[Red Jones]

I first heard of the Mena scandal after Clinton was elected.

[HAL9000]

When I first received a pre-publication copy of Terry Reed's book, I was intrigued and strongly inclined to believe his story. The original allegations of a CIA-cocaine conspiracy had already been circulated by leftist radicals like Alexander Cockburn and the "Arkansas Committee" in an effort to smear President Reagan and Oliver North, but Reed's portrayal of a Clinton's involvement in Arkansas was interesting.

After several years of checking it out - mostly by other people, but also myself - Reed's story was discredited. The efforts to blame the CIA for cocaine smuggling in Arkansas have only diverted attention from the true culprits - the Tyson organization. It was the perfect cover story, and shifting the blame to the CIA served Tyson, Clinton and Hutchinson well.

To give one example of why I don't believe Terry Reed - he alleged that missile nose cones were being manufactured at the POM parking meter factory. It happens that my college roommate was the night watchman at that factory during the time period of Reed's allegations. He has been a good friend of mine for over 30 years, and he has always been honest with me. When I asked him whether he noticed any nose cones around POM when he worked there, he said certainly not.

There are dozens of other allegations in Reed's book that don't check out either, and the bottom line is that Terry Reed is a liar. There are many other people who started out believing Reed, but after some time dealing with him have come to the same conclusion.

I'm not particularily a fan of the CIA but I realize that they perform a necessary function for the US in dealing with foreign countries. There are plenty of legitimate problems to criticize the CIA for - but Mena ain't one of them.