GroupWatch was compiled by the Interhemispheric Resource Center,
Box 4506, Albuquerque, NM 87196. http://www.irc-online.org/
GroupWatch files are available at http://www.pir.org/gw/
Group: World Anti-Communist League
File Name: wacl.txt
Last Updated: 10/90
Principals: WACL council chairman in 1989 was Genevieve Aubry.(55)
Dr. Ku Cheng-Kang was honorary chairman and Hon. Sen. Jose Desmarets
was council chairman in 1987. Prof. Dr. Woo, Jae-Seung of Korea is
or was secretary-general in 1987.(54) Major General John Singlaub,
was chair until mid-1986.(18) Osami Kuboki, head of the Unification
Church in Japan and co-founder and chair of Shokyo Rengo, the
Japanese branch of WACL and has been an executive board member for
many years.(41,21) Dr. Yaroslav Stetsko, executive board member,
is a former Nazi collaborator from the Ukraine; Dr. Manuel Frutos,
executive board member from Paraguay; Sheik Ahmed Salah Jamjoon of
Saudi Arabia, a member of the royal family representing the Middle
Eastern Solidarity Council on the executive board; and Patrick
Walsh of Canada, executive board member.(11)
In 1989 heads of the regional organizations were: Dr. Robert N.
Thompson, NARWACL; Dr. Han, Lih-wu, APACL; Cdt. Georges A. Rombouts,
ECWF; and Mme. Slave Stetsko, ABN. Sergio Tapia is vice president
of FEDAL.(55)
The World Anti-Communist League (WACL) does not print annual reports
or publish other documents available to the public giving details
about the organization and its membership. However, WACL does hold
elaborate, by-invitation-only annual meetings at which the purpose
of the organization is reconfirmed and long- and short-term planning
is conducted. It is presumed, therefore, that those who attend the
annual meetings play a principal role in setting the goals and
planning the operations of WACL. Throughout this report the past
tense will be used when referring to WACL memberships, but many of
these people are still presumed to be active in the group.
A number of significant people have attended WACL annual conferences
from Latin America. These include Carlos Barbieri Filho of Brazil,
reportedly an agent of the Taiwanese government and head of the
Federacion de Entidades Democraticas de America Latina (FEDAL).(37)
Mario Sandoval Alarcon (the "Godfather") of the National Liberation
Movement (MLN) of Guatemala; Adolfo Calero of Nicaragua, a leader
in the Nicaraguan Democratic Front (FDN) contra forces; Roberto
D'Aubuission of El Salvador, founder of the rightwing ARENA party
and founder of the Salvadoran death squads; Benito Guanes, former
chief of Paraguayan military intelligence; and Raimundo Guerrero of
Mexico, professor at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara and
principal leader of the Tecos were other attendees.(11)
From the South African WACL chapter, Ivor Benson, known for his
racist and anti-semitic books, has attended.(37)
The "former ruling class" has been represented by Anastasio Somoza,
former ruler of Nicaragua;(37) former president of the Philippines
Ferdinand Marcos;(36) and former president of South Vietnam Nguyen
Van Thieu.(36)
European WACL chapters have included these participants at
conferences: St. C de Berkelaar of the Netherlands, former SS
officer and president of Sint Martinsfonds, an organization of
hundreds of former Dutch SS officers;(11) Alfred Gielen from
Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry who represented West Germany until
the mid-1980s;(21) and Giorgio Almirante of Italy, an official in
the Benito Mussolini government.(9)
The U.S. WACL delegation has included many people from anti-Soviet
(often pro-fascist) groups from eastern Europe. Among them have
been Dr. Anton Bonifacic of Croatia, wanted in Yugoslavia for war
crimes, and a member of the American chapter of the Croatian
Liberation Movement, and John Kosiak of Byelorussia, wanted in the
U.S.S.R. for war crimes. Kosiak is now in the U.S. and is chairman
of the Byelorussian Liberation Front.(11) Others from the U.S.
delegation were Anthony Bouscaren, William Starr, Lee Edwards, and
Roger Peterson. Bouscaren, a professor at Le Moyne University has
served on the board of the U.S. Council for World Freedom (USCWF).(9)
William Starr of Tucson, AZ represented CAUSA, the political arm of
the Unification Church.(9) Lee Edwards, founder of the first U.S.
chapter of WACL, acted as a registered foreign agent for WACL until
1982.(11) An anthropologist and author of racial supremacy books,
Roger Pearson was chairman of WACL from 1978 to 1980.(23)
Yaroslav Stetsko, chairman of the Anti-Bolshevic Bloc of Nations (ABN),
attended many WACL conferences. Stetsko was a Nazi collaborator and
briefly was the self-declared leader of the Ukraine.(11)
The Canadian WACL was represented at the conference by Patrick Walsh
of the executive board and by Chirila Ciuntu, who remains a member
of the Rumanian Iron Guard, a group notorious for its pogroms against
the Jews. Ciuntu is active in WACL in Canada.(11)
The Asian WACL chapters have sent numerous representatives to the
WACL conferences. From Japan came Ryiochi Sasakawa, a member of the
Diet in World War II who was classified as a war criminal by the
U.S. and served two years in prison. Takeshi Furuta, a representative
of the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, the
original political organization of the Unification Church is another
major Japanese WACL supporter.(11)
South Korean representatives have included Colonel Lee Byung Hee,
member of the KCIA and minister-without-portfolio for President
Park and General Lee Yung-Joon. The latter was a member of the
Japanese army in World War II, Korean army chief of staff in 1949,
minister of communications in 1955, and in 1986 was an adviser to
the Assoc of Veterans and a member of the State Affairs Advisory
Council of South Korea. General Honkon Lee, in 1986 a member of the
State Affairs Advisory Council, a former army chief of staff and
former ambassador to the Philippines and Great Britain, has also
participated in WACL conferences.Colonel Shin Chan, also a participant
in WACL conferences, was a spokesman for the ministry of national
defense in 1975, executive director of the Association for Promotion
of War Industry in 1979, and the director of the KCIA in 1981.
Another Korean participant was General Yoo Hanksoung, director of
the KCIA in 1980.(11)
Edward Entero Chey of Cambodia, attended a WACL conference as a
representative of Son Sann, a rebel organization fighting against
the Cambodian government. Chey's expenses were paid by the
government of Taiwan.(9)
Dr. Ku Cheng-kang of Taiwan is the honorary life chairman of WACL
and was a high-level leader of the Nationalist Party when the group
began in Taiwan. In 1986, he served as senior policy adviser to the
president and was the president of the Republic of China's National
Assembly.(11,28)
Category: Political, Paramilitary
Background: The World Anti-Communist League was founded in 1966 in
Taipei, Taiwan. WACL was conceived as an expansion of the Asian
People's Anti-Communist League, a regional alliance against communism
formed at the request of Chiang Kai-shek at the end of the Korean
War.(1,9,30,35) The Asian People's Anti-Communist League (APACL)
had roots in the China Lobby, a group dedicated to stopping official
international recognition of the Chinese Communist government. The
China Lobby had U.S. government connections, and allegedly Ray
Cline of the CIA assisted this group in establishing the Taiwanese
Political Warfare Cadres Academy in the late 1950s.(45) The founders
of APACL were agents of the governments of Taiwan and Korea, including
Park Chung Hee who later bacame president of Korea; Yoshio Kodama,
a member of organized crime in Japan; Ryiochi Sasakawa, a gangster
and Japanese billionaire jailed as a war criminal after World War
II; and Osami Kuboki and other followers of the Reverend Sun Myung
Moon, head of the Unification Church.(4,8,9,11,30) Sasakawa provided
major funding for Moon and the Unification Church. When Park became
president of South Korea after the 1961 coup, he adopted the
Unification Church as his political arm.(45)
One resource states that the Anti-Bolshevic Bloc of Nations (ABN),
headed by the notorious Yaroslav Stetsko since the 1950s, entered
the group in the early 1960s.(11,45) The ABN is the largest and most
important umbrella for former Nazi collaborators in the world.(11)
During the 1970s WACL spread to all six continents and chapters
were opened in Japan, Europe, Britain, Australia, the U.S., and
Latin America. The organization attracted former Nazi supporters in
Europe and in Latin America. The Latin American group, Confederacion
Anti-Comunista Latinoamericana (CAL), headed by Raimundo Guerrero,
sprang from the roots of Los Tecos, a World War II facist group.(11)
CAL was overtly fascist and connected to a chain of rightwing
military plots in Latin America.(59) The Unification Church (UC) of
Sun Myung Moon has remained a major power within WACL. Moon claimed
that he raised $1.4 million for WACL's 1970 annual conference.(41)
In 1975, Moon denounced WACL as being too facist, and claimed to
sever connections between it and the UC. Reports in the New York
Times, Searchlight and elsewhere, however, indicate the separation
is nominal only.(41) In 1985, WACL's Japanese branch was still run
by Osami Kuboki who also headed the Japanese Unification Church.(5)
From 1978 to 1980 Roger Pearson, well known for his theory of white
supremacy and his fascist sympathies, was chairman of WACL. Pearson
concentrated his efforts in Europe and attracted more radical fascist
elements to WACL. For a time WACL appeared to be more anti-semitic
than anticommunist.(11) Pearson and the more radical WACL branches
attempted to oust more moderate groups, but his attempted coup
failed. In 1980, WACL expelled Pearson and said it had purged its
fascist elements. As with the separation from the UC, however, the
separation from the fascists was cosmetic only. Most of the
individuals involved were reported by the New York Times, the Los
Angeles Times and other newspapers to be among the attendees at
succeeding annual conferences.(2,31) After Pearson's ouster, Major
General John K. Singlaub (ret.) and his newly-formed U.S. chapter
of WACL, the United States Council for World Freedom (USWCF),
became WACL's most active branch. USCWF was founded in 1981 by
Singlaub with a $16,500 loan from the Taiwanese branch of WACL and
generous support from beer baron Joseph Coors.(28,35) From 1984
through 1986, Singlaub was the chairman of WACL.(11) In 1984, columnist
Jack Anderson wrote a series of exposes on WACL connecting the group
with death squads operating in Latin America, and once again linking
them with fascists, this time in Latin America. He reported that
the "godfather" of the death squads in Guatemala, Mario Sandoval
Alarcon, a principal of the CAL, had been on the CIA payroll for 30
years--since the National Liberation Movement (MLN) was organized
by the CIA to overthrow progressive President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman
of Guatemala.(24,25) Further articles by Anderson reported that
CAL, which operated out of Guadalajara, Mexico, was an outgrowth of
Los Tecos.(26,27)
As a result of this expose, Singlaub put pressure on Dr. Ku, the
life-chair of WACL from Taiwan, to expel CAL.(28) Ku complied but,
as with the fascists in Europe, the disassociation was probably
only nominal.(30) A new Latin American wing, the zFederacion de
Entidades Democraticas de America Latina (FEDAL), was begun with
Dr. Carlos Barbieri Filho of Brazil as head. Barbieri Filho has
connections to the Argentine AAA death squad. Moreover, former
CAL chieftan Mario Sandoval Alarcon was present at the 1985 WACL
convention in Dallas.(30)
WACL maintains offices in a Taipei, Taiwan government building, and
runs its daily affairs out of "The Freedom Center," a cluster of
buildings in Seoul, South Korea.(30,38) WACL has an executive
structure headed by an honorary chairman, chairman, executive
board, and secretariat. It has eight regional organizations: Asian
Pacific Anti-Communist League (APACL); North American Regional WACL
Organization (NARWACL); European Council for World Freedom (ECWF);
African Organization for Freedom and Democracy (AOFD); Federacion
de Entidades Democraticas de America Latina (FEDAL); Middle East
Solidarity Council (MESC); Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN);
and World Youth Freedom League (WYFL).(54) WACL has 130 chapters,
and estimates of the number of countries involved ranges from 90 to
100.(31,35,38) The group publishes a quarterly magazine, Freedom
Digest.(54)
Countries: The League claims to be active in 100 countries. The
following are countries to which specific references have been
found: AF, AN, AR, AS, AU, CA, CN, SR, CU, ES, ET, GT, HO, IQ, IR,
JA, KO, LA, ME, MZ, NI, PN, PR, SA, SZ, TW, UK, UG, US, and VN.
Funding: The U.S. affiliate, USWCF, had tax exempt status from the
Internal Revenue Service from 1982 through 1987.(38) This enabled
Singlaub to solicit tax-deductible donations from private parties.
The status was withdrawn because of complaints to the IRS about the
types of activities in which the USCWF was involved in Nicaragua.(50)
Dallas heiress Ellen Garwood donated $65,000 to WACL to buy a
helicopter for the Nicaraguan contras.(35) Burt Hurlbut of the
USWCF board stated that Taiwan and South Korea were providing
$50,000 a month to WACL for the contras.(11,33) Singlaub reported
that USWCF was raising $50,000 a month from a group of wealthy
Texas conservatives including Bert Hurlbut of First Texas Royalty
and Exploration Co and John Howell of Howell Instruments.(35)
Singlaub told the Washington Post in May 1985 that the Brazil and
Argentina chapters of WACL were very active in supporting WACL
activities.(11) A 1985 article attributes donations of $100,000 a
year to the WACL chapter in Saudi Arabia.(35) Other contributors
include Nelson Bunker Hunt and Herbert Hunt, oil fortune heiress
Tarlton "Topsy" King, and Scott Parrott of the Parrott Oil fortune.(63)
An undetermined amount of WACL's funding comes in non-monetary
form. For example, a large donation of clothing was obtained from a
Korean manufacturer at greatly reduced prices. WACL also receives
support from other rightwing groups. Singlaub reported that he
received commitments for $100,000 from a fundraising campaign with
fellow members of the Council for National Policy.(35) Activities:
The purpose of the World Anti-Communist League is spelled out
clearly in its name. WACL operates internationallyto overcome and
eliminate groups or governments considered to pose a "communist"
threat. To achieve this end, WACL appears to be willing to align
itself with any and all governments and movements it considers to
be anticommunist.(38) The group revised its charter in 1987 to
include among its purposes the development of "political and
psychological warfare methods in order to expose and counteract the
evil designs and intrigues of Communist imperialism."(53) At the
1984 convention the group established committees to support and
assist eight anticommunist resistance groups: Nicaragua, Angola,
Mozambique, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.(6,17,21)
Much of the inspiration for WACL activities and the training in
psychological and political warfare come from Taiwan.(11,30,39)
Training courses are offered, with all expenses paid by WACL, at
the Political Warfare Cadres Academy in Peitou. Political warfare
is described by the academy as a system "to remove obstacles to
national unity within and to resist aggression from without."(11)
Roberto D'Aubuisson said of his training there, "(It was) the best
course I ever took."(11) Taiwan is no longer recognized by only the
United Nations and its government is recognized by two dozen nations,
half of which are in Latin America.(11)
WACL activities in Central America expanded greatly in 1984 when
Congress shut off all funds to the contra forces.(11) Between 1984
and 1986 WACL became the principal publicly identified source of
funding for the contras. Singlaub said that he "quite frankly used
the WACL organization...to meet with some people who are capable of
contributing" to the contra cause. He identified his three principal
WACL sources for funding as Latin America, Taiwan, and South Korea.(59)
Afghanistan: At its 1984 and 1985 conventions WACL voted to support
the anticommunist mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan.(6,17,21,39)
WACL was very active in the foundation and support of the Committee
for a Free Afghanistan (CFA). CFA was founded in 1981 and was given
office space at the Heritage Foundation.(21) CFA--directed by retired
Major General J. Milnor Roberts, a board member of USCWF--raised
large sums of money to purchase arms, ammunition and medical supplies
for the mujahedeen.(21,48) In 1985 WACL, through USCWF, initiated
"Project Boots" to bring humanitarian aid to the Afghan resistance.(21)
In 1988, General Daniel Graham, vice chair of USCFW, was one of an
eight-man delegation that met with President Ronald Reagan in an
effort to block the Geneva accords calling for a withdrawal of
Soviet troops from Afghanistan.(21)
Canada: After the U.S. Congress prohibited the CIA from further
assistance to the contras in 1984, the Canadian WACL chapter became
active in procuring and shipping goods to the contras. In 1984 and
1985 the Canadian WACL, Canadian Freedom Fdn (CFF), headed by John
Gamble, a former conservative member of parliament, arranged a
series of fundraising meetings for Singlaub, including some with
members of parliament.(38) CFF also supported the WACL campaign on
behalf of the mujahedeen in Afghanistan by raising funds and
holding anti-Soviet demonstrations.(38) A WACL affiliate, the
Freedom Council of Canada, was active in rallying anticommunist
sentiment in Canada following the student protests in Tienanmen
Square and the violent response by the Chinese government. The
group claimed to rally the support of some 4,500 Chinese students
studying in Canada.(55) The group is presently trying to act as
official representative of the Vietnamese exile groups in North
America, but as yet agreement has not been reached.(55)
Costa Rica: In 1986, Bernal Urbina Pinto headed the WACL chapter
in Costa Rica and was vice president of FEDAL. FEDAL replaced CAL
after it was expelled from WACL because of its fascist connections
in 1984. Urbina Pinto was also the leader of the political group,
Free Costa Rica Movement, which coordinatedthe Organization for the
National Emergency (OPEN), a paramilitary, anti-terrorist force.
OPEN trained thousands of peasants in the basic tactics of
counterinsurgency.(11)
In 1982, Argentinians came to Costa Rica to organize contra forces
who had slipped across the border from Nicaragua. They worked with
Urbina Pinto and the Free Costa Rica Movement.(11) Cuban exiles who
are members of WACL also live in Costa Rica. Most notable among
them is Nazario Sargen head of Alpha 66, a Cuban terrorist group
and long-standing WACL member.(11)
John Hull--whose ranch in Costa Rica was used as a base by the CIA
and private groups to bring supplies and military support to the
contras--is a member of WACL.(20) In fact, WACL was considered by
some to be the main CIA conduit in the supply network for the
contras.(20)
El Salvador: Roberto D'Aubuisson, Adolfo Cuellar and Raul Molina,
worked together under the direction of National Guard commander
General Jose Alberto "Chele" Medrano. All were members of WACL and
all rose to power in El Salvador.(11) D'Aubuisson, who rose through
the ranks of the Salvadoran National Security Agency (ANSESAL)--the
Salvadoran counterpart to the CIA--became El Salvador's national
representative to WACL.(31,61) In 1977, he went to Peitou, Taiwan
for three months of training at the Political Warfare Cadres Academy.
In 1980, D'Aubuisson went to the WACL convention in Buenos Aires
where he arranged for Argentine intelligence operatives to come to
El Salvador and give the National Guard instruction in counter-
subversion.(31) The advisers helped Salvadorans set up safe houses
out of which the death squads operated.(28) The project was funded
by WACL.(11) D'Aubuisson became an important figure in politics in
1981 when he established the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA)
party. ARENA is modeled after the ultra-right, militarist MLN of
Guatemala. Soon after ARENA's founding, investigative reporters
linked D'Aubuisson with Mario Sandoval Alarcon of the MLN. Sandoval
Alarcon is head of WACL in Guatemala and of La Mano Blanco, a major
Guatemalan death squad.(10,11) Testimony of U.S. Ambassador Robert
White fixes responsibility for the murder of Archbishop Oscar
Romero on D'Aubuisson.(11)
Adolfo Cuellar was a member of the National Assembly for the National
Conciliation Party (PCN), a rightwing party in El Salvador. In 1970,
he became head of the Democratic National Organization (ORDEN), a
rural paramilitary group of some eighty thousand anticommunist
informers and vigilantes. He was assassinated in 1981. Medrano went
on to achieve power in the National Guard.(11)
Guatemala: In 1954, with the formation of the CIA-sponsored Army of
Liberation (AOL) organized to overthrow reformist President Jacobo
Arbenz Guzman, Guatemala became fixed in a pattern of anticommunist
political violence which persists today.(11) The Eisenhower
administration tagged Arbenz as pro-communist and sent E. Howard
Hunt of the CIA (and, later, of Watergate fame) to organize the
AOL.(45) In 1957, a radical right faction of the government set up
by the U.S. to replace Arbenz assassinated his successor, President
Castillo Armas, and formed a new party, the National Liberation
Movement (MLN). Mario Sandoval Alarcon was the driving force
behind the government, and the MLN became the legitimizer of his
paramilitary operations.(11)
Sandoval Alarcon, known as the "godfather," launched his career in
the AOL, and has been head of the WACL in Guatemala since 1972.(11)
He was the coordinator of La Mano Blanco, which oversaw the
operations of many of the death squads in Central America. La Mano
Blanco was coordinated by CAL. The death squads have terrorized
Guatemala since their formation in the 1960s. When interviewed by
the authors of Inside the League a political analyst said, "People
ask if the death squads are controlled by the [Guatemalan] Army.
They are the Army."(11) Sandoval Alarcon was head of the National
Congress and vice president under Colonel Kjell Laugerud Schell
from 1974 to 1978. While vice president, he established close ties
with Taiwan through his leadership of WACL. He sent an estimated
fifty to seventy Guatemalan army officers to the Academy in Taiwan
for training.(11) In 1980, WACL requested that Sandoval Alarcon
help D'Aubuisson establish death squads in El Salvador.(11,45)
In 1979, John Singlaub and Daniel Graham of the American Security
Council and soon to be founders of the new U.S. WACL branch, the
USCWF, visited Guatemala. The purpose of their junket was to begin
to heal the relationship between the U.S. and Guatemala that had
become strained under the Carter administration. They also informed
the Guatemalan government that a Reagan victory would lead to a
resumption of military ties between the countries. Mario Sandoval
Alarcon attended President Ronald Reagan's inaugural ceremonies.(11)
Alberto Piedra, WACL member, was appointed ambassador to Guatemala
by President Reagan.(38,40)
While Sandoval failed in his bid to become president of Guatemala,
he remained the power behind the throne. In 1985, he was still the
head of WACL, claimed to have a private army of three thousand, and
the ability to put thousands more paramilitary troops into action
on short notice.(11)
Honduras: In the late 1970s, General Gustavo Alvarez Martinez
brought Honduras into the anticommunist warrior ranks. During his
term as president, he created the Honduran Anti-Communist Movement
(MACHO) and its action arm, the Anti-Communist Combat Army (ELA).
"Lobo," a leader of the ELA, was a member of the United Democratic
University Front (FUDD) which served as the ELA's front group.(11)
He was also a member of the youth wing of the Latin American
Anti-Communist Confederation (CAL). "Lobo" and other representatives
of FUDD were present at the 1980 WACL conference in Buenos Aires,
and there arranged for WACL members from Argentina to come to
Honduras to train contras from Nicaragua.(11) During 1980 and
1982, Jesse Helm's aide John Carbaugh, who attended the WACL
convention in 1980, made numerous trips to Honduras.(11) The WACL
chapter in Honduras was headed by Moises Jesus de Ulloa Duarte,
a conservative radio commentator who traveled to Korea at the
invitation and expense of the Unification Church.(11)
Refugee Relief International, a project of Soldier of Fortune,
joined forces with WACL to deliver supplies to contra camps in
Honduras in 1984.(11)
Mexico: The Confederacion Anticommunista Latinoamericana (CAL) was
run out of the Autonomous University in Guadalajara.(11) CAL was
formed from a well-established, elite, pro-Nazi network called Los
Tecos.(26,27) CAL did not cast off its anti-semitism to don the
cloak of anticommunism; it simply incorporated the latter into its
agenda.(11) The Jack Anderson expose of fascist elements in CAL
forced WACL to expel the group in 1984. However, an article in the
Village Voice noted that "the core of the old Latin fascist
apparatus remains."(30)
Philippines: In 1987, General Singlaub visited the Philippines with
Ray Cline, former CIA deputy director.(32,51) They met with CIA
station chief Norbett Garrett. Singlaub set up an office in Manila
at the Nippon Star, a subsidiary of the Japanese firm, Nippon
Electronics.(51) Cline and Singlaub, along with Garret and General
Robert Sweitzer met with Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel Ramos
prior to an abortive November coup.(62) Singlaub has also met with
Alberto "Magri" Maguidad, alias Jack Madigan, infamous vigilante
leader from Taguegarao. Madigan has acknowledged that his group
has the backing of Singlaub and WACL.(62)
The Manila Chronicle reported that Singlaub offered financial support
to sugar planters organizing an anticommunist drive on the island
of Negros.(51) Meetings were held with General Luis Villa-Real,
the president of WACL in the Philippines and head of the National
Intelligence Coordinating Authority.(51)
The Counter-Insurgency Command (CIC), a rightwing civilian vigilante
squad, admitted having the backing of "an international organization
led by retired General John Singlaub." The CIC claims to have 2,000
members and 100,000 sympathizers.(34)
The Philadelphia Reporter and the Washington Post reported that
Singlaub had recruited 37 mercenaries from around the world to
train Philippine soldiers in counterinsurgency tactics. Singlaub
denies this.(51) A Senate Committee headed by Frank Church commented
on Singlaub's activities in the Philippines, calling it "sheep-
dipping," i.e. "the process by which military men are given civilian
documentation, ostensibly resign from the service and are employed
overseas as civilians primarily for the CIA."(62) Taiwan: Taiwan,
home of the China Lobby and founder of WACL, is still run by the
Kuomintang (KMT).(1,11,45) The Taiwanese government is no longer
recognized as the government of China and has diplomatic legitimacy
in few countries. As a result, some observers feel that Taiwan uses
WACL as its main political conduit for its anticommunist political
policies.(11) It is through WACL that the KMT offers training in
unconventional warfare, interrogation and counterterror tactics at
their Political Warfare Cadres Academy. The KMT philosophy, carried
out in the academy training, is to create a politicized military
whose first loyalty is to the party, then to the military, and
finally to the nation. Through the academy, both Taiwan and WACL
have established a military and political network in Latin America.(11)
According to the authors of Inside the League, Taiwanese students
in the U.S. are watched by KMT agents who fill out monthly reports
about the total number of students suspected of being "communist."(11)
United States: The first WACL chapter in the U.S. was the American
Council for World Freedom (ACWF) founded in 1970 by Lee Edwards.
Edwards was the former director of Young Americans for Freedom.
John Fisher of the American Security Council served as ACWF's first
chairman. The American Security Council is a virulently anticommunist
group that originally focused on internal security. It currently
heads up the rightwing lobby group the Coalition for Peace Through
Strength, which includes among its members a number of members of
Congress.(61) In 1973, the ACWF, at the urging of board member
Stefan Possony, complained to WACL about the fascist members from
Latin America. The report was discredited, but in 1975, ACWF left
WACL and its members drifted off to other groups in the New Right.(11)
The second U.S. chapter of WACL (1975-1980), the Council on American
Affairs, was headed by noted racialist Roger Pearson. During this
period Pearson had strong links to the American Security Council.(61)
In 1980 John Singlaub went to Australia to speak to the Asian
branch of WACL.(46) Shortly thereafter he was approached to begin a
new U.S. chapter of the organization. The U.S. Council for World
Freedom (USCWF) was started by the retired General in 1981 with a
loan from WACL in Taiwan and local funding from beer magnate,
Joseph Coors.(28,35) USCWF has been the most active chapter of WACL
of this decade, with the action picking up tremendously in 1984
with the cessation of offficial U.S. government funding to the
contras. Singlaub was selected by the White House in 1984 to be the
chief private fundraiser for the contras. The key private funders
were to be wealthy business people, Taiwan, South Korea, and "an
anti-communist organization with close ties to those governments."(9)
Other major contributions came from Guatemala and Argentina, countries
where Singlaub had strong WACL connections. In his position as chief
private fundraiser for the contras Singlaub reported directly to
Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council.(59) It is
highly likely that Singlaub's USCWF/WACL high-profile, "private"
contra fundraising may have served as a cover for North's illegal
government-sponsored supply network.
In his deposition at the Iran-Contra hearings, Singlaub's claims
that he raised $10 million in contra aid were questioned. In 1985,
for example, when claims of millions of dollars in aid raised from
private sources were reported frequently by the media, the USWCF
financial statement reported income of $280,798.(46) In the previous
year, reported income was just over $41,000.(47) Singlaub responded
that a good deal of the aid was "in-kind" and that the dollar values
were somewhat uncertain. He also claimed that his statements had
been exaggerated by the press.(46)
What Singlaub has done as a private citizen and what he has done in
the name of USCWF and WACL is unclear. However, WACL paid for the
services of the public relations firm of Carter Clews Communications
to improve Singlaub's public image in order to enhance his fundraising
efforts.(46)
The USCWF and Soldier of Fortune established a private training
academy for Salvadoran police forces and Nicaraguan contras.
Located in Boulder, Colorado, the Institute for Regional and
International Studies was headed by Alexander McColl, the military
affairs editor of Soldier of Fortune Magazine.(11) Robert Brown of
Soldier of Fortune invested $500,000 in Freedom Marine. In December
1985 Freedom Marine sold three "stealth boats" to USCWF for $125,000.
The hulls of the boats had been reinforced for machine gun mounts.
In Honduras the coastal resupply system for rebels inside Nicaragua
utilized three "stealth boats."(7) Bruce Jones, former CIA liaison
to the contras in Costa Rica, worked for USCWF in Tucson.(11)
In 1987, USCWF lost its tax-exempt status because of complaints
about the group's support of the Nicaraguan contras and is reported
to be short of money.(38,50) USCWF apparently moved its offices
from Phoenix to Alexandria, Virginia in 1988. Singlaub was indicted
in 1986 and 1988 over USCWF activities in support of the contras.(56,57)
Because of these costly legal problems USCWF has been politically
inactive and NARWACL did not hold its annual meeting in 1988-1989.(55)
David Finzer and Rafael Flores founded the World Youth Freedom League
(WYFL), the youth branch of WACL in 1985. Flores, worked for contra
fundraiser, Carl (Spitz) Channell, also indicted in the Iran-contra
case. Finzer and Flores worked together at the International Youth
Year Commission, a group linked to Oliver North's contra supply
network.(44)
In April 1989 the ABN held a policy seminar at the Heritage Foundation
in Washington DC. The conference was attended by 100 representives
from the subjugated nations and Rep. Bill Young from the U.S. Congress
was the main speaker.(55)
Govt Connections: The following is a brief summary of the military
and intelligence activities of Major General John K. Singlaub (USA
-ret.). Singlaub was an officer in the Office of Strategic Services
(predecessor to the CIA) during World War II. He served on the
China desk of the CIA in 1948 and 1949 and became deputy chief of
the CIA in Seoul during the Korean War.(30) He served for two years
in Vietnam during the 1960s. There he was commander of the Joint
Unconventional Warfare Task Force (MACVSOG), the outfit that ran
Operation Phoenix, infamous for its assassinations and counterterror
tactics, and responsible for the deaths of thousands of Vietnamese
civilians. Singlaub denies participation in Operation Phoenix.(11)
As chief of staff of the United Nations Command in South Korea in
1978, he publicly condemned the decision of President Jimmy Carter
to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Korea. He was then forced to
retire.(11) Singlaub served as honorary chairman of Ronald Reagan's
1980 presidential campaign in Colorado.(30) In 1984, Under Secretary
of Defense Fred Ikle appointed Singlaub to head a committee studying
U.S. responses to the insurgency in El Salvador.(28)
When questioned on the CBS Television show "60 Minutes" about his
connections with contra funding Singlaub was asked by Mike Wallace,
"Let me put a thesis to you, General Singlaub. Private citizen
Jack Singlaub has become Ronald Reagan's secret weapon to sidestep
a Congress that will not permit him to act in the areas where he
believes that our security interests are at stake. True?" Singlaub's
response: "True."(52)
Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham, former director of the U.S.
Defense Intelligence Agency, is on the board of USCWF. Graham is
the head of High Frontier, an organization promoting the Strategic
Defense Initiative (SDI). He is also on the board of the Council
for National Policy and has been an important figure in CAUSA, the
major political arm of the Unification Church.(11,39,43) Graham,
Singlaub, Walter Judd, and John LeBoutillier are members of the
American Freedom Coalition, an organization which is the result of
a merger of a rightwing Christian lobby organization and an offshoot
of the Unification Church.(13,14)
John Carbaugh, chief aide to Jesse Helms, attended WACL conventions
in 1980 and 1984. Upon receiving a memo from Carbaugh, Helms assisted
in the creation of the Conservative Caucus, headed by Howard Phillips,
who was working in Helm's office at the time.(12) Margo Carlisle, aide
to Sen. James McClure (R-ID), also attended the 1980 convention.(11)
Carlisle was on the 1982-1983 board of governors of the Council for
National Policy, listed there as the executive director of the
Senate Republican Conference.(39) Rep. Tom Loeffler (R-TX) spoke
at the WACL convention in 1985.(19) Other congresspeople who have
participated in WACL events include: Rep. Robert Dornan (R-CA),
Sen. Jake Garn (R-UT), Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), Sen. James McClure
(R-ID), Sen. Steven D. Symms (R-ID), Sen. Stromm Thurman (R-SC),
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and Rep. Walter Judd (R-MN).(11)
Roger Pearson, WACL chairman from 1978 to 1980, was oustedfrom WACL
in 1980 for Nazi affiliations and attempting to expel more "moderate"
WACL groups in Europe.(30) The same Roger Pearson received a letter
of commendation from President Ronald Reagan in April 1982 for an
article he wrote. The Anti-Defamation League protested to the
president about support of a man known to be a promoter of neo-Nazi,
anti-semitic and racist ideology but received no response. In 1986,
Pearson was head of the Council of American Affairs in Washington
D.C.(11,23)
Lev Dobriansky, a former OSS officer in Germany in World War II,
was chairman of the National Captive Nations Committee and on the
U.S. WACL board in the 1970s.(11) He was appointed U.S. ambassador
to the Bahamas by President Ronald Reagan.(11,30) Dobriansky's
daughter Paula was on the National Security Council during the
Reagan administration.(61) Lewis Tambs, the ambassador to Costa
Rica until 1986, was a WACL member as was Alberto Piedra, appointed
by Reagan as ambassador to Guatemala.(38,40)
The Washington Post in December of 1984 reported Singlaub saying
that, "he and others have sent millions of dollars in uniforms,
food, medicine and other aid to contras or their families and to
refugees in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala." He went on to
say, "the Defense Department has helped to coordinate the private
aid."(11) In an Oct 1986 interview on "60 Minutes," Singlaub
acknowledged that he and Col. Oliver North worked together to
establish the Nicaraguan contra supply network.(52)
Representative Gerald B. Solomon was a keynote speaker at the 1989
WACL conference in Brisbane. The message he carried was that we
must not let our guard down in the fight against communism. It is
up to "us" to "finish the job and liberate this world from the
blight of communism!" Solomon also delivered a personal message
from President George Bush.(55)
Private Connections: John Singlaub is founder and chairman of the
U.S. Council for World Freedom. He also has served on the boards of
the Council for National Policy; Refugee Relief International, a
subsidiary of Soldier of Fortune; Western Goals, a group involved
in surveillance of the U.S. left; Committee for a Free Afghanistan,
a right-wing group supporting the mujahedeen rebels; and, Western
Goals in the United Kingdom, a group set up with the specific task
of undermining the radical left in that country.(9,11,37). Singlaub
also has served as Educational Field Director and Private Sector
Co-Chairman of the American Security Council, a promilitary lobby,
and as an adviser to the Council for Inter-American Security, a
rightwing research and policymaking institute.(11,21) Singlaub
served on the American Security Council's Task Force on Central
America, a group which included Daniel O. Graham, Alexander Haig,
Admiral Thomas Moorer and a number of congressmen.(61) USCWF is a
member of the Coalition for Peace Through Strength, the anti-Soviet
lobbying coalition of the American Security Council, which in 1987
had a group membership of 170 rightwing activist organizations.(21)
In 1985 Singlaub served on the advisory board of Skyhook II Project,
a group headed by John LeBoutillier that raised funds to release
U.S. prisoners of war believed still to be held captive by the
communist forces in Southeast Asia. General Daniel Graham also
served on the advisory board.(64)
Martin Lasater, a leader of Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal
and Triumphant, was sent by the church to Taiwan where he became
the editor of the Asia Bulletin, a publication of the Asian branch
of WACL. In 1985 Lasater became the director of Asian Studies at
the Heritage Fdn.(21)
The chairman of the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, Major General
J. Milnor Roberts has been on the board of USCWF.(21) Roberts
attended WACL conferences in 1980, 1983, and 1984. He has been a
professor at Georgetown University when it was associated with the
Center for Strategic and International Studies.(11) Ray Cline, on
the USCWF board, has had a close association with WACL since he was
stationed in Taiwan from 1958 to 1962 as CIA station chief. He was
a deputy director of the CIA from 1964 to 1967.(11)
Roger Fontaine of the USCWF board is a reporter for The Washington
Times and has served as the director of Latin American studies at
the Center for Strategic and International Studies.(11) Wealthy
Texas oilman Bert Hurlbut is on the USCWF board and in 1986 was an
official of the National Conservative Political Action Committee
(NCPAC).(11) Stefan Possony, whose research was responsible for the
ouster of CAL, quit WACL in 1975, but rejoined in 1980. Possony
is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford
University and board member of the American Security Council.(45)
In 1986, David Keene of the USCWF board was president of the World
Youth Crusade for Freedom and chairman of the Young Americans for
Freedom.
The group Civilian Material Assistance (formerly Civilian Military
Assistance, CMA) headed by Tom Posey, is a member of WACL. CMA
provided security at the 1985 WACL convention.(9) Posey until
recently faced trial in Florida for violating the Neutrality Act
for allegedly organizing and funding mercenary missions into
Nicaragua.(42) WACL reportedly has given financial support to
Friends of the Americas, a rightwing humanitarian aid organization
which has supported the contras.(36)
The American Security Council is a member of the Coalition for
World Freedom, an arm of the USCWF.(61)
Roger Pearson moved to the U.S. in 1975 and founded the Council on
American Affairs. The Council shortly began to sponsor seminars and
publish monographs with Edwin Fuelner, president of the Heritage
Foundation and Ray Cline. The Council on American Affairs served as
the U.S. chapter of WACL from 1975 to 1980.(61)
Howard Phillips of the USCWF board is chairman of the Conservative
Caucus and on the board of the Council for National Policy.(40)
Andy Messing, former chair of the Conservative Caucus, is on the
USWCF board, on the board of the Council for National Policy and
was the head of the National Defense Council Foundation.(11) J.A.
(Jay) Parker, president of the Lincoln Institute for Research and
Education, is on the board of USCWF and on the advisory council of
the American Freedom Coalition.(48,49) He was a speaker at the 1983
CAUSA conference in Honduras.(11)
David Finzer is co-founder of the World Youth Freedom League,
the youth branch of WACL.(41) Finzer heads the Washington-based
Conservative Action Foundation, a group which has supported the
Mozambique National Resistance (MNR or RENAMO). The World Youth
Freedom League reportedly received funding from WACL in South
Korea. Finzer also served on the board of the International Youth
Year Commission, an entity implicated in diversion of funds to the
contras in the Iran-Contra scandal.(44) Finzer coordinated the Ban
the Soviets Coalition office in Washington DC. Ban the Soviets was
a coalition of rightwing groups--including Cuban exile groups Alpha
66 and Cuba Independiente Democratica, the contra Nicaraguan
Democratic Force, the Conservative Caucus, Friends of Freedom
Foundation, American Freedom League, the Unification Church's
Collegiate Association for Research of Principles, and Richard
Viguerie Communications--that worked to ban the Soviets from the
1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.(60)
WACL was a member organization of RAMBO (Restore a More Benevolent
Order) coalition.(16) Through RAMBO, WACL was linked to Young
Americans for Freedom, College Republicans, Students for America,
Freedom's Friends, The Conservative Caucus, Alpha 66, American
Coalition for Traditional Values, Alive and Free, National Young
Vietnamese for Freedom, and Nemesis.(16)
Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank, appears to be
home base for the ABN in the United States. The Heritage Foundation
hosted ABN conferences in April and May 1989.(55,58)
Misc: Former President Ronald Reagan's message to the 1985 WACL
convention in Dallas was, "I commend you all for your part in this
nobel cause. Our combined efforts are moving the tide of history
toward world freedom. We must persevere and never falter. I send
you all who help in your crusade for liberty my best wishes. God
bless you."(30)
President George Bush sent a message of support to the 1989 WACL
conference held in Brisbane, Australia.(55)
Sayid Khybar, author of "The Afghan Contra Lobby," considers WACL a
major factor in the preservation and power of the political rightwing.
He wrote in 1988 that "...it (WACL) is a coalition of three principal
groups: Asian gangsters backed up by the remnants of the Japanese
arm of the Axis and the Korean Central Intelligance Agency, former
West German Nazis and their former East European collaborators, and
elements from the Western intelligence community who were anxious
to reorganize the fanatical refuse salvaged from the Hitler coalition
for a new anti-Communist crusade."(21)
Comments: WACL is an international, anticommunist, mercenary group
available to rightwing governments around the world to assist in
carrying out "extra-legal" activities. Since its inception it has
been closely linked to the governments of South Korea and Taiwan.
Fred Clarkson contends that "the Moon organization is an integral
part of WACL, which in turn has played a pivotal role in the
development and activities of the Unification Church."(41) Jonathan
Marshall, Peter Dale Scott, and Jane Hunter in their book The
Iran-Contra Connection state that WACL has played a role in the
drug-funded secret war of the CIA which began in the 1950s in the
Far East, was active in Vietnam and now in Latin America. "A leading
institution in this historic continuity has been the drug-linked
WACL, which between 1984 and 1986 was the principal publicly
identified source of funding for the contras."(59)
To quote from Inside the League, "As long as it serves such important
purposes for so many notorious groups around the world, and as long
as there are men and women who will wail about the influx of 'criminal
elements' but turn around and quietly work with those elements, there
will be a World Anti-Communist League. The League is not a 'paper
tiger.' It is a well-funded, six-continent federation of men and
women who have given up on democracy, or who never believed in it
in the first place, and who are now fighting their enemies on their
own terms."(11)
U.S. Address: 108-A South Columbus Street, Barrister Square,
Alexandria, VA 22314
Sources:
1. Craig Pyes, "Private General," New Republic, Sept 30, 1985.
2. "Rebel Groups May Have Broken I.R.S. Pledge," New York Times,
Aug 27, 1985.
3. Moore, The Nation, Nov 2, 1985.
4. Peter Stone, "Contras' of the World Unite," Sunday Times--Times
of London, Sept 15, 1985.
5. Fred Clarkson, "These 'Freedom Fighters' Act A Lot Like
Fascists," Guardian, Oct 2, 1985.
6. Washington Post, Oct 19, 1986.
7. Frank Greve and Steven Stecklow, "Civilian Says He Helped CIA
Ship Arms To Contras," Miami Herald, Feb 5, 1987.
8. Robert Parry and Brian Barger, "Reagan's Shadow CIA,"
New Republic, Nov 24, 1986.
9. Fred Clarkson, "Behind the Supply Lines," Covert Action
Information Bulletin, Winter, 1986.
10. Charles Babcock, "Dallas Hosts Anti-Communist League,"
Washington Post, Oct 1, 1985.
11. Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, Inside the League: The
Shocking Expose of How Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin American
Death Squads Have Infiltrated The World Anti-Communist League
(New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Co, 1986).
12. Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist
War on America's Freedoms in Religion, Politics and Our Private
Lives (New York, NY: Delta, 1984).
13. American Freedom Coalition letterhead, undated but circa Fall
1987, and conversation with national AFC office, Sep 9, 1987.
14. Wes McCune, Group Research Inc, Sep 9, 1988.
15. Washington Post, Apr 9, 1987.
16. Sara Diamond, "Shepherding," Covert Action Information
Bulletin, Spring 1987.
17. Shirley Christian, New York Times, Sep 15, 1985.
18. Encyclopedia of International Organizations, 1989.
19. "Loeffler's High Honor," Texas Observer, Mar 4, 1985.
20. Peter Dale Scott, Pacific News Service, Oct 21, 1986.
21. Sayid Khybar, "The Afghan Contra Lobby," (unpublished paper),
Mar 1988.
22. Washington Post, Apr 13, 1988.
23. Joe Conason, Village Voice, May 7, 1985.
24. Jack Anderson, "Death Squads Have Permeated Latin America,"
Washington Post, Jan 13, 1984.
25. Jack Anderson, "Latin Terrorists' Leader Retains Support of
CIA," Washington Post, Jan 30, 1984.
26. Jack Anderson, "Nazis' Concepts Survive Among Latin Rightists,"
Washington Post, Feb 9, 1984.
27. Jack Anderson, "Mexican Group Said to Promote Neo-Nazi Cause,"
Washington Post, Sep 11, 1984.
28. Craig Pyes, The Nation, Sep 1985.
29. Paul Valentine, "The Fascist Specter Behind The World Anti-Red
League," Washington Post, May 28, 1974.
30. Joe Conason and Murray Waas, Village Voice, Oct 22, 1985.
31. "Rightists: Anti-Communist League Is Prospering," Los Angeles
Times, Sep 16, 1985.
32. Philippine Witness, No. 11, Jan-Feb 1987.
33. Fred Clarkson, "Behind the Times: Who Pulls the Strings at
Washington's #2 Daily?" Extra!, Sep 1987.
34. Michael Bedford, Peacework, Oct 1987.
35. Peter Stone, "Private Groups Step Up Aid," Washington Post,
May 3, 1985.
36. Jon Steinberg, "Discovering Right Is Wrong, " Links, NCAHRN, 1987.
37. Derrick Knight, "Profile of Western Goals--U.K.," British
Council of Churches, Christian Aid, Nov 1988.
38. Howard Goldenthal, Glenda Hersh and Nick Filmore, "Right
Winging It," This Magazine, Vol 22, No 3, June-July, 1988.
39. Listing of officers and board of the Council for National
Policy, 1982-1983.
40. Conversation with Albuquerque Public Library, July 13, 1989.
41. Fred Clarkson, "God Is Phasing Out Democracy," Covert Action
Information Bulletin, #27, Spring 1987.
42. "Group Sending Supplies to Contras Got Tax-Exempt Status,"
Albuquerque Journal, July 16, 1989.
43. In These Times, Apr 8-14, 1987.
44. Jack Anderson and Joseph Spear, "North Linked to '85 Youth
Conference," Washington Post, Apr 9, 1987.
45. Thomas Bodenheimer and Richard Gould, Rollback: Right-wing Power
in U.S. Foreign Policy (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989).
46. Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the
Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, Vol 25, 1988.
47. USCWF, Internal Revenue Service 990 form, 1984.
48. U. S. Council for World Freedom, Board of Directors, undated,
received Feb 1987.
49. Phone conversation with national office of the American Freedom
Coalition, Sep 9, 1988.
50. Don Devereux, "U.S. Considers Nicaraguan Canal," Scottsdale
Progress, Feb 29, 1988.
51. Doug Cunningham, "Singlaubs Recruits His Own Army in the
Philippines," The National Reporter, Spring 1987.
52. Copy of "60 Minutes," CBS Television, Oct 5, 1986.
53. Revised Charter of the World Anti-Communist League, 1987.
54. "Freedom for All Mankind, WACL brochure, undated, received in 1989.
55. Freedom Digest, Vol 23, No. 3, WACL, September 1989.
56. Don Devereux, Scottsdale Progress, Mar 25, 1988.
57. "Beltway Bandits," The Nation, Jan 16, 1988.
58. Freedom Digest, Vol. 23, No. 2, WACL, June 1989.
59. Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott, Jane Hunter, The Iran-
Contra Connection: Secret Teams and Covert Operations in the
Reagan Era (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1987).
60. Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare: the Politics of the Christian
Right (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989).
61. Russ Bellant, Old Nazis, The New Right and the Reagan
Administration: The Role of Domestic Fascist Networks in the
Republican Party and Their Effect on U.S. Cold War Politics
(Boston MA: Political Research Associates, 1989).
62. "Vigilante Terror," The National Reporter, Fall 1987.
63. The Texas Observer, March 7, 1986.
64. Listing of the board of directors of Skyhook II Project, undated.