Spycraft - Melton [177]
In early 1984, the CIA, acting on a classified authorization from President Reagan, began mining selected Nicaraguan harbors in an attempt to disrupt the country’s economy. The DO tasked OTS to develop, test, and produce special mines that could not be traced back to the CIA or U.S. military suppliers. OTS engineers used thirty-inch sections of ten-inch-diameter industrial sewer pipe and C-4 explosive was tamped into the pipes with Louisville Slugger baseball bats. The mines used the military Mark-36 impact fuse system triggered by hull pressure, magnetics, or the sound of a ship passing overhead. The techs also installed a self-destruct capability set for varying times depending on the anticipated length of the operation.53
An initial plan to airdrop the mines was abandoned when the operational managers decided that parachutes floating downward failed the covertness test. As an alternative, the CIA used high-speed boats launched from a mother ship positioned in international waters to lay the mines. The ocean-going racing vessels, called “Cigarette” boats, obtained courtesy of the U.S. Customs Service, had confiscated them in drug busts.54
OTS engineers modified the boats for paramilitary operations by adding superstructure to accommodate 25mm chain guns powerful enough to penetrate tank armor.55 They also increased the boats’ speed to greater than 60 knots, assuring a rapid withdrawal after launching an attack.56
Between February and April of 1984, as many as seventy mines were planted in the harbors on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Nicaragua. 57 Several ships were hit, including Dutch, Japanese, and Russian vessels. The mines created a loud noise, caused some limited damage to the ships’ structures, and killed no one. Nevertheless, after becoming aware of the mines, a number of merchant ship pilots refused to sail into Nicaraguan ports and secret intelligence reporting indicated the Sandinista government was preparing for negotiations to stop the mining.58
However, in early April, the mining operation became public knowledge followed by a political uproar. Senator Barry Goldwater, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sent DCI Casey a blistering letter on April 9 accusing the Agency of failing to inform him of the operation.59 Goldwater’s assertion was in dispute, but the public furor in Washington could not be contained. The intense reaction to the “secret mining” led to a U.S. Senate 84-12 vote passing a resolution that condemned the CIA’s actions. While the resolution was not legally binding, the Reagan administration bowed to the will of Congress and ended the operation in Nicaragua.60
“Oh boy, there was this hue and cry about mining neutral waters and acts of war. The Navy and Congress both got their noses out of joint,” remembered Parr. “They’d [Congressional leaders] all been briefed, but some ‘conveniently forgot’ that when the crap hit the fan.”
Through its first thirty-five years, OTS officers, in response to policy directives of Republican and Democratic Presidents, supported covert military and paramilitary operations in Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and Central America. Over the next two decades many of these same officers would be called again into harm’s way in Iraq, Africa, and Afghanistan.
CHAPTER 18
Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers
The Americans were rookies. They never learned to lie as well as we.
—Oleg Kalugin, retired KGB Major General
Jean-Bedel Bokassa, leader of the