May 19, 2008 -- SPECIAL REPORT. EXCLUSIVE TO WMR. Assassinated CIA station chief was kidnap victim in Lebanon
Roland V. Carnaby, the one-time Houston CIA station chief who was gunned down by Houston police on April 29, had been a kidnap victim of Hezbollah in Lebanon where he served in the 1980s as a clandestine CIA officer. Carnaby was fluent in Italian, French, English, and Arabic.
According to knowledgeable sources, Carnaby had been taken hostage before the kidnapping of his boss, CIA Beirut station chief William F. Buckley. Carnaby was later exchanged in a swap of prisoners between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. Buckley was not so fortunate. On March 16, 1984, Buckley was kidnapped by Hezbollah, held by Islamic Jihad, and was later tortured and executed in 1985 by his captors. Buckley's remains were found in a plastic bag in 1991 on a road to Beirut airport.
On a recent visit to Washington, DC, Carnaby visited Buckley's grave at Arlington National Cemetery and broke down in tears, according to a reliable source.
Carnaby reportedly expressed great joy at the February 13, 2008 car bombing assassination of top Hezbollah military commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus. Carnaby was aware of the means of Mugniyah's assassination, a triggering device placed in the spring cushion of Mugniyah's automobile while it was being "repaired."
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In addition to Buckley, Mugniyah was reportedly behind the kidnapping and execution of Marine Corps peacekeeper Lt. Col. William Higgins. It was Carnaby's friendship and loyalty to Buckley that prompted him to name the Houston chapter of the Association for Intelligence Officers (AFIO), headed by Carnaby at the time of his assassination, for Buckley.
Carnaby also had former CIA director George Tenet's personal telephone number in his personal phone book. Carnaby regularly dined with the former FBI Houston Assistant Special Agent-in-charge Don Clark, On the morning Carnaby was being chased by Houston police, the FBI phoned the Houston police and pleaded with them to call off the pursuit of Carnaby. According to FBI sources, the Houston police refused.
There is also reason to believe that Carnaby was tailed by police into Houston from Brazoria County. WMR has learned that the Brazoria County Sheriff's Department contacted the Houston police to inform them that Carnaby was en route to Houston from Brazoria County. The rear of Carnaby's Jeep Commander was riddled with bullet holes, an indication that he was being shot at while driving.
WMR has also learned that one of Carnaby's best friends was the late FBI counter-terrorism chief agent John P. O'Neill. O'Neill investigated a series of terrorist attacks against the United States, including the October 2000 attack on the US Cole in Aden. The US ambassador to Yemen, Barbara Bodine, later expelled O'Neill and his team from Yemen for getting too close to the real perpetrators of anti-U.S. attacks -- Saudi Arabia and Israel.
In August 2001, a few weeks before 9/11, O'Neill was put under an FBI investigation for "losing" a briefcase containing classified counter-espionage and counter-terrorism in New York City. The briefcase was stolen while O'Neill was attending a seminar in Florida. The case was returned some 90 minutes later but the incident was leaked by someone in the FBI to the media. O'Neill's friends contend he was the victim of a smear campaign, the same type of campaign now being directed against Carnaby and from the same usual suspects. O'Neill was offered and took the job as director of security for the World Trade Center. He died on September 11, 2001 while assisting people evacuating the towers.
Roland Carnaby, gunned down by Houston police, kept a laminated funeral mass card [copy above] for his close friend John O'Neill in his wallet.
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In March of this year, a Woody Allen "Zelig"-type character named Alan Premel began a sophisticated Internet operation designed to place him as a CIA colleague of Carnaby's. Not only did Premel out Carnaby as a CIA agent but he claimed to have worked with him in clandestine operations, even claiming that they wrote a book together and appeared at a book signing at a Barnes and Noble bookstore. A U.S. intelligence source said that Premel was "created to be in place until he was needed." Premel's postings about his fake CIA background first appeared on the web in January 2007. WMR has learned that Premel was fired as a FedEX driver for stealing I-Pods, has restraining orders against him by his ex-wife and a porn movie star he knew, and lives at home with his parents.
Carnaby was incensed at Premel's Internet postings. Carnaby contacted CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia and asked his colleagues, "What is this guy trying to do to me?" Carnaby was always careful about his true identity being revealed and for reasons now known by WMR. These details will not be published by WMR due to the sensitivity the disclosure of the information may have on clandestine CIA activities abroad and the danger that could be faced by covert operations personnel. However, there is a possibility that Carnaby's laptop computer files may have been compromised to a hostile foreign intelligence service when it was impounded by Houston police. The Houston police has been heavily infiltrated by Israeli intelligence agents who operate freely with the knowledge of top Houston city and police officials.
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A conservative Republican who was very close to former President George H. W. Bush, Carnaby was not shy about his feelings about Vice President Dick Cheney. He blamed Cheney for steering George W. Bush into the Iraq fiasco and told a close friend that he "feared for his country" and was worried about a U.S. war with Iran. Encountering Carnaby by surprise in a Houston restaurant, the elder Bush embraced him warmly as only old friends would do, according to a source close to the slain CIA agent. Carnaby was described as more loyal to the senior Bush than to George W. Bush. It is also known that Carnaby privately supported Ron Paul over John McCain in the GOP primary race.
A source who knew Carnaby well said the former CIA station chief "knew what was about to happen with Iran" and that he "connected all the dots and knew what was going on." Carnaby was also incensed at the forced retirement of US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral William Fallon, an opponent of U.S. military action against Iran.
Carnaby grew increasingly skittish in the weeks before his death. While at a Houston restaurant, Carnaby was approached by a man who appeared "tipsy" with an open bag used for to-go orders. He greeted Carnaby and asked how he was doing. Carnaby responded by telling him he did not know him. The man said he was sorry but Carnaby had already reached for his concealed hand gun. Following the man out of the restaurant, Carnaby discovered the man getting into a car with diplomatic plates -- plates assigned to the Israeli Consulate General in Houston, which is located in Greenway Plaza, and is the third largest Israeli consulate in the United States.
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Carnaby maintained a close relationship to Israelis in Houston and regularly spoke to Israel by phone. However, he told a colleague that he kept his close contacts with Israelis and because he believed in "keeping his friends close and his enemies closer." After his death, Carnaby has been the subject of a vicious smear campaign from web sites connected to Jewish and Israeli interests. It is also known that Carnaby was livid over the Department of Homeland Security's failure to adequately secure the Port of Houston from terrorist attacks and smuggling weapons of mass destruction.
Carnaby also told a friend that he was incensed over the treatment of the administration of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. Aziz, an Iraqi Christian, went on trial today in Baghdad. Carnaby said that Aziz's imprisonment is no way for "the government to treat one of its assets."
Asked why CIA director Michael Hayden allowed Carnaby's name to be dragged through the mud after his assassination in Houston, a US intelligence source commented, "someone is telling him [Hayden] how to run his shop." When asked who the "someone" is, the source confided that a "general only gets a fourth star if the President and Cheney say so."
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