World Anti-Communist League

Acronym/Code: WACL

Updated: 10/90

Categories: Political, Paramilitary

Background:
The World Anti-Communist League was founded in 1966 in Taipei, Taiwan. WACL was
conceived as an expansion of the Asian People's Anti-Communist League, a regional
alliance against communism formed at the request of Chiang Kai-shek at the end of the
Korean War. (1,9,30,35) The Asian People's Anticommunist League (APACL) had roots
in the China Lobby, a group dedicated to stopping official international recognition of
the Chinese Communist government. The China Lobby had U.S. government
connections, and allegedly Ray Cline of the CIA assisted this group in establishing the
Taiwanese Political Warfare Cadres Academy in the late 1950s. (45) The founders of
APACL were agents of the governments of Taiwan and Korea, including Park Chung
Hee who later became president of Korea; Yoshio Kodama, a member of organized
crime in Japan; Ryiochi Sasakawa, a gangster and Japanese billionaire jailed as a war
criminal after World War II; and Osami Kuboki and other followers of the Reverend
Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church. (4,8,9,11,30) Sasakawa provided
major funding for Moon and the Unification Church. When Park became president of
South Korea after the 1961 coup, he adopted the Unification Church as his political arm.
(45)

One resource states that the Anti-Bolshevic Bloc of Nations (ABN), headed by the
notorious Yaroslav Stetsko since the 1950s, entered the group in the early 1960s.
(11,45) The ABN is the largest and most important umbrella for former Nazi
collaborators in the world. (11)

During the 1970s WACL spread to all six continents and chapters were opened in
Japan, Europe, Britain, Australia, the U.S., and Latin America. The organization
attracted former Nazi supporters in Europe and in Latin America. The Latin American
group, Confederacion Anti-Comunista Latinoamericana (CAL), headed by
Raimundo Guerrero, sprang from the roots of Los Tecos, a World War II fascist group.
(11) CAL was overtly fascist and connected to a chain of rightwing military plots in Latin
America. (59)

The Unification Church (UC) of Sun Myung Moon has remained a major power within
WACL. Moon claimed that he raised $1. 4 million for WACL's 1970 annual conference.
(41) In 1975, Moon denounced WACL as being too fascist, and claimed to sever
connections between it and the UC. Reports in the New York Times, Searchlight and
elsewhere, however, indicate the separation is nominal only. (41) In 1985, WACL's
Japanese branch was still run by Osami Kuboki who also headed the Japanese
Unification Church. (5)

From 1978 to 1980 Roger Pearson, well known for his theory of white supremacy and
his fascist sympathies, was chairman of WACL. Pearson concentrated his efforts in
Europe and attracted more radical fascist elements to WACL. For a time WACL
appeared to be more anti-Semitic than anticommunist. (11) Pearson and the more
radical WACL branches attempted to oust more moderate groups, but his attempted
coup failed. In 1980, WACL expelled Pearson and said it had purged its fascist
elements. As with the separation from the UC, however, the separation from the fascists
was cosmetic only. Most of the individuals involved were reported by the New York
Times, the Los Angeles Times and other newspapers to be among the attendees at
succeeding annual conferences. (2,31)

After Pearson's ouster, Major General John K. Singlaub (ret.) and his newly formed
U.S. chapter of WACL, the United States Council for World Freedom (USWCF),
became WACL's most active branch. Singlaub founded USCWF in 1981 with a $16,500
loan from the Taiwanese branch of WACL and generous support from beer baron
Joseph Coors. (28,35) From 1984 through 1986, Singlaub was the chairman of WACL.
(11)

In 1984, columnist Jack Anderson wrote a series of exposes on WACL connecting the
group with death squads operating in Latin America, and once again linking them with
fascists, this time in Latin America. He reported that the "godfather" of the death squads
in Guatemala, Mario Sandoval Alarcon, a principal of the CAL, had been on the CIA
payroll for 30 years--since the National Liberation Movement (MLN) was organized by
the CIA to overthrow progressive President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman of Guatemala.
(24,25) Further articles by Anderson reported that CAL, which operated out of
Guadalajara, Mexico, was an outgrowth of Los Tecos. (26,27)

As a result of this expose, Singlaub put pressure on Dr. Ku, the life-chair of WACL from
Taiwan, to expel CAL. (28) Ku complied but, as with the fascists in Europe, the
disassociation was probably only nominal. (30) A new Latin American wing, the
zFederacion de Entidades Democraticas de America Latina (FEDAL), was begun
with Dr. Carlos Barbieri Filho of Brazil as head. Barbieri Filho has connections to the
Argentine AAA death squad. Moreover, former CAL chieftain Mario Sandoval Alarcon
was present at the 1985 WACL convention in Dallas. (30)

WACL maintains offices in a Taipei, Taiwan government building, and runs its daily
affairs out of "The Freedom Center," a cluster of buildings in Seoul, South Korea.
(30,38) WACL has an executive structure headed by an honorary chairman, chairman,
executive board, and secretariat. It has eight regional organizations: Asian Pacific Anti-
Communist League (APACL); North American Regional WACL Organization
(NARWACL); European Council for World Freedom (ECWF); African Organization
for Freedom and Democracy (AOFD); Federacion de Entidades Democraticas de
America Latina (FEDAL); Middle East Solidarity Council (MESC); Anti-Bolshevik
Bloc of Nations (ABN); and World Youth Freedom League (WYFL). (54) WACL has
130 chapters, and estimates of the number of countries involved ranges from 90 to 100.
(31,35,38) The group publishes a quarterly magazine, Freedom Digest. (54)

Funding: The U.S. affiliate, USWCF, had tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue
Service from 1982 through 1987. (38) This enabled Singlaub to solicit tax-deductible
donations from private parties. The status was withdrawn because of complaints to the
IRS about the types of activities in which the USCWF was involved in Nicaragua. (50)
Dallas heiress Ellen Garwood donated $65,000 to WACL to buy a helicopter for the
Nicaraguan contras. (35) Burt Hurlbut of the USWCF board stated that Taiwan and
South Korea were providing $50,000 a month to WACL for the contras. (11,33) Singlaub
reported that USWCF was raising $50,000 a month from a group of wealthy Texas
conservatives including Bert Hurlbut of First Texas Royalty and Exploration Co and
John Howell of Howell Instruments. (35) Singlaub told the Washington Post in May
1985 that the Brazil and Argentina chapters of WACL were very active in supporting
WACL activities. (11) A 1985 article attributes donations of $100,000 a year to the
WACL chapter in Saudi Arabia. (35) Other contributors include Nelson

Bunker Hunt and Herbert Hunt, oil fortune heiress Tarlton "Topsy" King, and Scott
Parrott of the Parrott Oil fortune. (63)

An undetermined amount of WACL's funding comes in non- monetary form. For

example, a large donation of clothing was obtained from a Korean manufacturer at
greatly reduced prices. WACL also receives support from other rightwing groups.
Singlaub reported that he received commitments for $100,000 from a fundraising
campaign with fellow members of the Council for National Policy. (35)

Activities: The purpose of the World Anti-Communist League is spelled out clearly in its
name. WACL operates internationally to overcome and eliminate groups or governments
considered to pose a "communist" threat. To achieve this end, WACL appears to be
willing to align itself with any and all governments and movements it considers to be
anticommunist. (38) The group revised its charter in 1987 to include among its
purposes the development of "political and psychological warfare methods in
order to expose and counteract the evil designs and intrigues of Communist
imperialism."(53) At the 1984 convention the group established committees to support
and assist eight anticommunist resistance groups: Nicaragua, Angola, Mozambique,
Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. (6,17,21)

Much of the inspiration for WACL activities and the training in psychological and political
warfare come from Taiwan. (11,30,39) Training courses are offered, with all expenses
paid by WACL, at the Political Warfare Cadres Academy in Peitou. Political warfare is
described by the academy as a system "to remove obstacles to national unity within and
to resist aggression from without."(11) Roberto D'Aubuisson said of his training there,"(It
was) the best course I ever took."(11) Taiwan is no longer recognized by only the United
Nations and its government is recognized by two dozen nations, half of which are in
Latin America. (11)

WACL activities in Central America expanded greatly in 1984 when Congress shut off all
funds to the contra forces. (11) Between 1984 and 1986 WACL became the principal
publicly identified source of funding for the contras. Singlaub said that he "quite frankly
used the WACL organization... to meet with some people who are capable of
contributing" to the contra cause. He identified his three principal WACL sources for
funding as Latin America, Taiwan, and South Korea. (59)

Afghanistan: At its 1984 and 1985 conventions WACL voted to support the
anticommunist mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan. (6,17,21,39) WACL was very active in
the foundation and support of the Committee for a Free Afghanistan (CFA). CFA was
founded in 1981 and was given office space at the Heritage Foundation. (21) CFA--
directed by retired Major General J. Milnor Roberts, a board member of USCWF--
raised large sums of money to purchase arms, ammunition and medical supplies for the
mujahedeen. (21,48) In 1985 WACL, through USCWF, initiated "Project Boots" to bring
humanitarian aid to the Afghan resistance. (21) In 1988, General Daniel Graham, vice
chair of USCFW, was one of an eight-man delegation that met with President Ronald
Reagan in an effort to block the Geneva accords calling for a withdrawal of Soviet troops
from Afghanistan. (21)

Canada: After the U.S. Congress prohibited the CIA from further assistance to the
contras in 1984, the Canadian WACL chapter became active in procuring and shipping
goods to the contras. In 1984 and 1985 the Canadian WACL, Canadian Freedom Fdn
(CFF), headed by John Gamble, a former conservative member of parliament, arranged
a series of fundraising meetings for Singlaub, including some with members of
parliament. (38) CFF also supported the WACL campaign on behalf of the mujahedeen
in Afghanistan by raising funds and holding anti-Soviet demonstrations. (38) A WACL
affiliate, the Freedom Council of Canada, was active in rallying anticommunist sentiment
in Canada following the student protests in Tienanmen Square and the violent response
by the Chinese government. The group claimed to rally the support of some 4,500
Chinese students studying in Canada. (55) The group is presently trying to act as official
representative of the Vietnamese exile groups in North America, but as yet agreement
has not been reached. (55)

Costa Rica: In 1986, Bernal Urbina Pinto headed the WACL chapter in Costa Rica and
was vice president of FEDAL. FEDAL replaced CAL after it was expelled from WACL
because of its fascist connections in 1984. Urbina Pinto was also the leader of the
political group, Free Costa Rica Movement, which coordinated the Organization for the
National Emergency (OPEN), a paramilitary, anti-terrorist force. OPEN trained
thousands of peasants in the basic tactics of counterinsurgency. (11)

In 1982, Argentineans came to Costa Rica to organize contra forces who had slipped
across the border from Nicaragua. They worked with Urbina Pinto and the Free Costa
Rica Movement. (11) Cuban exiles who are members of WACL also live in Costa Rica.
Most notable among them is Nazario Sargen head of Alpha 66, a Cuban terrorist group
and long-standing WACL member. (11)

John Hull--whose ranch in Costa Rica was used, as a base by the CIA and private
groups to bring supplies and military support to the contras--is a member of WACL. (20)
In fact, WACL was considered by some to be the main CIA conduit in the supply network
for the contras. (20)

El Salvador: Roberto D'Aubuisson, Adolfo Cuellar and Raul Molina, worked together
under the direction of National Guard commander General Jose Alberto "Chele"
Medrano. All were members of WACL and all rose to power in El Salvador. (11)
D'Aubuisson, who rose through the ranks of the Salvadoran National Security Agency
(ANSESAL)--the Salvadoran counterpart to the CIA--became El Salvador's national
representative to WACL. (31,61) In 1977, he went to Peitou, Taiwan for three months of
training at the Political Warfare Cadres Academy. In 1980, D'Aubuisson went to the
WACL convention in Buenos Aires where he arranged for Argentine intelligence
operatives to come to El Salvador and give the National Guard instruction in counter
subversion. (31) The advisers helped Salvadorans set up safe houses out of which the
death squads operated. (28) The project was funded by WACL. (11) D'Aubuisson
became an important figure in politics in 1981 when he established the Nationalist
Republican Alliance (ARENA) party. ARENA is modeled after the ultra-right, militarist
MLN of Guatemala. Soon after ARENA's founding, investigative reporters linked
D'Aubuisson with Mario Sandoval Alarcon of the MLN. Sandoval Alarcon is head of
WACL in Guatemala and of La Mano Blanco, a major Guatemalan death squad. (10,11)
Testimony of U.S. Ambassador Robert White fixes responsibility for the murder of
Archbishop Oscar Romero on D'Aubuisson. (11)

Adolfo Cuellar was a member of the National Assembly for the National Conciliation
Party (PCN), a rightwing party in El Salvador. In 1970, he became head of the
Democratic National Organization (ORDEN), a rural paramilitary group of some eighty
thousand anticommunist informers and vigilantes. He was assassinated in 1981.
Medrano went on to achieve power in the National Guard. (11)

Guatemala: In 1954, with the formation of the CIA-sponsored Army of Liberation (AOL)
organized to overthrow reformist President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, Guatemala
became fixed in a pattern of anticommunist political violence which persists today. (11)
The Eisenhower administration tagged Arbenz as procommunist and sent E. Howard
Hunt of the CIA (and, later, of Watergate fame) to organize the AOL. (45) In 1957, a
radical right faction of the government set up by the U.S. to replace Arbenz assassinated
his successor, President Castillo Armas, and formed a new party, the National Liberation
Movement (MLN).

Mario Sandoval Alarcon was the driving force behind the government, and the MLN
became the legitimizer of his paramilitary operations. (11)

Sandoval Alarcon, known as the "godfather," launched his career in the AOL, and
has been head of the WACL in Guatemala since 1972. (11) He was the coordinator of
La Mano Blanco, which oversaw the operations of many of the death squads in Central
America. CAL coordinated la Mano Blanco. The death squads have terrorized
Guatemala since their formation in the 1960s. When interviewed by the authors of Inside
the League a political analyst said,” People ask if the death squads are controlled by the
[Guatemalan] Army. They are the Army."(11) Sandoval Alarcon was head of the National
Congress and vice president under Colonel Kjell Laugerud Schell from 1974 to 1978.
While vice president, he established close ties with Taiwan through his leadership of
WACL. He sent an estimated fifty to seventy Guatemalan army officers to the Academy
in Taiwan for training. (11) In 1980, WACL requested that Sandoval Alarcon help
D'Aubuisson establish death squads in El Salvador. (11,45)

In 1979, John Singlaub and Daniel Graham of the American Security Council and soon
to be founders of the new U.S. WACL branch, the USCWF, visited Guatemala. The
purpose of their junket was to begin to heal the relationship between the U.S. and
Guatemala that had become strained under the Carter administration. They also
informed the Guatemalan government that a Reagan victory would lead to a resumption
of military ties between the countries. Mario Sandoval Alarcon attended President
Ronald Reagan's inaugural ceremonies. President Reagan appointed (11) Alberto
Piedra, WACL member, ambassador to Guatemala. (38,40)

While Sandoval failed in his bid to become president of Guatemala, he remained the
power behind the throne. In 1985, he was still the head of WACL, claimed to have a
private army of three thousand, and the ability to put thousands more paramilitary troops
into action on short notice. (11)

Honduras: In the late 1970s, General Gustavo Alvarez Martinez brought Honduras
into the anticommunist warrior ranks. During his term as president, he created the
Honduran Anticommunist Movement (MACHO) and its action arm, the Anticommunist
Combat Army (ELA)."Lobo," a leader of the ELA, was a member of the United
Democratic University Front (FUDD) which served as the ELA's front group. (11) He was
also a member of the youth wing of the Latin American Anti-Communist Confederation
(CAL)."Lobo" and other representatives of FUDD were present at the 1980 WACL
conference in Buenos Aires, and there arranged for WACL members from Argentina to
come to Honduras to train contras from Nicaragua. (11) During 1980 and 1982, Jesse
Helm's aide John Carbaugh, who attended the WACL convention in 1980, made
numerous trips to Honduras. (11) The WACL chapter in Honduras was headed by
Moises Jesus de Ulloa Duarte, a conservative radio commentator who traveled to Korea
at the invitation and expense of the Unification Church. (11)

Refugee Relief International, a project of Soldier of Fortune, joined forces with WACL to
deliver supplies to contra camps in Honduras in 1984. (11)

Mexico: The Confederacion Anticommunista Latinoamericana (CAL) was run out of the
Autonomous University in Guadalajara. (11) CAL was formed from a well-established,
elite, pro-Nazi network called Los Tecos. (26,27) CAL did not cast off its anti-Semitism to
don the cloak of anticommunism; it simply incorporated the latter into its agenda. (11)
The Jack Anderson expose of fascist elements in CAL forced WACL to expel the group
in 1984. However, an article in the Village Voice noted "the core of the old Latin fascist
apparatus remains."(30)

Philippines: In 1987, General Singlaub visited the Philippines with Ray Cline, former
CIA deputy director. (32,51)

They met with CIA station chief Norbett Garrett. Singlaub set up an office in Manila at
the Nippon Star, a subsidiary of the Japanese firm, Nippon Electronics. (51) Cline and
Singlaub, along with Garret and General Robert Sweitzer met with Juan Ponce Enrile
and General Fidel Ramos prior to an abortive November coup. (62) Singlaub has also
met with Alberto "Magri" Maguidad, alias Jack Madigan, infamous vigilante leader
from Taguegarao. Madigan has acknowledged that his group has the backing of
Singlaub and WACL. (62)

The Manila Chronicle reported that Singlaub offered financial support to sugar
planters organizing an anticommunist drive on the island of Negros. (51) Meetings
were held with General Luis Villa-Real, the president of WACL in the Philippines and
head of the National Intelligence Coordinating Authority. (51)

The Counter-Insurgency Command (CIC), a rightwing civilian vigilante squad,

admitted having the backing of "an international organization led by retired General John
Singlaub." The CIC claims to have 2,000 members and 100,000 sympathizers. (34)

The Philadelphia Reporter and the Washington Post reported that Singlaub had
recruited 37 mercenaries from around the world to train Philippine soldiers in
counterinsurgency tactics. Singlaub denies this. (51) A Senate Committee headed by
Frank Church commented on Singlaub's activities in the Philippines, calling it "sheep-
dipping," i. e."the process by which military men are given civilian documentation,
ostensibly resign from the service and are employed overseas as civilians primarily for
the CIA."(62)

Taiwan: Taiwan, home of the China Lobby and founder of WACL, is still run by the
Kuomintang (KMT). (1,11,45) The Taiwanese government is no longer recognized as the
government of China and has diplomatic legitimacy in few countries. As a result, some
observers feel that Taiwan uses WACL as its main political conduit for its anticommunist
political policies. (11) It is through WACL that the KMT offers training in unconventional
warfare, interrogation and counter terror tactics at their Political Warfare Cadres
Academy. The KMT philosophy, carried out in the academy training, is to create a
politicized military whose first loyalty is to the party, then to the military, and finally to the
nation. Through the academy, both Taiwan and WACL have established a military and
political network in Latin America. (11)

According to the authors of Inside the League, Taiwanese students in the U.S. are
watched by KMT agents who fill out monthly reports about the total number of students
suspected of being "communist."(11)

United States: The first WACL chapter in the U.S. was the American Council for
World Freedom (ACWF) founded in 1970 by Lee Edwards. Edwards was the former
director of Young Americans for Freedom, the youth arm of the John Birch Society.
(11) John Fisher of the American Security Council served as ACWF's first chairman. The
American Security Council is a virulently anticommunist group that originally focused on
internal security. It currently heads up the rightwing lobby group the Coalition for Peace
Through Strength, which includes among its members a number of members of
Congress. (61) In 1973, the ACWF, at the urging of board member Stefan Possony,
complained to WACL about the fascist members from Latin America. The report was
discredited, but in 1975, ACWF left WACL and its members drifted off to other groups in
the New Right. (11)

The second U.S. chapter of WACL (1975-1980), the Council on American Affairs, was
headed by noted racialist Roger Pearson. During this period Pearson had strong links to
the American Security Council. (61)

In 1980 John Singlaub went to Australia to speak to the Asian branch of WACL. (46)
Shortly thereafter he was approached to begin a new U.S. chapter of the organization.
The retired General started the U.S. Council for World Freedom (USCWF) in 1981
with a loan from WACL in Taiwan and local funding from beer magnate, Joseph Coors.
(28,35) USCWF has been the most active chapter of WACL of this decade, with the
action picking up tremendously in 1984 with the cessation of official U.S. government
funding to the contras. Singlaub was selected by the White House in 1984 to be the chief
private fundraiser for the contras. The key private funders were to be wealthy business
people, Taiwan, South Korea, and "an anti-communist organization with close ties to
those governments."(9) Other major contributions came from Guatemala and Argentina,
countries where Singlaub had strong WACL connections. In his position as chief private
fundraiser for the contras Singlaub reported directly to Colonel Oliver North of the
National Security Council. (59) It is highly likely that Singlaub's USCWF/WACL high-
profile,” private" contra fundraising may have served as a cover for North's illegal
government-sponsored supply network.

In his deposition at the Iran-Contra hearings, Singlaub's claims that he raised $10 million
in contra aid were questioned. In 1985, for example, when the media reported claims of
millions of dollars in aid raised from private sources frequently, the USWCF financial
statement reported income of $280,798. (46) In the previous year, reported income was
just over $41,000. (47) Singlaub responded that a good deal of the aid was "in-kind" and
that the dollar values were somewhat uncertain. He also claimed that the press had
exaggerated his statements. (46)

What Singlaub has done as a private citizen and what he has done in the name of
USCWF and WACL is unclear. However, WACL paid for the services of the public
relations firm of Carter Clews Communications to improve Singlaub's public image in
order to enhance his fundraising efforts. (46)

The USCWF and Soldier of Fortune established a private training academy for
Salvadoran police forces and Nicaraguan contras. Located in Boulder, Colorado, the
Institute for Regional and International Studies was headed by Alexander McColl,
the military affairs editor of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. (11) Robert Brown of Soldier
of Fortune invested $500,000 in Freedom Marine. In December 1985 Freedom Marine
sold three "stealth boats" to USCWF for $125,000. The hulls of the boats had been
reinforced for machine gun mounts. In Honduras the coastal resupply system for rebels
inside Nicaragua utilized three "stealth boats."(7) Bruce Jones, former CIA liaison to the
contras in Costa Rica, worked for USCWF in Tucson. (11)

In 1987, USCWF lost its tax-exempt status because of complaints about the group's
support of the Nicaraguan contras and is reported to be short of money. (38,50) USCWF
apparently moved its offices from Phoenix to Alexandria, Virginia in 1988. Singlaub was
indicted in 1986 and 1988 over USCWF activities in support of the contras. (56,57)
Because of these costly legal problems USCWF has been politically inactive and
NARWACL did not hold its annual meeting in 1988-1989. (55)

David Finzer and Rafael Flores founded the World Youth Freedom League (WYFL),
the youth branch of WACL in 1985. Flores worked for contra fundraiser, Carl (Spitz)
Channell, also indicted in the Iran-contra case. Finzer and Flores worked together at the
International Youth Year Commission, a group linked to Oliver North's contra supply
network. (44)

In April 1989 the ABN held a policy seminar at the Heritage Foundation in Washington
DC. The conference was attended by 100 representives from the subjugated nations
and Rep. Bill Young from the U.S. Congress was the main speaker. (55)

Government Connections: The following is a brief summary of the military and

intelligence activities of Major General John K. Singlaub (USA - ret.). Singlaub was an
officer in the Office of Strategic Services (predecessor to the CIA) during World War
II. He served on the China desk of the CIA in 1948 and 1949 and became deputy chief
of the CIA in Seoul during the Korean War. (30) He served for two years in Vietnam
during the 1960s. There he was commander of the Joint Unconventional Warfare Task
Force (MACVSOG), the outfit that ran Operation Phoenix, infamous for its
assassinations and counter terror tactics, and responsible for the deaths of thousands of
Vietnamese civilians. Singlaub denies participation in Operation Phoenix. (11) As chief
of staff of the United Nations Command in South Korea in 1978, he publicly condemned
the decision of President Jimmy Carter to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Korea. He
was then forced to retire. (11) Singlaub served as honorary chairman of Ronald
Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign in Colorado. (30) In 1984, Under Secretary of
Defense Fred Ikle appointed Singlaub to head a committee studying U.S. responses to
the insurgency in El Salvador. (28)
When questioned on the CBS Television show "60 Minutes" about his connections with
contra funding Singlaub was asked by Mike Wallace, "Let me put a thesis to you,
General Singlaub. Private citizen Jack Singlaub has become Ronald Reagan's
secret weapon to sidestep a Congress that will not permit him to act in the areas
where he believes that our security interests are at stake. True?" Singlaub's response:
"True."(52)

Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham, former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence
Agency, is on the board of USCWF. Graham is the head of High Frontiers, an
organization promoting the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). He is also on the board of
the Council for National Policy and has been an important figure in CAUSA, the major
political arm of the Unification Church. (11,39,43) Graham, Singlaub, Walter Judd, and
John LeBoutillier are members of the American Freedom Coalition, an organization,
which is the result of a merger of a rightwing Christian lobby organization, and an
offshoot of the Unification Church. (13,14)

John Carbaugh, chief aide to Jesse Helms, attended WACL conventions in 1980 and
1984. Upon receiving a memo from Carbaugh, Helms assisted in the creation of the
Conservative Caucus, headed by Howard Phillips, who was working in Helm's office at
the time. (12) Margo Carlisle, aide to Sen. James McClure (R-ID), also attended the
1980 convention. (11) Carlisle was on the 1982-1983 board of governors of the Council
for National Policy, listed there as the executive director of the Senate Republican
Conference. (39) Rep. Tom Loeffler (R-TX) spoke at the WACL convention in 1985. (19)
Other congresspeople who have participated in WACL events include: Rep. Robert
Dornan (RCA), Sen. Jake Garn (R-UT), Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), Sen. James McClure
(R-ID), Sen. Steven D. Symms (R-ID), Sen. Stromm Thurman (R-SC), Rep. Duncan
Hunter (R-CA), and Rep. Walter Judd (RMN). (11)

Roger Pearson, WACL chairman from 1978 to 1980, was ousted from WACL in 1980 for
Nazi affiliations and attempting to expel more "moderate" WACL groups in Europe. (30)
The same Roger Pearson received a letter of commendation from President Ronald
Reagan in April 1982 for an article he wrote. The Anti-Defamation League protested to
the president about support of a man known to be a promoter of neo-Nazi, anti-semitic
and racist ideology but received no response. In 1986, Pearson was head of the Council
of American Affairs in Washington DC (11,23)

Lev Dobriansky, a former OSS officer in Germany in World War II, was chairman of the
National Captive Nations Committee and on the U.S. WACL board in the 1970s. (11) He
was appointed U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas by President Ronald Reagan. (11,30)
Dobriansky's daughter Paula was on the National Security Council during the Reagan
administration. (61)

Lewis Tambs, the ambassador to Costa Rica until 1986, was a WACL member as was
Alberto Piedra, appointed by Reagan as ambassador to Guatemala. (38,40)

The Washington Post in December of 1984-reported Singlaub saying that,” he and

others have sent millions of dollars in uniforms, food, medicine and other aid to contras
or their families and to refugees in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala." He went on
to say,” the Defense Department has helped to coordinate the private aid."(11) In an Oct
1986 interview on "60 Minutes," Singlaub acknowledged that he and Col. Oliver North
worked together to establish the Nicaraguan contra supply network. (52)
Representative Gerald B. Solomon was a keynote speaker at the 1989 WACL
conference in Brisbane. The message he carried was that we must not let our guard
down in the fight against communism. It is up to "us" to "finish the job and liberate this
world from the blight of communism!" Solomon also delivered a personal message from
President George Bush. (55)

Private Connections: John Singlaub is founder and chairman of the U.S. Council for
World Freedom. He also has served on the boards of the Council for National Policy;
Refugee Relief Intl, a subsidiary of Soldier of Fortune; Western Goals, a group involved
in surveillance of the U.S. left; Committee for a Free Afghanistan, a right-wing group
supporting the mujahedeen rebels; and, Western Goals in the United Kingdom, a group
set up with the specific task of undermining the radical left in that country. (9,11,37).
Singlaub also has served as Educational Field Director and Private Sector Co-Chairman
of the American Security Council, a promilitary lobby, and as an adviser to the
Council for Inter-American Security, a rightwing research and policymaking institute.
(11,21) Singlaub served on the American Security Council's Task Force on Central
America, a group that included Daniel O. Graham, Alexander Haig, Admiral Thomas
Moorer and a number of congressmen. (61) USCWF is a member of the Coalition for
Peace Through Strength, the anti-Soviet lobbying coalition of the American Security
Council, which in 1987 had a group membership of 170 rightwing activist organizations.
(21) In 1985 Singlaub served on the advisory board of Skyhook II Project, a group
headed by John LeBoutillier that raised funds to release U.S. prisoners of war believed
still to be held captive by the communist forces in Southeast Asia. General Daniel
Graham also served on the advisory board. (64)

Martin Lasater, a leader of Elizabeth Claire Prophet's Church Universal and

Triumphant, was sent by the church to Taiwan where he became the editor of the Asia
Bulletin, a publication of the Asian branch of WACL. In 1985 Lasater became the director
of Asian Studies at the Heritage Fdn. (21)

The chairman of the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, Major General J. Milnor
Roberts has been on the board of USCWF. (21) Roberts attended WACL conferences
in 1980, 1983, and 1984. He has been a professor at Georgetown University when it
was associated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. (11) Ray
Cline, on the USCWF board, has had a close association with WACL since he was
stationed in Taiwan from 1958 to 1962 as CIA station chief. He was a deputy director of
the CIA from 1964 to 1967. (11)

Roger Fontaine of the USCWF board is a reporter for The Washington Times and has
served as the director of Latin American studies at the Center for Strategic and Intl
Studies. (11) Wealthy Texas oilman Bert Hurlbut is on the USCWF board and in 1986
was an official of the National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC). (11)
Stefan Possony, whose research was responsible for the ouster of CAL, quit WACL in
1975, but rejoined in 1980. Possony is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institute at
Stanford University and board member of the American Security Council. (45) In 1986,
David Keene of the USCWF board was president of the World Youth Crusade for
Freedom and chairman of the John Birch Society's Young Americans for Freedom. (11)

The group Civilian Material Assistance (formerly Civilian Military Assistance, CMA)
headed by Tom Posey is a member of WACL. CMA provided security at the 1985
WACL convention. (9) Posey until recently faced trial in Florida for violating the
Neutrality Act for allegedly organizing and funding mercenary missions into Nicaragua.
(42) WACL reportedly has given financial support to Friends of the Americas, a
rightwing humanitarian aid organization that has supported the contras. (36)

The American Security Council is a member of the Coalition for World Freedom, an arm
of the USCWF. (61)

Roger Pearson moved to the U.S. in 1975 and founded the Council on American
Affairs. The Council shortly began to sponsor seminars and publish monographs with
Edwin Fuelner, president of the Heritage Foundation and Ray Cline. The Council on
American Affairs served as the U.S. chapter of WACL from 1975 to 1980. (61)

Howard Phillips of the USCWF board is chairman of the Conservative Caucus and on
the board of the Council for National Policy. (40) Andy Messing, former chair of the
Conservative Caucus, is on the USWCF board, on the board of the Council for National
Policy and was the head of the National Defense Council Foundation. (11) J. A. (Jay)
Parker, president of the Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, is on the board of
USCWF and on the advisory council of the American Freedom Coalition. (48,49) He was
a speaker at the 1983 CAUSA conference in Honduras. (11) David Finzer is co-founder
of the World Youth Freedom League, the youth branch of WACL. (41) Finzer heads the
Washington-based Conservative Action Foundation, a group which has supported the
Mozambique National Resistance (MNR or RENAMO). The World Youth Freedom
League reportedly received funding from WACL in South Korea. Finzer also served on
the board of the International Youth Year Commission, an entity implicated in diversion
of funds to the contras in the Iran Contra scandal. (44) Finzer coordinated the Ban the
Soviets Coalition office in Washington DC. Ban the Soviets was a coalition of rightwing
groups--including Cuban exile groups Alpha 66 and Cuba Independiente Democratica,
the contra Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the Conservative Caucus, Friends of Freedom
Foundation, American Freedom League, the Unification Church's Collegiate Association
for Research of Principles, and Richard Viguerie Communications--that worked to ban
the Soviets from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. (60)

WACL was a member organization of RAMBO (Restore a More Benevolent Order)

coalition. (16) Through RAMBO, WACL was linked to Young Americans for Freedom,
College Republicans, Students for America, Freedom's Friends, The Conservative
Caucus, Alpha 66, American Coalition for Traditional Values, Alive and Free, Natl Young
Vietnamese for Freedom, and Nemesis. (16)

Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank, appears to be home base for the
ABN in the United States. The Heritage Foundation hosted ABN conferences in April
and May 1989. (55,58)

Misc: Former President Ronald Reagan's message to the 1985 WACL convention in
Dallas was,"I commend you all for your part in this nobel cause. Our combined efforts
are moving the tide of history toward world freedom. We must persevere and never
falter. I send you all who help in your crusade for liberty my best wishes. God bless
you."(30)

President George Bush sent a message of support to the 1989 WACL conference held
in Brisbane, Australia. (55)
Sayid Khybar, author of "The Afghan Contra Lobby," considers WACL a major factor in
the preservation and power of the political rightwing. He wrote in 1988 that.” it (WACL) is
a coalition of three principal groups: Asian gangsters backed up by the remnants of the
Japanese arm of the Axis and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, former West
German Nazis and their former East European collaborators, and elements from the
Western intelligence community who were anxious to reorganize the fanatical refuse
salvaged from the Hitler coalition for a new anti-Communist crusade."(21)

Comments: WACL is an international, anticommunist, mercenary group available to

rightwing governments around the world to assist in carrying out "extra-legal" activities.
Since its inception it has been closely linked to the governments of South Korea and
Taiwan. Fred Clarkson contends, "The Moon organization is an integral part of
WACL, which in turn has played a pivotal role in the development and activities of the
Unification Church."(41) Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott, and Jane Hunter in their
book The Iran-Contra Connection state that WACL has played a role in the drug-funded
secret war of the CIA which began in the 1950s in the Far East, was active in Vietnam
and now in Latin America. "A leading institution in this historic continuity has been the
drug-linked WACL, which between 1984 and 1986 was the principal publicly identified
source of funding for the contras."(59)

To quote from Inside the League,

"As long as it serves such important purposes for so many notorious groups around the world, and as long
as there are men and women who will wail about the influx of 'criminal elements' but turn around and quietly
work with those elements, there will be a World AntiCommunist League.

"The League is not a 'paper tiger. '

"It is a well-funded, six-continent federation of men and women who have given up on democracy, or who
never believed in it in the first place, and who are now fighting their enemies on their own terms."(11)

U.S. Address: 108-A South Columbus Street, Barrister Square, Alexandria, VA 22314

Principals: WACL council chairman in 1989 was Genevieve Aubry. (55) Dr. Ku Cheng-
Kang was honorary chairman and Hon. Sen. Jose Desmarets was council chairman in
1987. Prof. Dr. Woo, JaeSeung of Korea is or was secretary-general in 1987. (54) Major
General John Singlaub, was chair until mid-1986. (18) Osami Kuboki, head of the
Unification Church in Japan and co-founder and chair of Shokyo Rengo, the Japanese
branch of WACL and has been an executive board member for many years. (41,21) Dr.
Yaroslav Stetsko, executive board member, is a former Nazi collaborator from the
Ukraine; Dr. Manuel Frutos, executive board member from Paraguay; Sheik Ahmed
Salah Jamjoon of Saudi Arabia, a member of the royal family representing the Middle
Eastern Solidarity Council on the executive board; and Patrick Walsh of Canada,
executive board member. (11)

In 1989 heads of the regional organizations were: Dr. Robert N. Thompson,

NARWACL; Dr. Han, Lih-wu, APACL; Cdt. Georges A. Rombouts, ECWF; and Mme.
Slave Stetsko, ABN. Sergio Tapia is vice president of FEDAL. (The acronyms are
defined later in the text.)(55)

The World Anti-Communist League (WACL) does not print annual reports or
publish other documents available to the public giving details about the organization
and its membership. However, WACL does hold elaborate, by-invitation-only annual
meetings at which the purpose of the organization is reconfirmed and long- and short-
term planning is conducted. It is presumed, therefore, that those who attend the annual
meetings play a principal role in setting the goals and planning the operations of WACL.
Throughout this report the past tense will be used when referring to WACL
memberships, but many of these people are still presumed to be active in the group.

A number of significant people have attended WACL annual conferences from Latin
America. These include Carlos Barbieri Filho of Brazil, reportedly an agent of the
Taiwanese government and head of the Federacion de Entidades Democraticas de
America Latina (FEDAL). (37) Mario Sandoval Alarcon (the "Godfather") of the
National Liberation Movement (MLN) of Guatemala; Adolfo Calero of Nicaragua, a
leader in the Nicaraguan Democratic Front (FDN) contra forces; Roberto
D'Aubuission of El Salvador, founder of the rightwing ARENA party and founder of
the Salvadoran death squads; Benito Guanes, former chief of Paraguayan military
intelligence; and Raimundo Guerrero of Mexico, professor at the Autonomous
University of Guadalajara and principal leader of the Tecos were other attendees. (11)

From the South African WACL chapter, Ivor Benson, known for his racist and anti-
Semitic books, has attended. (37)

The "former ruling class" has been represented by Anastasio Somoza, former ruler of
Nicaragua;(37) former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos;(36) and former
president of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu. (36)

European WACL chapters have included these participants at conferences: St. C de

Berkelaar of the Netherlands, former SS officer and president of Sint Martinsfonds, an
organization of hundreds of former Dutch SS officers;(11) Alfred Gielen from Goebbels'
Propaganda Ministry who represented West Germany until the mid-1980s;(21) and
Giorgio Almirante of Italy, an official in the Benito Mussolini government. (9)

The U.S. WACL delegation has included many people from anti-Soviet (often pro-
fascist) groups from Eastern Europe. Among them have been Dr. Anton Bonifacic of
Croatia, wanted in Yugoslavia for war crimes, and a member of the American chapter of
the Croatian Liberation Movement, and John Kosiak of Byelorussia, wanted in the U.S.
S. R. for war crimes. Kosiak is now in the U.S. and is chairman of the Byelorussian
Liberation Front. (11) Others from the U.S. delegation were Anthony Bouscaren,
William Starr, Lee Edwards, and Roger Peterson. Bouscaren, a professor at Le
Moyne University has served on the board of the U.S. Council for World Freedom
(USCWF). (9) William Starr of Tucson, AZ represented CAUSA, the political arm of the
Unification Church. (9) Lee Edwards, founder of the first U.S. chapter of WACL, acted
as a registered foreign agent for WACL until 1982. (11) An anthropologist and author of
racial supremacy books, Roger Pearson was chairman of WACL from 1978 to 1980.
(23)

Yaroslav Stetsko, chairman of the Anti-Bolshevic Bloc of Nations (ABN), attended

many WACL conferences. Stetsko was a Nazi collaborator and briefly was the self-
declared leader of the Ukraine. (11)

The Canadian WACL was represented at the conference by Patrick Walsh of the
executive board and by Chirila Ciuntu, who remains a member of the Rumanian Iron
Guard, a group notorious for its pogroms against the Jews. Ciuntu is active in WACL in
Canada. (11)

The Asian WACL chapters have sent numerous representatives to the WACL
conferences. From Japan came Ryiochi Sasakawa, a member of the Diet in World War
II who was classified as a war criminal by the U.S. and served two years in prison.
Takeshi Furuta, a representative of the Intl Federation for Victory Over
Communism, the original political organization of the Unification Church is another
major Japanese WACL supporter. (11)

South Korean representatives have included Colonel Lee Byung Hee, member of the
KCIA and minister-without-portfolio for President Park and General Lee Yung-Joon. The
latter was a member of the Japanese army in World War II, Korean army chief of staff in
1949, minister of communications in 1955, and in 1986 was an adviser to the Assoc of
Veterans and a member of the State Affairs Advisory Council of South Korea. General
Honkon Lee, in 1986 a member of the State Affairs Advisory Council, a former army
chief of staff and former ambassador to the Philippines and Great Britain, has also
participated in WACL conferences. Colonel Shin Chan, also a participant in WACL
conferences, was a spokesman for the ministry of national defense in 1975, executive
director of the Association for Promotion of War Industry in 1979, and the director of the
KCIA in 1981. Another Korean participant was General Yoo Hanksoung, director of the
KCIA in 1980. (11)

Edward Entero Chey of Cambodia attended a WACL conference as a representative of

Son Sann, a rebel organization fighting against the Cambodian government. The
government of Taiwan paid Chey’s expenses. (9)

Dr. Ku Cheng-kang of Taiwan is the honorary life chairman of WACL and was a high-
level leader of the Nationalist Party when the group began in Taiwan. In 1986, he served
as senior policy adviser to the president and was the president of the Republic of China's
National Assembly. (11,28)

Sources:
1. Craig Pyes,"Private General," New Republic, Sept 30, 1985.

2."Rebel Groups May Have Broken I. R. S. Pledge," New York Times, Aug 27, 1985.

3. Moore, The Nation, Nov 2, 1985.

4. Peter Stone,"Contras' of the World Unite," Sunday Times-Times of London, Sept 15, 1985.

5. Fred Clarkson,"These 'Freedom Fighters' Act A Lot Like Fascists," Guardian, Oct 2, 1985.

6. Washington Post, Oct 19, 1986.

7. Frank Greve and Steven Stecklow,"Civilian Says He Helped CIA Ship Arms To Contras," Miami Herald, Feb 5, 1987.

8. Robert Parry and Brian Barger,"Reagan's Shadow CIA," New Republic, Nov 24, 1986.

9. Fred Clarkson,"Behind the Supply Lines," Covert Action Information Bulletin, Winter, 1986.

10. Charles Babcock,"Dallas Hosts Anti-Communist League," Washington Post, Oct 1, 1985.

11. Scott Anderson and Jon Lee Anderson, Inside the League: The Shocking Expose of How Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin
American Death Squads Have Infiltrated The World Anti-Communist League (New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Co, 1986).
12. Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman, Holy Terror: The Fundamentalist War on America's Freedoms in Religion, Politics
and Our Private Lives (New York, NY: Delta, 1984).

13. American Freedom Coalition letterhead, undated but circa Fall 1987 and conversation with natl AFC office, Sep 9,
1987.

14. Wes McCune, Group Research Inc, Sep 9, 1988.

15. Washington Post, Apr 9, 1987.

16. Sara Diamond,"Shepherding," Covert Action Information Bulletin, Spring 1987.

17. Shirley Christian, New York Times, Sep 15, 1985.

18. Encyclopedia of International Organizations, 1989.

19."Loeffler's High Honor," Texas Observer, Mar 4, 1985.

20. Peter Dale Scott, Pacific News Service, Oct 21, 1986.

21. Sayid Khybar,"The Afghan Contra Lobby," (unpublished paper), Mar 1988.

22. Washington Post, Apr 13, 1988.

23. Joe Conason, Village Voice, May 7, 1985.

24. Jack Anderson,"Death Squads Have Permeated Latin America," Washington Post, Jan 13, 1984.

25. Jack Anderson,"Latin Terrorists' Leader Retains Support of CIA," Washington Post, Jan 30, 1984.

26. Jack Anderson,"Nazis' Concepts Survive Among Latin Rightists," Washington Post, Feb 9, 1984.

27. Jack Anderson,"Mexican Group Said to Promote Neo-Nazi Cause," Washington Post, Sep 11, 1984.

28. Craig Pyes, The Nation, Sep 1985.

29. Paul Valentine,"The Fascist Specter Behind The World Anti-Red League," Washington Post, May 28, 1974.

30. Joe Conason and Murray Waas, Village Voice, Oct 22, 1985.

31."Rightists: Anti-Communist League Is Prospering," Los Angeles Times, Sep 16, 1985.

32. Philippine Witness, No. 11, Jan-Feb 1987.

33. Fred Clarkson,"Behind the Times: Who Pulls the Strings at Washington's #2 Daily?" Extra!, Sep 1987.

34. Michael Bedford, Peacework, Oct 1987.

35. Peter Stone,"Private Groups Step Up Aid," Washington Post, May 3, 1985.

36. Jon Steinberg,"Discovering Right Is Wrong," Links, NCAHRN, 1987.

37. Derrick Knight,"Profile of Western Goals--UK ," British Council of Churches, Christian Aid, Nov 1988.

38. Howard Goldenthal, Glenda Hersh and Nick Filmore,"Right Winging It," This Magazine, Vol 22, No 3, June-July, 1988.

39. Listing of officers and board of the Council for National Policy, 1982-1983.

40. Conversation with Albuquerque Public Library, July 13, 1989.

41. Fred Clarkson,"God Is Phasing Out Democracy," Covert Action Information Bulletin, #27, Spring 1987.

42."Group Sending Supplies to Contras Got Tax-Exempt Status," Albuquerque Journal, July 16, 1989.

43. In These Times, Apr 8-14, 1987.

44. Jack Anderson and Joseph Spear,"North Linked to '85 Youth Conference," Washington Post, Apr 9, 1987.

45. Thomas Bodenheimer and Richard Gould, Rollback: Right-wing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy (Boston, MA: South End
Press, 1989).

46. Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, Vol 25, 1988.

47. USCWF, Internal Revenue Service 990 form, 1984.

48. U.S. Council for World Freedom, Board of Directors, undated, received Feb 1987.

49. Phone conversation with national office of the American Freedom Coalition, Sep 9, 1988.

50. Don Devereux,"U.S. Considers Nicaraguan Canal," Scottsdale Progress, Feb 29, 1988.

51. Doug Cunningham,"Singlaubs Recruits His Own Army in the Philippines," The National Reporter, Spring 1987.

52. Copy of "60 Minutes," CBS Television, Oct 5, 1986.

53. Revised Charter of the World Anti-Communist League, 1987.

54."Freedom for All Mankind, WACL brochure, undated, received in 1989.

55. Freedom Digest, Vol 23, No. 3, WACL, September 1989.

56. Don Devereux, Scottsdale Progress, Mar 25, 1988.

57."Beltway Bandits," The Nation, Jan 16, 1988.

58. Freedom Digest, Vol. 23, No. 2, WACL, June 1989.

59. Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott, Jane Hunter, The IranContra Connection: Secret Teams and Covert Operations
in the Reagan Era (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1987).

60. Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare: the Politics of the Christian Right (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1989).

61. Russ Bellant, Old Nazis, The New Right and the Reagan Administration: The Role of Domestic Fascist Networks in
the Republican Party and Their Effect on U.S. Cold War Politics (Boston MA: Political Research Associates, 1989).

62."Vigilante Terror," The National Reporter, Fall 1987.

63. The Texas Observer, March 7, 1986.

64. Listing of the board of directors of Skyhook II Project, undated.

The underlying cites for this profile are now kept at Political Research Associates, (617) 666-5300. www.irc-online.org.

Source: http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/beta/articles/display/World_Anti-
Communist_League/