Final_Judgment

[362] Final Judgment 459
Inman described how in 1981 when the Israelis had bombed Iraq's
nuclear reactor, he (Inman) discovered that the Israelis had been able to carry
out their act precisely because they had gained access to high-level Pentagon
satellite reconnaissance files. At that juncture, Inman, then serving as acting CIA
director during CIA director William Casey's absence from the country, gave
orders limiting Israeli access to such strategic national intelligence. In response,
according to Inman, "The [Israeli] defense minister, General Sharon, was
so furious he came to the U.S. to protest to [Secretary of Defense]
Weinberger." 931 But Weinberger—himself a critic of Israel—stood behind
Inman.
Then, after CIA Director Casey returned to the United States, William
Safire—a longtime friend and a former campaign manager for Casey when
Casey made an unsuccessful bid for Congress—complained to Casey who
countermanded Inman's decision. According to Inman, "from that point on,
if you will trace the [media] coverage [of Inman], it's been hostile." 932
THE CASEY CONNECTION(S)
An interesting note regarding William Casey: as CIA director, Casey
was a valued ally of Israel in Washington and it was under Casey's
stewardship that the CIA became entangled in the infamous Iran-Contra
affair in which Israel was a primary player.
Casey's own ties are somewhat suggestive of a long-standing
connection to not only Israeli intelligence but to other elements that have
popped up in the course of inquiries into the JFK assassination conspiracy.
According to organized crime writer Dan Moldea, Casey was the founder,
general counsel and member of the board of directors of Multiponics, an
agribusiness firm that owned some 44,000 acres of farmland in several
southern states including Louisiana. 933 One of Casey's partners in the
venture was one Carl Biehl whom Moldea describes as "an associate of
underworld figures in the Carlos Marcello crime family in New Orleans." 934
(In Chapter 10, of course, we examined the Marcello-Lansky syndicate
connection in some detail.)
What is particularly interesting, though, is that when the Multiponics
venture between Casey and the Marcello associate filed for bankruptcy in
1971, it owed some $20.6 million to various creditors including none other
than Bernard Cornfeld of Investors Overseas Services,
935 whom we
discovered in Chapter 7 was functioning as a front man for Tibor
Rosenbaum's international money laundering ventures for the Mossad. (And
we have to wonder, obviously, if Casey's IOS deal wasn't, in fact, some
sort of covert venture—even the means for a pay-off from the Mossad
disguised as a loan gone bad. It's speculation, but food for thought.)
Later, after Casey became CIA director, he appointed as his deputy
director of operations in charge of covert action and overseas clandestine
intelligence gathering (the old post held by James Angleton) an equally
interesting figure: one Max Hugel, an official with the Centronics Data
Computer Corporation.