9 Arrested In California For Plot Against Laos Government

[Maizefarmer]

Anyone picking up any news of a coup involving ex USA special force soldiers (including a retired Col) and Hmog ex-pats -supposedly just been "undone" by the Feds in California.

The coup was planned for Lao and supposed to take place around 3 weeks time?

MF

Edited June 5, 2007 by Maizefarmer

[A_Traveller]

BBC Report about 1 hour ago, Nation in the last few minutes {Wish they get their server clock set}.

Regards

/edit add Nation link//

BBC News

Nation Report

Edited June 5, 2007 by A_Traveller

[ColPyat]

Oh my god.

When do these people realize that the war is over? I cannot stand those insurgencies - nobody gains, and it makes life or normal people intolerable. Expect a new round of persecution of Hmong in Laos.

[jdinasia]

hmmmm carrying a US Passport I think I'll skip Laos for awhile

[Weezaalinux]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/...ent_6199121.htm

9 arrested in California for plot against Laos government

LOS ANGELES, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Nine people, including a retired U.S. National Guard officer, were arrested on Monday in California on charges of illegally trying to buy missiles, mines, assault rifles and other arms to help topple the government of Laos, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Former Lieutenant Colonel Harrison Ulrich Jack and eight alleged accomplices in California's ethnic Hmong community were held in custody by federal agents in raids spanning the state, the newspaper said on its Website.

Jack allegedly met with an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to discuss air-dropping arms into in Laos.

Among those arrested was Vang Pao of Westminster, near Los Angeles. Pao was a CIA-backed ally of the United States during the Vietnam War and became a prominent leader among Hmong refugees who resettled in California 30 years ago, the report said.

The group allegedly discussed an initial 100,000-dollar purchase of weapons and is accused of creating an operational plan for an armed insurgency to overthrow the Laos government.

Editor: Xiao Jie

Edited June 5, 2007 by Weezaalinux

[ColPyat]

hmmmm carrying a US Passport I think I'll skip Laos for awhile

I wouldn't worry about that at all.

The US is a huge donator to Laos, and still conducts MIA searches there. The Hmong issue is sensitive but seen as separate to all other activities and collaborations.

[darkside]

(06-05) 04:00 PDT Sacramento --

Echoes of the war in Southeast Asia rolled through a federal courtroom here Monday as a group of Laotian men and a retired Army officer who served during the Vietnam War were accused of raising thousands of dollars to mount a coup to overthrow the communist government of Laos.

A prominent Laotian exile leader enlisted by the CIA to fight the communists during the war was among the 10 men accused of violating the federal Neutrality Act by lining up mercenary forces and trying to buy high-powered military equipment for an insurrection against the Laotian government.

The equipment, some of which had already been purchased, included shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and land mines, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

The arsenal was to be used against both military and civilian officials of Laos, including an attack on the nation's capital intended to reduce government targets to rubble, federal authorities said.

The men were arrested in raids across the state Monday after the operation was infiltrated by an undercover agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to a criminal complaint filled with references to safe houses, wiretaps and CIA secrets.

"The enormity of the crimes is beyond anything I've encountered," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Twiss told U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Mueller during a court hearing. "The defendants conspired to murder thousands of people."

The case is an explosive one for the estimated 65,000 ethnic Hmong in California, because of the arrest of 77-year-old Vang Pao of Westminster (Orange County), perhaps the most prominent Hmong exile in the country.

Pao was a general under the former Laotian government who came to the United States in 1975. He led Hmong tribesmen during the Vietnam War, when members of the ethnic group were recruited and trained by the CIA to fight communist forces.

The criminal complaint identifies him as the head of the Neo Hom, a movement opposing the Laotian government.

Also arrested was Harrison Ulrich Jack, 60, of Woodland (Yolo County), described by the government as a former Army officer who was stationed for a time in Southeast Asia before leaving active duty in 1977.

He later served in the California National Guard and retired as a lieutenant colonel, the complaint says.

The complaint says Jack was hired by the other men, who are of Hmong ancestry, because of his "contacts in the American defense, homeland security and defense contractor community."

Jack has been an adjunct professor with Golden Gate University for 15 years. Yolo County officials say they hired him in March as an ombudsman to help county employees with workplace issues.

Eight of the 10 men who were arrested appeared in court Monday.

Pao, wearing heavy dark glasses, sat quietly until acknowledging acceptance of his court-appointed attorney.

At one point, Jack turned and winked at his wife in the audience.

All the men are being held without bail and are due back in court today. None has been charged. Federal prosecutors have 10 days to file charges or obtain a grand jury indictment.

Attorneys for Jack and Pao declined to comment Monday.

Mark Reichel, a Sacramento attorney appointed to represent Lo Cha Thao, a 34-year-old Clovis resident who did not appear in court, said he had not yet spoken to his client but had some initial concerns about the case.

"Most people in their lifetime never have to suffer the way these people suffered in their homeland," Reichel said. "It may be the case that they have thoughts of returning, and it may also be the case that law enforcement pushed them further than they would have gone just with their own feelings."

Other defendants include Lo Thao, 53, of Stockton, president of the nonprofit United Hmong International; Youa True Vang, 60, of Sanger (Fresno County), founder of a group called Hmong International New Year; and Hue Vang, 39, a police officer in Clovis from 1989 to 1999 who directs the Fresno-based United Lao Council for Peace, Freedom and Reconstruction.

Also arrested were Chong Yang Thao, 53, of Fresno; Seng Vue, 68, of Fresno; Chue Lo, 59, of Stockton; and Nhia Kao Vang, 48, of Rancho Cordova.

The criminal complaint included an account from the unidentified federal undercover agent, who wrote that seven of the men had formed a committee to look at the possibility of overthrowing the Laotian government while operating within the "general scope" of Pao's Neo Hom movement.

The agent said he had been tipped off by a defense contractor who had spoken to Jack about weapons.

The men allegedly raised money to buy AK-47s and other automatic weapons, Stinger missiles, anti-tank rockets, Claymore mines, C-4 explosives, ammunition, night-vision goggles and other equipment.

As of last month, the group had agents in the Laotian capital of Vientiane and had drawn up plans for a military strike there, the complaint says.

"The defendants have issued instructions that the mercenary force is to destroy ... government facilities, to reduce them to rubble, and make them look like the results of the attack upon the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001," the complaint says.

The undercover agent said he first spoke with Jack in late January. On Feb. 7, he said, he had a face-to-face meeting with Jack, Pao and 10 others at a Sacramento restaurant, where the subject was the purchase of weapons.

The agent said he was shown "several maps of Laos, showing locations purported to be Lao government military positions and insurgent forces positions." The agent also said he allowed the men to inspect samples of weapons, including AK-47s, rockets and mines.

During one conversation, the agent wrote, Jack quoted Lo Cha Thao as saying that "the CIA was preparing to assist the Hmong insurgency once the takeover of Laos had begun."

On Feb. 15, the complaint says, Jack told the agent he had met with nearly two dozen of his clients and had budgeted for the purchase of weapons.

"The cost of the entire list which had been provided was approximately $9.8 million," the complaint says.

The men had paid $100,000 for an initial installment of 125 machine guns, 20,000 rounds of ammunition and smoke grenades that were to be delivered June 12 to a safe house in Bangkok, the complaint says. A second installment of weapons, including Stinger missiles, was to be delivered to a remote location in Thailand on June 19, the complaint says.

McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for the eastern district of California, noted that while the United States and Laotian communists were once enemies, the two governments now have normal relations.

"This the legitimate government of Laos," he said. "It is a country with which we are at peace, and our laws say that you cannot do what these men attempted to do."

Jack's neighbors were stunned upon hearing the news about his arrest.

"I would say it's shocking to say the least, especially in a small town like Woodland. ... This just seems too Tom Clancy-ish to me," said Ryan Hermle, 30.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c.../06/05/PLOT.TMP

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

[ColPyat]

"The enormity of the crimes is beyond anything I've encountered," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Twiss told U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Mueller during a court hearing. "The defendants conspired to murder thousands of people."

I do hope we stop seeing now the regular romantically skewed comments on the Hmong insurgents in Laos. They are as much responsible for the present plight of their people as the Laotian government is.

I am glad that the US has arrested these people. Finally these activities seem not to be silently supported anymore.

[Prakanong]

Next they will be asking tony Po to lead it - oops he is dead.

[darkside]

i see this has been re-opened, anyway i think how it could be considered Thai related is that if there were an insurgency in Laos, there is a very strong possibility it would spill over the border or Thailand could face a refugee crisis.

[lannarebirth]

"The enormity of the crimes is beyond anything I've encountered," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Twiss told U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Mueller during a court hearing. "The defendants conspired to murder thousands of people."

I do hope we stop seeing now the regular romantically skewed comments on the Hmong insurgents in Laos. They are as much responsible for the present plight of their people as the Laotian government is.

I am glad that the US has arrested these people. Finally these activities seem not to be silently supported anymore.

What you see here are old warriors seeking to regain glory and power lost.

Early in my new life here in Thailand, I was involved with lobbying for the cause of the Lao Hmong. Specifically those registered refugees housed at Wat Tham Krabok. This experience put me in close contact with Hmong leaders from here and abroad. It didn't take long to reaize the true aims of the Lao Hmong are to create an insurgency in Lao, primarily for the purposes of carving out an "autonomous economic zone". All these meetings, which included many old CIA/Air America types, centered around raising cash for weapons for insurgency. There were a few true believers amongst them, but I had the impression the entire excercise was in order to find a rich sponsor, such as the US govt, to fleece. The whole experience was disenchanting to say the least, and I moved on quickly to other pursuits.

Anyway, where it's Thai related is, I would expect to hear of more arrests forthcoming, probably here in Thailand.

Edited June 5, 2007 by lannarebirth

[A_Traveller]

Have to agree here, I can see this being used for a 'crackdown' on the refugees. Inevitably this will hit those who are least able to protect themselves the hardest. The 'community leaders' are, as has been noted above, a curious mix, and it would not surprise me at all to see some being questioned.

Regards

[cclub75]

Oh my god.

When do these people realize that the war is over? I cannot stand those insurgencies - nobody gains, and it makes life or normal people intolerable. Expect a new round of persecution of Hmong in Laos.

Sure. We should have said the same in 1940 : "the war is over. So why bother ?"

It's not an insurgency. It's simply "resistance" against a gvt of killers, mafioso style with a touch of stalinism, who continue to hunt down Hmong people, even now.

However, I agree with you, the war is over, indeed. The US have had already betrayed and abandoned Hmong and freedom fighthers (useless tools, and rather embarassing, after the pull back from Vietnam in 70's).

So, it's just another betrayal.

There will be probably other.

It's a shame.

Edited June 5, 2007 by cclub75

[sceadugenga]

hmmmm carrying a US Passport I think I'll skip Laos for awhile

Don't worry about it, sound's as though the Lao are quite pleased with the US action.

[toptuan]

The plight of the Hmong is a sad one.

They are people without a country, and have been so, for over 100 years. From China to Burma to Vietnam to Laos and to Thailand--constantly and brutally repressed or hunted as an outcast minority by the all the governments named above. The conditions in the Hmong refugee camps in Thailand, especially Petchaburi, were akin to concentration camps from the 70's to the 90's. I have an American friend who served there for 17 years with a relief organization, and my information comes through him as well as personal Hmong friends who lived there. The barbed wire, the guard towers with soldiers that shot, on sight, anyone who got close to the perimeter fences--it's all reminiscent of the worst of human history.

My Hmong students, to whom I taught English in the USA, had been hunted like animals by Lao soldiers as they trekked through deep jungles to try to escape the murdering and brutality. Eating whatever they could find, including grass, on the way, many of their friends and family starved to death, and others arrived in Thailand looking like living skeletons.

In Laos, the repression goes on, and it is horrific, bordering on genocidal. This is not simply the case of a power-hungry terrorist band who chooses to wage a "jihaad" for establishing a theocracy or to gain their 27 virgins at death (to reference a current terrorist stereotype), but it is a fight for survival of a culture and people who are being systematically exterminated by actions of the current Lao regime.

I don't condone what the accused have been arrested for in the USA, violating the Neutrality Laws of the country, but I felt this post had to be written to remind the posters that every story has two sides.

The better route has been taken by USA citizens of Hmong descent who regularly lobby the USA government, providing a vital link of information and a voice for the oppressed Hmong groups of SE Asia. They are also actively involved as senators** and congressmen of the State of Minnesota, and are becoming agents of change in the government's views of Hmong minority issues (domestic and international).

Some forums and websites of interest, exploring the other side of the Hmong story...

**Google "senator Mee Moua"

http://www.hmongtoday.com/

Asia's Finest Discussion Forum, Lao Chat

http://forums.hmoob.com/

Hearings of the USA Committee of Ways and Means

Edited June 5, 2007 by toptuan

[lannarebirth]

Oh my god.

When do these people realize that the war is over? I cannot stand those insurgencies - nobody gains, and it makes life or normal people intolerable. Expect a new round of persecution of Hmong in Laos.

Sure. We should have said the same in 1940 : "the war is over. So why bother ?"

It's not an insurgency. It's simply "resistance" against a gvt of killers, mafioso style with a touch of stalinism, who continue to hunt down Hmong people, even now.

However, I agree with you, the war is over, indeed. The US have had already betrayed and abandoned Hmong and freedom fighthers (useless tools, and rather embarassing, after the pull back from Vietnam in 70's).

So, it's just another betrayal.

There will be probably other.

It's a shame.

Hardly a word of truth in here.

While it's true that Lao Hmong continue to be persecuted in Laos. it has nothing to do with America or the war. They are persecuted because of their birth rate in comparison to the Lao people and many refuse to "come in" to become Village people" and become "Lao" as the Lao PDR would wish. The operations of would be insurgency groups are separate from this, as their aim is to seek economic influence in Lao through gaining their own autonomous state. Their aims put the lives of remaining Lao mong further at risk. America has taken in The Lao Hming of the Vietnam War period and their offspring and their offsprings offspring. If they didn't take more it's because the IOM and UNHCR didn't see fit to register more as legitimate refugees.

I will say this however. It is true the US has betrayed and abandoned the Vietnamese Montagnard people, who were their allies during the war. This betrayal can be put down to the efforts of one man, Senator John Kerry, who blocked proposals which were unanimously supported in the US Congress, which would have aided them. It's mystery to me why he did this, but there was internet talk that his family made a lot of money in Vietnamese commercial ventures. You can Google it if you wish to know more.

[Travel2003]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-06/...ent_6199121.htm

The group allegedly discussed an initial 100,000-dollar purchase of weapons and is accused of creating an operational plan for an armed insurgency to overthrow the Laos government.

100 000?

And in the US?

Hmm, how stupid are these guys?

Even though we know US is a major weapons producer/exporter, there are other cheaper sources.

Key words as prices, local law enforcement (infiltration), and logistics should play a big part of any (dodgy) operation.

Seems very amateurish.

[toptuan]

While it's true that Lao Hmong continue to be persecuted in Laos. it has nothing to do with America or the war. They are persecuted because of their birth rate in comparison to the Lao people and many refuse to "come in" to become Village people" and become "Lao" as the Lao PDR would wish. The operations of would be insurgency groups are separate from this, as their aim is to seek economic influence in Lao through gaining their own autonomous state....

Probably the biggest reason that the Hmong have suffered from Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Thai and Lao governments is in bold in the above poster's excellent summary.

Somehow, the Hmong have been able to resist assimilation into their host cultures for centuries. As you can imagine, it earns the ire and distrust of the host culture--thus bringing oppression down upon their heads. Even in the USA, the great "melting pot," the Hmong have been one of the slowest immigrant groups to "melt." The conflict between Mid-west farmers and hunters who've come up against Hmong traditional practices has literally involved life-and-death struggles. One has to admire their ability to hold on to their culture, despite the fact that it is the source of most of their woes in all of their host countries.

Edited June 5, 2007 by toptuan

[ColPyat]

Oh my god.

When do these people realize that the war is over? I cannot stand those insurgencies - nobody gains, and it makes life or normal people intolerable. Expect a new round of persecution of Hmong in Laos.

Sure. We should have said the same in 1940 : "the war is over. So why bother ?"

It's not an insurgency. It's simply "resistance" against a gvt of killers, mafioso style with a touch of stalinism, who continue to hunt down Hmong people, even now.

However, I agree with you, the war is over, indeed. The US have had already betrayed and abandoned Hmong and freedom fighthers (useless tools, and rather embarassing, after the pull back from Vietnam in 70's).

So, it's just another betrayal.

There will be probably other.

It's a shame.

There is nothing romantic about the Hmong insurgency. In lack of strength and proper leadership they lay bombs in populated markets and ambush civilian transport, and engage in protection rackets. I had once the opportunity to watch promotion videos of their activities trying to get funding from some very shady organisations - it was horrific.

I can only emphasize with lannarebirth's posts here - the closer you get to these sort of insurgencies, the uglier it gets. And one comes away with the sad impression that these groups are no better than the governments they are fighting against.

[jaiyenjohn]

Thought this might be of interest, as they were arranging to ship the arms through Bangkok and onto the Lao Border.

An Ex Hmong General and CIA operative has been busted in the USA for a fairly involved plot to overthrow the Lao Government.

He's been arrested along with many others and charged with violating the federal neutrality act.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/206120.html

JYJ

[richard10365]

They should take him to a holding cell in Cuba and hold him as an international terrorist.

[Jai Dee]

Duplicate topics merged.

[Jai Dee]

OVERTHROW PLOT

Laos lauds US move to stop coup

Welcomes prosecution of Gen Vang Pao, eight others allegedly planning to oust Vientiane's communist rulers

Laos yesterday welcomed US action against high-profile dissident Hmong lea-der Vang Pao and eight other Hmong who have been arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the communist government in Vientiane.

"We praise the US government as this group committed wrongdoing against the Lao government, which has good relations with the US," Laos' Foreign Ministry spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy told The Nation yesterday.

Yong was in Bangkok on a one-day visit to meet with senior military officers at the Supreme Command to discuss the arrest of the exiled Hmong leader, as well as border security issues.

Vang Pao, 77, a former general in the Royal Lao Army, helped the US Central Intelli-gence Agency in the "secret war" against the communist Pathet Lao before the fall of Vientiane in 1975. He was resettled in the US later in 1975 after fleeing to Thailand.

Vang Pao and eight others were charged in a US federal court yesterday.

Also charged was former California National Guardsman Lt Col Harrison Ulrich Jack, a 1968 West Point military academy graduate who was involved in covert operations during the Vietnam War. Jack acted as an arms broker and organiser in the plot, according to a criminal complaint filed in the US District Court.

"We're looking at conspiracy to murder thousands and thousands of people at one time," Assistant US Attorney Bob Twiss said in federal court on Monday. He said thousands of co-conspirators remained at large.

The criminal complaint said Vang Pao and the other Hmong defendants formed a committee "to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a military expedition or enterprise to engage in the overthrow of the existing government of Laos by violent means including murder, assaults on both military and civilian officials of Laos and destruction of buildings and property".

As recently as May, people acting on behalf of the committee were gathering intelligence about military installations and government buildings in the Lao capital of Vientiane, accor-ding to prosecutors.

Since January, the Hmong leaders and Jack had inspected shipments of military equipment that were to be purchased and shipped to Thailand on June 12 and 19, the complaint alleged.

During a news conference after the defendants' court appearance, prosecutors displayed photographs of the equipment and weapons in-volved in the alleged plot. They showed a light anti-tank rocket system, a Stinger missile, Claymore mines and an AK-47 assault rifle.

The defendants also attempted to recruit a mercenary force that included former members of the US Special Forces.

US magistrate Judge Kim-berly J Mueller ordered all nine defendants to be held in custody until separate hearings later this week.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the Thai government "acknowledged" the charges against Vang Pao and his associates and added that Thai security agencies would investigate whether any arms smuggling via Thailand to Laos was planned.

"Thailand has a clear policy not to allow any party to use our territory as a launching pad against our neighbours," Tharit said.

Thailand currently shelters about 7,800 Hmong, some of whom claim they are descendants or close associates of the CIA's "secret" fighters in the Lao theatre of the Vietnam conflict, or those who fled from Laos after the war. Many Hmong in Thailand say they also hope to resettle in third countries.

About 3,000 destitute Hmong - a handful of whom may be lightly armed - are said to be on the run in the mountainous jungles of northern Laos amid an ongoing assault by government soldiers. The Lao government dismisses reports about the group.

Yong, a spokesman for the Hmong in Thailand, said his people were the "victims of trafficking syndicates". There were no active dissident groups in Laos, he said.

"The arrest of Vang Pao and his group might not have a direct impact on Laos, as we have nothing to do with them, but it is good news for the Hmong because traffickers will no longer have an excuse to lure [them] to Thailand to seek resettlement in the US with Vang Pao," Yong said.

The two countries [Thailand and Laos] shared a "common agreement" to deport the Hmong in Thailand to Laos, Yong said.

Vang Pao went to the United States in 1975 and has been credited by thousands of Hmong refugees with helping them build new lives in the US.

In April a dispute erupted in Madison, Wisconsin over a proposal to name a new elementary school after him. The move was intended to recognise the area's large Hmong population but dissenters said a school should not bear the name of a figure with such a violent history.

In 2002 the city of Madison dropped a plan to name a park in Vang Pao's honour after a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor cited numerous published sources alleging that Vang Pao had ordered executions of his own followers, of enemy prisoners of war and of his political enemies. A spokesman for Vang Pao and his followers denied the charges at the time.

Source: The Nation - 06 June 2007

[mrt273nva]

so 9 people were going to stage a coup? sounds a bit difficult. it was probably a bunch of friend sitting around getting drunk and talking out of their asses. the intrusive US government with their 'homeland security' was probably sitting under the table listening to the drunken rants and thought 'holy smokes batman... their is going to be a coup'

[jayjayjayjay]

" the federal Neutrality Act"

Pick me up off the floor!!!!!!! The US have one!!!!!!!!!

[RedQualia]

Perhaps this should be in the Thailand News Clippings forum. I can't post there. Should it more properly belong in some other forum, I trust that it will be moved there...

http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/205438.html (and more articles at www.sacbee.com - Sacramento, CA)

Ten charged with plotting to overthrow Laos government

By Denny Walsh and Ryan Lillis - Bee Staff Writers

Last Updated 3:48 pm PDT Monday, June 4, 2007

Ten men -- including a prominent Hmong general who commanded the CIA's army fighting communists during the Vietnam War -- were charged in federal court in Sacramento on Monday with plotting to overthrow the government of Laos.

The men, including Harrison Ulrich Jack, a 1968 graduate of West Point who now lives in Woodland and operates a consulting firm, allegedly conspired to to obtain hundreds of AK-47s, Stinger missiles, anti-tank missiles, mines, rockets and C-4 explosive, as well as smoke grenades, to overthrow the Laotian government.

The charges stem from a six-month investigation, dubbed "Operation Tarnished Eagle," that included a series of meetings with undercover federal agents during which the plotters allegedly discussed moving weapons into safe houses in Thailand and Laos.

The defendants include Vang Pao, who is considered among the most respected Hmong leaders in the United States and who has vowed for more than 20 years to lead his followers back to Laos.

Pao, who splits his time between homes in Minnesota and the Fresno area, is accused with the eight others of violating the United States' neutrality act by plotting on American soil to invade a foreign country.

Jack, a former American infantry officer who retired in 1977 as a lieutenant colonel in the California National Guard, allegedly approached defense contractors seeking munitions for the plot, according to a criminal complaint unsealed a short time ago, and some of the suspects sought out former Army Special Forces and Navy Seal veterans to serve as mercenaries.

Jack allegedly took part in the plot at the same time he was being appointed as Yolo County's ombudsman, a $90-an-hour post designed to help county employees who are having problems with their supervisors. That appointment was announced March 22 and noted that Jack had recently "established the Hmong Emergency Relief Organization (HERO), a nonprofit organization committed to support of the Hmong community here and abroad."

The complaint charges that since January the suspects have inspected a wide variety of weapons, including AK-47s, Stinger missiles and Claymore mines. The group allegedly purchased "an initial installment of 125 AK-47 machine guns, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and crates of smoke grenades for a purchase price of $100,000, to be delivered in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 12, 2007," the complaint says.

A $50,000 payment was to be made June 11, with the balance to be handed over the next day, when the weapons were to be received, the complaint says. A third payment of $50,000 was to cover the purchase of some Stinger missiles, the government contends.

Jack allegedly met and spoke with an undercover federal agent several times to discuss weapons procurement, and had budgeted $9.8 million for the desired munitions, the complaint alleges. The money was to come from "contributions from community leaders through the clan leadership," the complaint says.

Various discussions of the plot allegedly took place at Sacramento-area bars and restaurants, Doubletree and Hilton hotels in Sacramento and the parking lot of a K-Mart near Highway 99 in Stockton, the complaint says.

In May, the complaint says, the suspects had "intelligence operatives" in place in Vientiane, Laos, "conducting surveillance of military and government facilities in downtown Vientiane."

The suspects also "issued an operations plan to a contractor to conduct a military strike in downtown Vientiane," the complaint says, "against specifically identified military and civilian government personnel and buildings."

The suspects told their mercenary force "to reduce (the targets) to rubble, and make them look like the results of the attack upon the World Trace Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001," the complaint says.

McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District based in Sacramento, is scheduled to discuss the case at a 3 p.m. press conference today with Michael J. Sullivan, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drew Parenti, special agent in charge of Sacramento's FBI office.

[Jai Dee]

Perhaps this should be in the Thailand News Clippings forum. I can't post there. Should it more properly belong in some other forum, I trust that it will be moved there...

Good idea.

/Moved.

[jomama]

Next they will be asking tony Po to lead it - oops he is dead.

The young bucks here won't know who Tony ("Tony Po") Poshepny was -- a CIA wild man who "helped" with the H'mong "resistance" in Laos during the Vietnam War period.

You'd have to be a wild man to live with the H'mong. Do a google search if you're interested. Fascinating character.

[ColPyat]

Next they will be asking tony Po to lead it - oops he is dead.

The young bucks here won't know who Tony ("Tony Po") Poshepny was -- a CIA wild man who "helped" with the H'mong "resistance" in Laos during the Vietnam War period.

You'd have to be a wild man to live with the H'mong. Do a google search if you're interested. Fascinating character.

Fascinating definitely, but in a somewhat horrid way.

[jomama]

Then there was another CIA character -- "Bull" somebody I think -- who moved with Vang Pao to Montana right after the war. As I recall "Bull" (I can't remember if that's his correct nickname or not) was from Montana where Vang Pao first settled in the U.S. because of him.

His nickname could have been "Daug" or "Dog".

At any rate he died mysteriously in Bangkok about 10 years ago in his hotel room. People wondered what he was up to back in SE Asia