US says Manning leak hurt human rights work

[Zorra]

52. Nah...there's actually a bit more to it all than just that. Acting Assistant Secretary Michael Kozak

has had some fascinating adventures since he began his career way back in the Nixon Administration.

North Trial Document Called Faulty

WASHINGTON, April 25— A senior State Department official said today that a document introduced at the trial of Oliver L. North had incorrectly accused the Reagan Administration of trading increased American aid to Honduras for that country's support of the Nicaraguan rebels.

The official, Michael G. Kozak, told Congress that the State Department had killed a 1985 White House plan under which a ''discreet'' emissary was to be sent to Honduras to explain the conditions surrounding the American aid.

The plan, which was approved by President Reagan, was disclosed in a 42-page stipulation of facts that lawyers for the prosecution and the defense had agreed on as a substitute for classified Government documents that could not be made public. Mr. North is on trial for 12 criminal counts in connection with aiding the Nicaraguan contras in a period in which it was forbidden by Congress. Testimony Before House Panel
snip---
Mr. Kozak's testimony came before a House appropriations subcommittee. In an interview, Mr. Kozak said he based his statement about the Honduras plan on his review of the classified documents in the case. ''I don't know who killed it, whether it was Secretary of State Shultz or who, but what happened is it didn't get done,'' he said, referring to the former head of the State Department, George P. Shultz

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/26/us/north-trial-document-called-faulty.html

State Dept. Aide Accused of Misleading Panel

WASHINGTON, May 24— The chairman of an influential House subcommittee today accused a State Department official of misleading the panel on whether the Reagan Administration made a secret deal with Honduras in 1985 to aid the Nicaraguan rebels.

The letter by Representative David R. Obey, Democrat of Wisconsin, to Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d cast doubt on remarks made last month by Michael G. Kozak, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Central America.

Mr. Kozak assured committee members that a reading of classified documents of the period showed that no foreign aid money had been used by the Reagan Administration to entice Honduras's support for the rebels, or contras.

After Mr. Obey made the letter public late this afternoon, telephone calls to Mr. Kozak's office and home were unanswered.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/25/us/state-dept-aide-accused-of-misleading-panel.html

State Dept. Backs Off From View That Contra Aid Plan Was Killed

WASHINGTON, June 3— A State Department official has backed away from his testimony that the Reagan Administration scrapped a 1985 plan to link aid to Honduras to that country's help for the contras, a Congressman says.
snip---
Mr. Kozak testified on April 25 before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, which is headed by Mr. Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, that the ''plan was disapproved at the objection of the State Department on the grounds that conditionality,'' that is, the link between American assistance and Honduran support for the contras, ''was contrary to U.S. policy.''
snip---
Mr. Obey said he believed ''there's absolutely no question that it was carried out,'' adding, ''The documents laid out the plan. The additional assistance we know did arrive.''

Mr. Kozak did not respond to messages left at his home telephone Friday night and this afternoon.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/04/us/state-dept-backs-off-from-view-that-contra-aid-plan-was-killed.html

I wonder if he ever had the chance to blow the whistle on Reagan.


This one is kind of fun ~

PANAMA, May 26— Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega accused the Reagan Administration today of inventing a crisis for colonial ends and making him a ''humiliating proposal'' he could not accept while maintaining ''the dignity and sovereignty of Panama.'
snip--
General Noriega said his real problems began when he refused requests from American officials ''at the height of Iran-contra to participate in aggression against Nicaragua.'' 'Dignity of Panama'
snip---
He described his weakened political opposition here as upper-class servants of the United States whose souls had been bought.

A month of negotiations between the general's representatives and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Michael G. Kozak, broke down Wednesday after renewed reports of an impending agreement circulated through Washington.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/27/world/noriega-charges-us-invented-crisis.html

Yikes!

Washington Talk; Anger Unites Dodd and Helms, the Oddest Couple

Mr. Helms is unhappy that the Central Intelligence Agency, apparently at the prodding of the State Department, funneled $600,000 in support of exiled contras who backed the candidacy of Mrs. Chamorro over conservative Nicaraguans more to the Senator's liking. Mr. Dodd is upset because he and Administration officials had made a deal to bury the hatchet and work together on Central America, as long as the Bush Administration ended covert financing for the contras that was not specifically authorized by Congress.

The two Senators are demanding to know what Michael G. Kozak and Joseph G. Sullivan, who have been designated for the El Salvador and Nicaragua embassies respectively, knew about the covert program when they served in senior positions in the State Department's Latin America Bureau.

Mr. Helms is not talking to reporters while he recuperates from heart trouble, but one aide said, "It's an issue of breaking the law."

The State Department is furious, noting that a report by the department's inspector general established that neither nominee broke any laws. (The Senators' aides call the report a whitewash.)

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/28/us/washington-talk-anger-unites-dodd-and-helms-the-oddest-couple.html

Kozak Heading for El Salvador As Part of Diplomatic Shuffle
AP , Associated Press
Apr. 29, 1991 1:57 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Michael Kozak, a top aide in the State Department's Latin America bureau, is expected to be named U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, according to administration sources.

Kozak, a deputy assistant secretary, would replace Ambassador William Walker, who has served in El Salvador for three years.

http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1991/Kozak-Heading-for-El-Salvador-As-Part-of-Diplomatic-Shuffle/id-4f765c1652471ae0f293b756cb77495c

This could not have been fun at all.

Shadow Of Nicaraguan Election -- Ambassadorships Held Up As Senators Question Reports Of CIA Campaign Funding

WASHINGTON - Two ambassadorial appointments in Central America have been blocked by allegations that the nominees helped secretly funnel U.S. money to Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro's winning campaign three years ago.

The nominations of career foreign-service officers Joe Sullivan to Nicaragua and Michael Kozak to El Salvador have languished for months as two prominent senators have demanded information about a covert State Department program launched in 1989.

According to the allegations, Sullivan, Kozak and other ranking diplomats secretly paid about $530,000 in CIA money to former contras and other Nicaraguan exiles in Miami to return to their homeland and campaign for Chamorro and opposition groups.
snip---
Neither Kozak, a top Latin policy adviser, nor Sullivan, a specialist on Central America, returned phone calls requesting comment Thursday.

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920628&slug=1499425

36+ Members of Congress to Introduce Anti-SOA Legislation

On August 2, 2013, at least 36 Members of Congress will jointly introduce legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, that would suspend operations at the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC), and mandate investigations into the connection between U.S. foreign military training and human rights abuses in Latin America! The original co-sponsors of the Latin America Military Training Review Act have responded to the demands of their constituents, who don't want their tax dollars to be wasted on the training of repressive militaries at the SOA/WHINSEC.

Has your Representative not signed on yet? We write at least 36 because there will be more legislators that come on board before August 2. Your Representative needs to hear from you in order for them to be added to the list of original cosponsors. Is your Representative one of the original 36? If so, please take a moment to thank them for standing up to the Pentagon and for human rights. Either way, PLEASE CLICK HERE to send your Representative an email.

Already emailed? Please take a moment to call your Rep right now!

Here are our 35 (so far) Congressional Champions, with Reps. Jim McGovern and John Lewis leading the charge. Click on the pictures to send your representative a thank you message through your Twitter account!

Don't y'all forget to email or call your congress critters!