The State Department's favorite conspiracy theorist is back and this time he's pointing fingers at President Bush (and his sidekick the military-industrial complex, of course).
John Perkins last best-selling book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, earned the ire of the agency, which devoted a whole section of its website to debunking the author's various theories about global corruption. Now Perkins is about to debut his new one, The Secret History of the American Empire. In it, he takes aim at corporate globalization and lobs a few more bombs. Among them:
• George W. Bush's cocaine habit and womanizing ways caused the invasion of Panama in 1989. According to the book, Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega installed cameras on Contadora Island, which was a safe haven where American politicians and businessmen could schmooze with, and bribe, Latin American politicos. There were "rumors that George W. was photographed doing coke and having kinky sex during the time his father was president," Jose, a top adviser to Brazilian president Lula da Silva, tells Perkins. "There was a theory in Latin America that Noriega had used incriminating photos of the younger Bush and his cronies to convince the older Bush, then president, to side with the Panamanian administration on key issues. In retaliation, H.W. invaded Panama and hustled Noriega off to a Miami prison. The building housing Noriega's confidential files had been incinerated by bombs."