In Search of Enemies - A CIA Story - John Stockwell

IN SEARCH OF ENEMIES
F-27 could be purchased for less than $500,000 in the United States.
The working group panicked at the thought of Mobutu's anger.
He was notoriously temperamental about large airplanes, which he
viewed as symbols of wealth and prestige. He probably knew the
MPLA was getting two 737s from the United States, at exactly the
time he was suffering the humiliation of defeat at their hands. Morale
throughout the Zairian army was low, and his regime was seriously
threatened from within. He could easily decide to make the United
States into a scapegoat for getting him into the war, for leading him
on, and for letting him down. He might sever relations and turn
completely to the East for support. A 737 jetliner or even a s2 million
restitution could not be written off by the administration without
congressional approval, and the Congress was looking for such an
issue to attack the program and expose it to public scrutiny. The CIA
would be held to blame for everything.
A frantic exchange of cables ensued. Headquarters was only quibbling
about the price. Then St. Martin reported that he had managed
to see Mobutu and talk him into accepting a s6oo,ooo settlen1ent for
the lost plane. Headquarters' reaction was enormous relief and gratitude
that St. Martin had gotten the CIA off the hook so lightly.
Congress just might approve s6oo,ooo. Nothing more was said about
St. Martin's sending the F-27 into Angola in the first place.
Shortly thereafter St. Martin was promoted to GS 17. He was
recommended for an award for his "outstanding" participation in
the Angola program.*
In February the CIA began making generous payoffs to anyone
who had been associated with our side of the Angolan war. The
original Portuguese Angolan commandos, who had fought with
Bento in northern Angola were compensated as though they had
been on contract as CIA mercenaries throughout the war. Then
pilots, boat crews, and propaganda specialists began to line up for
bonuses and plane tickets to leave the country.
Colonel Castro, of course, received special consideration. He had
delivered only 13 men of the 300, but in February he made the novel
claim that 126 men had all quit their jobs in preparation for their
•A year later St. Martin was designated for assignment as chief of station of an
important Middle-Eastern capital, where the United States spends large sums of
money on arms, drug controls, and intrigue.