The Oklahoma City Bombing And The Politics Of Terror Part 11

As discussed earlier, McVeigh bragged to one of the girls that "something big" was going to happen. "On April 19, 1995, you'll remember me for the rest of your life," McVeigh said.[400]

Also present that night was an old, faded Ryder truck, seen by the bouncer. The truck appeared to be privately-owned, adding further proof that at least two trucks were used in the bombing. It was this truck which was seen by witnesses at Geary State Park, several days before authorities allege that McVeigh rented his. J.D. Cash speculates that McVeigh flew to Fort Smith from his motel room in Kingman on April 7 to pick up the truck and meet his comrades, then the men stopped by Tulsa on their way back to Kansas.

If they stopped by Tulsa, maybe it was to check out the Indian Territory Gun Show. It also might have been to meet Dennis Mahon. The WAR official, National Socialist Alliance (NSA) leader, and former KKK Imperial Grand Dragon traveled frequently to the reclusive compound where he kept a trailer, "to visit and fellows.h.i.+p and do some target shooting and military maneuvers," he said. Mahon was close friends with Brescia and Stra.s.smeir, both of whom he "loved like brothers."[401]

In what may seem like an even more bizarre twist, Mahon claims he was funded by the Iraqis during the Gulf War. Like Order leader Robert Mathews, who was reportedly offered funding by the Syrians, Mahon received $100 a month, for a total of $4,800, from the Iraqis to stir up opposition to the Bush/UN-imposed sanctions. Mahon, operator of the Dial-a-Racist hot line, also produced several videotapes which he distributed to public access stations, expressing his dissenting view on the U.S. policy.[402]

Mahon started receiving Iraqi funds shortly after he began holding anti-war rallies, he said. "...it's coming from the same zip code where the Iraqi Emba.s.sy is, but they don't say it's from the Iraqi Emba.s.sy."[403]

Jeff Steinberg, an investigator for the LaRouche Foundation, says such a scenario is not at all unusual. "This kind of stuff happened all the time," says Steinberg. "In the '70s, they had people who's job it was to show up at every sort of Left-wing rally."

Yet why would the Iraqis give money to an avowed white supremacist like Mahon? "Hatred of the Jews," says Stienberg. "Some low-level person at the emba.s.sy gives it out to these guys, and you'd be surprised at who they give it to - they're not that bright."[404]

In McVeigh's Pet.i.tion for Writ of Mandamus, filed one week before McVeigh's trial, Stephen Jones made note of the fact that three members of the American Agricultural Movement also met with Iraqi officials. Their purpose was to work with the Iraqis to negotiate a peaceful withdraw from Kuwait. "We wanted to get a dialogue going and stop a shooting war," said one member. "As Americans, that's what we tried to do."[405]

Yet it seemed the meeting between the farmers and the Iraqi amba.s.sador wasn't the only meeting that took place. Jones stated that Terry Nichols, who he refers to only as "Suspect I," made calls to two Kansas-based Posse Comitatus members - David Oliphant and Buddy Snead. Like Nichols, Snead is married to a Filipino woman. It is not known whether he met her through the same mail-order bride service as Nichols.[406]

A CIA source contacted by Jones indicated that two members of the Posse Comitatus (it is not known who) visited with an Iraqi diplomat in New York City around the same general time. While the author was unable to locate these two individuals to confirm the story, it is possible they met with the diplomat to express their horror over Bush's "Desert Ma.s.sacre."

It is also possible that the Iraqis viewed the meeting as an opportunity to strengthen their ties to the white supremacist movement. As will be seen, collaboration between Arab states, Mid-East terrorists, and neo-n.a.z.is is a long and well-doc.u.mented one.

Unfortunately for Dennis Mahon, the Iraqis severed their ties with him after the bombing. "...they cut me off, a month after the bombing - b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!"[407]

It is also likely that Mahon, who traveled to Germany to recruit young skinheads for the KKK, may have met up with Michael Kuhnen. A prominent neo-n.a.z.i, Kuhnen formed the Anti-Zionist League, which preached hatred of Jews, and sought to form a common bond between n.a.z.is and their Arab brethren. Kuhnen also negotiated with the Iraqis, providing them with 200 German, American and British skinheads to fight alongside Iraqi troops. There is reportedly a videotape of these storm troopers in S.S. uniforms being greeted by Iraqi Information Minister Abdel Lateef Ja.s.sem.[408]

Kuhnen's successor, a name named Hubner, has connections to Kirk Lyons, Andreas Stra.s.smeir's North Carolina-based attorney. Lyons also spoke with Hubner at meetings of the group "Deutsche Alternative." Like Mahon, Lyons traveled the German white supremacist circuit. Stra.s.smeir and Mahon were close friends, until Mahon and his brother Dennis reportedly called Germany with orders to kill Stra.s.smeir.

Another friend of Mahon's is Gary Lauck of Lincoln, Nebraska. The leader of the neo-n.a.z.i National Socialist Worker's Party, Lauck wrote a 20-page manifesto ent.i.tled, "Strategy, Propaganda and Organization," about integrating worldwide extremist groups into a tight network, and "military education with terrorist aims." Lauck has reportedly had frequent contact with Arab terrorist groups according to McVeigh's defense counsel.

Finally, there is the Libyan government, widely reported to have funded both the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and U.S. citizens, including a Chicago street gang called the El Rukns - convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorist acts throughout the U.S.

"Upon hearing that Louis Farrakhan had received $5 million from the Libyan government, the leader of the El Rukns actively sought sponsors.h.i.+p from Libya in exchange to an in-kind amount of money. Members of the El Rukns actually traveled to Libya to meet with military official of the Libyan government."[409]

Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI, or "Black Muslims"), carries forth a unique historical precedent. His predecessor, Elijah Muhammad, invited American n.a.z.i Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell to address an NOI rally on June 25, 1961 in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. There is a photo of Rockwell's n.a.z.is in full regalia (including Swastika arm bands) seated in the front row, with the Black Muslims seated directly behind them.[410]

Rockwell appeared at an NOI rally in Chicago one year later, where he announced, "Elijah Muhammad is to the so-called Negro what Adolph Hitler was to the German people...."

In September of 1985, the NOI invited Tom Metzger, former Grand Dragon of the KKK and current leader of WAR to its forum in Ingelwood, California, and accepted a small financial contribution from the notorious white supremacist. Metzger declared that his alliance with the NOI was a "logical one: They want their territory and that's exactly what we want for them and for ourselves. They speak against the Jews and the oppressors in Was.h.i.+ngton."[411]

It therefore comes as no surprise that Libya funded the NOI to the tune of $5 million dollars. The motive behind Arab funding of Western racist and dissident groups was - and is - to forment revolution and destabilize the "Great Satan." Just as Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi serves as the inspiration behind many militant Black Muslims, so the IRA served as the spiritual inspiration behind the Aryan Republican Army, the group founded by Richard Guthrie and Peter Langan, which included Michael Brescia.

As Stephen Jones eloquently states, "These people are targeted because their ideological compa.s.s is preset against the Federal Government.... Although the white supremacist community are diametrically opposed to that of Black Muslims, it is a well known fact that both share a common hatred for the Federal Government."

When the ARA was eventually disbanded, the FBI discovered an IRA terrorist manual called the "Green Book," literature on Ireland, Gaelic language tapes, Semtex explosives, a shoulder-fired rocket launcher, and 11 pipe bombs.[412] Semtex is normally used by Mid-East terrorists, usually being supplied by Russia, China and North Korea.

It seems the connection goes deeper. Dennis Mahon claims he actually provided advice to the IRA, encouraging them to murder "top British officers and police officials" but avoid killing civilians. That statement ties-in to others Mahon has made, including the idea of blowing up the Oklahoma Federal Building at night, when no one was around, and other methods which "are legitimate to save your nation."

It seems the IRA may have returned the favor. According to Carol Howe, the outlawed Irish resistance group supplied the detonator used in the Oklahoma City bombing. The author is not quite sure why the bombers would need to go to the IRA for a detonator, or exactly how such a connection would be arranged, but it seems rather dubious. Sinn Fein (the political arm of the IRA) President Gerry Adams called the claim "preposterous rubbish."[413]

It may seem even more preposterous in light of the fact that Adams had won the political favoritism of President Clinton, having been the guest of honor at a recent White House reception.

Yet Howe alleged that Andreas Stra.s.smeir was the key link between the ARA and the IRA. Interestingly, the Dublin Sunday Times reported on July 13, 1997 that Stra.s.smeir has indeed a.s.sociated with Sinn Fein: Stra.s.smeir moved to Dublin last February and is living in an apartment in the city owned by George Maybury, general secretary of the a.s.sociation of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. He has been working on construction sites and has attended Sinn Fein meetings and social events.[414]

Furthermore, federal informant Cary Gagan, who met with Jones after the bombing, told the author he met with an IRA bomb expert while in Mexico City, who instructed him on the use of timers. Gagan claims to have been deeply immersed in the Middle Eastern cell involved in the bombing. (See Chapter 5) When FOX News reporter Rita Cosby asked Robert Millar if there was any Middle Eastern connection to Elohim City, he answered, "No, not that I can even dream of." Stra.s.smeir likewise denied any Middle Eastern connection to the bombing in an interview with the author.[415] As of this writing, former ABC 20/20 investigator Roger Charles was checking a lead that Middle Eastern individuals were indeed trained at Elohim City. It has not yet been confirmed.

Just what Andreas Stra.s.smeir was doing in the U.S. is not altogether clear. In a five-part interview in the Telegraph, Stra.s.smeir said that he came to the U.S. in 1989 to work on a "special a.s.signment" for the Justice Department. "I discussed the job when I was in Was.h.i.+ngton. I was hoping to work for the operations section of the DEA," he explained. "It never worked out."

The former German intelligence officer was recommended for these positions by Vincent Petruskie, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. Stra.s.smeir told attorney Mike Johnston, who flew to Berlin to interview him, that Petruskie is "a former CIA guy who my father had known since he (Petruskie) was stationed in Berlin during the Cold War."

In an interview with New American editor William Jasper, Petruski denied any CIA connections: As for the CIA connection, "That's totally wrong," insisted Petruskie. "I'm a retired Air Force officer, that's all." According to Petruskie, he was a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (OSI), and retired as a colonel after serving from 1954 to 1975. Was he a friend of Andreas' father? "I've never met his father; we've only spoken over the phone."[416]

How had Petruskie come to know the younger Stra.s.smeir? Andreas arrived in the late 1980s with some other German lads for the reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. The German visitors had authentic period uniforms, rifles, bayonets, etc. and an amazingly detailed knowledge of the battle. But they apparently had not done their homework concerning economic realities of contemporary America and so were short of cash for living accommodations and had no credit cards with which to rent a vehicle. That is when a mutual friend put them in touch with Petruskie, who put them up for a while at his home.

Stra.s.smeir was "a mixed-up kid, a very immature 34-year-old when he came over here," recalled Petruskie. "Andy wanted to work for the U.S. government - DEA, Justice - undercover. [He] thought his background with military and German government would help. I explained he'd need a green card, education, and set him down with some people in Was.h.i.+ngton who explained that it wasn't that simple. I think he went down to South Carolina and then to Texas to go to school."[417]

In an interview with the Oklahoma Gazette, Petruski once again attempted to distance himself from Stra.s.smeir. "This kid is what we would call a putz," he said.

An interesting description for a former intelligence officer and lieutenant in the elite Panzer Grenadiers.[418]

Petruski also claims that Stra.s.smeir's job with the DEA "fell through." Is one seriously supposed to accept the premise that a man with Stra.s.smeir's background, influence, and connections came to the U.S. on the off-chance of finding a job with the DEA? That he traveled all this way to run around playing toy soldier for a couple days? And that Petruski just "happened" to meet him at a battle reenactment at Gettysburg?

More likely, Gettysburg was a necessary cover-story to infiltrate Stra.s.smeir into the country. Appearing to be a military enthusiast makes it easier to infiltrate the extreme-Right. And Petruski's tale about his DEA job falling through is a "limited hang-out," just enough information revealed to satisfy nosy journalists, with enough disinformation mixed in to steer them away from "unapproved" areas. And while Petruski said that Stra.s.smeir never got a job with the DEA, he never said he didn't get a job with the ATF, FBI, or CIA.[419]

With his cover-story firmly in place, Stra.s.smeir then "drifted" into the far-Right circles of the lunatic fringe, stopping long enough to pick an ordinary job as a computer salesman to further enhance his image as an innocent drifter.

"Andy the German" was now ready to infiltrate the neo-n.a.z.i cliques of the far-Right. With his German background and accent, it was easy to convince white supremacists of his legitimacy. In 1991 he settled in Elohim City, where he established himself as Chief of Security and weapons training.

According to a report from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), Stra.s.smeir trained platoon-sized groups consisting of 30 to 40 individuals from throughout the U.S. every three months at the reclusive compound. According to a law enforcement source interviewed by the McCurtain Gazette, they consisted primarily of members from the Aryan Nations, and included Timothy McVeigh.[420] As the Gazette reported: "Stra.s.smeir went out and replaced all our deer rifles with a.s.sault weapons," said [resident Zara] Patterson. "Next, he wanted us to start doing illegal stuff... a lot of illegal stuff. I kept telling Andy that we were defensive here, and we didn't want any problems from the law. During the mid-'80s, we had a standoff with the feds. I told him to keep us out of trouble."[421]

Was Stra.s.smeir attempting to infiltrate Elohim City? "If the agent penetrates the group," Stra.s.smeir said in an interview with the author, "the first thing they do is try to sell them weapons." When asked if that wasn't exactly what he did, he replied, "I just advised them about weapons, as an experienced soldier. That's what I did for years and years. I was an infantry man - I just gave advice. But, I always obeyed the law." He then admitted that he "didn't know the law. I'd have to consult my lawyer."

According to information obtained by the Telegraph, Stra.s.smeir infiltrated the Texas Light Infantry militia between 1988 and 1989, and set up some illegal gun purchases. They soon suspected that Stra.s.smeir was a ATF informant. When some members followed him to a federal building one night, they observed him entering it using the building's combination key-pad.[422]

ATF agent Angela Finley-Graham, the agent who supervised ATF informant Carol Howe, had aerial surveillance photos of Stra.s.smeir with an a.s.sault weapon, and photos of concrete bunkers at Elohim City. In fact, in 1992, some 960 yards of concrete were transported to the compound, presumably for bunkers and weapons storage facilities.[423]

Law enforcement officials also received reports that the compound was believed to be generating income through the sale of illegal drugs. A source familiar with the community told me that Bruce Millar, Robert Millar's son, was supposedly "strung out" on Methamphetimines. Speed is a highly popular drug among the neo-n.a.z.i crowd, and was in fact invented by the n.a.z.is during WWII to bolster the fighting ability of their front-line troops.

Several weeks before the bombing, in mid-February, the Tulsa office of the ATF pa.s.sed on information to the Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Ken Stafford, who put out a BOLO (Be On The Lookout For) on Stra.s.smeir: ANDREAS STRa.s.sMEIR, W/M, 5/17/59, heavy German accent. Black Hair/ Blue Eyes. 1" scar on chin, wears cammo fatigues. Possible Tennessee driver's license. Came to USA in 5/91, pa.s.sport was good until 8/91. He never left the country. INS says he does not have an extension of his VISA. Possibly in blue Chevy, late model, tag BXH 346 (not on file), usually has someone driving him. Carries a .45 auto pistol at all times. He is an illegal alien, ATF wants to be notified if he is stopped and has the gun on him. They will file the charges. Contact: Agent Angela Finley, ATF. Office: 918-581-7731 (or) Pager: 918-672-2755.

What's odd is that the BOLO was for an INS violation, not exactly the jurisdiction of the ATF. Moreover, according to a Tulsa police intelligence source, the INS was told not to make any effort to focus on visa violations due to manpower shortages.

The McCurtain Gazette, which uncovered the BOLO, thinks it was put out by the ATF to provide cover for Stra.s.smeir - an aid for his extraction from Elohim City. The OHP subsequently typed up the BOLO, which was eventually "leaked" to various sources, including the residents of the rural community. According to Glenn Wilburn, the BOLO was circulated with the stipulation that Stra.s.smeir not be arrested.[424]

Curiously, when Finley-Graham attempted to get a warrant for Stra.s.smeir's arrest, she was stonewalled by the INS. A Tulsa police intelligence source told me that Finley "was out to get the whole place." This fact was confirmed by information obtained by McVeigh's defense counsel during discovery.[425]

This is also interesting in light of the fact that the INS and ATF had originally planned a joint raid on the compound - a plan which suddenly came to a halt in late February of '95. As one INS memo stated: Investigation pending - no arrest or warrant as of yet - Northeastern Oklahoma - request partic.i.p.ation. Raid - next month.[426]

It seems the ATF and INS weren't the only ones interested in Elohim City. As a report of Finley-Graham's dated February 28 states: On 22 February 1995, this agent met with OHP Trooper Ken Stafford to exchange certain information regarding this investigation. Trooper Stafford indicated that the FBI also had an ongoing investigation regarding Elohim City. On this same date, RAC David Roberts met with the United States Attorney for the Northern Judicial District of Oklahoma, Steve Lewis, to discuss this investigation.

On February 23, 1995 RAC David Roberts was contacted by FBI supervisor, Marty Webber, who stated that FBI Special Agent in Charge, Bob Ricks, would be available during the week of February 27 through March 03, 1995 to meet with ATF Special Agent in Charge, Lester Martz. RAC Roberts then contacted Dallas Division to request SAC Martz meet with SAC Ricks to discuss the investigation of Elohim City.[427]

As an interesting historical precedent, [former] FBI agent James Rodgers had developed a ma.s.sive FBI raid on Elohim City in 1988, but it was called off for reasons that have never been made clear.

One month before the bombing Howe got "fed up" with Elohim City and the ATF's att.i.tude towards the investigation. "Angie hadn't made any arrests either," Howe told the Gazette, "and that was frustrating, so I quit going out there... until after the building got blown up!"[428][429]

Three days after the bombing, the ATF's Was.h.i.+ngton headquarters pulled the Tulsa office off the case, and the FBI requested them to turn over all their files on Elohim City.

The question is, just who was Stra.s.smeir reporting to? The CIA? The Tulsa ATF office, which has jurisdiction over Elohim City, may not have been informed if Stra.s.smeir were reporting to a higher authority, a different agency, or was a confidential informant (CI) on a national level.

Stra.s.smeir's cover-story that his Justice Department job "never worked out" also smacks of McVeigh's story that his try-out for the Special Forces didn't work out due to a "blister." Perhaps Stra.s.smeir - a seven-year German Army veteran - failed his indoctrination due to a "nose-bleed."

In spite of his vehement denials, Stra.s.smeir practically admitted to the Telegraph that he was an undercover agent. "The Right-wing in the U.S. is incredibly easy to penetrate if you know how to talk to them," he told the Telegraph. "Of course it's easier for a foreigner with an accent; n.o.body would ever suspect a German of working for the Federal Government."

This certainly appears to be no ordinary slip of the tongue. How would Stra.s.smeir know the extreme-Right is "incredibly easy to penetrate" unless he had penetrated them? His statement that 'n.o.body would ever suspect a German' is practically an admission that he was doing so.

On February 28, 1992 Stra.s.smeir was arrested and his car impounded by the OHP for driving without a license. When the police opened his briefcase, they found a number of doc.u.ments, including some in German. There were statements from foreign bank accounts, false ident.i.ty papers, and a copy of The Terrorist Handbook.

According to the tow-truck driver, Kenny Pence, Stra.s.smeir soon brought heavy pressure to bear. "Boy, we caught h.e.l.l over that one," he said. "The phone calls came in from the State Department, the Governor's office, and someone called and said he had diplomatic immunity...."[430]

According to Stra.s.smeir, the entirety of the story amounts to a pair of cops who were out to hara.s.s him and his friend Peter Ward (recall that Howe identified Ward as John Doe #1). Interestingly, federal prosecutors filed a motion requesting that Judge Matsch block efforts by McVeigh's defense team who was seeking government files on Stra.s.smeir's activities. It was eventually revealed to Jones through discovery that Stra.s.smeir held a tourist Visa with the designation "A O". Neither Jones nor Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who reported extensively on Stra.s.smeir, could learn what the designation meant. The INS denied any knowledge of its meaning. Curiously, the entries, which appeared on all of Stra.s.smeir's INS files, suddenly vanished in March of 1996. Somebody had earased them.[431]

All told, these are strange circ.u.mstances for a former German intelligence officer - the politically well-connected son to a top aide in Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government. It seems unlikely that this ordinary "computer salesman" and "neo-n.a.z.i" with diplomatic immunity, backed up by the State Department and the Justice Department, brought federal pressure to bear in order to have a minor traffic violation cleared.

More likely, Stra.s.smeir was in danger of having his cover blown by unsuspecting law enforcement agents. The situation had to be corrected, and quickly.

After the bombing, with the increasing attention of investigators, and his cover almost blown, Stra.s.smeir fled to Germany, taking a circuitous route through Mexico and Paris - a route commonly used by spies. Stra.s.smeir's attorney, Kirk Lyons, detailed his client's escape, stating that it was aided by Germany's vaunted counter-terrorism unit, GSG-9, the equivalent of our Delta Force. Curious that GSG-9 would a.s.sist in Stra.s.smeir's retreat. Were they helping one of their own?[432]

To help maintain his cover, the Justice Department questioned Stra.s.smeir in North Carolina at his attorneys office, then called him in Berlin to ask about his alleged ties to McVeigh. "The FBI asked where I was on the day of the bombing," he told the Telegraph.. "They wanted to help debunk the rumors spread about me."[433]

Why the FBI would be in the business of debunking rumors, unless it is about them, is unclear. In this case, since any ties between Stra.s.smeir and the Justice Department would lead directly back to the them, it seems that is exactly what they are trying to do.[434]*

If Stra.s.smeir had any ties to McVeigh, or to McVeigh's companions, or to those who had planned the 1983 bombing of the Murrah Building, the Justice Department should have served him with a grand jury subpoena or a warrant. Yet all the FBI did was call Stra.s.smeir on the phone to "debunk the rumors" spread about him.

As one law enforcement officer told the McCurtain Gazette, "We found the axle from the truck that led to Junction City and McVeigh. Our Highway Patrolman arrested McVeigh. And that arrest led to Terry Nichols and Mike Fortier... Since then, nothing in this investigation has accomplished anything. But we're told by the Bureau that Stra.s.smeir and his buddies are not important. Bull-s.h.i.+t!"[435]

The Gazette also uncovered an intelligence bulletin issued by the Diplomatic Security Division, Counter Terrorism Unit, of the Department of State on March 18, 1996 concerning Stra.s.smeir's alleged criminal activities in the U.S.

The cable states that Stra.s.smeir overstayed his visa in 1991 and was known to have been the militia training officer for a white separatist group called WAR.

Quoting the cable, "He (Stra.s.smeir) has been the subject of several investigations for purchasing weapons, and making the weapons fire on full automatic. Stra.s.smeir should not be allowed to return to the U.S."

Yet this cable makes it appear as though the FBI didn't know anything about Stra.s.smeir - who was apparently under the protection of the State Department. Was this another cover ploy to protect their informant, or was Stra.s.smeir working for the CIA, who wasn't communicating with the FBI and ATF?

Interestingly, the FBI would claim they weren't aware of Carol Howe's status as an informant either. During her July, 1997 trial (the result of trumped up charges by so-called the Justice Department), FBI agent Pete Rickel told the jury that he spoke to Howe in the Spring of 1996, when she requested protection, complaining that her cover had been blown. "We were interested to see if there might be any further information we could gather about activities involving people at Elohim City who may have been connected with the bombing," said Rickel. Yet the agent insisted he had no idea of who Howe really was when the FBI raided her home in December of '96.[436]

ATF Agent Angela Finley-Graham likewise claimed she was unaware that an FBI raid was planned on Howe's home. Yet as the McCurtain Gazette reported, this premise was destroyed when FBI Special Agent Chris Peters took the stand: After explaining his role in the raid on the Howe residence, Peters was asked by defense attorney Clark Brewster during cross-examination who he was married to.

"Angela [Finley] Graham," Peters replied.[437]

Stra.s.smeir's own cover would finally be blown when the Gazette reported on July 14, 1996, that "a highly-placed source at the FBI has confirmed that Andreas Carl Stra.s.smeir was a paid government informant sent by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to infiltrate Elohim City...."[438]

For his part, Stra.s.smeir claims he was at work repairing a fence near Elohim City on April 19. Yet Stra.s.smeir hasn't exactly held tight to his story. According to Glenn Wilburn, who has intensively investigated the connection, Stra.s.smeir claimed he stopped working when it started to rain, then went home and watched the bombing on TV. When Wilburn checked the weather reports for the area that day, he found that it hadn't begun to rain until much later. Stra.s.smeir then claimed the farmer he was working for was George Eaton, a friend of the murdered Mueller family. Later, according to Wilburn, Stra.s.smeir stated that he couldn't recall exactly what he was doing until he talked to his attorney, Kirk Lyons.

"Andy has been damaged," exclaimed Lyons, angrily refuting the allegations against his client. "Anybody who puts out the lie that he was linked to the Oklahoma bombing in any way is going to pay for it."[439]

Lyons claims his client had been dragged into the conspiracy by McVeigh's defense team - a ploy, he said, to muddy the waters by painting a vast conspiracy involving neo-n.a.z.is in Europe and terrorists in the Mideast. "I call it the s.p.a.ce Alien Elvis Presley theory, and it's been fueled by nut cases and conspiracy theorists."

Obviously, Lyons himself is no nut case, merely a hardcore racist and neo-n.a.z.i. The simple "country lawyer" married the sister of a prominent member of The Order. The ceremony was performed by Aryan Nations "pastor" Richard Butler at the group's compound in Hayden Lake.

At the 1988 Aryan Nations World Congress, Lyons suggested forming an ACLU of sorts for the extreme-Right, and attended the annual event in Hayden Lake as Louis Beam's representative. Not that Lyons was desperate for clients. He happily defended the Confederate Hammer Skinheads of Dallas, the National Socialist Skinheads of Houston, the White Vikings of Chicago, and WAR leader Tom Metzger, who was accused of inciting the murder of a black student from Ethiopia. Lyons also defended Holocaust revisionist Ernst Zundel, who claimed that the n.a.z.i genocide was a Jewish invention, and other so-called "prisoners of conscience."[440]

Lyons was also the guest of honor at the British Nationalist Party in London, where he applauded the Party's stance on white power, and like William Pierce, predicted a future race war. The erudite, ever-socially conscious attorney was also quick to defend Louis Beam, the Texas Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Beam fled to Mexico after being indicted for conspiracy to overthrow the government. As discussed, Beam was charged with hara.s.sing Vietnamese fishermen along the coast of Texas.[441]

Interestingly, when Terry Reed was in Guadalajara on behalf of the CIA, working with Oliver North's "Enterprise," Beam mysteriously showed up as his neighbor. With the help of Lyons, Beam was acquitted after his wife shot and killed a Mexican Federale.

Lyons has likewise vehemently defended Stra.s.smeir's role in the bombing, and claims he is not a government agent. Interestingly, Lyons arranged Stra.s.smeir's stays in Knoxville, Houston, Elohim City, and even Lyon's own home in North Carolina.

One thing that can be deduced from all this is that Stra.s.smeir and Lyons aren't very good liars.

According to Stephen Jones, Dennis Mahon made statements to the effect of, "If a person wanted to know about the bombing, then they should talk with Andy Stra.s.smeir because he knows everything."

For his part, Stra.s.smeir claims he's not a government agent. In his Telegraph interview, he states, "I've never worked for any U.S. government agency, and I've not been involved in any intelligence operation since my discharge from the German army in 1988. This family (the Wilburns) is on a fis.h.i.+ng expedition."

Yet in the very same article, Stra.s.smeir admits that the bombing was the result of a government sting gone bad - a sting involving agents of the ATF. Considering the revealing nature of Stra.s.smeir's information, the article, ent.i.tled "Did Agents Bungle U.S. Terror Bomb?" might just as well have been called "Thank You Andy." As Stra.s.smeir states: "The ATF had an informant inside this operation. They had advance warning and they bungled it," he said. "What they should have done is make an arrest while the bomb was still being made instead of waiting till the last moment for a publicity stunt."

Asked if he thought the alleged informant would ever speak out, he replied with pa.s.sion: "How can he? What happens if it was a sting operation from the very beginning? What happens if it comes out that the plant was a provocateur? What if he talked and manipulated the others into it? What then? The country couldn't handle it. The relatives of the victims are going to go crazy, and he's going to be held responsible for the murder of 168 people. Of course the informant can't come forward. He's scared s.h.i.+tless right now." Before and after this outburst he kept repeating that he was not making veiled references to himself.[442]

When I interviewed Stra.s.smeir, he insisted that he had been quoted out of context. That statement, he claimed, was made to him by a former ATF agent. "He made some hints that the ATF probably knew that this was coming down," said Stra.s.smeir. The source, he said, was "pretty reliable," although he was quick to qualify it by stating that he wasn't certain of the information.[443]

Referring to the sting, he said, "What kind of gives me a bad taste, is that all the ATF agents were apparently not in the office during the blast, all of them." As to just what the sting involved, Stra.s.smeir claimed he didn't know. But regarding John Doe 2, he said, "For some reason they don't look for this guy anymore. That, for some reason, I think is very strange."[444]

If Stra.s.smeir was involved in a sting operation, it may have been to stop the flow of n.a.z.i propaganda emanating from the U.S. Such influences have made their presence felt in an unsettling way in Germany in recent years. It is likely that the FBI requested the a.s.sistance of the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), the German FBI, and the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the German CIA, to help gather intelligence on such groups as Michael Kuhnen's Anti-Zionist League, and their connections to both Arabs and American neo-n.a.z.is.

FBI Director Louis Freeh had announced a joint U.S.-German intelligence gathering operation on neo-n.a.z.i groups as far back as 1993. Freeh pledged to work alongside German law-enforcement to stem the spread of n.a.z.ism emanating from the United States.

On April 20, 1995, the American National Socialist Worker's Party announced that the Secret Service and ATF had been investigating Gary Lauck, leader of the domestic NSDAP/AO. Lauck, who publishes the neo-n.a.z.i newsletter N.S. Kampruf, had been a major influence in Germany and was an object of concern among German authorities (German sedition laws forbid the publication of n.a.z.i literature).[445]

It seems that certain information provided by Stra.s.smeir resulted in Lauck's arrest. With Stra.s.smeir's help, the "Farm Belt Fuhrer" was arrested in Copenhagen and extradited to Hamburg. The arrest coincided with major raids by German police of NSDAP/AO cells all over Germany.

Lauck wasn't the only one beckoning young Germans to join the white supremacist movement. Research conducted by McVeigh's defense team indicates that Dennis Mahon traveled to Germany to recruit individuals into the Ku Klux Klan. A video reportedly shows Mahon in Germany in full KKK regalia, lighting a cross. Mahon himself joked that if he was fined the usual 1,000 Deutsche Marks for every time he gave the n.a.z.i salute, he would owe 10,000,000 Marks.[446]

Only a few weeks before the Oklahoma City bombing, Mahon received a phone call from Lauck. "Yeah, I got a call from Lauck sometime before the bombing... He told me that he was making another trip to Europe. I told him he was too hot, and he shouldn't go." Shaking his head, Mahon says now, "He should have listened."

Did the authorities know Lauck was coming? "Well, I did tell Stra.s.smeir about the trip," said Mahon. (Or did Mahon tell the government himself?) With Lauck's European arrest, the NSDAP noted, "U.S. officials have been doing extensive surveillance of Lauck's contemporaries in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and north Texas. These surveillance activities were being coordinated out of the OKC offices, according to our sources."

Interestingly, the newsletter added that "the OKC office of the ATF had plans to serve search warrants 'by the beginning of Summer' on several well-known white supremacists."

It seems the warrants were never issued.[447]