Arafat and the CIA
Posted by StormWarning on 01 Sep 2008 at 09:12 am | Tagged as: International Issues, Iran, Israel, National Security, Syria
With the release of papers of former DCI Richard Helms, we learn that before the 1973 Yom Kippur War (and after the Munich Massacre), Henry Kissinger instructed the CIA to maintain contact with Arafat, even after the kidnapping and murder of the U.S. Ambassador and his deputy in Khartoum, Sudan.
The released documents cover the period of 1973-1976 when Helms was the U.S. Ambassador to Iran (following his six year stint as Director of the CIA) and show:
● an Egyptian effort to have the U.S. through Iranian channels plead with Israel to withdraw to 1967 boundaries
● a proposal by the Shah of Iran for Egypt to limit their actions to an artillary barrage on Israeli positions in the Suez rather than an invasion
In a telegram Helms sent Kissinger - then Richard Nixon’s National Security Advisor - on July 5, 1973, Helms reported that King Hussein of Jordan told him that Jordanian intelligence had learned of a Syrian attack to recapture the Golan Heights originally planned for June, that had been delayed but could take place at any time soon. One of the Jordanian intelligence sources was the commander of a Syrian armored brigade, and the Jordanians had obtained a copy of the battle plans, which had been coordinated with Egypt and Iraq.
Additionally, Ali Hassan Salameh who was head of the Fatah security apparatus and commander of the Black September group, apparently met with Robert Ames of the CIA, knowing of Salameh’s involvement on the Sudan assassinations. Salameh asked about Nixon Administration intentions toward the PLO, and told Ames that they were planning to remove Jordanian King Hussein and establish a Palestinian homeland in Jordan. The Nixon government response was that it would assist in negotiations but not support the toppling of existing governments. Arafat also threatened Lebanon, apparently claiming that he would burn Beirut to the ground if Lebanon acted against the Palestinians.
Not negotiate with terrorists? But no one can know how the World would have evolved if…
Black September, Egypt, Fatah, Kissinger, Lebanon, Nixon, Richard Helms, Yom Kippur War
Interesting post, StormWarning! You’ve provided all of your loyal readers, me included, with a valuable history lesson!
Ortho, there are times when I see something that strikes me…odd, isn’t it that the Nixon Administration was negotiating with PLO and Arafat not too soon after the Munich Massacre? Odd, isn’t it that Arafat was seeking to overthrown the Jordanian government to establish a “Palestinian homeland?” What I find most interesting is that many of the “pro-Israel” crowd has no real idea of history, nor do they have perspective on the subject. Afterall, its only a few years since they “awakened” to the imperative of maintaining Israel’s sovereignty.