George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

was overwhelming. Mr. Bush was easy to talk to, and he was interested in my stories.
''@s2@s1
Late January, 1985:
George Bush's office officially organized contacts through the State Department for Felix
Rodriguez to operate in Central America from a base in El Salvador, in a false `` private ''
capacity. The U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Thomas Pickering, then cabled to Gen.
Paul F. Gorman, commander of the U.S. Army Southern Command: `` Rodriguez has
high-level contacts at the White House, DOS [State Dept] and DOD [Defense
Department], some of whom are strongly supporting his use in El Salvador.
``It would be in our best interests that Mr. Rodriguez confer with you personally prior to
coming to El Salvador. I have some obvious concerns about this arrangement.... '' Felix
Rodriguez flew to Panama to speak to General Gorman. They discussed his covert aid to
the Contras ``since the early eighties.''@s2@s2 Rodriguez, by George Bush's story the
private, volunteer helper of the Contras, flew from Panama to El Salvador on General
Gorman's personal C-12 airplane. General Gorman also sent a confidential cable to
Ambassador Pickering and Col. James Steele, U.S. military liaison man with the Contra
resupply operation in El Salvador: ``I have just met here with Felix Rodriguez, [deleted,
probably ``CIA''] pensioner from Miami. Born in Cuba, a veteran of guerrilla operations
[several lines deleted].... ``He is operating as a private citizen, but his acquaintanceship
with the V[ice] P[resident] is real enough, going back to the latter's days as D[irector of]
C[entral] I[ntelligence]. ``Rodriguez' primary commitment to the region is in [deleted]
where he wants to assist the FDN [Contras military forces]. I told him that the FDN
deserved his priority.... He will want to fly with the E[l] S[alvador] A[ir] F[orce] to
establish his credibility, but that ... seems to me both unnecessary and unwise....''@s2@s3
February 7, 1985:
The Crisis Pre-Planning Group (CPPG), subordinate to Chairman Bush of the Special
Situation Group (SSG), met to discuss means to circumvent the Boland amendment's ban
on aid to the Contras. They agreed on a `` Presidential letter '' to be sent to President
Suazo of Honduras, ``to provide several enticements to Honduras in exchange for its
continued support of the Nicaraguan Resistance. These enticements included expedited
delivery of military supplies ordered by Honduras, a phased release of withheld economic
assistance (ESF) funds, and other support.'' The preceding was the admission of the
United States government in the 1989 Oliver North trial--number 51 in a series of
``stipulations'' that was given to the court to avoid having to release classified documents.
February 12, 1985:
The government admissions in the North trial continued:
`` ... North proposed that McFarlane send a memo [to top officials on] the
recommendation of the CPPG [the Bush-supervised body, often chaired by Bush
adviser Don Gregg].... The memo stated that this part of the message [to the