-IN THE ORIGINAL
REGISTERED LETTER TO PETER JENNINGS, THE NOTE TO HIM WAS ABOVE
THE DOCUMENT TITLE AND LIST.
GIVEN THE NOTE'S LENGTH, I CHOOSE TO PUT THE
NOTE BELOW THE TITLE HERE...ACCOMPANIED BY THIS NOTE ABOVE BOTH.
________________________
1) one-page statement to Mr. Peter Jennings, dated September 1, 1988; with attached copy of December 3, 1984 New York Times article, "Dispute Snarls Project For Democracy Abroad".
2) copies of pages 1.-3. of July, 1988 report to President Ronald Reagan.
3) correspondence copies according to separate list provided.
4) List of Contents for submission; with note to Mr. Jennings included and copy of 22 February 1988 statement from Botha regime's C.M. Lloyd on reverse.
___________________________
"An iron law of scandal is that no matter how grave or trivial the initial offense, the press will inevitably reduce the issue to a simple question of honesty."
--from "The Quayle Quagmire",
August 29, 1988 Time
___________________________
Mr. Jennings: The correspondence copies enclosed equivalize those
disclosed to Frederic Van Zyl Slabbert,1 the former South Africa
Parliament apartheid opposition leader, aside from what was received after the
June 24, 1988 mailing date of registered
letter #3580 to him (as marked).
When i met Donald Woods,1 the
former South Africa journalist and author of the two books
Sir Richard Attenborough's film, "Cry
Freedom", is based on, in this city on May 26, 1988, and explained to
him that i made the Christmas, 1987 submission to PRESIDENT
OF SOUTH AFRICA Pieter W. Botha because i wanted to send another
registered letter to Archbishop Desmond
Tutu and didn't think Pretoria would let it be received by him unless
the Botha regime knew its contents, he winked knowingly at me.
When
Dr. Slabbert and i met here on June 1, 1988, he also expressed
agreement. I think it's evident i should send Desmond and Dr.
Slabbert copies of the correspondence i've received since June 24,
1988--appreciating the significance of the letters you see from
Mike Dukakis and Mrs.
Alan Paton (as well as the significance of having not yet received
anything from President Reagan).
This
would mean i'll have to make another submission to Pretoria, noting in it the
possibility the reprieves for "The Sharpeville Six" were granted due
to my plea(s) on their behalf.
This likely will result in widespread
publicity.2
I'd also point out here that the Soviets'
release of West German Mathias Rust may relate to the affixation on page
3. of the first portion of my likely final report as SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC
ADVISER TO THE U.S PRESIDENT for Ronald Reagan (though i have not
disclosed a copy of this to the Soviets).
This coincidence is so obvious now
that i'll have to ask Mikhail Gorbachev if there is a correlation...just
as i'll finally have to ask him if they released Dr. Andrei Sakharov and
American journalist Nicholas Daniloff in response to
my August 6, 1986 submission to the Soviet
General Secretary or purely out of "good will" (the Reagan
"peace through strength" doctrine not seeming relevant). And
after lengthy delays chiefly prompted by the investigations of "Irangate"
by "The Tower Commission", the U.S. Congressional Iran-Contra
Committee, and INDEPENDENT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR Lawrence Walsh, i soon will have
to fulfill the promise made to "The Arab League" in my last statement
to them, on August 18, 1986 c/o UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL Göran
Ohlin--whom i met in this city on April 26, 1986--and
formally submit to "The Islamic Conference
Organization" a copy of that August, 1986 statement to "The Arab
League".
I'm frankly not satisfied that the completed
investigations of "Irangate" have revealed everything of relevance to
these "concerns" and continuing international tensions, so as i note,
i've been waiting patiently (and anxiously) to receive instructions from
President Reagan telling me how he would have me continue and/or
complete the "International Diplomatic Work...on a
direct basis" precisely to his satisfaction.
My point, sir, is that
in any or all of these fields...widespread publicity2 could
emerge at anytime, and i decided ABC News should be in a position to get
in touch with me when it needs to.
Not being a politician or a political appointee, i've been very reluctant to
be drawn too far into the present U.S. election campaign.
But if i don't
hear from President Reagan soon, he leaves me in a position of knowing
facts also known by the South Africans, the
Soviets, and the
Arabs...that haven't been explained to
the American electorate and world, of holding still the authority on behalf of
the United Nations and being responsible for completing that work, and,
according to the terms of the original agreement
governing the SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC ADVISER TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT authority--forced
to indicate that apparently one campaigning party isn't adverse to providing the
electorate with the truth, while the other one, now
holding power, is.
As we should recall, Jimmy Carter worked down to the very last minute of his presidency to ensure the safe release of the U.S. diplomat hostages in Iran.
It's impossible not to consider this as our "concerns" continue
for Terry Anderson, Joseph
Cicippio, William Higgins, Robert
Polhill, Frank Reed, Alann Steen, Thomas Sutherland,
Edward Tracy, and Jesse Turner and their families--as well as
the non-American hostages still being held in Lebanon.
If you discern
disillusionment with the Reagan Administration policymaking in the
enclosure addressed to the present U.S. President, one trusts it will be
clarified by this brief elaboration of "(my) present
situation."
I am about to apply for 1976-78 document copies from "The Freedom of
Information Clearing House" in Washington. My personal files (not "shredded"
like those of Oliver North et al) date back only to 1979.
It was my
understanding that at least up to January 20, 1981 (when
HR 13500 took effect), there were no
confidentiality classifications applied to the documentation inclusive of my
reports and work during that period.
Recently there was a press report on
Pentagon "concerns" that adversarial interests abroad might be
obtaining classified information from U.S. libraries. I realize that George
Bush, during his 1976 tenure as CIA DIRECTOR, may have seen some reports
about the work inclusive of my involvement pass over his desk. Certainly he
should have seen documents since when i filed
reports to President Reagan as he is a member of the U.S. National
Security Council, which logically would have had such documentation brought to
its attention due to the evident fields of my
work.
The single attachment to my formal statement to you is
term of reference 1) c) to my Christmas, 1987
statement to P.W. Botha, copies of which
were originally included in my January 5, 1985 and February 7, 1985 submissions
to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and U.S.
SENATOR Edward Kennedy respectively.
If you wish document copies, at your request i am able to provide them, according to the 1978 "legal agreement" re My SPECIAL DIPLOMATIC ADVISER TO THE U.S. PRESIDENT authority with the Carter Administration...unless President Reagan now instructs me otherwise.
1-THERE IS FURTHER INSIGHT INTO MY MEETINGS WITH THE DISTINGUISHED SOUTH AFRICAN AUTHOR AND FORMER LEADER OF THE COUNTRY'S POLITICAL OPPOSITION PARTY TO BE FOUND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.
2--ON THE SUBJECT OF "PUBLICITY", I WOULD URGE VISITORS TO THIS AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE TO TAKE A BRIEF SERIES OF SIDESTEPS HERE AS I CAN FORESEE SUCH "PUBLICITY" AS IT DESCRIBES BECOMING AN ISSUE AGAIN THIS YEAR OR IN THE TIME FRAME OF WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE YOUR NEXT FOOTSTEP HERE.