The CIAs Greatest Hits
by Mark Zepezauer
For most of his life, Manuel Noriega got along very well with the CIA. As far back as 1959, he was reporting on Panamanian leftists to the Americans; by 1966, he was on the CIA payroll. Despite-or maybe because of-Noriega's "perverse" treatment of prisoners, he was deemed worthy to be trained at the notorious School of the Americas (also known as the "School of Dictators" or the "School of Assassins" ), run by the US Army in Panama City (it's since moved to Ft. Benning, Georgia).
As early as 1972, reports of Noriega's drug trafficking irked the DEA, and the State Department complained of his dealings with other intelligence services, notably those of Israel and Cuba. Don't worry, said the CIA-he's our boy.
In 1976, Noriega paid a visit to CIA Director George Bush in Washington. Bush's successor was less comfortable with Noriega and took him off the CIA payroll, but when Bush became vice-president in 1980, Noriega went back on, with a six-figure annual salary.
In 1981, Panama's popular head of state, Omar Torrijos, was killed in a plane crash; by 1983, Noriega had consolidated his control. In 1987, a close Noriega aide corroborated what many suspected-Noriega had sabotaged Torrijos' plane. (The CIA has also been linked to the assassination, in 1955, of Panama's president, allegedly with the approval of then-Vice-President Nixon).
Nothing Noriega did seemed to upset the CIA. If he smuggled cocaine on contra supply planes ...well, he wasn't the only one. If he beheaded a political opponent who accused him of drug running...well, he was just being firm.
More:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/Panama_CIAHits.html
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Bush and Noriega: Examination of Their Ties
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG WITH JEFF GERTH, Special to the New York Times
Published: September 28, 1988
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27— Throughout the 1988 Presidential campaign and again in the televised debate Sunday, opponents of Vice President Bush have invoked the name of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, the Panamanian ruler, as shorthand for questioning Mr. Bush's judgment.
The Panamanian leader has been indicted on drug charges in the United States and accused of other illegal actions, and critics have argued that Mr. Bush's high-level posts gave him access to an unvarnished picture of Mr. Noriega. Morever, the critics have argued, Mr. Bush, who was Director of Central Intelligence in 1976, had material that should have prompted him to play a more active role in limiting this country's dealings with the Panamanian.
In the debate Sunday, Mr. Dukakis said that Mr. Bush's experience had not prevented him from participating or ''in some way being involved in the relationship between this Government and Mr. Noriega and drug trafficking in Panama.''
Mr. Bush responded that seven Administrations had dealt with Mr. Noriega, an assertion that was confirmed by Government officials. They said Mr. Noriega had first come to the attention of the United States in the 1950's, in the Eisenhower Administration, when he volunteered to inform on leftist students. And Mr. Bush said it was the Reagan Administration that moved against the Panamanian as soon as it had ''hard evidence'' of his involvement in drug trafficking.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/28/us/bush-and-noriega-examination-of-their-ties.html?pagewanted=all
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