In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

Business and Money (211]
ited in European bank accounts over which the CIA had no control.
This arrangement placed enormous faith in the honesty of everyone
involved. No one on the task force raised any question about it;
it was approved by Colby and his comptrollers. All case officers live
in glass houses, being required to pass funds to agents in all kinds
of situations. The only difference in IAFEATURE was that case officers
were disbursing millions rather than hundreds of dollars.
The justification for the ice plant was baroque: IAMOLDY /1 would
produce ice to preserve fish for the FNLA. In discussions with
Bantam and Potts, I pointed out that ice was indeed used on the
Congo River to preserve fish, for the Europeans and rich Africans
in the cities. The African population in the bush eats dried fish,
which has the virtue of not spoiling quickly even in the tropical sun
and humidity. There was no way of carrying ice-packed fish to
Ambriz for distribution to the fighting fronts.
My arguments against the ice plant were brushed aside. The
money was already expended and it would be unpleasant to bring the
matter up for review. In staff meeting Potts said at least twice that
one shouldn't try to second-guess the man in the field. Carl Bantam
recalled that in Laos the CIA had bought a lumber mill which turned
out to be a gold mine, making a profit and providing cover for
operational activities. The ice plant wasn't mentioned again.
But the fishing boat, the Christina, also involved IAMOLDY/l.
Kinshasa station wanted to buy it, for s150,ooo, in IAMOLDY /l's
name, allegedly for use in patroling the coast and hauling supplies
to the FNLA.
I argued that s150,ooo was too much money for our budget. The
Christina was an old tub, too slow and cumbersome for coastal patrol
or to interdict the flow of anything, much less arms between the
Congo (Brazzaville) and Luanda. Any supplies it hauled for us
would have to go through the congested Matadi port, where even
priority shipments were delayed for weeks. We could deliver supplies
from Kinshasa to Ambriz by trucks in less time, with a smaller
investment.
Potts listened, po1ite1y, as always, then noted that of course we
could not approve the purchase of ships without more detailed information,
including an insurance underwriter's appraisal of the ship's
condition and value, and the station's justification for its use. I took
notes and we sent a cable to Kinshasa asking for this information.