Document(s) of the Week# 16 The Renatta Predmore Case

In the mid 1970s, Renatta Predmore filed a lawsuit against the NSA after she discovered she was denied a promotion due to her gender.  She prevailed.  The 1976 settlement of her case forced the NSA to include a woman on every promotion board. In 1980, a codicil amending this settlement compelled the NSA to to publish the male/female composition of their promotion boards each year. (1) Below are copies of those documents

Women in NSA Documents

A NSA history concedes that lawsuit did not totally end discrimination, but giving "a fair hearing for women at promotion time." (2) However as James Bamford documented in Body of Secret,  the NSA still had serious deficiencies in this regard. (3)

(1) Jill Frahm, From Librarians to Leadership: Women at NSA, Cryptologic Almanac 50th Anniversary Series http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/crypto_almanac_50th/From_Librarians_to_Leadership.pdf
(2) Jill Frahm, From Librarians to Leadership: Women at NSA, Cryptologic Almanac 50th Anniversary Series http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/crypto_almanac_50th/From_Librarians_to_Leadership.pdf
(3) James Bamford, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency, (New York: Anchor Books: 2002) 559-60

Document of the Week #15 CIA Report on Terrorist Attacks on American Business Abroad

In the hubbub spawned by the successful whacking of Osama Bin Laden, I totally forgot to post a Document of the Week. By the time I remembered to do so, it was already Thursday and I simply decided to shelve it until next week.

This Document of the Week is a June 1982 CIA report on terrorist attacks against American businesses aboard between January 1968 through December 1981. Twenty pages in length, the report includes several interesting graphs and numerous factoids that challenge the post-9/11 narrative that terrorism was unknown to the United States and its American inhabitants.

In the 14-year span covered by the report, the CIA noted there almost a thousand terrorist attacks against American business interests by foreign terrorists. Of the 953 attacks carried out by 98 different foreign terrorist organizations against American businesses, 144 of them caused casualties. The number of attacks increased from 1968 until they peaked in 1974 when they began a decline that was interrupted by an uptick in 1978 due to the events in Iran. During this time period, Argentina was the site of the most attacks against American businesses keeping with Latin America being the geographic location of the most attacks Argentinian terrorist organization Montoneros was the group responsible for the most terrorist attacks against American interests in the time period covered by the report. The Western Europe and the Middle East were each the locations of 18% of the total attacks followed by the North America (which includes the United States saw 16% of the total attacks.

This report does have some noticeable errors. A while back, I posted a similar CIA focused on skyjackings of American aircraft, which listed attacks by Croatian and Serbian nationalists groups opposed to the former Yugoslavia. This report lists and mentions  those acts (calling them skyjackings) but fails to list the groups responsible for them.

CIA Report on Terrorist Attacks on American Businesses

Croatian Dissident Bruno Busic's CIA Files

In response to a FOIA request I had submitted for the records of Croatian dissident nationalist and the manifesto writer for the hijackers of TWA-355 Bruno Busic, the CIA released fifteen pages of records (and invoked Glomar regarding the existence or non-existence of any other records), just finished intelligence reports, on him. The first document is a single page from the 21 September 1972 Eastern Europe Intelligencer in which the CIA reported that Busic, Franjo Tudjman, and another man were on trial, accused of working with “unspecified foreign intelligence service,” which in the case of Busic meant the CIA. The CIA also made note of Busic's contacts with emigre Croatian radicals.

The next document is the entire 14 December 1971 Central Intelligence Bulletin in which Busic was discussed. Sandwiched between a redacted in its entirety article and an article on the controversy very over the Soviet intention to open an embassy in Costa Rica is a page long article on the crackdown on Croatian nationalists by the Yugoslav government. At least thirty people, including Bruno Busic, were arrested and the Yugoslav government denounced their actions and threatened further interventions to maintain order. 

Bruno Busic's CIA Records

Skyjacking: A CIA Analysis and History

N.B.- I know that I have promised several of my readers that I was going to cut down on Scribd uploads. I intend to do so. However, I had already scanned this document and Google Documents refuses to accept it. Thus I have no choice.

As for the record itself, it is a July 1982 CIA study on “terrorist skyjacking”. The use of “Skyjacking” to describe airline hijackings makes this report worthwhile by itself because SKYJACKING is a boss word and deserves to be resurrected from its linguistic purgatory.

More seriously, this 24-page CIA report is a statistical study with historical commentary on the rise and prevalence of terrorist skyjackings and presumably garden-variety skyjackings since the first “terrorist skyjacking” took place in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seized an El-Al jet liner.(1) The CIA's statistics reveal a great deal of common wisdom challenging information:

As documented by the CIA, 9% of all terrorist attacks were skyjackings. The 684 skyjackings between 1968 and 1982 resulted in at least 500 deaths and 400 injuries. Of the 684 skyjackings, the CIA ruled 108 of them “terrorist skyjackings” and that these terrorist skyjackings. Among these 108, forty turned violent with the end result being 212 dead and 186 wounded.

So, contrary to popular wisdom, the pre-911 skyjackings were not necessarily safe nor simply affairs to draw media attention to one's cause or to procure the release of one's comrades.

While terrorist skyjackings were done by many groups for both attention and to secure the release of their members, the bulk of the hijackings were done by Palestinians.

Between 1968- July 1982:

Cuba was the most common diversion point. Cuba also granted safe haven to terrorist skyjackers the most often.

Lebanon was the most frequent point of origin for hijacked aircraft as well as the skyjackers' most frequently boarding point

While only 7% of skyjackings occurred in the North America, American aircraft were the most often skyjacked.

So again, the post-911 narrative that Americans had little experience with foreign terrorism is explicitly challenged and even debunked.

Sprinkled throughout the paper are some nifty graphics, one of which reveals a steep and briefly sustain drop-off in terrorist skyjackings in response to new security measures such as metal detectors.

On a final note, some caution is required when reading this report. The CIA itself admits to using “incomplete data” and I know that the CIA is incorrect in describing two incidents listed in this report.

First, only five Croatians were released during the 1972 hijacking in Sweden and secondly, only four Croatians and the American wife of the ringleader hijacked TWA-355 in September 1976.

Terrorist Skyjackings: A CIA Report

(1)Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism, (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998) 67

Al-Qaeda's Code Book

For some reason, INSCOM sent me the portion of the Encyclopedia of Jihad dealing with codes, ciphers, and encryption.  I am not one to let documents go to waste, so I have posted it for reader enjoyment.

al-Qaeda's Cypher Manual

NSA and the Recorded Future

This is the NSA's ARC registration entry for “Recorded Future.” The National Security Agency released this a while ago but public interest in the company waned, so I never got around to posting it. Until now. 

NSA's ARC Entry For Recorded Future

Elizabeth Edwards Has No FBI File

Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards' wife, does not have her own FBI file. However, I suspect she's present in her husband's undoubtedly substantial file. We'll find out after his death.

Elizabeth Edwards No FBI Record Letter

Document of the Week #12 CIA History of the Rwandan Genocide

The CIA's Office of Office of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Analysis's 9/18/1999 Intelligence Report titled “Rwanda Struggling to Overcome Genocidal Past” is a well-written, and generally all-round stellar short-history of the Rwandan Genocide. Highlights of this document include

The author's clear, unequivocal rejection of the belief that the genocide "was a release of centuries-old ethnic hatreds.

The author's unhesitating assignment of responsibility to the guilty party.

The blunt, factual, and evidence-supported description of the genocide and the reasons behind the genocide.

In short, the author shows, the Rwandan Genocide was not the product of uncontrolled blood lust and ethnic hatreds, but was the cruel, cold, and well-thought plot of Hutu extremists fearing their lose of power and privilege. 

Rwanda Struggling to Overcome Genocidal Past

CIA Thoughts on the Homeland and Bosnian Wars

The following NIEs on the Bosnian War and Homeland War were recently declassified and given to me by the CIA in response to a FOIA request that I had submitted.

 

NIE 93-22: Prospects for Bosnia [Redacted]

Issued in May 1993, this nine- page, classified “Secret” document gives insight into the CIA's pessimistic view for Bosnia's prospects and of the Bosnian government. The document reveals that the

The CIA believed that maintaining Bosnia's integrity after the implementation of a Vance-Owen Plan would require a commitment of time and resources on par with that made to South Korea after the Korean War.

The CIA believed that the “Muslims” were capable of “creat[ing] violent incidents that could be blamed on the Serbs and Croats.”

And the language of the NIE also shows that the CIA held the Bosnian government as being little better than the VRS and HVO it fought. In addition to the above “Muslims” and “Serbs and Croats,” another part of the NIE referes to the “Bosnian Serb Army” and the “Muslim-dominated Bosnian Army.”

NIE 93-22 Prospects for Bosnia

Update Memorandum on NIE 93-22: Prospects for Bosnia [Redacted]

This five- page memorandum, classified “Secret” is an update to the May 1993 NIE 93-22: Prospects for Bosnia [Redacted]. The highlights of this document include

The CIA's belief that a Bosnia divided as intended by the Vance-Owen Plan would not survive long.

The CIA's opinion that the Europeans would not remained engage long in Bosnia if the United States refused to get involved.

Update Memo NIE-93-22

NIE 93-26 Croatia:When Will Fighting Resume?

This eleven-page, classified “Secret” document is a July 1993 National Intelligence Estimate on the probability of renewed warfare in Croatia during the lull in the Homeland War, the reaction of Serbia to such fighting, and the impact such violence would have on Bosnia, Croatia, and the world.

The CIA believed there was “less than even chance” of a peaceful settlement of the Homeland War and that the Croatians would hold if ti sensed progress in negotiations with the RSK.

The Croatian diaspora, particularly the “Herzegovinian Mafia”, were driving the HDZ and Franjo Tudjman's nationalist agenda,

The West's influence had and was continuing to keep the Croatians from restarting the Homeland War beyond the minor skirmishes.

Finally, it appears that the CIA was aware of Croatian military actions that appear to be mobilization and preparation for the Medak Pocket Operation.

NIE 93-26 Croatia:When Will Fighting Resume?

NIE 93-23/I Combatant Forces in the Former Yugoslavia

This thirteen-page, classified “Secret” estimate was issued in July 1993 and is the first part of a two-part estimate on the combat capacity of the forces fighting in Bosnian War. Among the more interesting points contained with this document are:

The horrible CIA-produced map on page 4 of the Estimate

The CIA's referral to the Bosnian government as “factional leaders” on par with the HVO and VRS.

The CIA's belief that the Bosnian government would attacks Western targets and frame the Serbs.

The CIA's ultimately mistaken belief that the HVO, with Croatian military assistance, could hold on to captured territory indefinitely.

The attention given to the possible threat to Serbia's neighbors by that nation's military force. The CIA estimated that Macedonia, Hungry, and Bulgaria would all need outside assistance to beat Serbia while the much larger Romanian military

NIE 93-23/I Combatant Forces in the Former Yugoslavia

NIE 93-23/II Combatant Forces in the Former Yugoslavia\II

This sixty-eight page, classified “Secret” estimate was issued in July 1993 and is the concluding part of a two-part estimate on the combat capacity of the forces fighting in Bosnian War. It has more detailed analysis of the points brought up in volume I of NIE 93-23/II Combatant Forces in the Former Yugoslavia.

The most interesting aspect of this document is the attention given to the prospect for terrorism by or on behalf of the Bosnian government Or the “Bosnian Muslims” as the CIA would term it while ignoring prior acts of Serbian terrorism such as the bombings and hijackings by individuals such as Nikola Kavaja and the limited description of Croatian terrorism such as the 1980 bombing of the Statue of Liberty and the 9/10 Hijacking of TWA-355 both acts which were intended to bring about an independent Croatian state.

NIE 93-23/II Combatant Forces in the Former Yugoslavia Volume II

Document of the Week #10 CIA Study on Pariah States and Sub-Saharan African Governments

If you're curious as to why the African Union and other Sub-Saharan African governments have provided so much support for Qaddafi and his efforts to maintain power check out this 9/9/1998 Intelligence Report from the CIA's Office of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Analysis titled Sub-Saharan Africa: Seeking Pragmatic Relations with Rogue States.

CIA report on  Sub-Saharan African states relations with Libya and Other Rogue States

Document of the Week #7 CIA Study of Widespread Arab Protests from 1980

With popular protests having defeated the authoritarian regimes that once held power in Egypt and Tunisia and (hopefully) bringing the reign of Qaddafi to a terminal conclusion, speculate on which regime will fall next. Much of the speculation focuses on the remaining tyrants in the Maghreb and those on the Arabian Peninsula.

In light of this discussion, I present to you Dissidents in the Arabian Peninsula by the [redacted] analyst(s) with the Office of Political Analysis. In this 24-page study, the CIA documented the activities of anti-regime dissidents, the response of regimes to these activities, and the influence of outside factors such as exile and foreign government support. Based on this study, the following reaction to popular protest and rebellion can be expected from Arabian Peninsula regimes:

1. Arabian Peninsula regimes like the UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia will employ their wealth to temper down opposition. This has already been seen in Bahrain where the King has given out cash payments to his subjects.
2. Renewed and increased security cooperation between Arabian Peninsula governments particularly those in the Gulf Community Council. Dissidents will no longer find the same level of tolerance in exile as they have previously.
3. Iran will be of a great concern due to their size and shared religion with the large number of Shia Muslims in Bahrain, Eastern Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.

However, in reading this document, remember the following differences:

1. Neighboring nations, most notably Egypt, have successfully booted out their entrench dictators.
2. The countries and entities that fueled the revolts and protests in the document are under pressure themselves. Libya is in the midst a full-scale revolt teetering on civil war, while Iran and the PLO (Palestinian Authority) are facing their own popular revolts. 
   
   
   DISSIDENTS IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Corporate Autobiography and the Wooing of Government

Interested in how corporations see themselves and write their histories? Curious as to how the military annexes of Corporate America seduce and win the love, the approval, and the contracts of the establishment? Wonder no more as I have acquired and posted the National Security Agency's ARC registrations of three of the most notorious private military contractors on the planet: Blackwater USA, Triple Canopy, and Dyncorp International. As these document show, these companies seek the blessing of the National Security Agency through tales do-erring, elite skills, and SCIFs and cleared staffs. 

Blackwater Arc Registration

DynCorp ARC Registration

Triplecanopy ARC Registration

NSA Releases Special Research History and Related Indexes

In response to a FOIA request that I had submitted, the National Security Agency recently declassified and released two indexes listing over four hundred different NSA or related agencies histories on a variety of historical topics ranging from Japanese-Burma to instructions how to handle Ultra intelligence. Among the more interesting titles are:

SRH-019 Blockade-Running Between Europe and the Far East by Submarines, 1942-1944
SRH-026 Marshall Letter to Eisenhower on the Use of  "Ultra" intelligence, March 15, 1944
SRH-087 Mongolian Independence. 3 August 1945
SRH-162 History of Security Monitoring. WWI to 1955

The first aid contains not only a more complete list of Special Research histories ( 415 listed in total) but ; however these lists are not complete. The index also has a page count for each document thus allowing an astute requester to avoid fees and acquire dozens of NSA histories. There are a number of other report collections available to the curious. SRMA which are labeled as being "Discrete Records of Historical Cryptologic Import: U.S. Army." SRMD- "Discrete Records of Historical Cryptologic Import: Joint Server and/or U.S. Government Cryptologic Agencies." Other available include series which is for SRMN "Discrete Records of Historical Cryptologic Import: U.S. Navy," and SRNS which stands for "Summaries: Japanese Naval Radio Intelligence." This lists are not complete either but for the records that are listed, they do include a title for and page count of the relevant record.

New NSA SRH index

The second, older index only contains a partial list of Special Research Histories. However, it has annotated notes from what I suspect is someone who has processed a prior FOIA request for information contained within the histories. The notes reveal that certain SRHs are related to other SRHs. Fuller titles of some of the SRHs are also presented here.

OLD NSA SRH Idex

Hunter S. Thompson Did Not Work for the NSA

The National Security Agency has confirmed that Hunter S. Thompson, founding practitioner of Gonzo journalism and the author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 as well as working as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, ESPN as a sports columnist, among other journalistic pursuits did not work for the National Security Agency. However, it invoked Glomar with regard to any further information pertaining to Hunter S. Thompson.

Given the NSA's prior disclosure of information pertaining to Jack Anderson in response to the FOIA request that I had submitted to the NSA in that regard, I honestly believe that this decision is the product of a misunderstand on the part of the National Security Agency who probably did not recognize Hunter Stockton Thompson as being Hunter S. Thompson. As such, I have had a FOIA appeal submitted to the NSA and expect a prompt correction to this unfortunate decision to neither confirm nor deny possessing records or information on Hunter S. Thompson.

Final Response Letter from NSA RE: Hunter S. Thompson

The Majesty of the FOIA Law is that the Rich and the Poor Receive Equally Shabby Treatment

A comforting fact about the Freedom of Information Act system is that it provides an equally poor performance for both plebeian and patrician.

On November 4, 2009, the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received two unclassified documents from the Mandatory Declassification Review staff of the Records and Declassification Division, Washington Headquarters Services sought by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. (1) The files, one a 1/12/2006 Memorandum from Donald Rumsfeld to National Security Adviser Stephan Hadley and the Honorable Dr. J.D. Crouch regarding The Circular PC Meeting on "Lead Departments,' "Blended Leads," "Co-Leads," and the like,” (2) the focus of which was an unnamed project and an undated, untitled record titled “Comparison of Draft Legislation with Military Commission Orders,” (3)which was a chart comparing the MCOs with legislation then being drafted by the U.S. Congress on how to handle detainees at Gitmo and other black sites.

As the final letter response letter shows, this request was not completed until June 3, 2010, almost seven months to day that the Department of Defense's Freedom of Information Act office received the unclassified documents.(4)

(1) Page 4 of the PDF

(2) Page 5 of the PDF 

(3) Page 6 of the PDF

(4) Page 1 of the PDF

DOD FOIA File for a Donald Rumsfeld FOIA Request

Hitting The Fee Wall: The NSA on WikiLeaks

Not unexpectedly, the National Security Agency has invoked Glomar in response to the one of FOIA requests that I had submitted to the NSA seeking intelligence records on WikiLeaks.

Unexpectedly, the National Security Agency merged the request for WikiLeaks records with a request I had submitted to the NSA for all emails sent to or by the General Alexander DirNSA pertaining to WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. The National Security Agency conceded that they possessed non-intelligence records pertaining to WikiLeaks, but as the letter below states, it would cost them over $3,000 to process and they would bill me for it. Since I cannot afford such fees, I had the request withdrawn. However, I think the NSA has opted, sadly, to employ fees to deny me access to information.

NSA WikiLeaks letter

Is It a Conflict of Interest? Rudy G. and the Mujaheddin-e Khalq

Rudy Giuliani and other prominent neoconservatives made news recently with their decision to travel to France and promote the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK), calling for the State Department to remove MEK from its list of terrorist organizations. MEK was placed on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations due to its attacks against Americans in Iran during the reign of the Shah and the support it received from and provided to Saddam Hussein during his stint as dictator of Iraq.

In July 1981, Rudy was forced to write a memorandum to then Attorney General William French Smith taking himself off a case that saw the DOJ charge four individuals for the murder of an Iranian exile leader. He was forced to rescue himself because his former employer had represented the Iranian government while he was working for them.

Rudy Giuliani Employer Defends Iranians

Apparently, prior employment with a law firm which represented the Iranian government was excuse enough to beg off the work for which the American government paid him. Thirty years later, this connection is not cause enough for him to refrain from actively campaign for a group that seeks to destroy his former employer's former clients.

Most odd.

NSA Stands Alone- In Respecting Jack Anderson's Rights

Despite calling attention to their GAMMA GUPY operation which eavesdropped on the mobile phone calls of Politburo leaders, it seems the National Security Agency was able to respect the rights of Jack Anderson and not engage in illegal surveillance of him at any time, even at the height of its pre-911 disregard for American rights. In contrast, the FBI and the CIA both stalked Anderson during his career, often on the flimsiest of pretexts.(1)

In response to a FOIA request I had submitted on my behalf, the NSA sent the following final response. In the letter, the NSA makes the rare concession that it indeed had records pertaining to Jack Anderson and even described them. According to the NSA, the records are “foreign intelligence reports dating from the late 1960s and early 1970s. They contain only references to news articles written by Jack Anderson: they are not “about” him, nor was he the target of any collection.”

While I'm annoyed at the NSA's FOIA office for recently demanding fees for a record cited in an NSA publication, my dealings with them leave no doubt in my mind of their forthrightness.

Jack Anderson NSA letter

(1) All information not from the letter comes from Mark Feldstein's Poisoning the Press and I will add more detailed footnotes once I retrieve my copy tomorrow. 

SNAP's Reaction to State Department Rape Abuse Scandal Cables

I recently posted cable traffic from the US Embassy in the Vatican regarding the Catholic Church's rape abuse scandals. Curious as to why the Embassy was reporting on SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and seeking a possible explanation as to what about their activities the State Department considered redactable on national security grounds, I contacted Barbara Blaine, the head of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Below are my questions and her answers.

Where you aware that the US Embassy in the Vatican was reporting on your activities?

--No.

Do you have any idea what information could have been redacted on national security grounds?

--No. 

Also, what was the objective of the protest held on March 25, 2010?

Our event on Mar 25 was not so much a “protest” but rather an announcement and a plea. We were announcing information about the cover-up of sexual abuse by priests. The documents we passed out indicated that top officials in the Church had information that was kept secret. Had it been made public and/or turned over to police children might have been protected. We fear more children are at risk and victims who have been hurt still suffer needlessly in shame. We asked that the Pope and other church officials reveal the truth to both protect the vulnerable and to assist the wounded.

Here is a copy of the advisory we sent to the media announcing the event.

Link: http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2010_press_releases/032510_pope_top_aide_kept_150_sex_allegations_vs_predator_secret.htm SNAP Press Release

Pope & top aide kept 150 sex allegations vs. predator secret

In 1998, they rebuffed 3 bishops who wanted pedophile ousted

Then-Ratzinger’s staff refused to act because of “fear of scandal”

Victims want pontiff to “come clean” on cases he handled in 2001-2005

US cleric molested hundreds of hearing impaired children in confession

Vatican’s #2 official is also implicated in dozens of pages of long-secret records

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at sidewalk news conferences, in Rome and five US cities, clergy sex abuse victims will
-- disclose dozens of pages of long-secret church records showing that the world’s top two Catholic officials insisted, for years in the 1990s, on keeping a serial US predator priest’s case secret, fearing “scandal,”
-- urge the Pope to disclose how he and his office handled pedophile priests for years earlier this decade, and
-- urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups to come forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.

WHEN
Thursday, March 25, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE
In Rome, in Via della Conciliazione, the street outside the entrance to St. Peter's Square

WHO
Four US clergy sex abuse victims who are leaders of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including the organization’s president and founder, a social worker

WHY
According to the latest New York Times story, a US pedophile priest reportedly abused between 150-200 deaf kids at a school over 24 years, often during confessions. Yet for years, a small Vatican bureaucracy headed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now the Pope) fought 3 US bishops’ efforts to oust the predator, citing a fear of scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25vatican.html

Initially, Ratzinger twice ignored letters from Wisconsin Archbishop Rembert Weakland. Later, Ratzinger’s then-top aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said Weakland could discipline the priest using a controversial 1962 church policy called ‘Crimens Sollicitationis’ that mandates extreme secrecy. But the predator wrote to Ratzinger, seeking mercy, and Bertone then reversed course. At a meeting in Rome with three Wisconsin bishops, Bertone discouraged them from taking any formal action against Murphy (even though the priest admitted molesting dozens of boys). In 1998, Murphy died. His crimes only came to light in 2002.

Bertone is now the Vatican Secretary of State, the second most powerful church official in the world.

As Pope, Benedict has repeatedly paid lip service to “transparency” in his advice to bishops on child sex cases. In light of this, and recent disclosures of abuse and cover up in his home diocese of Munich, SNAP wants the pontiff to publicly disclose how he handled hundreds of cases from across the globe from 2001-2005 as head of CDF, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office where all such cases are sent.

Murphy worked at St. John’s school from 1950-1974 and headed the school from the early 1960s through 1974. It’s now closed. Besides Weakland, Bishop Richard Sklba of Milwaukee and Bishop Raphael Fliss of Superior also sought Vatican action against Murphy. None acted, however, until civil lawsuits were threatened.

SNAP is holding similar news conferences today (Thursday) in five US cities (Washington DC, Chicago IL, Milwaukee WI, Superior WI, and Boulder Junction WI). For details, see SNAPnetwork.org

Several of Murphy's victims are represented by Minnesota attorneys Jeff Anderson (651 227 9990, 612 817 8665 cell) and Mike Finnegan (651 227 9990, 612 205 5531 cell).

CONTACT
Peter Isely, peterisely@yahoo.com, +1 414 429 7259, +0039 3388970386

Barbara Blaine, SNAPblaine@gmail.com +1 312 399 4747 

Barbara Dorris, SNAPdorris@gmail.com, +1 314 503 0003 
John Pilmaier, pilmaier@milwpc.com, +1 414 336 8575

David Clohessy, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, +1 314 566 9790

How well it was attended?

There were four of us from SNAP from the US speaking to the press. (There was one native from Rome who is a friend who stood by and helped pass out the documents to the press.)There were about 15 – 20 reporters/journalists who spoke to us.

What kind of reaction did you receive at the protest?

--We were not really protesting. We were passing out information to the press and announcing our hopes and a plea that church officials would reveal the information they hold about sex crimes by priests. As we explained what the various documents contained we held photos of the cardinals, bishops and the Pope, who were mentioned in the documents. We also had several childhood photos of ourselves and other victims of abuse by priests. We were standing on the sidewalk in Rome, with the Vatican behind us.

--The reporters asked many questions. Before long the police came and said we could not stand in front of the Vatican. They took us into custody and took the posters and photos we were holding up for the press.

--At the police station we learned that it was the Vatican police, not the Rome police, who were dictating what should happen to us. We got the impression that it was the photos of the prelates, especially the Pope that was offensive. We were released after a couple of hours but the police kept our confiscated posters and photos.

FYI: SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is a self-help support group for victims, founded in 1988, with over 10,000 members (mostly from the US but growing across the globe.) Our mission is to protect the vulnerable to prevent more abuse and to help the wounded who have already been abused. We are adults who were raped, sodomized and sexually assaulted by priests when we were young. While we painfully accept that we cannot reclaim our shattered childhoods we find it empowering to work to prevent others from being abused. One of the most devastating aspects of our healing is coming to terms with the fact that most of us would not have been abused had church officials done the right thing. For the most part church officials knew about our predators, could have stopped them or at least warned parents and parishioners about the past of the predators, but they did not.

The sexual abuse was so devastating that it prohibited most of us from reporting until we were well into adulthood. Most of us were treated as enemies when we reported our abuse to church officials and/or asked for help from them.

The threat to security does not come from those of us who are reporting about the abuse, our predators and those who enable and cover up for the predators. The threat is real for the children who are within access to predator priests whose identities remain secret. The threat to security comes from the secrecy and the fact that most predators and enablers have not been identified and have escaped justice in every country. In the US (which is the only country where an effort to count was conducted) less than 2% of the predators were indicted. We assume less than that have been criminally prosecuted across the globe.

The Pope and church officials have taken no meaningful action to prevent abuse. They merely make statements and express remorse. Minimal steps could dramatically make the world safer.

The Pope should turn over all information and documents held in the Vatican regarding sex crimes to police. The Pope should order all Bishops and heads of Religious Communities in every country to turn over all information they hold regarding sex crimes to police. They should also be ordered to stop providing homes, jobs and financial resources to fugitive priests who have been indicted in one country and have crossed international boundaries to escape prosecution. The Pope should also reveal the names of all the credibly accused predator priests on the internet so that parents, neighbors and employers can be warned about these dangerous men.

The statements from the Pope and Vatican take no responsibility for the part they play in enabling sexual abuse of children by church employees. It is the church officials who cover up for and enable the predators and the predators who pose a risk to the security of children across the globe.

Rape Apology, State Department Style

The Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church have been at the center of a global maelstrom of outrage as their decades old conspiracies to hide a world-wide campaign of rape and child abuse at the hands of its minions has collapsed. Faced with angry believers who are cutting back on donations and often abandoning the Church altogether, the Holy See struggles to minimize and evade what historians may one day consider Catholicism's death blow.

Throughout it all, the United States government and state and local regimes have largely remained quiet on the matter. Local and state law enforcement have conducted investigations into specific cases. Individual priests have been tried and convicted. A few states have rewritten legal statues to allow victims of predator Catholic clergy more time to bring their victimizers to justice. However, there has been no large-scale investigations or seizures of evidence one would expect in an international sex abuse scandals. One cannot image a corporation or even a nation- state receiving the kid-glove treatment the American government has extended the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church.

Recently released State Department cables provide a partial explanation into the American government attitude toward the matter. Despite being heavily redacted on national security grounds, the cables reveal that the American government has been tracking the scandals, the Vatican reaction to them, and has adopted a policy of downplaying and minimizing the native Vatican rape culture with combination of silence, evasion, and the promotion of Catholic Church good works.

Below are four cables classified “Secret” meaning their unauthorized disclosure was believed to pose the risk of “grave damage” to American national security. This is the second highest level of classification used by the American government (Top Secret is the highest). Much of them is redacted on the grounds that the information contained within is properly classified. Only a few redactions are on the grounds of personal privacy. The cables were released to me in response to a FOIA request I had submitted on my behalf relating to the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals.

The most important things revealed in these cables is the State Department's decision to downplay and minimize the scope and horror of the Catholic Church rape scandals. EMBASSY Vatican's “Suggested Press Guidance”

15. (U) To the extent possible, it would be best for USG spokespersons to avoid commenting on the scandal or on day-to-day developments related to the crisis. However, if pressed, Embassy Vatican plans to use the following guidance in responding to questions on the crisis or on the Pope's pastoral letter:

• Sexual abuse of anyone, anywhere, is abhorrent. It is especially troubling when allegations of abuse concern anyone who works in a position of trust with young people.
• The highest priority when dealing with such allegations is to support the victims, including taking actions to prevent further abuses.
  Here is where the State Department descends into rape apology
• It is important to distinguish between the atrocities committed by a few individuals and the great good being done by Catholic clergy and members of religious orders around the world.

The final bit of press guidance is statement that beyond the three listed actions the Embassy Vatican staff will only mention the Pope's call for a “process of repentance, healing and renewal” and refuse further comment on the matter except to express their “hope that all parties in this situation find healing and justice.”

Do not let the title “Suggested Press Guidance” fool you; these actions were already being implemented by Embassy Vatican. The paragraph prior to the one I just quoted states:

It's also critically important to refrain from tarring all Catholic clergy with the same brush, even in the face of lurid and graphic reporting on these cases. For every ordained person involved in such atrocities, there are hundreds or thousands of others elsewhere carrying out there duties, often in dangerous circumstances, to support their own and other faith communities. Sister Marie Claude Naddaf of Syria, a longtime campaigner against human trafficking and 2010 International Women of Courage Award Recipient, is one example. Father John Phuong Dinh Toai of Vietnam, who is doing interfaith work helping children infecting (sic) with HIV/AIDS, is another. Meanwhile, Catholic organizations – according to UN estimates-- provide the majority of health care services in sub-Saharan Africa. The list could, of course, go on.

Under the Catholic Church's auspices, a lot of good is accomplished. There is no denying it. However, this does not excuse the Catholic Church's tolerance of rape conspiracies around the globe involving thousands of direct perpetrators and thousands more, including the highest levels of the Vatican, who covered it up. Not to mention the bystanders who were aware of this and did nothing, possibly while engaging in good will acts like those discussed above.

Many rapists are nice people. Rapists have jobs. Rapists are usually good boys. They usually, if not almost always, do the right thing. Except when they rape.

Another cable, 10 VATICAN 59 shows the “ Suggested Press Guidance” was infected at least a month later when it is reported in paragraph 13 that the Ambassador and DCM were refusing interview requests form media programs such as Sixty Minutes, Good Morning America, and Larry King.

Disturbingly, the cables reveal that the Embassy Vatican was reporting on the activities of Americans, specifically SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests). Much of what was reported on SNAP has been redacted on B(1) grounds specifically protection of sources and foreign government information, but is known that Embassy Vatican informed state and numerous other American consulates and embassies about a March 25, 2010 protest at St. Peter's basilica.

I have contacted SNAP for their response to this information and to gain more insight into the protest. Any response will be posted in a future post.

Given the cables are posted below, I am not going to deluge with all the fun tidbits revealed within them. Below are the three most interesting bits of information to come out of this FOIA release:

1. Paragraph 11 of 10 VATICAN 59 reveals that one of the reasons priests are kept celebate is to save money. Priests with families cost more than those without attachments.
2. In the first paragraph of 10 VATICAN 59, the American Embassy describes the Vatican's reaction to the sex abuse scandal as being handled “very poorly.”
3. The second paragraph of 10 VATICAN 59 reveals that a Norweigan bishop was removed not for mismanagement as was widely believed, but because it was discovered he had abused an underage boy. 
   
   
   10 Vatican 33
   
   
   10 Vatican 44
   
   
   
   
   10 Vatican 57
   
   
   10 Vatican 59