Operation Watchtower was one of many drug trafficking operations from Central America consisting of the placement and operation of low frequency radio beacons to guide low-flying pilots from Colombia to Panama. It also consisted of making available to the pilots the radio frequencies and schedules of drug interdiction aircraft so as to avoid detection. Because of the extremely low altitude these drug-laden aircraft flew, often less than five hundred feet, they could not receive the line-of-sight navigational signals available throughout the world (VOR). Radio transmission from a drug-carrying aircraft on a particular frequency actuated a relay at the radio beacon that started up the gasoline-engine-powered generators and the radio transmitters used for navigation.
Colonel Edward Cutolo who was commander of the 10th Special Forces Group headquartered at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, became concerned that he could be hung out to dry if the operation were discovered and learned that George H.W. Bush, Bill Casey, and Donald Gregg were behind the mission. Gregg was a key figure on Bush’s staff, and Colonel Douglas Menarichik was an important Gregg functionary. Some believe Gregg was a member of the 40 Committee.
There was another affidavit signed by PFC William Tyree, who added that members of the Panama Defense Force under Major Manuel Noriega helped unload the drug planes. Tyree was uncomfortable with this mission, and his wife kept a diary describing it. This probably accounts for her murder, which was blamed on Bill. Tyree thought that some of the drug profits were used to establish FEMA.
The operation provided arms for right wing El Salvador guerillas who were seen as freedom fighters. However, large quantities of drugs were not immediately shipped for sale but were prepositioned so they could be sold later when more money was needed to finance counter-insurgency operations. The C.I.A. agents involved were concerned that Archbishop Oscar Romero had precise knowledge that the US was training them in five countries. Romero was murdered while saying mass on Monday of Holy Week, 1980. Cotulo’s affidavit said they were sure Romero had solid evidence about Watch Tower. The killing was orchestrated by Roberto D’ Aubuisson, who was trained by the Argentine Brigade 601 and the Israelis. On November 16, 1989, six progressive intellectuals were murdered in El Salvador. They were Jesuit priests; and the murderers also slaughtered their housekeeper and her young daughter. Twenty years later, in November 2009, the Spanish press published the order of the chief of staff of the Salvadoran Army calling for the murder of the six priests and any witnesses. He was so closely linked to the Pentagon that Americans must have known and approved of his action.
There developed a related program called Operation Orwell. It was designed to protect Watch Tower by keeping track of law enforcement figures, journalists, judges, dissidents and religious organizations –especially Roman Catholics and Latter Day Saints– who might gather information about the C.I.A. drug trade. It was fully operational in the US and Colombia in 1980. Both Robert Gates, an NSC official, and Robert Gates, a C.I.A. agent and private citizen, had knowledge of Orwell. According to Colonel Edward P. Cotulo, agents were keeping track of President Jimmy Carter and former President Gerald Ford. Tyree said that his friend Sergeant John Newby was involved in missions watching Senators Kennedy and Kerry, Tip O’Neill, and several governors. Local law enforcement personnel were also hired for surveillance work and two U.S. Roman Catholic cathedrals were placed under electronic surveillance. A team from Fort Bragg kept track of Jesse Helms. Cotulo had been told that Watch Tower was a sanctioned mission and that Stansfield Turner himself was covering for Michael Harari’s long standing drug trading. Cotulo doubted all this and sought to prove that neither operation was officially sanctioned. Harari went into hiding because Norwegian prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant in connection with several murders. What is interesting about Watch Tower is that some of Cotulo’s military subordinates worked hard to get out the story of why he might have been killed.
Newby died in a parachuting accident. Colonel Robert Bayard, a critic of the programs, was murdered in Atlanta in 1977 where he went to meet Harari. Col. Cutolo, who wrote the 84 pt. affidavit (see below) died in a mysterious automobile accident in Skullthorpe, England, in 1980 after meeting Harari. Colonel James Rowe was murdered on April 21, 1989 in the Philippines after Harari arrived there. Some claim the jobs were done by Mossad agent Harari, who later became a security advisor to Manuel Noriega. Two other colonels died suspiciously and Congressman Larkin Smith, who tried to help the suspicious soldiers, died in a plane crash on August 13, 1989. Tyree was sent to prison.
Watchtower occurred while Jimmy Carter was president, but it is very unlikely that he had no idea it was going on. Carter was dismayed when the Sandanistas took over Nicaragua, but his actions, authorized 6 months after that revolution, were limited to funding to keep an opposition alive. Before the take-over, Carter funded the corrupt Somoza regime even while it was slaughtering civilians. The idea was to maintain stability and prevent a Cuban-style government from emerging. Later, in 1984, the Sandanistas won an internationally monitored election, but the Reagan administration acted as though it had not happened.
In the late seventies, the US was very concerned with the insurgency in El Salvador, but it had not reopened a C.I.A. station there until 1978. There is no indication Carter had any idea that C.I.A. activity there could have been tied to Watchtower. It is also likely that the old boys of the C.I.A. had not informed Admiral Stansfield Turner about what was going on. Turner had strict standards of propriety for what the agency should be doing, but he did worry that Carter was a bit of a “peacenik.” Turner eventually learned about Theodore Shackley’s rogue operations and effectively brought that man’s career to an end. Shackley retired and went into the arms running business with half a million dollars given him by former agent Edwin P. Wilson. Shackley’s association with Wilson was probably the strongest reason for blocking his promotion and ending his career.
Wilson became involved in illegal arms trading with Libya and possibly even paid hits. Wilson had been fired in 1971 and finally went to prison in 1983. Wilson recruited many agents and techniCIAns from within the agency to help him move weapons and explosives to Libya, and C.I.A. “quality control” measures proved ineffective in discovering the extent of his recruiting. Wilson Associated openly with Shackley and Clines.
Wilson used Frank Terpil to move C-4 to Libya and to supply training camps where former Green Berets were instructing terrorists. These veterans thought they were working for the US government. Perhaps they were part of a deep scheme to learn about Libyan capabilities and Soviet activities in Libya. Wilson’s defenders claim this is true and that he was reporting to Shackley. According to this theory, Shackley saw that the trainees were murdered in their home countries when they left the training camps. Terpil relocated in Cuba after Wilson was arrested and has been known to sell equipment to the PLO. He has been accused of killing three officials of IBEX Corporation, which had done some work for Iran.
Colonel Edward P. Cutolo’s affidavit:
Colonel Cutolo died in a car accident 2 months after signing this affidavit.
I, Edward P. Cutolo, having been duly sworn, do state under oath;
1. I am currently the Commanding Officer of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
2. I swear affirmation to the contents of this affidavit freely and without coercion or threat to my person.
3. In Dec., 1975, I spoke with Col. “Bo” Baker concerning a classified mission he commanded during that month, inside Colombia. The mission was known as Watch Tower.
4. Following a lengthy discussion with Col. Baker, I was introduced to Mr. Edwin Wilson and Mr. Frank Terpil. Both Wilson and Terpil were in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency. Both Wilson and Terpil inquired if I was interested in working for short periods of time in Colombia and I acknowledged that I was.
5. In Feb., 1976, I commanded the second Watch Tower Mission into Colombia. This mission was 22 days long and ended with only one reportable incident occurring between team members and a Colombian army unit. There were no fatalities received by Watch Tower team members. There was no indication that the Colombian army unit sustained fatalities.
6. The purpose of Operation watch Tower was to establish a series of three electronic beacon towers beginning outside of Bogota, Colombia and running northeast to the border of Panama. Once the Watch Tower teams (Special Action Teams) were in place, the beacon was activated to emit a signal that aircraft could fix on and fly undetected from Bogota into Panama, then land at Albrook Air Station.
7. During the Feb., 1976, Watch Tower Mission, 30 high performance aircraft landed safely at Albrook Air Station where the plane were met by Col. Tony Noriega, who is a Panama Defence Force Officer currently assigned to the Customs and Intelligence Section. Noriega normally was in the company of other PDF officers known to me as Major Diaz-Herrera, Major Luis del Cid, Major Ramirez. Also present at most of the arrivals, was Edwin Wilson, and an unidentified male Israeli national.
8. The cargo flown from Colombia into Panama was cocaine.
9. The male Israeli national was identified and known to members of the 570th Military Intelligence Group in Panama who only specified that this individual had the authority from the U.S. Army Southern Command in Panama to be in the A.O.
10. In March, 1976, a third Watch Tower Mission was implemented and I was in command of that mission which lasted 29 days and engaged in the same tactics used in the Feb.,1976, mission. The March mission encountered a serious accident and resulted in several SAT members being injured from wounds suffered while attempting to exfiltrate from Colombia across the border into Panama where helicopters were waiting to extract them.
11. The March, 1976 mission incident occurred as the SAT that was on station at Turbo, Colombia, encountered 40 to 50 armed men. Action Intelligence reports identified the armed men as local bandits. In regards to this incident the helicopters waiting in Panama, to extract the SAT, entered Colombian air space without authorization and successfully extracted the SAT, after an estimated six or seven minute fire fight.
12. During the March, 1976, Watch Tower Mission, 40 high performance aircraft landed safely at Albrook Air Station where they were met in the previously related fashion by those named.
13. After the Watch Tower Mission in March,1976, I lost touch with several of the men who had served on the SATs, but made no attempt to locate them
14. In 1978, I assumed command of the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort. Devens and recognized two soldiers.
15. The two soldiers I recognized were assigned to 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). One was assigned to a Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha in the 3rd Battalion, Sgt. John Newby. The other had just been reassigned off an Operational Detachment Alpha following a criminal Investigation Division matter being levied against him. PFC William Tyree. Tyree was reassigned to a Forward Support Team but had been carried for the preceding month on 2nd Battalion’s roster.
16. Upon the assumption of command, I created and implemented 12 separate SATs. Their mission was to implement Army Regulation 340-18-5 (file number 503-05). My authority for this action came directly from FORSCOM through Edwin Wilson who appeared before me in my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters. This action was taken to develop surveillance of politicians, judicial figures, law enforcement agencies at the state level, and of religious figures.
17. Mr. Edwin Wilson explained that it was considered that Operation Watch Tower might be compromised and become known if politicians, judicial figures, police and religious entities were approached or received word that U.S. Troops had aided in delivering narcotics from Columbia into Panama. Based on that possibility, intense surveillance was undertaken by my office to ensure if Watch Tower became known of, the U.S. government and the Army would have advance warning and could prepare a defense.
18. I was under orders not to inform Col. Forrest Rittgers, Commanding Officer of Ft. Devens. The reason for this order I was told, is that in the event Ft. Devens personnel are caught in the act of implementing the surveillance, Col. Rittger will have a margin of plausible deniability on which he may be able to downplay and defend against injuries.
19. The surveillance was unofficially dubbed Operation George Orwell based on the theme of the surveillance and the George Orwell published work 1984.
20. I instituted surveillance against Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward King, Michael Dukakis, Levin H. Campbell, Andrew A. Caffey, Fred Johnston, Kenneth A. Chandler, Thomas P. O’Neill to name a few of the targets. Surveillance at my orders was instituted at the Governors’ residences of Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and New Hampshire. The Catholic cathedrals of New York and Boston were placed under electronic surveillance also. In the area of Ft. Devens, all local police and politicians were under some sort of surveillance at various times.
21 I specifically used individuals from the 441st Military Intelligence Detachment and 402 Army Security Agency Detachment assigned to the 10th Special Forces Group to supplement the Sats tasked with carrying out Operation Orwell.
22. I also recruited a number of local state employees who worked within the ranks of local police and as court personnel to assist in this Operation. They were veterans and had previous security clearances. They were told at the outset that if they were caught they were on their own.
23. Among the SAT personnel was (then) SP4 William Tyree. Tyree had learned of the Operation and requested in person to be part of it. Tyree was used in less than a dozen surveillances.
24. In Oct., 1978, it became known to me that SP4 Tyree was receiving telephone threats to his wife and himself. He made that fact known to his First Sergeant, Fredrick Henry and then approached me. Following our discussion, I considered placing Tyree under surveillance to arrive at who was behind the threats and whether or not the threats had the potential of inspiring or compromising Operation Orwell.
25. On 26 Dec. 1978 I began a file on SP4 Tyree and assigned a three man surveillance SAT to the multi-dwelling apartment complex SP4 Tyree shared with his wife. That unit was in place from that date until 14 Feb. 1979.
26. On 5 Jan. 1979, Tyree appeared before me to receive a Field Grade Article-15 (non-judicial punishment) for his part in the theft and sale of military property. I had to make an example out of Tyree and instituted the most severe punishment possible. I concluded that with pending congressional inquiries, the Post Commander (Col. Rittgers) would reverse my decision on appeal, in Pvt. Tyree’s favor. As reason to support this conclusion, in addition to pending congressional inquiries, was the fact that the proceedings against Pvt. Tyree were flawed from the outset of the investigation with a number of discrepancies.
27. I was told and understood that the main reason for seeking the Article-15 against him was to make an example of him. To show others that cooperation with the Command law enforcement agencies was mandatory.
28. On 26 Jan. 1979, Pvt. Tyree tendered his Appeal of my sanction. The appeal is attached. It is the best example of what proof existed against Pvt. Tyree when he came before me on 5 Jan. 1979. It also names the characters in another matter that was unfolding as of 26 Jan. 1979.
29. By 29 Jan. 1979, Senator Garn’s office had contacted the Army Liaison Office in Washington D.C., on the behalf of Pvt. Tyree who referred the matter to my office, as I was Pvt. Tyree’s commanding officer. I then notified Sgt. Doucette in Washington D.C., that it would be approximately two weeks before further action could be taken in regards to the threats Pvt. Tyree was receiving. At that point I knew the threats were taking place, but had not ascertained from whence they originated.
30. At approx. 0945 hours on 30 Jan. 1979 Pvt. Tyree reported to my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters per my instructions. Pvt. Tyree reported that between 2400 hours and 0100 hours of the previous night that his wife had received another threatening phone call. I was notified of the call by the SAT in place at the tyree residence prior to speaking with Pvt. Tyree. I ordered Tyree to keep this matter to himself as it was being investigated. I notified Pvt. Tyree I would contact him between 1200 and 1300 hours at his duty station as soon as I could look into a matter that pertained to the threats. This meeting lasted until 1019 hours.
31. On 30 Jan. 1979, at approx. 1147 hours, two men were dropped in the parking area of the apt. complex that Pvt. Tyree resided within. One man was identified as Erik Aarhus. The second man due to his face being covered could not be identified as the two men entered the apartment building that the Tyree family resided within. Surveillance indicates that at least one of the two men entered the Tyree apt. and left prior to the arrival of Pvt. tyree and his wife at noon.
32. On 30 Jan 1979, at noon Pvt. Tyree and his wife were seen arriving at the apartment complex they resided in. Pvt. Tyree never exited his truck and Mrs. tyree entered the building where their apt. was located. After she disappeared, a car almost ran into Pvt. Tyree as he was leaving the complex parking lot. Mrs. Tyree was stabbed to death in their apt. shortly thereafter.
33. Following a scream, local police were notified. (this was not known to the SAT involved in the surveillance however.) The first police car responded quickly and a single officer entered the building where the Tyree family resided. After the officer entered one of the two men exited from a window on the ground floor of the building. This widow was identified as the Tyree bedroom window. The man seen leaving this window was identified as SP4 Earl M. Peters. Peters exited the window wearing blue denim, with a red hood sticking out of the rear neck area of the blue denim jacket. He was carrying a box, green and white in color and described by the SAT a long and flat in appearance. Peters then walked from the building to the driveway entrance of the apt. complex and walked in the general direction of the main street in Ayer, Massachusetts. Within 5 or 6 minutes after the first police officer arrived a second officer identified as the police chief arrived.
34. After the police chief arrived a third vehicle arrived. This was 10 to 15 minutes later. That vehicle carried an unknown man in his late 30s. He was later identified as the landlord of the Tyree apt.
35. Upon knowledge that Mrs. Tyree was dead the SAT did notify me of this fact and I did place Pvt. Tyree under intense surveillance. In addition I placed SP4 Peters under surveillance and at approx. 1405 hours on the afternoon of the murder Sp4 Peters signed a weapon (12 gauge shotgun, Remington 1100) into the Service Company. The weapon was in a long, flat green and white box bearing the name “Remington” across the front and back sides.
36. Pvt. Tyree was questioned and cooperated in a limited fashion. He was then taken to the 441 Military Intelligence Detachment where he slept on the Commanding officers couch, under guard. The following morning, I spoke to him in my office at 10th Special Forces Group Headquarters. I informed him of the surveillance and of what I knew had occurred to his wife. He knew at that point that SP4 Peters and Pvt. Aarhus had been involved in the murder and he began to talk to me.
37. Pvt. Tyree admitted, on 31 Jan. 1979 in my office to me, that his wife had been killed, he felt, because of a set of diaries she kept. Tyree explained that SP4 Peters and Sp4 Rosario were named throughout the books as being involved in illegal matters on and around Ft. Devens. I knew Rosario had been alleged to be involved in such matters and knew the information could be true. Then Pvt. Tyree admitted that his wife knew of Operation Watch Tower and Orwell, as he had seen it in her diaries the previous night. Pvt. tyree swore he didn’t reveal the Operations to her and I believed him. Tyree didn’t know where the diaries were at this time.
38. Upon Pvt. Tyree leaving my office, I initiated contact with Mass. State Police Lieutenant J. Dwyer, of the Middlesex District Attorneys Office. Lt. Dwyer had cooperated previously on Operation Orwell and understood the urgency of the situation and Lt. Dwyer notified me that during a search of the Tyree apt. he discovered the diaries behind the refrigerator with a note to the family of Elaine Tyree. He did not disclose the contents of the note.
39. Shortly before noon on 2 Feb. 1979, I received a telephone call from Lt. Dwyer indicating he would drop off the diaries belonging to Elaine tyree at my office. Upon receipt of the diaries I reviewed them, noting much of Operation Watch Tower and Orwell was written about throughout the many pages of the diaries.
40. After my review, I contacted Col. Moore of the U.S. Army Liaison in Washington D.C., and notified him of the scope of the issues involved in the murder of Elaine Tyree. I did notify him at that time of the possibility that arms and narcotics trafficking played a role in her murder. Due to security issues surrounding Operation Watch Tower and Orwell, I did not indicate how the arms and narcotics trafficking figured in the murder of Elaine Tyree, however.
41. Despite repeated warnings to stay out of the investigation and to remain silent, Tyree was arrested on 13 Feb. 1979, after attempting to bring about the arrest of Pvt. Aarhus The surveillance SAT reported that an armed confrontation between Pvt. Tyree and SP4 Peters occurred prior to the arrest of Tyree.
42. During Feb. 1979, Pvt. Tyree was arraigned on the pending civilian criminal charges. It was too risky to allow a military court to review the charges against Pvt. Tyree with Operation Orwell still ongoing and Senator Garn’s office requesting a full investigation. Pvt. Tyree therefore had to stand before a civilian court of law on the criminal charges.
43.Prior to the arrest of Pvt. tyree, Lt. Dwyer approached me and insisted on knowing whether or not Tyree had ever served in Vietnam. I suspect Lt. Dwyer was attempting to learn if Tyree’s involvement in the military operations elsewhere were being covered up the way Operation Watch Tower was. I replied in the negative, that Tyree had never been in the Republic of South Vietnam. I then contemplated for the first time that Tyree might go public on Operation Watch Tower and Orwell because I had not come forward. Based on that conclusion, I gave orders to erase certain parts of his military records.
44. Actual information erased included the attendance of Pvt. Tyree at certain service schools and references to overseas service. I ordered all records to be erased that linked Pvt. Tyree to Operation Watch Tower or Orwell. Service schools and badges I know were erased were ” Paper Flash Special Forces Qualification,” “Crewman’s Aviator Wings,” ” Canadian Airborne Badge,” and “Master Parachute Badge.” I also gave orders to disenfranchise Pvt. Tyree from Special Forces. I wanted no one standing up for him and in the process dragging the information concerning Operation Watch Tower into the public eye.
45. Unbeknownst to him, Pvt. Tyree underwent a hearing on the criminal charges in a local courthouse, under surveillance of Operation Orwell. I learned through transmissions that Tyree only spoke of defense issues with his attorney, but never mentioned Operation Watch Tower or Orwell. In the process of Pvt. Tyree’s hearing, a state police officer from Lt. Dwyer’s office discovered the state courthouse was under surveillance. This led to the arrest of the senior Court Officer Ira Kiezer, who took full responsibility and never mentioned my office.
46. After the hearing concluded, the presiding judge in the Tyree matter found no reason to bind Tyree over for the trial on the murder of his wife. I found myself faced with the possibility that Pvt. Tyree, upon release, would become angered at my decision to disfranchise him. So I approached Lt. Dwyer who informed me that an indictment had already been secured for Tyree and that he would stand trial for the charge of murder. Lt. Dwyer expressed concern that there would not be enough evidence to warrant a guilty finding against Tyree. Lt Dwyer indicated that the only person with enough credibility was SP4 Peters. I could not inform Lt. Dwyer that Peters had been the person responsible for Elaine Tyree’s murder.
47. After weeks of consideration, I concluded that the security of Operation Watch Tower and Orwell came first and AR 340-18-5 strictly prohibited the disclosure of intelligence gathered pursuant to that regulation.
48. On 29 Feb. 1980, Pvt. Tyree was convicted of murder and will spend the duration of his life incarcerated. I could not disseminate intelligence gathered under Operation Orwell to notify civilian authorities who actually killed Elaine Tyree.
49. The current intelligence on Archbishop Romero (El Salvador) indicates he is in receipt of physical evidence supporting several allegations that the U.S. is currently with Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama covertly training and sponsoring freedom fighters attempting to overthrow the current regime in Nicaragua; that these freedom fighters are also being supported from funds arising from Operation Watch Tower in part; that Mr. Robert D`Aubuisson (El Salvador) secretly aided the freedom fighters by allowing U.S. Advisors to train the freedom fighters inside El Salvador, that D`Aubuisson was contacted by Edwin Wilson and Frank Terpil prior to the freedom fighters being trained inside El Salvador. This information made it necessary to protect Operation Watch Tower and Orwell regardless of the costs.
50. I have been in communication with Lt. Dwyer. In Nov. 1979, after some prodding, Lt. Dwyer and the Middlesex District Attorney went to the Mass. Supreme Court and attained a ruling that prohibits any court but the Mass. Supreme Court from ordering the arrest of suspects in the Tyree murder. I am told that this is without precedent and that normally any court can issue arrest warrants for suspects in a murder. This will ensure that only Tyree and Aarhus are arrested for the murder and that SP4 Peters will not have to be subjected to having to defend himself on the witness stand. That also could bring the about the entire matter being made public as by this time, I’m sure SP4 Peters is acutely aware that something is afoot, or he would have been arrested when the hearing in the local courthouse was held.
51. I mailed the diaries of Elaine Tyree to a post office box number in Langley, Virginia, per instructions of Edwin Wilson who contacted me by telephone concerning the diaries. Wilson also notified me of the intelligence on Archbishop Romero.
52. I reviewed the diaries prior to mailing them. The diaries contained most of the information on SP4 Peters, as Pvt. Tyree indicated they did. I suspect that this was the motive for Peters’ killing Elaine Tyree. The diaries contained no mention of Pvt. Tyree or his alleged illegal dealings. I suspect that Elaine Tyree only wrote in the diaries relating to soldiers other than her husband, who were involved in illegal activities in and around Ft. Devens.
53. The diaries kept by Elaine Tyree mentioned certain personal entries that can corroborate the fact that I saw the diaries, that they exist, and that the information contained within them is accurate. There were numerous entries relating to Elaine Hebb Tyree’s family in Maryland and her friends in the army.
54. Jan. 1978 entry: “Rosemary got a job with the FBI and has to be in Washington D.C. by Jan. 31, 1978. Cindy and Edie got out of the hospital today (Thursday).”
55. From reading the entry on Cindy and Edie I suspect the actual date of their release from the hospital was 12 Jan. 1978. But no specific date was given, nor was the hospital named that they were admitted to.
56. Jan. 1978 entry: “Rosemary will be leaving for Wash. D.C., on Sunday. I may ride back with her.”
57. From reading the entry on Rosemary driving to Washington, I suspect the actual date Rosemary left the Hebb family home in Cumberland, Maryland to travel to Washington, possibly with Elaine Tyree, was 29 Jan. 1978. No actual date was given in the diaries, nor was there further mention whether or not Elaine Tyree actually rode `back with her.’
58. Nov 1978 entry: “SP5 Scott had a little baby girl. She was due in July. I remember her back before she came to Ft. Devens.”
59. From reading the entries on SP5 Scott which begin to appear in the diaries around April 1978, I suspect this female was a member of a unit Elaine Tyree was assigned to either at Ft. Lee, Virginia, or at Ft. Mc Clellan, Alabama. In either case, this is an intimate fact obviously known only to elaine Tyree, as no one else would need or knowledge about when another female friend gave birth, and the gender of the baby born to that female friend.
60. Jan.-Feb. 1978 entries. “I’ve been running around with Heidi Urban. We go all over together when I don’t have duty. Oh, yeah, Diary, Pat Imbu left in mid-January.”
61. From reading the entries on Heidi Urban the main fact appears obvious is that Elaine Tyree is then at Ft. Lee, Virginia. That Pvt. William Tyree is not present as he is at Ft. Devens. Mass. Other that Elaine and Heidi, no one, specifically not Pvt. Tyree or myself could know that Elaine and Heidi are `running around together’ at that time, unless these facts are represented in the diaries maintained by Elaine Tyree in her own handwriting. Elaine Tyree was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, Quartermaster School.
62. Nov. 1978 entry: “Dear Diary, my brother Steven who has been stationed in England for a over a year, is coming home on the 20th for good.”
63. From reading the entries on Steven, I learned that he is currently assigned to an Air Force Base in England and that Elaine Tyree got along well with him.
64. rom further consideration and reading entries on SP5 Scott., I conclude that Elaine Tyree knew this female at Ft. Lee, Virginia, in the sense that both Scott and Elaine Tyree underwent the same training there. I don’t gather from the entries that SP5 Scott married or had a name change between her duty at Ft. Lee, Virginia, and Ft. Devens, Mass., but I could be forgetting of overlooking the numerous personal entries in the diaries in an attempt only to view data pertinent to Operation Watch Tower or Orwell.
65. Nov. 1978 entry: “Peters came by the apartment today. Bill spoke with him in the front room while I was washing dishes. Peters is thinking about buying a new truck. Bill asked Peters if he was going to have Dennis Testagrossa steal this new truck and burn it so Peters could collect the insurance the way Peters had the last time? Peters laughed and said the payments are better on this truck than the one he had Testagrossa steal from the parking lot of Carlin’s Bar. This was the first I knew that Peters was involved in the stealing of his own truck. Peters told me Bill was not involved because at the time Bill was under too much attention.”
66. To date, I have not actually seen proof that Pvt. Tyree was involved in illegal activities. I have seen ample proof that he is foolish and eager to do things his way, since Pvt. Tyree’s involvement in the March 1976 Watch Tower incident with the 40-50 armed Colombians.
67. I have detailed pertinent events in this affidavit should something happen to me. The lug nuts have been loosened on my car tires twice in the past week. I have had someone tamper with my car once and I have received telephone calls at my home where no one answered at the other end. I have seen other men involved in Operation Watch Tower meet accidental deaths after they were also threatened.
68. Sgt. John Newby reported that he had received threats just prior to the parachuting accident that claimed his life in Oct. 1978. It was at that time that (then) SP4 Tyree began to report threatening phone calls. I saw a pattern and still believe that a pattern exists.
69. I gave Col. Baker the original copy of this affidavit. I have true copies to Hugh B. Pearce, and to Paul Neri of the National Security Agency and instructed each person to deliver this affidavit to the authorities in the event something occurs to me.
70. I believe the friends I have entrusted with the original and copies of this affidavit will place the National Security of the United States and American interests in Latin America first, and if circumstances allow, will bring this affidavit to the attention of the authorities in the event something occurs to me.
71. During the conversation with Edwin Wilson I was informed of the sensitive data related to Archbishop Romero. He also spoke to me concerning operation Watch Tower and the geopolitical climate in Latin America and the need to maintain security. Ifiedified him that I had requested to release intelligence gathered from Operation Orwell to civilian police authorities involved in the Elaine Tyree murder and that the Staff Judge Advocate’s Office had denied the request.
72. Edwin Wilson explained that Operation Watch Tower had to remain secret and gave these reasons: (1) If it became public knowledge it would undermine present governmental interests as well as those in the future. (2) There are similar operations being implemented elsewhere in the world. Wilson named the “Golden Triangle” of Southeast Asia and Pakistan. Wilson stated in both areas of the world the CIA and other intelligence agencies are using the illegal narcotics flow to support forces fighting to overthrow communist governments, or governments that are not friendly towards the U.S.. Wilson named several recognized officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma, Korea, Thailand and Cambodia as being aware and consenting to these arrangements, similar to the ones in Panama. (3) Wilson cited the military coup in Argentina in 1976, the coup in Peru in 1976, the fall of the Somoza Government in Nicaragua in 1979, and the growing civil war in El Salvador as examples of the need for operations like Watch Tower. As these operations funded the ongoing effort to combat communism and defeat actions directed against the United States or matters concerning the U.S.
73. Edwin Wilson explained that the profit from the sale of narcotics was laundered through a series of banks. Wilson stated that over 70% of the profits were laundered through the banks in Panama. The remaining percentage was funneled through Swiss banks with a small remainder being handled by banks within the U.S. Wilson indicated that a large portion of the profits are brought into the banks of Panama without being checked. I understood that some of the profits in Panamanian banks arrived through Israeli couriers. I became aware of that fact from normal conversations with some of the Embassy personnel assigned to the Embassy in Panama. Wilson also stated that an associate whom I don’t know also aided in over seeing the laundering of funds, which was then used to purchase weapons to arm the various factions that the CIA saw as friendly towards the U. S. The associates name is Tom Clines. Wilson indicated that most of Operation Watch Tower was implemented on the authority of Clines.
74. I was notified by Edwin Wilson that the information forwarded to Wash. D.C., was disseminated to private corporations who were developing weapons for the Dept. of Defense. Those private corporations were encouraged to use the sensitive information gathered from surveillance on U.S. Senators and Representatives as leverage to manipulate those Congressmen into approving whatever costs the weapons systems incurred.
75. Edwin Wilson named three weapons systems when he spoke of private corporations receiving information from Operation Orwell. (1) An armored vehicle. (2) An aircraft that is invisible to radar. (3) A weapons system that utilizes kinetic energy. I got the impression this weapon was being developed either for use by Nasa or for CBR purposes. I wrote down what I recalled at the time and it is attached.
76. Edwin Wilson indicated to me during our conversation while entailed the dissemination of Operation Orwell information and the identification of the three weapons systems, that Operation Orwell would be implemented nationwide by 4 July 1980.
77. As of the date of this affidavit, 8,400 police departments, 1,370 churches, and approx. 17,900 citizens have been monitored under Operation Orwell. The major churches targeted have been Catholic and Latter-Day Saints. I have stored certain information gathered by Operation Orwell on Ft. Devens, and pursuant to instructions from Edwin Wilson have forwarded additional information gathered to Wash. D.C.
78. Per orders from Edwin Wilson, I did not discuss the implementation of Operation Orwell with my staff or others outside of the personnel assigned to surveillance. The only matter discussed with Operation Orwell personnel was what the SATs needed to know in order to carry out their mission. Certain information was collected on suspected members of the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg group. Among those that information was collected on were Gerald Ford and President Jimmy Carter. Edwin Wilson indicated that additional surveillance was implemented against former CIA director George Bush, who Wilson named as a member of the Trilateral Commission. I do not have personal knowledge that Ford, Carter or Bush were under surveillance.
79. I spoke to Col. James N. Rowe on 5 March 1980. I specifically requested that Col. Rowe communicate with several contacts he has within the CIA. I asked Col. Rowe to check out Edwin Wilson. I had two concerns. The first was that Edwin Wilson may pose a threat to National Security by disseminating classified information on the CIA’s activities to personnel without a clearance or a need to know that information. Edwin Wilson, during his conversations with me, outlined information that was classified and to which I had no need to know. Information that pertained to the activities of the CIA in the U.S. and Latin America. I’ve related such conversations with Wilson herein. The second concern I had was the issue of his authority and connection to Thomas Clines. I was told repeatedly that Clines was the agent in charge and that Wilson worked with Clines. Col. Rowe indicated that he would make inquiries I requested and would contact me with that information as soon as he had something. Col. Rowe indicated that it would be 60 to 90 days before he would speak to the CIA contact that was most apt to have knowledge of the information I requested. I agreed to meet Col. Rowe on Ft. Bragg the next week in June in the event Col. Rose received documentation relating to the information I sought.
80. On 7 March 1980 Col. Rowe contacted me. During the course of our conversation Col. Rowe informed me that his initial inquiries with CIA contacts confirmed that Edwin Wilson was working for Thomas Clines at the times in question. Col. Rowe indicated that Edwin Wilson was under scrutiny by the CIA at that time but had not been given the details of the circumstances surrounding the events of that matter. Col. Rowe also indicated that there was an Israeli aspect to the matter involving Edwin Wilson and Col. Rowe provided the name of David Kimche as being the Israeli most likely to be involved with Edwin Wilson. In regards to my concerns that Edwin Wilson posed a possible threat to national security or to the inner working of the CIA, Col. Rowe indicated that off the record, that was a concern of several people to whom he had spoken. Col. Rowe also indicated that he would be in receipt of documentation by the first week of June which listed Edwin Wilson’s involvement in several operations. I specifically asked Col. Rowe if he had the names of any of those operations at this time and his reply was in the negative. Col. Rowe did indicate that it was his understanding that each operation had basically the same characters involved and Col. Rowe named two other individuals involved with Edwin Wilson. Col. Rowe named Robert Gates and William J. Casey as officials who had been named in the documentation he would acquire prior to our scheduled meeting on June 1980.
81. On 7 March 1980 after my conversation with Col. Rowe, I made inquiries through Paul Neri and Pentagon contacts and was informed that David Kimche had ties with the Israeli Intelligence Agency known as “The Mossad.” I also asked that I be provided a photograph, if any existed, of David Kimche. I requested such a photograph to determine if Kimche was the unidentified male Israeli national who met the aircraft fling into Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower. In addition, I sought whatever photographs existed on those who were known associates of David Kimche for the same reason.
82. In March 1980 I received three photographs from Army Intelligence contacts at the Pentagon. Amongst the three photographs were two individuals I recognized. David Kimche’s photograph had been shown to me by a friend, Col. Robert Bayard just prior to his murder in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. According to Bayard, Kimche was due to meet with him later. Shortly thereafter, I was informed through the normal lines of communication that Col. Bayard was murdered. As of this date his murder remains unsolved. The photograph of Kimche that Col. Bayard had appeared to be a surveillance photo. There is no doubt that Kimche was the person Bayard named as being in the photograph. According to Col. Bayard, Kimche was due to meet with him to discuss a matter that related to Col. Bayard’s previous duty in the U.S. Army and assignment in the CIA.
83. Thee second individual I recognized from the three photographs I received, was listed as Michael Harari. I was informed that Michael Harari is listed as a senior Mossad agent. Harari was the un identified male Israeli national that met the aircraft which flew into Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower. He was the one who gave Edwin Wilson two briefcases full of U.S. currency in various denominations. The briefcases were given to Edwin Wilson at the end of operations in March and Feb. 1976. It is my understanding from Pentagon contacts, that Harari’s activities in Latin America are well known, including his drug trafficking endeavors. I was also informed from those same contacts that the Pentagon on the orders of several Washington VIPs have gone to great lengths to keep the activities of Harari a secret. I have begun preparations to meet with David Kimche or Michael Harari while in Europe on annual NATO exercises. I intend to verify that Harari was the individual who gave Edwin Wilson the briefcases while at Albrook Air Station during Operation Watch Tower.
84. I was told from Pentagon contacts, off the record, that CIA Director Stansfield Turner and former CIA Director George Bush are among the VIPs that shield Harari from public scrutiny. Those Pentagon contacts further indicated to me their knowledge that Operation Watch Tower was implemented and of my involvement in that operation. This was the first time that U.S. military authorities confirmed to me that the Operation occurred and gave their approval. I also learned that Harari was a known middleman for matters involving the U.S. in Latin America. Harari acted with the support of a network of Mossad personnel throughout Latin America and worked mainly in the import and export of arms and drug trafficking.
85. As further means to corroborate this affidavit, on 9 Feb. 1979 , I spoke to Col. Rittgers concerning the release of Pvt. Tyree from Walter Reed Medical Center in Wash. D.C., where he had been admitted on 5 Feb. 1979. Col. Rittgers notified me that Pvt. Tyree had fully recovered from the depression which was brought about by the murder of Elaine Tyree. Col. Rittgers indicated that upon arrival at Ft. Devens later that day, he would interview Pvt. Tyree to determine for himself if Pvt. Tyree felt he was in any real danger.
86. I also spoke to Captain Gruden who was the Commanding Officer of the 409th Army Security Agency Company, Augsberg, Germany. The telephone call was brief and I inquired into what information PFC Tina Gregory might be expected to give in support of Pvt. Tyree’s trial defense. The surveillance of the civilian court house in the early stages of the criminal proceedings against Pvt. Tyree indicated PFC Gregory could have knowledge of Operation Watch Tower since PFC Gregory and Elaine Tyree were very close friends. I was not able to learn much from Cpt. Gruden who was leaving his office when I called. In order not to attract attention to the value of the information PFC Gregory may or may not have, I passed the entire phone call off as being interested on the part of Pvt. Tyree who was in my command.
SIGNED UNDER THE PAINS AND PENALTIES OF PERJURY ON THIS 11TH DAY OF MARCH 1980
(Signed)
Edward P. Cutolo
Colonel
Infantry Commanding
The Cutolo affidavit was confirmed to be legitimate by Colonel William Wilson.
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