State Department
The State Department serves as the federal executive department responsible for the United States' foreign policy and international relations.
The State Department serves as the federal executive department responsible for the United States' foreign policy and international relations.
Middle East Policy and the Osirak Incident
In June 1981, following Israel's bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak bombing, the State Department issued a formal condemnation. This public stance contradicted President Ronald Reagan's private acceptance of the raid.2
The Moscow Signal Cover-Up
The State Department played a central role in managing the U.S. government's response to the Moscow Signal, establishing a classified program code-named the Moscow Viral Study to secretly conduct genetic testing on embassy personnel. Embassy employees were deliberately misled about the testing's purpose. The department publicly minimized the dangers despite scientific concerns.3
BCCI Banking Scandal Involvement
Beginning in 1983, the CIA started distributing intelligence about the criminal activities of the BCCI to the State Department.5 By September 1986, the State Department had access to a CIA report indicating BCCI had owned First American Bank since 1982.4 Rather than pursuing criminal allegations, the department silenced Paula Hawkins and worked to protect BCCI's operations.6
Odyssey Network Evidence Destruction
The State Department under Secretary of State Henry Kissinger received over 30,000 index cards containing client names from John David Norman's child trafficking operation in 1973 and subsequently destroyed them, preventing further investigation.7
Dark Alliance Investigation
The State Department granted Danilo Blandón political asylum in 1984 despite the DEA having identified him as a major cocaine trafficker since 1983. It is State Department policy to check with the DEA before approving asylum applications. When the Justice Department's Inspector General examined Blandón's immigration records, he found them "in disarray." The same occurred with Blandón's wife Chepita, granted asylum in 1985 despite being reported as a "member of a cocaine distribution organization."8
The State Department's Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America was described by a 1992 House committee report as "a domestic, covert operation designed to lobby the Congress, manipulate the media and influence domestic public opinion" regarding the Contra war. The State Department issued a White Paper on Contra drug allegations that belittled every claim except those involving the Sandinistas, studiously avoiding any mention of Norwin Meneses.9
Sources
- Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. ↩
- Hersh, Seymour M. The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy. Random House, 1991. ↩
- Jacobsen, Annie. Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis. Little, Brown and Company, 2017. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. New York: Random House, 1993, p. 12. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank. Random House, 1993, p. 366. ↩
- Beaty, Jonathan and Gwynne, S. C. The Outlaw Bank. Random House, 1993, p. 363. ↩
- Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar. ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it" ↩
- Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 15 and Chapter 9 ↩
Hidden connections 2
Entities named in this page's prose without an explicit wikilink — surfaced by scanning for known titles and aliases.
Local network
State Department's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.
Mentioned in 69
- PlaceAfghanistan
- PersonAlan Fiers
- PersonAlexander M. Haig, Jr.
- OrganizationBank Leumi
- PersonCelerino Castillo
- PersonChristian A. Herter
- PersonDaniel Garner
- PersonDanilo Blandon
- PersonDavid E. Long
- OrganizationDEA
- PersonDean Corll
- EventDean Corll Murders
- PersonDonald A. Myers
- PersonEdmundo Meneses
- PersonEdwin Corr
- PersonElliott Abrams
- PersonEnrique Bermudez
- PersonEnrique Miranda
- PersonErnesto Samper Pizano
- OrganizationFARN
- PersonFloyd Carlton
- PersonFred L. Lander III
- OrganizationFrigorificos de Puntarenas
- EventFrogman Case
- PersonGlenn R. Cella
- PersonHerbert Pollack
- PlaceHouston
- PlaceIlopango Airbase
- PersonJack Vorona
- PersonJohn David Norman
- PersonJohn L. Hadden
- OrganizationJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- PersonJose Bueso Rosa
- PersonMichael T. Hurley
- PersonMoises Nunez
- OrganizationMujahideen
- OrganizationMundy Security Group
- PersonMyer Feldman
- PersonMyron B. Kratzer
- OrganizationNHAO
- PersonNorwin Meneses
- EventOctober Surprise
- PersonOliver North
- EventOsirak bombing
- OrganizationPyramid International Security Consultants
- PersonRalph Olberg
- PersonRobert Hanssen
- PersonRobert Parry
- PersonRobert T. Webber
- PersonRonald Lister
- PersonRonald Reagan
- PersonScott Weekly
- PersonSeth Rosenfeld
- OrganizationState Department
- PersonStephen Trott
- PersonTed Gunderson
- PersonThomas Dowling
- PersonTim LaFrance
- OrganizationTroop 137
- OrganizationU.S. government
- OrganizationUNO
- PersonVicente Rappaccioli
- PersonWalworth Barbour
- PlaceWashington, D.C.
- PersonWilliam Downing
- PersonWilliam N. Dale
- PersonWilliam Nelson
- PersonWilliam R. Crawford