Untitled Document
CIA's new mantra: Spying for Jesus
More evidence surfaces of Christian evangelicals being folded into
U.S. intelligence operations. WMR has previously reported on Christian evangelical
groups, linked to an entity called Mission Aviation Fellowship, being involved
in off-the-books operations in Afghanistan involving transporting Afghan warlords
and high-grade heroin.
Two days ago, just before Uganda's first multiparty elections in 20 years,
Ugandan police arrested Peter Waldron, a 59-year old U.S. citizen from Wyoming,
was arrested In the Kisugu suburb of Kampala along with three Ugandan nationals
and a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Waldron had a business card
that identified him as founder of City of Faith Ministries, Inc. and an adviser
to an organization called Contact America Group. Waldron was also identified
as a freelance journalist, a photographer, and a correspondent for a newsletter
called The Africa Dispatch. Waldron had billed himself in an interview
with The New Republic as a preacher and information technology consultant.
Waldron told the magazine that he was a former member of the U.S. military who
became a missionary. He also claimed he was a radio talk show host, Republican
Party campaign adviser, and GOP lobbyist. Waldron had worked with the Ugandan
Health Ministry since 2002.
Another U.S. "Christian" evangelical spy nabbed. Caught just prior to Ugandan election.
However, Waldron was also caught in Kampala with four assault rifles and 180 rounds
of ammunition. Waldron's publisher was noticed seated in the Ugandan High Court
during the show trial of Uganda's opposition leader, Col. Kizza Besigye, who is
giving Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni -- a close U.S. ally -- a strong challenge
in today's elections.
Waldron was charged with terrorism. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman said she could
not reveal any details about Waldron, citing his protections under the "U.S.
Government's Privacy Act."
CIA "missionaries" in resource-rich Venezuelan states like Delta Amacuro shill for U.S. mining and pharmaceutical firms
After many years of debate within the U.S. intelligence community about the propriety
of using journalists and religious personnel as spies, the Waldron arrest suggests
that both are now being used by the "new CIA" without restraint.
On March 7, 1999, three U.S. missionaries were arrested at Harare International
Airport while trying to board a Swissair flight for Zurich. The three -- Gary
Blanchard, Joseph Pettijohn and John Dixon -- who worked for Harvestfield Ministries,
a Pentecostal group based in Indiana, were attempting to smuggle a large cache
of weapons out of Zimbabwe. The three had been active in Lubumbashi, in the
neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province, and were accused
of mercenary activities in the diamond- and gold-rich territory. At their trial
in Harare, the three mercenaries claimed the 43 handguns, rifles, and other
weapons were for "hunting."
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez also recognized the combination of U.S. intelligence
and "missionary" activities when he recently ordered the expulsion
of the Sanford, Florida-based New Tribes Mission from their bases in the tribal
areas of Amazonas, Bolivar, Apure and Delta Amacuro. Chavez said the group was
a CIA front for U.S. mining and pharmaceutical interests.
The use by the CIA of religious workers and journalists as spies now puts all
legitimate American religious and journalistic activities abroad in severe jeopardy.