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Hmong Heroes May Have Seen CIA Nod for Coup: Allegedly Planned Overthrow of Government of Laos (JOSH GERSTEIN, September 25, 2008, NY Sun)

Evidence is mounting that at least some of the 11 men indicted in California last year for allegedly planning the overthrow of the government of Laos may have believed their plan had the tacit approval or even the outright support of the CIA.

Documents filed in federal court in Sacramento last week show that in 2004 a retired CIA employee held detailed discussions about a military intervention in Laos with one of the key defendants in the case, General Vang Pao, an aging Hmong leader who fought an American-backed secret war against the Laotian government in the 1960s and 1970s.

According to an FBI report, the former CIA operative, Michael Spak, told prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case last summer that he talked with the general for three to four hours about military tactics and provided him with written cost estimates and "talking points" for a military campaign.

Mr. Spak, who faces no charges, said the general wanted to work with the Lao government to ease the suffering of the Hmong people.

...you'd swear the Hmong used to beat us up on the playground because we seem to go out of our way to screw them over.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 25, 2008 1:08 PM