EIR is factual, other material presented as fact is unsubstantiated rumor or lunatic conspiracy theories. Some anti-fascist researchers also assume that information in EIR occasionally represents calculated leaks by current and former government intelligence agents and right-wing activists to achieve a desired political goal. This practice is a common tactic in power struggles and faction fights over policy. While Honneger sometimes cites to progressive periodicals such as and ,, more than six percent (49 out of a total 771) of the footnotes in Honneger's book cite LaRouchian publications such as and . In one chapter on "Project Diplomacy," Honneger LaRouchian cites account for over 22 percent of the total number of footnotes. Honneger also makes assertions that strain credulity. She quotes without comment the claim of Eugene Wheaton that the CIA is actually secretly controlled by a group of retired members of the OSS. In the July/August 1991 issue of , both David MacMichael and Barbara Trent of the Empowerment project defend Honneger and suggest PBS refused to show "Coverup" because it contained serious charges against the U.S. government. As Trent put it: "It was no big surprise that there was a problem getting `Coverup' on PBS. Programs that address U.S. foreign policy in particular and are not in agreement with the policies of the sitting president rarely get much of a chance on TV. " In fact, PBS has aired on the "Frontline" series programs about the October Surprise and CIA involvement in drug trafficking. PBS has also aired two Bill Moyers specials on Iran-Contragate that concluded that Reagan lied repeatedly and may have committed impeachable offenses, and that evidence exists to suggest that Bush's role in the Contra resupply operation was far more direct than he has admitted. The primary difference between the shows broadcast by PBS and "Coverup" is the reliance in "Coverup" on Barbara Honneger and Danny Sheehan and their unsubstantiated and undocumented charges. It would have been difficult for PBS to justify running Honneger's assertions given her reliance on material supplied by neo-Nazis with a history of circulating unreliable information. "Coverup" also promotes the Christic theme that Iran-Contragate was caused by a long-standing conspiracy of individual agents. In contrast to this individualistic formulation, the Moyers programs stress a systemic failure: that the lack of congressional oversight over foreign policy and covert action has created a Constitutional crisis where the balance of powers between branches of government has been skewed toward the executive branch. The Gulf War The right's attempt to influence and recruit the left became highly visible during the Gulf War crisis in late 1990 and early 1991. As the movement against the war in the Middle East began to build, a handful of far-right and anti-Jewish groups began to seek alliances with liberal, progressive, and left antiwar coalitions. It is important to recognize that as a whole the antiwar movement overwhelmingly rejected these overtures by the political right, while recognizing that the attempt reflects a larger ongoing problem. Sowing Confusion The rightist efforts caused problems across the country, especially attempts by followers of neo-fascist Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. to forge ties with liberal and left antiwar coalitions. Other fascist groups organizing against the war included the Populist Party, Liberty Lobby, and some elements of the white supremacist movement. Other far-right and ultra-conservative groups opposing the war included some factions in the Libertarian movement, the John Birch Society, and groups purveying general rightist conspiracy theories. Most persons in the antiwar movement seemed unaware of the backgrounds and ideology of the several rightist groups that sought alliances during the Gulf War period, and merely were hoping to build a broad-based alliance. Still, some activists fear that in the future, fragile coalitions around peace and social justice issues could be seriously damaged by the presence of bigoted ultra-right forces, and argue that on moral grounds alone, coalitions with fascist, racist, and anti-Jewish groups are not acceptable. Some of the rightist and anti-Jewish groups that opposed the Gulf War also have a racialist white supremacist ideology that not only considers persons of Jewish and Arab heritage to be inferior, but believes no person of color has a legitimate claim to citizenship in the United States. Within weeks of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, there were reports of physical attacks on and threats against both Arab and Jewish institutions and persons of Arab and Jewish descent. Left groups which tolerate or apologize for persons who have allied themselves with the racialist ultra-right send a message that such views, which motivate acts of discrimination and assault, are an acceptable part of political debate in our society. Most conservatives and rightists supported the U.S. involvement in the Gulf War. The actual attempts by the sectors of the political right who opposed the war were varied by both locale and method. The antiwar rightist groups generally did not seek actual coalitions with the left, but instead passed out handbills at large antiwar demonstrations as a recruitment mechanism. For example, the ultra-conservative and conspiracist John Birch Society distributed antiwar flyers at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, and at a downtown Boston antiwar rally. For many on the left, this was their first experience with a courtship by the ultra-right. Author Sara Diamond urges left activists to be suspicious of the motives of the opportunistic right which approached the left during the Gulf War. Diamond, whose book chronicled the religious right in America, warned, "one can only speculate that they wanted to recruit people into their own organizations and then leave the left discredited." She added that no matter what the motivation, however, the proposed alliance was a bad idea. One danger posed by the right wing's recruitment attempts is that the widespread conspiracism in some sectors of the far right has found fertile ground among naive or uncritical forces on the left. The problem is exacerbated when rightists put forward their paranoid and sometimes anti-Jewish theories in progressive circles where conspiracist or prejudiced sentiments have been tolerated rather than routinely confronted. Within the U.S. progressive movement, the issue of an undercurrent of anti-Jewish bigotry among some pro-Palestinian, Black nationalist, and left groups has been under discussion for several years. What the left faces is the task of carefully drawing distinctions between views that are solely anti-Zionist or critical of the state of Israel's policies, and views that reflect bigoted conspiracy theories about persons of Jewish heritage. If peace and social justice forces do not publicly reject anti-Jewish bigots, this task becomes impossible, and the charge of anti-Semitism will taint the entire progressive movement. The utilization of scapegoating conspiracies is by no means limited to the fascist right, but during the Gulf War some antiwar activists became attracted to scurrilous conspiratorial theories of elite control circulated by right-wing researchers. One conspiracy theorist who gained high visibility during the Gulf War was Craig Hulet. Another conspiracy theorist, Antony Sutton, avoids explicit anti-Jewish rhetoric, but pursues a line promoting arcane banking conspiracies (often involving Jewish banking families traditionally scapegoated by bigots). Sutton also has supported racial separatism between Blacks and whites in South Africa. Another theorist, Eustace Mullins, is a notorious anti-Jewish bigot who focuses on anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in which the Rothschilds and other Jews control the world economy. Mullins' work is promoted by U.S. white supremacist and neo-Nazi circles. Persons supporting the neo-fascist Populist Party used Hulet's radio appearances on progressive Pacifica network radio station KPFA in San Francisco to organize study groups where the theories of Mullins and Sutton were promoted. The LaRouchians and the Gulf War The most disruptive rightist penetration of antiwar groups was by the LaRouchians. The LaRouchians generally operate under front groups such as Food for Peace, Schiller Institute, and . Some local antiwar groups have worked with the LaRouchians, while others have not. While often described merely as conservative or extremist, the LaRouche organization and its various front groups are a fascist political movement with echoes of neo-Nazi ideology. The group's ultimate leader, Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr., is currently in jail because his fundraisers sold unsecured securities to the elderly and because LaRouche paid no taxes while living in a Virginia mansion. LaRouche was sentenced in January, 1989 to fifteen years in prison after a federal court found LaRouche and six codefendants guilty of a mail fraud conspiracy related to fundraising. LaRouche was also convicted of tax evasion. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court let the convictions stand without comment. LaRouche's lawyers have repeatedly sued activist critics who describe him as a fascist, racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Jewish bigot, lunatic cult leader, neo-Nazi racial theorist, crook, and demagogue. LaRouche has lost every case. One jury in Virginia found that calling LaRouche a "small-time Hitler" was not defamatory and then awarded damages to the news organization sued by LaRouche. During the Gulf War the LaRouchians appeared at antiwar rallies and meetings in thirty cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Ann Arbor, St. Louis, Omaha, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. At the University of Ottawa in Canada, LaRouche's Schiller Institute co-sponsored an antiwar event with an organization of Middle Eastern students. At an October 20, 1990 antiwar demonstration in New York City, the Schiller Institute had four people carrying a large banner and a small group of supporters organized in a contingent. The LaRouchians have passed out petitions at antiwar rallies, and then called the persons who signed the petitions to solicit money for the LaRouche organization. Other fundraising pitches are made at antiwar rallies. In a flyer announcing a December 15, 1990 rally, a group called simply the "LaRouche Organization" was originally listed as a coalition member. The presence of the LaRouchians, as well as other anti-Jewish bigots, in the St. Louis antiwar coalition originally caused consternation, especially among members of New Jewish Agenda, a group which supports a democratic Israel, Palestinian rights, and a Palestinian homeland. When coalition leaders were provided with documentation of LaRouchian attacks on Jews, Blacks and other minorities, including LaRouchian support for the apartheid government of South Africa, the LaRouche supporters were booted out of the coalition. In Los Angeles, several LaRouchians were dismayed when the local antiwar coalition pointed to its principles of unity, which included a call for a sensible non-nuclear energy policy. The LaRouchians are vocal supporters of nuclear power. In Richmond, Virginia, local antiwar organizers simply kept shouting at the LaRouchians to "shut up" when they began their bizarre spiels and for a time the LaRouchians stopped coming to meetings. The LaRouchians soon returned, but attempted to keep a low profile while persistently circulating their literature. During December, LaRouche's followers held vigils on a number of campuses to build support for a touted "National Teach-In to Stop the War" held December 15-16 in Chicago. The Chicago conference, titled "Development is the New Name for Peace," turned out to be the annual LaRouche-sponsored Food for Peace Conference, repackaged to attract antiwar activists. The conference drew over 350 attendees. Several persons active with the St. Louis African-American Anti-War/Peace Coalition who attended the conference were later asked to leave the Coalition for being disruptive and spreading anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, according to several St. Louis activists who spoke on condition of anonymity. Only three dozen students were sprinkled among the crowd which drew persons from California, Oregon, North and South Dakota, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nebraska, and the Canadian province of Quebec. Many in the audience were farmers. Close to one-third of the conference attendees were African-Americans. While the number of students was small, the emphasis on the situation in the Middle East was not neglected. LaRouche regulars Mel Klenetsky and Nancy Spannaus moderated the program which included a videotaped message and live phone patch from the cultural attache for the Iraqi embassy, Dr. Mayser Al Mallah. The LaRouche organization has maintained ties with the Iraqi Ba'ath Party for many years, according to several former LaRouchian intelligence gatherers who have left the group. Other panelists at the LaRouchian conference included the Rev. James Bevel, an early civil rights leader now active in several LaRouchian front groups; a representative from Minister Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, editor of the ; and Gene Wheaton, a private investigator who works with both left-wing and right-wing critics of U.S. clandestine operations. How The LaRouchians Exploited Antiwar Organizers A long-time political activist who marched with the Cleveland contingent in the January 19th antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C. was more than a little surprised when he noticed that people in the contingent next to him were passing out literature from Lyndon LaRouche's political front groups. "They were beating a drum and chanting `George Bush, You Can't Hide, the New World Order is Genocide,'" he reports. "There were about 100 people, many elderly, some Black," he says, and one flyer they handed out carried a headline scolding, "U.S. Citizens Must Recognize Their Past Mistakes and Support LaRouche." There was a large banner and some people carried signs that said "Free LaRouche, Jail the ADL." At the march the LaRouchians passed out their newspaper. "A lot of people who remember don't realize its new name is ," said the Cleveland activist. According to Gavrielle Gemma, coordinator of the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East (the group that sponsored the January 19th antiwar demonstration in Washington, D.C.), the official policy of the Coalition is to reject any work with the LaRouchians. Although the LaRouchians and their supporters involved themselves in Coalition activities during the Gulf War, these incidents did not reflect the official policy of the Coalition, according to several Coalition spokespersons, but were attempts (sometimes successful) by the LaRouchians and their allies to portray themselves as part of the Coalition. Specifically, in interviews with several Coalition spokespersons the following picture of how the LaRouchians manipulated and exploited the Coalition emerged: *** The Rev. James Bevel had not been invited to the January 4th Coalition press conference featuring former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark which was aired on the C-SPAN cable channel. Bevel arrived with an invited speaker, a Black serviceman resisting assignment to the Gulf. Although Bevel had worked with the LaRouchians for many months prior to the press conference, it was not until weeks after the press conference that Coalition leadership became aware that Bevel had ties to the LaRouche organization. *** People affiliated with the Coalition, who defended the appearance of Bevel, were reacting to Bevel's past history as a respected civil rights leader, and were not aware, or found it impossible to accept, that Bevel had now aligned himself with far-right groups. *** A contingent of LaRouchians who marched in the Coalition's January 19th demonstration in Washington, D.C. did so against the expressed wishes of Coalition leadership. *** A security marshal who told demonstrators on January 19th not to continue a chant critical of the LaRouchians was unaware of who the LaRouchians were, and was merely trying to enforce the policy of ensuring peaceful relations among contingents. *** Although Ramsey Clark has chosen not to say anything critical of the LaRouchians due to his representation of them in legal matters, the Coalition does not hesitate to criticize roundly the LaRouchians as fascists and anti-Semites. *** The apparent reluctance among some persons affiliated with the Coalition to discuss charges of LaRouchian involvement with reporters did not reflect the views of the leadership of the Coalition, and in some cases appears to reflect a disbelief among these persons that the LaRouchians had managed successfully to portray themselves as part of the Coalition. *** December, 1990 and January, 1991 were chaotic and confusing months and the official position of the Coalition regarding a refusal to work with the LaRouchians was perhaps not made clear to all persons actively organizing Coalition events around the country. *** While the LaRouchians appear to abuse their legal relationship to attorney Clark by using his name in their publicity and implying his political support, it is the firm belief of the Coalition that Clark's refusal to comment on this circumstance reflects a personal ethical position, and in no way implies any connection between Clark and the political work of the LaRouchians. Leaders of the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East are aware that the LaRouchians continue to attempt to penetrate their organization, and urge persons who find LaRouchians portraying themselves as official members of the Coalition to challenge that claim. Anyone who continues to claim the Coalition tolerates the presence of the LaRouchians should be referred to the national office of the Coalition for a short and clear rejection of that contention. "We do not work with fascists or anti-Semites," said Coalition coordinator Gavrielle Gemma, "and that includes the LaRouchites." Gemma says this is not only the Coalition attitude, but her own as well, noting that she once personally threw some LaRouchians off a picket line during the Greyhound strike. Apparently the position of the Coalition leadership against working with the LaRouchians, now clearly unequivocal, was slow to reach all organizers during the chaotic months of December, 1990 and January, 1991. This lack of clarity among rank-and-file organizers, some of whom were inexperienced, coupled with the LaRouchians' manipulative opportunism, the Coalition's uncertainty over Bevel's tie to the LaRouchians, and Ramsey Clark's silence on the LaRouchians' use of his name, created enough confusion so that some organizers for the Coalition at first defended Bevel's appearance at the January 4th press conference, and defended the participation of various LaRouchian front groups in Coalition events. It also turns out that a report issued by the LaRouchian Schiller Institute, and cited at the January 4th press conference was in fact introduced by a LaRouchian attending the press conference as a reporter. Chicago antiwar organizer Alynne Romo reports the local Emergency Coalition for Peace in the Middle East has "asked the LaRouchians not to participate when they have appeared at our demonstrations." According to Romo, "The LaRouche people called us several times. They told us Margaret Thatcher was behind the situation in Iraq and that she put George Bush up to it." Romo adds that "they also said they were working with Ramsey Clark as a way to get us to cooperate." Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is the lead legal counsel for an appeal filed by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. and six followers convicted of loan fraud. On October 6, 1989, Clark appeared and gave oral arguments in the case before a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia to argue for the reversal of the convictions. The right of Mr. Clark to represent the LaRouche organization is not disputed, but when the LaRouchians use his name in a political rather than legal context, problems arise. Based on several dozen interviews with antiwar activists in twenty cities, it appears that sometimes LaRouchians fundraisers and organizers mention they work with Ramsey Clark, while other times they do not. The use by the LaRouchians of Clark's name has been very effective at college student government meetings where many students have never heard of LaRouche, and tend to be sympathetic to his claims of government harassment. After gaining an audience, the LaRouchians encourage the student leaders to join their "coalition" and to authorize college funding. Sam Schwartz, a faculty member at Bronx Community College in New York, received a phone call from a LaRouche attorney threatening to sue Schwartz penniless unless he stopped telling students that LaRouche was an anti-Semite and fascist. Several African-Americans active in St. Louis who objected to the presence of the LaRouchians in a local antiwar coalition were also threatened with lawsuits for their critical characterization of the LaRouche movement. Clark has not been involved in these threats of lawsuits. Since Clark took on the LaRouche appeal, the LaRouchians have blazoned Clark's name across a substantial amount of propaganda used both in fundraising and in coaxing persons into consideration of the political message of the organization. Sometimes the LaRouchian references to Clark simply cause confusion. One antiwar activist who was handed a LaRouchian pamphlet mentioning Clark was at first convinced the LaRouchians were cleverly trying to smear Clark by using his name. The LaRouchians frequently attempt to build coalitions in a sly manner. For instance activist Lanny Sinkin, a former attorney for the Christic Institute, appeared at a March, 1991 post-war panel sponsored by a Washington, D.C. group called The Time is Now. Also on the panel were two key LaRouche operatives and a leader of The Time is Now. According to a staff member of the Washington Peace Center, members of The Time is Now worked closely with the LaRouchians and thoroughly disrupted the political work of the Washington Area Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East during January and February, 1991. When members of The Time is Now passed out LaRouche's at a February meeting, they were asked to leave the coalition. When criticized by the Peace Center staffer, Sinkin defended his appearance at the conference as legitimate outreach, according to the staffer. Sinkin says he was unaware when invited that LaRouchians would also be on the panel, and he vigorously denies that he has ever had any ongoing relationship with the LaRouchians or that his actions were improper. Sinkin says that his appearance reflected his commitment to speaking to broad audiences. Organizers at the Washington Peace Center counter that Sinkin's presence at the meeting lent credibility to two groups that were disrupting their work. The issue here is not one of implying any type of ongoing relationship between Sinkin and the LaRouchians. No such relationship exists. But for the Washington Peace Center, Sinkin's appearance on the same platform with the LaRouchians served as an implicit endorsement, suggesting by example that joint work with the LaRouchians was acceptable at the same time that the Peace Center was telling members of the local antiwar coalition that joint work with the LaRouchians was unacceptable.A number of experienced antiwar activists warn that working with the LaRouchians and other far-right and bigoted forces will only discredit serious work towards peace in the Middle East. Jon Hillson is a seasoned political organizer and peace activist based in Ohio who already knew the history of the LaRouchians. Hillson reported LaRouche organizers at events sponsored by the Cleveland Committee Against War in the Persian Gulf. At one meeting, "Two people went through the crowd handing out LaRouche's ," says Hillson. "I was shocked, but then I realized most students had never heard of LaRouche," says Hillson. "I would urge people to disavow any collaboration with them because of their past ties to government agencies...and their homophobic, racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic agenda." Hillson notes that it will take patience to explain to new activists why a broad-based coalition should exclude anyone, but that the task of educating people that coalitions with fascists should be rejected is not one to be ignored. How the LaRouchians Exploit Ramsey Clark An account of Clark's Fourth Circuit oral arguments noted that "former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, chief attorney for LaRouche's appeal, argued that U.S. District Judge Albert V. Bryan Jr. of Alexandria allowed only thirty-four days from arraignment to trial and failed to adequately question jurors on how much they knew about the defendant." The Fourth Circuit ruled against LaRouche, saying LaRouche's original attorneys had waited eighteen days before asking for a continuance. An story about the decision reported that the appeals panel "also said LaRouche's attorneys made no attempt to press potential jurors to determine `individually anyone who had ever heard of LaRouche,' although certain jurors who said they were familiar with the case or who had worked in law enforcement or had accounting or tax backgrounds were questioned individually." On further appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court let the convictions stand without a hearing or comment. In fact, more than a few civil libertarians agree there was evidence of misconduct in the government's investigation of LaRouche, and the closing of LaRouche's newspaper in a federal bankruptcy proceeding raised serious constitutional issues. Still, there is no clear evidence that the alleged government misconduct had a direct bearing on the criminal prosecution of LaRouche and his aides. When Clark has spoken at LaRouchian-sponsored press conferences concerning the case, there has been extensive coverage in the LaRouchian press. One such story featuring Clark appeared in LaRouche's on October 13, 1989. Clark was quoted as saying that even though he had once been a political opponent of LaRouche, he had now come to his defense because of constitutional abuses such as a fast jury selection process, massive prejudicial pretrial publicity, and a jury pool which contained numerous government employees, including law enforcement agents from agencies that had allegedly targeted LaRouche. Ramsey Clark has steadfastly refused to disassociate his legal work for the LaRouchians from the political work of the LaRouchians, despite the fact that the LaRouchians imply Clark's support in numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Most critics of Clark's silence regarding the LaRouchians say they understand he has a duty as an attorney to represent the LaRouchians fully and vigorously, but feel he has not been sensitive to the ways in which the LaRouchians are using his name in the political arena. These critics point out that the ethical imperatives for an attorney are different than the moral obligations of a leader of an antiwar movement. They say Clark has a political responsibility to distance himself from the LaRouche organization, which is separate from his role as their attorney. Sometimes it appears that Clark's support of the LaRouche cause has moved beyond mere legal representation. According to the July 6, 1990 , on June 19, 1990, Clark spoke at a private meeting coordinated with the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), a multi-governmental association and human rights forum that solicits input from non-governmental groups. The reported that "Clark's trip was sponsored by the Schiller Institute's Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations, a non-governmental organization which is urging the CSCE to take up the case of Lyndon LaRouche, the U.S. economist and statesman who is now America's most prominent political prisoner." The Schiller Institute is a LaRouchian front group which once published a book claiming British Jews helped put Hitler into power. In his CSCE speech, Clark is reported to have said he had reviewed a random selection of sixty-five published articles on LaRouche appearing in the several years prior to LaRouche's prosecution. Clark reportedly said "here you see that he's called every bad thing you can imagine--Nazi, anti-Semitic, violence-prone, thief--over and over again. Vilification...it was absolutely astounding." The article reported that Clark said that LaRouche was prosecuted on "economic crimes that didn't exist, because this was a political movement, it was not a for-profit activity and wasn't intended to be a for-profit activity, it was a political movement. You make three sentences for five years each to impose a fifteen-year sentence on a man who's sixty-six years old. To destroy a political movement. Obviously....Unless you can wrench [the political process] free from [the] plutocracy that absolutely controls with an iron hand that essentially one-party system, you won't have that change. And that's what the Lyndon LaRouche case is about: you." At a February 28, 1991 international conference in Algeria to oppose U.S. intervention in the Gulf, Clark shared the podium with long-time LaRouche associate Jacques Cheminade, president of the Schiller Institute in France. - Clark Responds - Clark confirmed in an interview that he had spoken about the LaRouche case in Europe at the CSCE conference, but said he had not seen the transcript of his speech that appeared in LaRouche's , and said his speech was not written in advance so he had no copy. If the report of Clark's comments in are accurate--and to a large degree they reflect wording in the appeals brief he signed--then there are serious questions as to what he thinks of the LaRouchians. Clark seems to discount as propaganda the charges that the LaRouchians are fascists, anti-Semites, or neo-Nazis. Other critics question Mr. Clark's decision to appear at the CSCE-related meeting at all, pointing out that such appearances go beyond legal representation. Clark said he had not seen any materials suggesting the LaRouche people were using his name to organize students and others into their antiwar work but he would like to see that material or any other related information. But Clark seemed relatively unconcerned that the LaRouchians might be using or abusing his name in their political work. "That's a risk you always have," as a defense counsel, said Clark. Clark said that the somewhat glowing description of the LaRouche political movement in the appeals brief he signed reflected the right of any defendant to portray itself in a positive light. According to Clark, the prosecution of LaRouche in Virginia was a travesty of procedure and a clear violation of the Constitutional right to a fair trial. Clark said the issue was not whether or not the LaRouche people were guilty of crimes, but whether or not they had received a fair trial. On the question of representation of controversial clients on legal appeals, Clark said: "It's a question of rights, not a question of facts. I remain focused on the legal rights and not the nature of the person involved. I oppose the death penalty on principle, I assume many of the people who I represent on death penalty appeals are in fact guilty, but that is not the point. If you have to apologize first you have a done a disservice to the case. I resist government abuses of people's rights. The government demonizes people...once you have conceded the demon you have lost the principle involved in the defense. By prefacing a defense by first saying `of course, he is a terrible person' it disables people from considering the matter fairly. " Clark said the government had demonized people like Saddam Hussein and Lyndon LaRouche and that he felt it was not appropriate to give in to the pejorative labeling of such persons when discussing their activities. This is the same rationale used by Clark in 1986 when he was criticized for not distancing himself from his client Karl Linnas, a Nazi collaborator who was eventually deported because he had lied about his past to gain entrance to the U.S. after World War II. Clark represented Linnas in an appeal which objected to the procedures followed in the deportation. Critics of Clark, including Daniel Levitas of the Center for Democratic Renewal, said Clark was insensitive to the fact that anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi groups were using Clark's appeal to buttress their claims that Linnas was innocent or that the Holocaust was a hoax.[f-5] Rev. James Bevel The Rev. James Bevel is an African-American minister from Chicago with a long history of civil rights work but a recent reputation as an opportunist who has swung far to the right. Rev. Bevel now works closely with groups controlled by two neo-fascists, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. The Moon network supported the war effort, while the LaRouchians did not. Bevel focused his energy in opposing the Gulf War, primarily through an alliance with the LaRouchians. Bevel's ties to the LaRouchians go back several years. Bevel not only appeared as a panelist at the LaRouchian antiwar conference in Chicago, but he also has endorsed LaRouche's congressional candidacy, and speaks regularly at LaRouchian forums. Bevel has served on committees created by several LaRouchian front groups, and writes a column for the LaRouchian newspaper . Bevel has been an effective organizer for the LaRouchians, and took a high profile in their antiwar organizing. Dr. Manning Marable, in a 1986 column, listed Bevel among a small group of "prominent civil rights spokesmen [who] have gone so far as to form alliances with ultra-right groups, which might give lipservice to blacks' traditional interests." The LaRouchians have sought coalitions with local African-American community activists for many years, often working through religious leaders. A recent example was the LaRouchian support for then Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. During Barry's trial on drug charges, the LaRouchians and the Nation of Islam helped organize protests on behalf of Barry. The LaRouchian representative during these protests was Bevel. When Bevel endorsed Lyndon LaRouche's congressional candidacy (in Virginia's 10th Congressional District), he signed a statement which included the claim, "Lyndon LaRouche is known and respected in every nation of the Third World as the primary opponent of the genocide policies of the IMF and as the architect and principal spokesman for a new and more just world economic order that guarantees the inalienable rights of all people." The statement speaks glowingly of LaRouche's early theorizing about the AIDS virus and his recommendations for fighting the spread of the virus. In fact, as mentioned before, LaRouche has written that history would not judge harshly those persons who took to the streets and beat homosexuals to death with baseball bats to stop the spread of AIDS. Bevel represented the LaRouchian Schiller Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. The reported on January 6, 1991: ""Bevel was one of 10 people who came to Nebraska in October as members of a group calling itself the Citizens Fact-Finding Commission to Investigate Human rights Violations of Children in Nebraska. That group was organized by the Schiller Institute of Washington, D.C., and Wiesbaden, Germany. The institute was founded in 1984 by Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She is the wife of Lyndon LaRouche, who is serving a 15-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion....The Schiller group's printed statement disputed the findings of two grand juries in the Franklin case. A check by the of some of the `facts' in the statement turned up several apparent errors. " While Rev. Bevel's historic role as a valued civil rights leader is unquestioned, he has in recent years lost his constituency and his political moorings. Dr. Manning Marable noted noted in 1986 that Bevel, had become "a Republican party leader in Chicago's Black community, and soon earned the reputation as an extremist of the right." Some time after the LaRouche conviction in January 1989, Bevel began to appear as a featured speaker at LaRouchian conferences, and began to write a column in the LaRouchian . As Marable noted in 1986: "The right-wing sect of Lyndon LaRouche has also initiated a campaign to recruit black supporters. As in the case of the Unification Church, the LaRouchians work primarily through several fronts, the Schiller Institute and the National Democratic Policy Committee. Again, the LaRouchians have been linked to a number of racist and extremist groups, including the Liberty Lobby, the Klan and neo-Nazis. Currently, the LaRouchians are vigorously opposing sanctions against South African apartheid. " While in Chicago, Bevel regularly broke ranks with the African-American-led coalition behind the late Mayor Harold Washington. At the same time, Bevel was working with Moon's front group CAUSA. In an interview with Bevel at an Illinois CAUSA meeting, I asked him why he would ally himself with a religious/political movement such as that run by Rev. Moon. Bevel replied that it was a tactical coalition based on agreement that the main danger in the world was communism. Bevel argued that communism was a godless philosophy, and that as a Christian, it was his obligation to fight godlessness. Bevel's CAUSA ties garnered him some unflattering publicity. According to the December 12, 1987 , Bevel was one of four persons belonging to "groups created by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church" who erected a creche and nativity scene at Chicago's Daley Center Plaza. The reported that "William J. Grutzmacher, who obtained the permit and paid $2000 for the creche, gave a speech in October to a business group in Merrillville, Ind., apparently so anti-Semitic that a local newspaper ran an editorial denouncing him." The head of the Rotary Club that had co-sponsored Grutzmacher's speech told the reporter, "He made charges...that the Communist Party is headed by Jews, and that the Jews were responsible for every negative thing that has happened since World War II." Bevel has also worked with other Moon fronts. In the October, 1990 issue of , Bevel is listed as serving on the National Policy Board of the American Freedom Coalition, chaired by the ultra-conservative Hon. Richard Ichord. The American Freedom Coalition (AFC) is a joint project of Rev. Moon and the Rev. Robert G. Grant of the ultra-right Christian fundamentalist group Christian Voice. AFC fundraised for Oliver North, and Bevel sits on the AFC National Policy Board with Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub, implicated in the Iran-Contragate scandal; Lt. Gen. Daniel Graham of High Frontier, the pro-Star Wars lobby; and rightist historian Dr. Cleon Skousen. The late Dr. Ralph David Abernathy was a long-time member of the AFC Board of Directors along with pro-interventionist Ambassador Phillip Sanchez. On the AFC National Advisory Board sit rightist fundraising guru Richard Viguerie, and Slava Stetsko, president of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN). ABN is notorious because it is the descendant and spiritual heir of the Committee of Subjugated Nations, formed in 1943 by Hitler's allies. According to author Russ Bellant, "The ABN brought together fascist forces from Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, the Ukraine, the Baltic States, Slovenia and other nations." Slava Stetsko is the widow of Yaroslav Stetsko, leader of the Nazi puppet government in the Ukraine during World War II. She once wrote a glowing introduction to a book that defined anti-Semitism as a "smear word used by Communists against those who effectively oppose and expose them." These are the fascist forces with which Bevel has allied himself, and is a striking example of the opportunistic flexibility of fascism as a political ideology, able not only to embrace Nazi-collaborators but also to entice Black civil rights activists. Bevel's ties to the fascist Moon circles are through a shared loathing of communism as a godless ideology, an issue which resonates with many Black church-based constituencies. Another congruent theme that fascism can employ to seek alliances with African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans is the opportunistic manipulation of the issues of nationalism and self determination. Other Black leaders such as Roy Innis and the late Ralph David Abernathy have forged alliances with the fascist right. Innis has worked in alliance with the LaRouchians. Abernathy worked with Moon's Unification movement until his death. Other Right-Wing Groups and the Gulf War Conservative groups overwhelmingly supported sending U.S. troops to the Gulf. Right-wing forces aligned with Rev. Sun Myung Moon and those supportive of the Israeli political right forged a pro-war coalition that placed ads in newspapers and purchased television commercials. Other rightists, primarily those who have politics that are more accurately termed reactionary than conservative, staked out an isolationist or "America First" position, and opposed sending U.S. troops to fight the Gulf War. The LaRouchian antiwar theories parallel many of the themes promoted by the Liberty Lobby, the Birch Society, and author Fletcher Prouty. According to one flyer issued by the LaRouchians, "If war is to come, it will be the result of deliberate `geopolitical' plotting by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Lord Carrington, and other London friends of Henry Kissinger." Some white supremacists outlined a frank racist agenda in their Gulf War publications. The Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, in the January/February, 1991 issue of , ran a banner headline "War in the Middle East? Another Blood Sacrifice on the Altar of International Jewry. Integrated Effeminate U.S. Military Will Not Win!" , published by Northpoint Tactical Teams in North Carolina, released a forty-page special edition, "Desert Shield and the New World Order," which ascribes the conflict to a Jewish-Communist conspiracy involving Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, George Bush, and Mikhail Gorbachev. At the 35th Anniversary Liberty Lobby convention held in September, 1990 there was considerable antiwar sentiment expressed by speakers who tied the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia to pressure from Israel and its intelligence agency, Mossad. No matter what actual political involvement, if any, forces that support Israel may have had in shaping the events that led to the Gulf War, the history of Liberty Lobby is to circulate lurid anti-Jewish propaganda, not principled factual criticisms. At the conference Fletcher Prouty released the new Institute for Historical Review's Noontide Press edition of his book on CIA intrigue, . Prouty moderated a panel where much-decorated Vietnam veteran Bo Gritz wove a conspiracy theory which explained the U.S. confrontation with Iraq as a product of the same "Secret Team" outlined by Prouty. Both Prouty and Gritz serve on the advisory board of Liberty Lobby's Populist Action Committee. coverage of Gritz featured a headline proclaiming "Gritz Warns...Get Ready to Fight or Lose Freedom: Links Drugs, CIA, Mossad; Slams U.S. Foreign Policy; Alerts Patriots to Martial Law Threat." Other conference speakers and moderators at the September 1990 Liberty Lobby convention included attorney Mark Lane, who has drifted into alliances with Liberty Lobby that far transcend his role as the group's lawyer, and comedian and activist Dick Gregory, whose anti-government rhetoric finds fertile soil on the far right. Dick Gregory also spoke in 1991 at the January 19th antiwar rally in Washington, D.C. Organizers of the antiwar event say they were unaware of Gregory's previous appearance at the Liberty Lobby meeting. Mark Lane and Dick Gregory co-authored a 1977 book on the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and both have circulated complex conspiracy theories about other world events which could account in part for their drift towards the conspiratorial Liberty Lobby network. The attempts by some of the rightist groups who opposed the war to penetrate the progressive antiwar movement came during a period of significant realignment among U.S. right-wing and conservative political groups. In some rightist groups, long hidden racialist theories are being dusted off and recirculated, which has caused further splits. One of the most significant historical divisions on the American political right is between those groups that espouse racialist (race-based) theories--generally anti-Jewish and white supremacist--and those that do not. People associated with Liberty Lobby and the historically-related Populist Party circulated antiwar and pro-isolationist literature, including Liberty Lobby's weekly newspaper , at several antiwar rallies, including demonstrations in Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and West Palm Beach, Florida. cheers the activities of U.S. neo-Nazis and skinheads but masks its anti-Jewish stance behind coded phrases such as "dual-loyalist." According to the Center for Democratic Renewal: "The Florida Populist Party attended [the Florida] anti-war rally...handing out a leaflet that read in part: `The most conspicuous foes of war have been on the left, and we in the Populist Party support their efforts.' Don Black, a former Klan leader, had a taped message on the Party's phone line: `Make no mistake, this is Israel's war, and American sons and daughters are fighting it for them.' " In its January 7-14, 1991 edition, carried an article titled "Volunteers Flock to Iraq To Help Fight U.S., Israel." This phenomenon was favorably compared to "the building of the Waffen SS legions in Europe during World War II, when almost 1 million men from all over Europe and as far away as India voluntarily enlisted to fight communism under the leadership of the German high command. That development was also suppressed and never mentioned by the Anglo-American press. Allied commanders, however, knew the Waffen SS as an extremely effective fighting force." An advertisement in the same issue of touted a book "Israel: Our Duty...Our Dilemma" under the headline "How Will You Respond To The Next Mid-East War?" While itself usually avoids the loaded language of this ad, the pages of are frequently used by racist, anti-Jewish, and pro-Nazi groups to call attention to their products, publications, events, and views. The ad copy is also significant because it encapsulates many of the themes used by anti-Jewish bigots in criticizing Israel and Jews: "If you are like most Americans you will react as the pro-Zionist media has programmed< you to react. " "But if you have read "Israel: Our Duty...Our Dilemma" you will see the whole< picture--how Israel's ruling elite are using terrorism, Holocaust sympathy, twisted Bible verses--toward one objective: Power. " "Power in America. Power in the Middle East. Power in the world. " "Distilling 14 years' research in semi-secret Jewish sources, evangelical writer Theodore Winston Pike demonstrates that through Kabbalistic occultism, international banking, communism, liberalism, and media control, Israel is doing exactly what the Bible prophesies: establishing a power base in the Middle East upon which her false messiah, AntiChrist, will someday rule. " - The Buchanan Controversy The issue of anti-Jewish rhetoric over the Gulf crisis first surfaced in September, 1990 as part of a long simmering feud within the political right in the United States. Ultra-conservative columnist Pat Buchanan fired the first salvo to reach the mainstream media when he declared on the McLaughlin Group roundtable television program that the two groups most favoring war in the Middle East were "the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen chorus in the United States." columnist A.M. Rosenthal charged that Buchanan's comments reflected anti-Semitism, to which Buchanan retorted that Rosenthal had made a "contract hit" on him in collusion with the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL). To unravel the background of the dispute takes a political scorecard. Buchanan is allied with reactionary and hard-line rightist forces in the U.S. who sometimes are called paleo-conservatives or "Paleocons" due to their ties to the "Old Right" in the United States. Racism and anti-Jewish bigotry were common themes in some (although not all) Old Right groups. ADL is a Jewish human rights group often allied with the "Neocons," the neo-conservative movement in the Unites States. ADL leaders are also frequently ardent and uncritical supporters of Israeli government policies, as are many Neocons. ADL has produced some excellent material on bigotry and prejudice, but its leaders have labeled as anti-Semitic statements which are solely political criticisms of Israel or Zionism. Since there are some high-profile Jews in the intellectual leadership of the neo-conservative movement, some persons have concluded that neo-conservatism is a Jewish ideology. This is as prejudiced an assertion as the claim that communism is a Jewish ideology because of the role played in it by some Jewish intellectuals. Buchanan's statement in and of itself was not necessarily anti-Jewish, but in the context of Buchanan's long record of insensitivity when writing about Jews, the contention that Buchanan is an anti-Semite is not without foundation. Buchanan has not only defended those who say the Holocaust was a hoax, but implied their views have some merit. Buchanan endorsed the work of the Rockford Institute after other conservatives criticized it for its tolerance of apparently anti-Jewish sentiments. In his January 25, 1990 newsletter, Buchanan penned what was in essence an ode to fascism which celebrated the efficiency of autocracy, and concluded with the line, "If the people are corrupt, the more democracy, the worse the government." The column also echoed historically racialist themes. Actually, the Neocons for ten years quietly have tolerated more than a little anti-democratic authoritarianism, anti-Jewish bigotry, and racism from their tactical allies on the Paleocon right. Their alliance was based on shared support for militant anti-communism, celebration of unfettered free enterprise, calls for high levels of U.S. spending on the U.S. military, and support for a militarily strong Israel dominated by hard-line ultra-conservative political parties that would stand as a bulwark against communism in the Middle East. Author Sara Diamond (who covered the Buchanan/Rosenthal feud in ) notes "the Buchanan forces explicitly rejected coalition with the left on the issue of opposing intervention in the Gulf." The Courtship Continues "Reactionary concepts plus revolutionary emotion result in Fascist mentality. " (Wilhelm Reich) Craig Hulet's Reductionist Gulf War Critiques One critic of government policies who draws from both left and right sources and perspectives is Seattle-based analyst Craig B. Hulet. During the past year, progressive radio stations including KPFA in San Francisco and KPFK in Los Angeles aired compelling condemnations of the Gulf War produced by Hulet, also known as K.C. DePass. A number of study groups were formed in California following Hulet's radio and personal appearances. Hulet claimed in an interview that his theories have no relation to conspiracist theories such as those circulated by the John Birch Society, and he is quick to distance himself from the racialist and anti-Jewish theories of far-right groups such as Liberty Lobby. Still, Hulet's analysis, which exaggerates the role of the Al Sabah family in world affairs, has many of the hallmarks of other oversimplified conspiracist theories which reduce complex issues to simple equations; and it seems to scapegoat one family of Arabs, albeit one with powerful financial holdings, in a way that would be equally unacceptable if their name was Rothschild rather than Al Sabah. No matter what his actual affiliations, Hulet essentially employs a variation on the elite financial insider conspiracy of the John Birch Society. Hulet has a smooth style and self-confident tone, but in essence, Hulet's analysis reflects a cynical right-wing libertarian perspective laced with conspiratorial theories. The basic theme of his Gulf War analysis boils down to an assertion that Kuwait's ruling Al Sabah family dictated U.S. policy in the Gulf War in concert with ruling financial elites in the United States. According to Hulet, the Al Sabah family could do this because they controlled vast financial holdings in the U.S. and they threatened to withdraw those holdings and collapse the U.S. economy unless the U.S. pushed Iraq out of Kuwait. Hulet also maintains that the investments of George Bush and his father Prescott make George Bush vulnerable to manipulation by the Al Sabah family. A Hulet promotional brochure reveals a pattern of similar reductionist statements and unsubstantiated conspiratorial claims. According to the brochure: "Hulet outlines the actual political objectives of the Bush administration regarding the Middle East...why we gave Hussein the green light to invade Kuwait and why Bush will disallow any legitimate cease fire overture by Hussein....volatile...material concerning George Bush's connections as well as those of his father, Prescott Bush...Middle East and the New World Order discussed in detail... " The brochure claims that the Hulet report provides "an excellent understanding identifying the elite and how and why they control society". In a similar vein, the brochure claims the Hulet report provides, "...an overview identifying the elites who manage this country and how and why they control it's aim...." The text of shows a more detailed yet consistent reliance on conspiratorial assertions: "Keeping the left wing grass roots at the throat of the right wing grass roots, serves the purpose, the means, and ultimately..., the END, of these quite powerful elitists. As each side at the basic root level; the grass roots level if you will, are both being used, duped, and manipulated by the Elite...They are quite simply, these sincere yet almost silly at times local people, unwittingly part of an ingenious plan to create a , and the quite agree on the end at which they both aim (the synthesis). . " These are just a few examples of Hulet's conspiracist style. Most of Hulet's work concerns conspiracies of the "elites." Actually, much of Hulet's thesis is an echo of the book "Call it Conspiracy" by Larry Abraham, which is itself a rewrite and expansion of the book "None Dare Call it Conspiracy" by Gary Allen and Larry Abraham. Allen's writings were widely popularized by the John Birch Society. Hulet's intellectual tradition can clearly be shown to be congruent with that of the John Birch Society. In at least one case, Hulet moves beyond conspiracism into elevating a satire to documentary status. Hulet labels as fact material from the book . Hulet refers to the work as if it were a secret government document. Actually, is an allegorical critique of the pro-militarist lobby and a well-known example of political satire. [f-6] While an excellent philosophical discussion of the errors of the Cold War, it should be noted that it was produced by Leonard C. Lewin, described on the book jacket as a "critic and satirist" who was editor of . Apparently Hulet didn't get the joke. Hulet also plows the ground of left/right coalition. Hulet says that he works closely with former Christic Institute attorney Lanny Sinkin to buttress his credibility on the left. On one radio interview, Hulet responded to a question regarding third parties in the U.S. by saying: "The problem with those third parties is that they are such a tiny, tiny minority of the intelligentsia. Many of them like the Libertarian Party is splintered between factions. They are fighting amongst themselves. They still see it as a left-wing right-wing dialectic that they must oppose. And all I'm trying to make very clear to the American people, including the ones that read all the right books, is that the enemy is our government. The enemy is not part of our society. It has always historically been them versus us. The government versus the people. And the American people have to stop fighting amongst themselves. " Hulet recommends the research on Trilateralism of Antony C. Sutton, a far-right theorist who publishes the , and . The latter carried Sutton's sentiment that "without political intervention cancer would have been cured decades ago." Citing Sutton in any context is problematic given Sutton's exotic views. Sutton, for instance, asserts that various government and political operatives, controlled by international bankers, have suppressed the technology to control the weather, produce free energy, and achieve "Acoustical Levitation." Sutton also reports on "possible advanced alien technology" including anti-gravity devices recovered from UFOs by the U.S. government. When Hulet was asked why he would put forward Sutton as someone to prove his thesis, he replied that it was a choice between Sutton and Holly Sklar, and he considered Sklar a Marxist. This says much about the political milieu from which Hulet is emerging. Sklar, who has written progressive critiques of the Trilateralists, warns antiwar activists that "there is a big difference between understanding the influence of the Trilateral Commission on world affairs and the paranoid right-wing fantasy that the Trilateralists and their allies are an omnipotent cabal controlling the world. It's important for people to base their political decisions on facts, not lazy catch-all conspiracy theories." Journalist David Barsamian interviewed Hulet for a Boulder, Colorado radio station and his Alternative Radio tape series which is aired on numerous local radio stations nationwide. The pamphlet series reproduced a transcript of Barsamian's interview with Hulet, and sold them alongside interviews with researchers who have a more substantial and serious track record, including Noam Chomsky, Helen Caldicott, and John Stockwell. After selling one thousand copies of the pamphlet--far less than the others, did not reprint the pamphlet and it went out of print, according to co-owner Stuart Sahulka. According to Sahulka, the Hulet pamphlet was published because there was "such an overpressing need for information about the war," and that except for exaggerating the amount of Kuwaiti investment in the U.S., it seemed accurate. Barsamian is troubled by some of Hulet's assertions regarding the genesis of the Gulf War, and Hulet's apparent claim that the Kuwaiti royal families control of $300 billion in U.S. investments was the key issue in prompting the war. (Most newspapers and financial reporting services place the Kuwaiti/U.S. investment figure in the range of 30-50 billion dollars, with a low of 15 and a high of 80 in current documented mainstream and alternative press accounts.) Barsamian and other progressive researchers and journalists have been unable to document some of Hulet's claims, which may represent legitimate suppositions, but were presented by Hulet in numerous radio interviews as facts. Hulet argues that the integrity of his research should not be judged on the basis of radio interviews where discussions are often hectic and condensed. On the other hand, Hulet gained his influence as a Gulf War critic and his largest audience through radio talk shows. Barsamian warns progressives of falling for the type of "left guruism" where sensational anti-government theories are accepted without any independent critical analysis. He notes that during the Gulf crisis Craig Hulet was elevated to expert status by progressives who accepted his pronouncements as fact without seriously examining his credentials, which he sometimes inflates. For instance, one Hulet brochure describes him as a "Published columnist and political cartoonist. Articles frequently appear in national publications: and more." In fact, while the phrasing strongly suggests Hulet has written for the latter four publications, Hulet admits those cites actually refer to instances when he was quoted or his research used in preparing the article. Most journalists and academics would consider that a misrepresentation. In the long run, whether or not Hulet's analysis stands up to intellectual criticism will be determined by his ability to defend his thesis--a defense that can only take place if his views are vigorously debated, not uncritically accepted as gospel. That is the same critical standard to which all researchers should be held. An especially useful book in understanding how Hulet's conspiracy theories of oligarchic manipulation, anti-government demagoguery, and appeal to individualism fits into the fascist tradition is "The Fascist Ego" by William R. Tucker.[f-7] The book is a study of the French intellectual fascist, Robert Brasillach, whose egocentric flirtation with fascism ended with his execution as a collaborator at the end of WWII. Author Tucker, as the jacket blurb explains: "...sees in Brasillach's involvement in fascism a form of anarchic individualism or `right-wing anarchism.' He suggests that, far from being a form of social or moral conservatism, Brasillach's fascism was inspired by an anti-modernism that placed the creative individuals sensibilities and his ego at the center of things. Brasillach's fear that the individualist prerogatives of the creative elite would be submerged in the industrialized and rationalized society that loomed on the horizon was important as a basis for his thoughts and actions. " To understand Brasillach and his soul-mates is to understand Craig Hulet, and his followers. How the Populist Party Uses Hulet While Craig Hulet, featured on the California Pacifica radio stations, is careful to distance himself from views that are racist or anti-Jewish, not everyone who champions Hulet as an commentator on the Gulf War or Bush's New World Order makes those distinctions. Some persons, wittingly or not, use Hulet's theories to introduce others to the more bigoted theorists. Hulet helped spark a political movement in California following the Gulf War that, according to persons attending the meetings, fed scores, perhaps hundreds, of political activists into a far-right, racist, and anti-Jewish political organizing drive supporting the Presidential candidacy of Col. James Bo Gritz of the Populist Party. The story of one person living in the Bay Area, called here Dana Pierce, illustrates the study group phenomenon sparked by Hulet's presentations. The story shows an organizing dynamic in action, and is not meant to imply that Hulet is a party to the dynamic, merely that others opportunistically use Hulet as bait. Dana Pierce had become critical of domestic U.S. financial policies, and attended a meeting of others who shared that view. Pierce was invited by the leader of the group, an older man with "a pro-democracy demeanor," to a meeting in the San Rafael area to meet someone who might assist with a particular financial problem. At that second meeting, the facilitator announced the group was trying to understand George Bush and the New World Order. They were studying history and political science, and were reading material by Noam Chomsky. It was explained that the group had formed after several core persons, who opposed sending U.S. troops to the Gulf, had heard Craig Hulet's speeches in the Bay Area, primarily on radio station KPFA, both in live interviews and on tape. Some people had seen Hulet on videotape. They had responded to Hulet's call for people to educate themselves by forming the group. The group consisted of at least thirty people and had met about four times when Pierce attended the meeting. For the main program of the meeting, the group watched a videotape of Eustace Mullins talking about the sinister aspects of the Federal Reserve system. As the tape progressed, Pierce became increasingly uneasy. "Mullins was jumping back and forth, claiming bankers supported both the Bolshevik revolution and the Nazis, he praised the right-wing Hunt brothers, and then began to mention the Rothschild family. He said the CIA was part of the plot, and William F. Buckley is CIA which was why some conservative groups dismissed his theories. All the while I watched people smiling and nodding their heads and I began to wonder if I was the only one to catch the reference to the Rothschilds and wondered if I was being over-sensitive because I was Jewish. " After the tape, according to Pierce, "the host stood up and praised Mullins and said he was a close associate of Ezra Pound. The host also said that the banking system is communistic because both are monopolistic." Pierce went to the local library and looked up a biography of Ezra Pound and discovered that Mullins had been associated with Pound, and that Pound was a virulent anti-Semite. Pierce then read Hannah Arendt's treatise on the origins of anti-Semitism, and pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Pierce had not heard Hulet before and so went to hear a July 1991 speech at the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco. Admission was ten dollars and the audience numbered at least 100. "He was a glib speaker, and he presents concerns all of us have--concerns many people on the left certainly have about the Bush administration and how there is no effective congressional oversight. I can listen to him and agree he is focused on some real problems in this country. What he does is bring into the open a lot of concerns and he discusses issues succinctly and in ways that people can follow. If I had just gone to hear him I probably would have been quite taken with him, but in the context of the first meeting, I listened with skepticism, and am worried. People want so much to believe in him they don't want to hear any criticism. I saw how people can hear Hulet and then be led to Mullins. If you look at the origins of anti- Semitism described by Arendt, you can see how a self-confident person who provides simple explanations can offer comfort to people who sense that something is wrong with our society and that they are being lied to, which is true. But it was scary to see how easily people were then led into accepting the scapegoating of Jews and the other conspiracy theories discussed by Eustace Mullins on the videotape. At first I thought there was something wrong with me, but now I think there is a serious problem that people on the left need to talk about. " Hulet was listed in a 1986 advertisement as a speaker at a day-long seminar with ultra-rightist Australian Eric D. Butler and pro-apartheid writer Ivor Benson, a notorious anti-Semite. Both men are leading theorists affiliated with Liberty Lobby. Also on the 1986 panel was rightist newsletter editor Lawrence Patterson, recently named to the Liberty Lobby PAC, and David Irving, an author who claims the Holocaust was a Jewish hoax. Repeated attempts to interview Hulet regarding this meeting and the California study groups, including a visit to his base in a town north of Seattle, were brushed off by his wife, Kathleen DePass Hulet, who handles his publicity from a frame shop in downtown Everett, Washington. Hulet has told one newspaper that he did not attend the event. The matter is unimportant in an overall assessment of Hulet's ideological--as opposed to organizational--allegiances. Left/Right Critiques and Coalitions It would be grossly unfair to suggest that all information from the political right is inaccurate conspiracism. Right-wing groups are quite capable of producing factual investigative material and persuasive journalistic stories. For instance, every year "Project Censored" runs a contest to pick the ten top stories not adequately covered by the mainstream press. On a 1991 PBS television program reviewing the 1990 Project Censored stories, commentator Bill Moyers held up a copy of the as an example of two such stories--one on aspects of U.S. foreign policy in the early days of the Gulf crisis, another highlighting repressive features of an anti-crime bill. Not all stories surfaced by the far right are accurate, however, and many feature convoluted and undocumented conspiracy theories featuring a paranoid analysis. At the same time the right has been wooing the left, right-wing groups have been promoting a number of left resources such as books and videos that criticize certain aspects of government policy or ruling elites. For instance, Noam Chomsky's critiques of U.S. foreign policy, Holly Sklar's studies of the Trilateral Commission, and Brian Glick's manual on domestic repression are praised and distributed by right-wing book peddlers. These cross-ideological pollinations do not imply any ideological connection between the left researchers and the right--any group can distribute a book--but dem