- LKC |
. . . Some warning of the depths of which the Octopus would sink, however, came Coleman's way in December, 1991. In the October/November issue of Unclassified, the bimonthly newspaper of the Association of National Security Alumni, its editor, David MacMichael, had run a piece about the spreading influence of the Defence Department over the US intelligence community, citing Coleman's experiences with the DIA.
This attracted the attention of Ron Martz, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who, with Lloyd Burchette, had been placed in Coleman's charge by Micheal Hurley when they visited Cyprus in 1988 as guests of the DEA. Clearly not a subscriber to Unclassified's credo that "covert actions are counter-productive and damaging to the national interest of the United States, corruptive of civil liberties, and a free press," Martz addressed MacMichael as follows:
Dear David,
This letter is not for publication but please use the information in it as you see fit.
How Martz would have reacted if MacMichael had prefaced a letter to him in those terms is a matter for speculation, but he went on to claim that Coleman had contacted his primary assistant (Burchette ) in 1987 to offer his services for a relatively small amount of money as a contact fixer in Cyprus during a visit they planned there to look into Lebanese drug trafficking.
As Les was, "living in Cyprus at the time," and, "passed himself off as a CI for DEA," Martz agreed to his proposition, but arriving in Cyprus found that, "Les Coleman was little more than a freelance journalist hustling money whenever and from whomever he could, including me. He had no connection with BKA [German FBI] and one minor connection with DEA as an unofficial consultant . . . on non-secure communications."
Les has tried to put himself in them middle of several international events, most noticeably the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie. Les, who has had a long running feud with DEA in Cyprus, managed to convince ABC News and Pierre Salinger that DEA in Cyprus was responsible for the Pan Am 103 bombing because it was working a sting operation and allowed certain luggage to go on the plane unchecked. ABC went with the story, apparently largely on Les's information, but that story has since been thoroughly discredited.
[Martz apparently did not know that it was NBC News who broke the DEA connection story, not ABC nor Pierre Salinger, nor Les Coleman.]
I later checked out Les to see if he had any DIA connections as he claimed and found it had never heard of him or Collin Knox. This information comes from a high ranking officer still on active duty who has served in a number of DIA positions in more than twenty-five years in the military, a man I trust implicitly and who gave me the information as an off-the-record favor . . .
The story he gave you concerning being in exile because of a DIA-DEA feud is a lot of crap. They may be feuding but it's certainly not over Les Coleman. Les is in Sweden because the FBI was after him for filing a false passport application and impersonating a Federal Agent. If you are interested in more information about Les, I suggest you call Mike Hurley at DEA Seattle (206-553- 5443) . . .
From my experience with him he very seldom, if ever, is what he claims to be.
Sincerely,
Ron Martz
Taking Martz at his word, MacMichael did not publish the letter, and all he saw fit to do with it was pass it along to Coleman in Sweden.
Against his better judgment, although it turned out to be a good practice for dealing with what was to come, Coleman took the time to prepare a point-by-point reply for MacMichael to forward to Martz. Though it seemed unlikely that Martz had gone to the trouble of writing a two page, single spaced letter simply out of a public spirited desire to protect a fellow journalist, he had clearly not been very well briefed.
The Department of Defence's own declaration, for instance, had established Coleman's DIA connection. Martz's high ranking source who told him the DIA had never heard of Coleman should perhaps have checked first with Colonel Bathen (DIA Office of General Consul, confirmed in a sworn declaration that Lester Coleman had been affiliated with Department of Defense classified intelligence activities.)
But the pattern of attack was clear, and soon to be repeated. The demonic and systematic reduction of his character to that of a minor con man on the fringe of events, then accusations Coleman responded.
No wonder Martz's letter was not for publication. Like a few other reporters I know who make a living of chasing dope and spook stories around the world in their Quiche stained safari suits, Martz is no Dope ! If he wants a good scoop now and then, he knows he better play ball with the Feds.
