Francis Mullen. Jr., the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) criticized Bush for
making this wildly inaccurate statement, he was soon ousted from his post at the DEA.
In 1988, Democratic Congressman Glenn English concluded that Bush's "war on drugs" had been
fought with "little more than lip service and press releases." English wrote: "There has been very
little substance behind the rhetoric, and some of the major interdiction problems have yet to be
resolved. The President assigned...Bush to coordinate and direct federal antidrug-abuse programsamong the various law enforcement agencies. However, eight years later it is apparent that the task (^)
has not been accomplished." [fn 1] No observer still stationed in reality could dispute this very
pessimistic assessment.
But the whole truth is much uglier. We have documented in detail how the Iran-contra drug-runniand gun-running operations run out of Bush's own office played their role in increasing the heroin,ng
crack, cocain, and marijuana brought into this country. We have reviewed Bush's relations with his
close supporters in the Wall Street LBO gang, much of whose liquidity is derived from narcotics
payments which the banking system is eager to recycle and launder. We recall Bush's 1990 meeting
with Syrian President Hafez Assad, who is personally one of the most prolific drug pusplanet, and whom Bush embraced as an ally during the Gulf crisis. hers on the
Bush's "soft on drugs" profile went further. In the Pakistan-Afghanistan theatre, for example, it was
apparent that certain pro-Khomeini formations among the Afghan guerillas were, like the contras,
more interested in trafficking in drugs and gunsand the Red Army forces that maintained it in power. There were reports that such activities on the than in fighting the Soviet-backed regime in Kabul
part of such guerilla groups were seconded by parts of the Pakistani secret intelligence services, the
Inter-Service Intelligence, and the National Logistics Cell. According to these reports, Bush's visit
to Pakistan's President Gen. Zia ul-Haq in May, 1984 was conducted in full awareness of these
phenomnena. Nevertheless, Bush chose to praise the alleged successes of the Zia government's anti-narcotics program which, Bush intoned, was a matter of great "personal interest" to him. Among
those present at the banquet where Bush made these remarks were, reportedly, several of the
officials most responsible for the narcotics trafficking in Pakistan. [fn 2] But there is an even more
flagrant aspect of Bush's conduct which can be said to demolish once and for all the myth of the
"war on drugscitizens. " and replace it with a reality so sinister that it goes beyond the imagination of most
Those who follow Bush's frenetic sports activities on television are doubtless familiar with Bush's
speedboat, in which he is accustomed to cavort in the waters off his estate at Walker's Point in
Kennebunkportoperating on the high seas. Fidelity is a class of boat marketed under the brand name of "Cigarette,", Maine. [fn 3] The craft in question is the Fidelity, a powerboat capable of (^)
a high-priced speedboat dubbed "the Ferrari of the high seas." This detail should awaken our
interest, since Bush's profile as an Anglo-Saxon aristocrat would normally include a genteel
predeliction for sailing, rather than a preference for a vulgar hotrod like Fidelity, which evokes the
ethos of rum-runners and smugglers.
The Cigarette boat Fidelity was purchased by George Bush from a certain Don Aronow. Bush
reportedly met Aronow at a boat show in 1974, and decided to buy one of the Cigarette boats
Aronow manufactured. Aronow was one of the most celebrated and successful powerboat racers of
the 1960's, and had then turned his hand to designing and building these boats. But according to atleast one published account, there is compelling evidence to conclude that Aronow was a drug
smuggler and suspected drug-money launderer linked to the Genovese Purple Gang of New York
City within the more general framework of the Meyer Lansky organized crime syndicate. Aronow's
role in marijuana smuggling was reportedly confirmed by Bill Norris, head of the Major Narcotics
Unit at the Miami US Attorney's office and thus the top federal drug prosecution official in south