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   Vol.66/No.9            March 4, 2002 
 
 
25 and 50 years ago
 
March 4, 1977
In a sensational new disclosure of subversion by the CIA, a front-page article in the February 18 Washington Post revealed that King Hussein of Jordan has been on the spy agency's payroll for twenty years. The first major spy scandal of the new administration comes less than a month after Carter assumed office, elected on a platform that promised to "halt" abuses by the CIA.

Within a day, the names of more than a dozen other prominent foreign political figures said to be recipients of CIA money were published in the press. These included Willy Brandt of West Germany, Luis Echeverría Alvarez of Mexico, Carlos Andrés Pérez of Venezuela, and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya.

According to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, the subsidy to Hussein was one of the most closely held and sensitive of all CIA secret operations. Hussein first received CIA money in 1957, the same year the U.S. Sixth Fleet rushed to his aid to help him survive a coup attempt.

At one point the payments reached $2 million a year, according to a CIA source cited in the February 19 New York Daily News. In 1976 the amount was reduced to $750,000. Under the code word "No Beef," the money was usually delivered to Hussein in cash by the CIA station chief in Amman.

March 4, 1952
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22--In a dramatic united outpouring here last night, 5,000 people of all races and creeds massed at the Shrine auditorium to protest the ruthless terror that has swept Florida.

In the largest demonstration in Los Angeles since World War II, the powerful labor movement, Jewish, civic, liberal and religious groups, demonstrated by their presence that the Negroes are not alone in their fight against discrimination and intimidation.

The demonstration was profoundly significant. The meeting was far away in time and distance from the events that called it into being. It was held two months after the bombing murders of the Florida NAACP leader, Harry T. Moore, and his wife, Harriet, which climaxed the floggings, cross-burnings, bombings and murders that have flared unchecked throughout Florida. And Florida is 3,000 miles from Los Angeles.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People took the initiative. It recognized that the labor movement and other minority groups would share their opposition to the bloody events occurring at the other end of the nation, if only they were informed of what is taking place.

Their appeal for support did not go unanswered.  
 
 
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