Fiji Island: Tale of a covert action

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On the agenda for 1989 is the Trident II missile, with even greater accuracy and lethality, which are designed to be used primarily to knock out Soviet land-based missiles before they can be fired.

The second nuclear deployment is even more risky—the sea-launched Tomahawk Cruise missile, "In 1985, the U.S. militar v bur iget in th Pacific was over was over $47 billion."

operational from American aircraft carriers of the Soviet Union.

These are the same nuclear missiles that triggered mass protests in Europe in recent years. They can travel 2500 km. with great accuracy before exploding over Soviet land targets, yet they appear no larger than a seagull on radar screens.

The idea behind these missiles is to "get the archer before he gets the arrow" and render Soviet forces inoperative. The present plan is to increase the number of Tomahawk-launching ships from five to 50 by 1990.

The authors of "The American Lake" point out that these new armaments will worsen what Theodore Postal, former advisor to the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Warfare Division, calls a "pathological instability."

"First-strike" capability

U.S. military strategy includes the ability to destroy Soviet firepower through the "first use" of nuclear weapons. Navy Secretary John Lehman has stated, "Who 8 SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1987 Lieut. Col. Oliver North has revealed how American foreign policy is sometimes formulated and executed by "Rambo" operatives behind the backs of Congress and the American people. North tells us that secrecy and deception form the essence of covert operations.

Anything goes, including assassination, so long as you can deny it! Governments may be overthrown, so long as you can say you "don't recall" or "can't recollect."

Covert operations are not confined to Iran and Nicaragua but range over the entire world, from the shores of Libya to the far Pacific. Wherever America's ruling class is challenged, hit-squads are dispatched to herd the "natives" back into line-by any means necessary.

Recently, the people of the island of Fiji joined the movement for a nuclear-free Pacific. On April 12, 1987, they elected a coalition government that included the Fiji Labour Party.

Dr. Timoci Bavadra, the new Prime Minister, declared Fiji a nuclear-free zone, where no nuclear ships from any nation would be permitted. He also announced a non-aligned foreign policy. On May 18, only six weeks after taking office, he was overthrown by a military coup.

Lieut. Col. North may consider the Fiji coup a model operation that can be disowned by Washington. However, too many clues have been left lying around, and the conspirators have been identified.

There is overwhelming evidence that Bavadra's overthrow was masterminded by American agents. After losing the election, former Prime Minister Rastu Mara went to Honolulu where he called on the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific fleet and other officials.

Just before and after the coup, retired Gen. John Singlaub and Iranian arms-merchant Adnan Washoggi were in Fiji. These two participants in the Iran/contra operation were observed meeting with Lieut. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, who later led the coup. About this time, a group of Black U.S. marines were seen on the island.

The Bavadra government was overthrown when 10 armed and masked men, wearing gloves, burst into the capitol building and arrested Dr. Bavadra and other members of his government. Witnesses declare that six of the 10 men were Americans.

If the U.S. government plans to wipe out every nuclear-free zone, the hit-squads will be very busy. The neighboring island of Vanuatu has declared itself a nuclear-free zone. Is this tiny island the next target for a hit?

The Labour government of New Zealand has barred nuclear ships from its harbors. Are U.S. moles working right now to destabilize that country's elected government? Is this one of the ongoing covert operations that North alluded to?

The hearings in Washington did not give us the answer. Both the Democrats and Republicans support the CIA and other Rambo-type operations.

But the vast majority of Americans oppose this policy that forces American nuclear power into every corner of the world. Like the people of the Pacific, we too want a nuclear-free zone—one that will encompass the entire world.

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signed the Compact, leaving Palau isolated.

Then they discovered that the promise of new jobs carried a sting. Under the Compact, the American minimum wage of $3.35 an hour would no longer apply. The Micronesian minimum wage would now be $1.50.

Voters reject weapons For the obdurate Palauans, the U.S. had several heavy sticks. Like obtuse children the Paluans were ordered to vote again and again on the Compact, "until they got it right." In 1983, 1984, and twice in 1986, the Palauans were forced to vote on the same issue. Each time they refused to accept nuclear weapons.

The voters went to the polls each time under increasing pressure from Washington. In 1983, the U.S. administration spent $315,000 for a "voter education program." This worked out to $45 for each voter. That year the Compact got only 62 percent of the votes—not enough to override the anti-nuclear clause.

In 1986 Washington poured in $400,000. Still only 66 percent voted for the Compact.

Obviously greater pressure was needed. But the U.N. Trusteeship Committee was watching, so obvious rough stuff was not possible. The Palauans had to be put in such an economic bind that they would beg Washington to rescue them. In a truly Machiavellian scheme, the U.S. administration decided to clobber the islanders with a generator.

Palauans depended on old Navy generators for electric power. The American administrator proposed they buy their own generator and worked out a contract with a British company. It was presented as a very good deal to the Palauans.