Table of Contents - The Barnes Review

Zionist Disinformation & the Downing of . . .
In 1991—eight years after Soviet jet fighters brought down Korean Air Lines Flight 007
over Soviet territory on Sept. 1, 1983—the John Birch Society (JBS) began publicizing a theory
that there were survivors of the tragedy—even including perhaps Rep. Larry McDonald (D-Ga.),
the chairman of the JBS, who had been aboard the ill-fated flight. At the time, a highly respected
retired U.S. Air Force colonel, James Edward Braddock—himself a longtime member of the JBS—
examined the report and found it not only highly misleading but quite suspicious indeed.
Inthe perspective of this writer the case of KAL 007 was closed
in the early hours of September 1, 1983, the date on which
that flight was destroyed. In late 1991, eight years after that
dastardly “error,” a gush of new, so-called, official data and
documentation spewed forth. Much of it reads well, but it
should. For the powers that were responsible for again stirring
the pot of disinformation have had years to compose the
latest play. Let’s look at some of the new details that have been
brought to light.
In mid-summer 1991 a fabulous rumor was
generated, supposedly with an origin from a foreign
short-wave radio station emanating from a French
source. The first recording was broadcast in French.
The information as broadcast was to the effect that
there were survivors from the downing and subsequent
ocean crash of KAL 007. The story was vivid
and went into the details of the hours of floating on
the high seas by the three survivors.
Yes, supposedly there were three survivors
who had remained alive throughout missile impact
on the aircraft, the immediate, violent pandemonium
and a free fall descent from 35,000 feet. The
story had a bit of a familiar ring. At first light the
Soviet equivalent of the Coast Guard was on the
scene and after hours of search, came upon the
three. Only one of the three survivors was identified
and he, naturally, was Lawrence P. McDonald of congressional
and John Birch Society, Inc. (JBS) fame. But the story did
not end there; it could not, for it begged for more information regarding
the disposition of the three. And more information there was.
Remember that we are talking about a period of eight years
[This article was written in 1991.—Ed.] from the destruction of 007
to the present. If one could put an infinite number of chimpanzees at
an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite period of time, the
Bible would eventually be rewritten. In our case the eight years was
32 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 3
By Col. James Edward Braddock (USAF-Ret.)
LAWRENCE MCDONALD
ample time for even the most unimaginative and unintelligent disinformationists
to dream up stories that would sell. Our story continues.
The information concerning the three survivors (two
unnamed) centered on the whereabouts of Larry P. McDonald, and
there, of course, speculation abounded. The story was that McDonald
had been seen in at least four different locations within the USSR
and that he was currently being held, under guard, at the notorious
Lubyanka prison in Moscow.
KAL 007, in itself, is not a major topic, except
for those who were, and are, very interested in all the
ramifications of the incident. Secondarily, there is the
desire to keep the name of McDonald alive, if only
because he is a good subject, an ex-congressman and
an ex-Bircher.
Two hundred and sixty-nine persons died that
morning when 007 went down, but then, from a comparative
standpoint, we kill about that many on the
interstates every three days, week in, week out. So
what is the big to-do? It is the nature of the circumstances
under which the plane went down.
When the plane went down there was an
immediate reaction by the “everyday” JBS, Inc.,
members, contending that it was obvious that the
plane was destroyed because McDonald was aboard.
I recall a breakfast meeting a few days after the incident
where that was the only topic. I did not enter
the arena to comment, because even at that early
time I was in no way entertaining any thought that McDonald was
the object of the attack. He was, frankly, irrelevant. I was, however, a
bit surprised that there were no major comments emanating from
Belmont [Belmont, Massachusetts, was where the JBS had its headquarters.—Ed.].
However, in a letter signed by an official of the JBS
(Andrew Lane), dated October 12, 1983, he (Lane) stated: “The communists
are moving very swiftly now to eliminate all of their opposition
all over the world, as evidenced by their assassination of Larry