American mercenary coup attempt in Laos?

The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that several Americans have been arrested for plotting a coup against the government of Laos, had purchased weapons and ammunition and were trying to get Stinger missiles.

Nine California residents, including a retired California National Guard lieutenant colonel and a former Laotian general, were arrested this morning and accused of conspiring to overthrow the government of Laos, court records obtained by The Chronicle show.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives filed a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Sacramento alleging that the men violated the federal Neutrality Act by raising money to buy military equipment including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, machine guns and other high-powered weaponry that was to be used against "both military and civilian officials of Laos."

Sounds like Forsyth's "Dogs of War", doesn't it? Or a classic 19th century filibustering expedition. I'm glad that even under this incompetent regime the BATF hears about attempts to buy Stingers.

Unlike the recent domestic "terrorism" threats, where people were arrested for not much more than big talk, this group actually HAD weapons and money.

Also arrested was Vang Pao of Westminster (Orange County), a general under the former Laotian government who came to the United States in 1975. The complaint identifies him as the head of the Neo Hom, a movement opposing the Laotian government...The defendants allegedly had already bought 125 AK-47s, 20,000 rounds of ammunition

But I can't believe this was a serious plot; Laos may be small and poor but its army could certainly handle 125 rebels. Not much is said about what connections and support the troublemakers might have had in Laos; did the ex-General really think he could take over? I'm not sure why neither the court nor the news story calls these guys "terrorists".

•  Here's the answer to your question

  I'm not sure why neither the court nor the news story calls these guys "terrorists".

  Because Laos' official name is the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

  by Crisis Corps Volunteer on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 03:37:19 PM PDT

•  Reminds of that business with Thatcher,

  son of the infamous prime minister, when he was implicated in 2004 in a penny-ante coup attempt (which could nonetheless have had serious consequences).  Mark Thatcher denies coup charges

  by lgmcp on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 03:38:22 PM PDT

  •  Some French and American...

    ...mercenaries had a plot to take of over the nation of Dominica in 1981. It was a really odd mix of weirdos who were in on the plot.

    The whole thing was uncovered before they had a chance to carry out the invasion though.

    The Dominca Story

    The bizarre story which emerged out of the events between March and June 1981 pointed to the launching of a coup attempt involving the Defence Force and other local recruits including a group of dreads, notable those led by Leroy Ettienne, and American and Caribbean mercenaries. Among the mercenaries were members of the racist Klu Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups aided by US$10,000 in donations from an unidentified underworld leader who wanted to use the island as a base for drug trafficking and international fraud.

    That invasion threat ended on 27 April when United States Federal agents, operating on tips from a charter boat owner and the Ontario provincial police, arrested two Canadians and eight Americans near New Orleans as they prepared to set sail for Dominica with ammunition, arms landing craft and supplies.

    Code named operation Red Dog, the invasion was designed, according to US leader of the group Michael Perdue, to oust Prime Minister Charles and to install Patrick John. He would have acted as ruler and in turn have named mercenaries and their backers to important posts. But unknown to the plotters, the matter had been leaked to the Ontario police who passed the words to superiors and American investigators. The boat owners Michael Howell, meanwhile, had alerted agents of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tax and Firearms that he had been detained by men who said they worked for the CIA.

    by Rex Manning on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 09:12:28 PM PDT

•  oh yeah - tips?

  by esquimaux on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 03:41:21 PM PDT

  •  Excellent diary

    As the proprietor of Never In Our Names (NION), I'd be honored if you'd consider crossposting. Would love to have this story on our front page.

    by Rippen Kitten on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:07:03 PM PDT

    •  wow

      thank you! I'm not currently registered there, you may post it for me.

      by esquimaux on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:14:57 PM PDT

      •  Thank you so much

        I hope you'll consider registering, so you can respond to comments at least, but I'll be happy to post it with your permission later this evening. Keep up the great work.

        by Rippen Kitten on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:16:23 PM PDT

    •  Yes, on the front page definitely!

      Then juxtaposed with a profile of companies like Blackwater so people can connect some dots for themselves about future nightmares when they see what large personnel these companies have, what weapons they get hired to use and who their clients are!!

      Because private mercenary armies will only lead to more of this!

      by coffeeinamrica on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:43:33 PM PDT

      •  Great idea

        Thanks for that, what a wonderful suggestion.

        by Rippen Kitten on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:59:59 PM PDT

  •  Here's video of

    the press conference outlining the indicments.

    by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:12:10 PM PDT

    •  More info on Vang Pao

      Here and here

      by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:26:05 PM PDT

      •  What about Regime Change?

        Wait, aren't these Laotians and their Merc friends just following the example of the US government?

        I smell hypocrisy...

        by Snakes on a White House on Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 08:09:08 AM PDT

•  This happens freuquently

  in California within the Laotian and Vietnamese exile community. I believe there was another case like this 1-2 years a go in LA/Orange County.

  by Shane Hensinger on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 03:41:34 PM PDT

  •  It's a good thing that Laos doesn't have oil

    only teak and mahogany.

    Otherwise, this administration would be tauting one of these former generals as the Ahmad Chalabi of Laos.

    by Crisis Corps Volunteer on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 03:50:11 PM PDT

•  It'll be intersting to see if W

  demands a return of the Americans involved with this.  I would think that we'd try any foriegn nationals, or maybe hold them in some sort of detention, if they made a move against our government.

  by rjones2818 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 04:09:38 PM PDT

•  I know they're many 70's era ex-military and CIA

  guys who have deep affection for Hmong people who helped us out during Vietnam. I know they feel badly that we hung them out to dry and up and left. My understanding is that many Hmong immigrated to US, in particular California. I imagine they've wanted to return to Laos ever since and need regime change to do it. Since the US government isn't going to help them, the only other way would be to hire mercenaries to do the dirty work.  

  by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 04:17:56 PM PDT

  •  An awful lot of the Hmong wound up

    in the Upper Midwest, MN and WI in particular.  I had a chance to work with some community leaders when I was in WI during the congressional race, and I didn't get the sense they were raring at the bit to go back to SE Asia.

    What I learned from multiple sources -- Hmong and non-Hmong -- is that the Hmong community is clan-based and very hierarchical.  Folks tend to do what the authority figures ask them to.  In Northeast WI, that generally means working in progressive coalitions with Democrats, labor unions, and community groups, and devoting themselves to truck farming, small business development, and economic and social assimilation into American society.  The Hmong are universally praised in WI as hardworking and honest people, even though they face substantial social barriers.

    Some of the Hmong I met were veterans of the CIA's secret war in Laos, and I believe some of them may even have had officers' rank in the war.  These same people however now feel the CIA used them as pawns, and pretty much abandoned them after the war was over.

    There's a fair amount of bitterness in the community over the struggles they had to go through to get refugee status in the US.  Most Hmong in the United States spent years in refugee camps in SE Asia, living under pretty horrendous conditions, and before their flight from Laos they had suffered pretty serious reprisals at the hands of the Laotian government.  Still, the US for a decade or more refused to let them in.

    People remember that.

    There's interest in going back to Laos, but I think the community leaders have decided that the US is the place to be.  The Hmong are very intense about getting their kids educated, and Hmong students are showing up as valedictorians and salutatorians in schools throughout the region.

    I don't think too many of them are fomenting coups in Laos.

    by litho on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:12:31 PM PDT

    •  Interesting...

      I noticed in some of the info it mentioned that Vang Pao was going to have a nursery school named after him in Wisconsin. Seems Pao also lives part time in Minnesota . It's also notable that the Hmong work for progressive causes considering many of the American boosters of the Hmong people like are ex-Air America types like the co-conspirator Harrison Ulrich Jack, who worked with them during the secret war. It would make more sense if they felt slighted and abandoned by US military establishment.

      On a different subject, if this story pans out there and there was a massive coup planned,  it's a strong indication that at least some of the Hmong wanted to return to their homeland.

      Wasn't there an incident involving a shooting in WI by a Hmong hunter a year or so ago?

      by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:44:17 PM PDT

      •  yes

        a shooting in WI by a Hmong hunter

        too bad that's the only thing many americans will remember about the Hmong.

        If you recheck the sfgate story, it has been updated with more info including the names of all the men. One has a Wisconsin connection. Most are from the Fresno area, which I think is where most Hmong in California settled.

        by esquimaux on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 05:55:47 PM PDT

        •  The Only reason

          I mention the shooting is in response to Litho's comment.

          The Hmong are universally praised in WI as hardworking and honest people, even though they face substantial social barriers.

          My understanding of the hunting indicident was that it occured as a result of racial tension between Hmong people and local WI residents.

          I've got nothing against the Hmong, sorry if my comments seem to be anti-Hmong. Although I do have to say that this Vang Pao character seems to have a shady past (drug running, etc.)

          by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:17:04 PM PDT

          •  I hadn't thought so

            I hadn't taken anything here as anti-Hmong, nor meant any of my comments that way. My point was that this is a little-talked about group and mostly the bad news gets reported.
            Thanks for your very substantive comments; I will go read about Vang Pao.

            by esquimaux on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:45:06 PM PDT

            •  Cool...

              I guess I just felt like bringing up the hunter incident could be misconstrued as negative or bigoted. True, there are few positive stories these days about Hmong or other political exile communities for that matter. Thanks for interesting diary! I will continue to follow the story. It's a fascinating one.

              by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:56:21 PM PDT

        •  Yes, true.

          The Hmong predominantly settled in the agricultural areas of California, Modesto to Bakersfield.  They had been largely considered quiet, hardworking citizens, have very close family and cultural/tribal ties.

          As noted, they were granted citizenship as thanks for their help to us in Vietnam.

          Unfortunately, as so often happens, subsequent generations have picked up a lot of our worst habits in the West.  Not surprising considering how the cultural fabrig gets torn apart and parents are not familiar enough with our lurking dangers and don't speak )didn't speak) English, furthering their deficit of information and ability to bond and communicate with their teen children.

          Communities began seeing drug abuse, gangs and other problems among the Hmong communities, where in their native environment, such things were unheard of!

          Similar to what a friend had told me many years ago regarding her Mexican heritage and culture in that gang activity and other problems were more likely things that happened to her countrymen after they crossed to el norte.

          Anecdotally, the friend was appalled when she learned that it is common here in the states to put elderly family members into a nursing home! She said that would never happen among the people she knew in Mexico - always at home with the family, no matter what sacrifice had to be made.

          by coffeeinamrica on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 07:01:36 PM PDT

•  A-Ha! You beat me to it esquimaux!!

  I just read that headline about the Laos coup story and logged on to blog!  

  Before even reading the article I thought to myself, see, an example of what happens when you have world wide armed militias, such as Blackwater, running around the globe, independent of governments, encouraged by our own, and motivated by profit with no moral filter.

  So we'll see who is ultimately behind this, but it should be a vivid, frightening cautionary tale for everyone!!

  Good job on the diary ;-)

  by coffeeinamrica on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:40:34 PM PDT

  •  thanks!

    by esquimaux on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 06:47:07 PM PDT

    •  Oh and hope you don't mind,

      but I linked you on the latest open thread ;-)

      by coffeeinamrica on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 07:05:32 PM PDT

•  Actually...

  "Sounds like Forsyth's "Dogs of War", doesn't it? Or a classic 19th century filibustering expedition."

  Actually, what this reminds me of is a certain magazine (three guesses which one and the first two don't count) in the 1980s encouraging American mercenaries to go to Central America and train guerrillas trying to overthrow the Nicaraguan government while the Reagan administration looked the other way.

  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

  by canyonrat on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 07:12:22 PM PDT

  •  I believe....

    Soldier of Fortune is what you're looking for. Do I get a prize?

    by Mahler3 on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 07:29:20 PM PDT

    •  ding ding ding ding

      Yep, that's the one

      by canyonrat on Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 07:35:39 PM PDT

•  Why not terrorist

  Because for some reason Laos is one of only three countries (Cuba & North Korea) without normal trade relations with the US.

  Maybe because the government is Communist and there are a lot of Christians among the Hmong opposition.

  It's funny listening to descriptions of the Lao government as a soviet-style dictatorship. It probably has the weakest government in SE Asia (after East Timor). So I wouldn't be at all surprised if these jokers could have pulled off a coup. A band of teenagers with firecrackers could probably do it!

  Of course they'd have to reckon with the Chinese soon after that. They're building damns like mad there, and I'm sure they like having a weak Communist government around.

  Nice country though. Did a bicycle trip through the southern half into Cambodia a few months ago.

  by goneblank on Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 03:36:43 AM PDT