GEORGE BUSH'S SECRET WAR

...Brenneke says his access derives in part from the Czechs' familiarity with his family's background in the German arms business...

...embassy in El Salvador...

...Their government's policy was to supply the guys the contras were fighting...

...They weren't usually long conversations, certainly nothing philosophic...

...Brenneke contends that he was brought into the contra resupply effort in part because of his access to bargain-priced weapons from Eastern Europe...

...If you wanted to buy Czechoslovak AK-47s, I could sit down with the factory manager and discuss what was on the shelf and what was coming up in the next production run...

...The Ilopango air base under discussion that September 10 was the place to which Gregg had sent Felix Rodriguez, his close friend and former CIA colleague, the previous spring...

...Asked why not, Gregg said, "We have a very small office in the Vice President's suite, and we have no operational responsibilities...

...He happened to be a few years younger than my grandfather and he remembered the Brenneke family real well because they used to compete...

...Bush and Gregg have repeatedly denied that they were involved in contra resup-ply...

...There's no question that Don was deeply involved...

...Brenneke claims to have contemporaneous notes on his arms deals and his conversations with Gregg...

...But hard currency is hard currency, which for Czechoslovakia is a big deal...

...The initial request was basic military hardware, combat rifles, some submachine guns, and ammunition," Brenneke says, adding that he called Gregg to check the credentials of potential contra buyers...

...He claims that although he is the Vice President's national security adviser, he does not talk to George Bush about the Nicaraguan contras, a subject which the Reagan Administration has defined as the nation's principal security issue...

...The eleven-point memo, reviewed by the Iran-contra committees, goes on to discuss military and political aspects of the contra war and mentions private fund-raising efforts for the contras...

...When asked by the committees about the responsibilities he had with respect to the contras, Watson said, "I've taken it as assumed that it was my duty that anything to do with Nicaragua or Central America that came through the office of the Vice President was of interest to us, because the Vice President is a principal of the NSC, the National Security Council...

...Gregg added that before August 1986, he knew absolutely nothing about Government involvement in contra resupply...

...I just can't account for it," Gregg swore...

...We never talked about the contras," Gregg said...

...Gregg's statement runs contrary to the Iran-contra testimony of his aide, Colonel Watson...

...I just had never heard of that...

...Donald Gregg denies having any personal contact with Brenneke, or, for that matter, with anyone else who mentioned lethal aid before August 1986...

...Smith, because Mr...

...The question at hand," Brenneke recalls, "was if you do this kind of thing, such as ship arms to the contras, are you going to be prosecuted for it, or is this a legitimate activity...

...And country A would have to be an acceptable country to the Czechs...

...So they knew the name, they knew who I was...

...Ts this a person I can deal with...

...The meeting concerned an air base (the Ilopango air field in El Salvador, though the country name is deleted from the committee report), which had been chosen as "the most desirable main base for the air resupply operation," says the report...

...Although they might very well be aware, you didn't say it...

...This wasn't some ambiguous discussion about generalities...

...The family still makes shotgun cartridges for hunters...

...Asked by The Progressive whether he had ever been approached by anyone seeking to discuss lethal aid, Gregg said, "No, absolutely not...

...Asked why Rodriguez would disclose his plans to Gorman—whom he did not know—but not to Gregg, Gregg told The Progressive that "Felix doesn't tell me everything he does...

...military forces in Central America...

...And that was not my bag...

...There are other systems where guerrillas work against governments...

...Generally my questions were twofold: A, Who's paying for it...

...He was the only person in the office who would have been able to provide it, and it was a word that I didn't even know...

...Phyllis Byrne, Gregg's secretary who typed the memo, testified that "the purpose of the meeting was given to me by Colonel Watson...

...More often than not, one was told, Well, if you have a question on authorization, you can call NSC [National Security Council] or you can call the Vice President's office...

...So that was just something that Felix never talked with me about...

...Gregg writes in the memo that "a very rough estimate would be that they [the contras] have received about $1.5 million [from private sources...

...North took contemporaneous notes," said one...

...The Brenneke family manufactured extremely fine shotguns...

...There is no reason for the notes to lie...

...A: No...

...Gregg acknowledged in the interview that Brenneke had called his office but said he had never spoken to him personally and dismissed him as "off the wall...

...Clarridge was the CIA official in charge of contra covert operations who oversaw the preparation of the so-called contra assassination manual...

...A: No, I did not...

...I dealt with them a lot, and I knew a lot of the people there very well," Brenneke says...

...You couldn't tell them this is going into Central America to support the contras," Brenneke adds...

...It wasn't a case of them trying to micromanage what was going on out there, but simply that they were aware of what was going on and they were essentially acting as managers of the activities...

...In his interview with The Progressive, Gregg took the denials further still...

...Brenneke says his notes reflect a dozen conversations with Gregg regarding contra resupply during 1985 and 1986...

...Congressional sources who have seen the unedited texts of North's notes, however, insist there is little room for doubt...

...A buyer from Central America would tell you that he had a wish list he had to fulfill," Brenneke says...

...Gorman wrote that Rodriguez is "operating as a private citizen but his acquaintanceship with the VP is real enough, going back to the latter days of DCI [Director of Central Intelligence...

...Gregg and his staff gave guidance on both buyers and suppliers and were familiar with many facets of arms-supply operations, Brenneke says...

...If it's a legitimate activity, is sending it to person X at this location in line with the wishes of the powers that be...

...George Bush's SECRET WAR BY ALLAN NAIRN Donald Gregg, the national-security adviser to Vice President George Bush, helped arrange clandestine arms shipments to the Nicaraguan contras, according to an Oregon businessman who says he participated in the deals...

...Dealing with the contras would be among my responsibilities.' Gregg's claim is also directly contradicted by a September 18, 1984, memo he wrote to Vice President Bush, entitled "Funding for the Contras...

...When the entry from North's notebook came to light, Gregg said, "I called in Jim Steele, a guy for whom I have great respect...

...I wasn't an unknown commodity...

...Neither he nor I remember that such-and-such a session took place...

...Brenneke says he first spoke to Gregg in February 1985 to check an order for contra arms that had come from a third party...

...Q: And keeping it prior to August 8, did you know that [Lieutenant Colonel Oliver] North was involved in helping facilitate the supply of lethal aid to the contras in any way...

...I talk to him in terms of what the San-dinista leadership seems to represent themselves to be, but not in terms of contra aid or in terms of what we're doing against them," Gregg said...

...He added that Rodriguez did not mention his intention to work with the contras because he knew "that was not my interest...

...The reason was to keep track of all the different people he was seeing, and all the different things he was doing...

...The memo, classified Secret, says, "In response to your question, Dewey Clarridge supplied the following information...

...The items were very specific, and the issues were extremely specific in terms of technical logistics and who to get involved in the project...

...Watson testified that "I do not recall giving those words...

...And that's what I was interested in...

...The notebooks of Oliver North, however, tell a different story...

...Though East bloc weapons are routinely available on the international arms market, Brenneke claims to have obtained price breaks by dealing directly with the manufacturers, among them Omnipol, the Czech military armaments company...

...Gorman reported the meeting in a February 14, 1985, memo to Thomas Pickering, then the U.S...

...They were talking about resupply activities...

...And you would occasionally be told no...

...ambassador in El Salvador...

...There are systems that governments use against guerrillas...

...He says the transactions included munitions, machine guns, and Czech-made AK-47 rifles...

...Brenneke says that some of the Czech transactions he discussed with Gregg involved companies based in London and Israel, financing from Swiss and Austrian banks, and fake end-user certificates from Paraguay, Panama, Bolivia, and Brazil...

...According to Brenneke, the Vice President's office brokered the names of the reliable arms dealers: "You would be told Allan Nairn, a free-lance writer in New York City, wrote "The Bush Connection " in the May 1987 issue of The Progressive...

...You tell them, 'This individual said to ask this specific information...

...Some of the weapons he ordered from the Czechs were shipped to the contras and others were sold elsewhere, Brenneke says...

...This is based on what we know of contra purchases of gasoline, ammunition, etc...

...It's a meeting on September 10, it identifies the people, and it lists items discussed...

...Among the discussion topics North listed," the committees said, "was a 'Calero/Bermudez visit to (the air base) to estab(lish) log(istical) support/ maint(enance)' as well as other possible locations for the resupply base...

...Richard J. Brenneke claims he discussed arms sales to the contras with Donald Gregg, Bush's national-security adviser...

...Bush's briefing memo, signed by Gregg, said that Rodriguez "will provide a briefing on the status of the war in El Salvador and resupply of the contras...

...Gregg insists he did not know that the friend he was placing in Central America was going there to work with the contras...

...I still do not know where that came from...

...On the way to El Salvador, Rodriguez met with General Paul Gorman, then the commander of U.S...

...Rodriguez's primary commitment to the region," Gorman continued, "is in (deleted), where he wants to assist the FDN," the main contra force...

...According to Brenneke, Gregg paid particularly close attention to transactions involving the Soviet bloc: "He said that if purchases were made in the East bloc, he wanted to know the exact details because in some cases it was necessary to arrange confirmation that the shipment would go to country A, when in fact it was destined for the contras...

...A September 10, 1985, entry reports a meeting among North, Gregg, and Colonel James Steele, former military-group commander for the U.S...

...It got down to the point where they were aware of logistical procedures, considerably more than what one might expect," Brenneke says...

...It quoted from each of the participants in the meeting as to who would get involved...

...All that requires is the minimum amount of information from you...

...And B, who's authorizing it...

...If the factory manager felt the order was too small," he says, "you could easily double the order and off-load the stuff that wasn't going to Central America in Europe, and on occasion we did...

...Gregg responded to the committees' question about the September 10 session by denying that the meeting ever took place...

...This time it was unambiguous...

...And I don't want to speculate about it...

...In sworn testimony before the Iran-contra committees on May 18, 1987, Gregg was asked several questions about the resupply operation: "Q: Now, did you know that any of those groups [private citizens giving money for 'humanitarian aid to the contras'] was involved also in supplying lethal aid to the contras...

...that you should speak with Mr...

...He was the only person there...

...That has been Gregg's position all along...

...Is there anyone else to whom he is subordinate who I should be checking with?' And finally, 'How does the person who produces the weapon get paid?' Frequently the answer was, 'Talk to whoever and he will give you the details of it and he will make the arrangements for the payment.'" Brenneke was concerned about the legality of these deals, he says...

...Asked whether he had ever participated in such discussions, Gregg said, "Never, never, absolutely not...

...Gregg, in an interview with The Progressive, said that he does not know Brenneke and knew nothing of contra resupply until August 1986...

...One time, he says, "I sat down with the guy at Mercuria, who is the head of Czech sporting weapons...

...Gregg and Colonel Samuel Watson, the aide in charge of preparing the memo, both stated under oath to the Iran-contra committees that they had no idea how the phrase "resupply of the contras" found its way onto the page...

...You can either confirm or deny it, and I'll proceed apace from there.' "You'd get your answer and off you'd go...

...I said, 'You know, Jim, I think I probably put you and Ollie together because you were both interested in the problems in El Salvador,' and he said, 'Yeah, I think I [you] did.' So I don't think there was a meeting...

...Smith is handling the financing, he's handling the transshipment, he's handling the air drops, and what have you...

...They manufactured arms in the 1900s," Brenneke says of his relatives...

...Now I don't know that Don Gregg went out and told country A: 'Say yes, when the requests comes through, approve it.' But somebody did...

...As an arms trader, Brenneke often had to ascertain the reliability of his clients...

...You see my name on the red shotgun shells...

...Brenneke is "amazed," he says, that Gregg denies all connection to contra resupply...

...On April 30, 1986, seven months after the September 10 meeting, Rodriguez was scheduled to meet in the West Wing of the White House with Gregg and Vice President Bush...

...Is his wish list in fact correct...

...Richard J. Brenneke of Portland says the Vice President's office under Gregg served as a "clearinghouse" for a series of private sales to the contras during 1985 and 1986...