From: brian@coombs.anu.edu.au (Brian)
Subject: Re: Ralph McGehee on Grenada
Organization: Computer Services Centre, Australian National University
Date: 15 Apr 92 01:58:23 GMT

mcgredo@bluto.ie.orst.edu (Don McGregor) writes:

>David Condon writes

>>Finally, when 
>>the media was allowed on the island, they rushed to the warehouse 
>>to see these Communist weapons, and they noted that there were 
>>only some Communist weapons, only half full, and many of them were 
>>American weapons.

>The weapons were almost entirely originated from the soviet bloc.  AK-47's,  
>Soviet heavy MG's, etc.

	According to the US military and the White House.

	I also find it interesting that you fail to mention that amongst the
papers discovered by the US military was a document which was an agreement
signed between the Grenadan government and the USSR that no weapon supplied
by the USSR could be removed to a third party without permission of the USSR.
Exactly the same agreement which the US forces all its clients to sign.

>>Later we came to find out that Cuba 
>>had about fifty airport workers on the island, one or two military 
>>advisors, but that was after all the information had had its 
>>effect. 

>The actual numbers were about 650 Cuban army reservists there to work on the  
>airport, and a dozen or two military advisors.  It took several days to  
>round them all up and get the last snipers flushed out.

	No, the actual numbers were;

	636 workers from the Cuban Ministry of Construction;
	17 from the Cuban Ministry of Public Health;
	12 from  "    "      "      " Education;
	6  from  "    "      "      " Agriculture;
	6  from  "    "   State Committee for Co-operation;
	5  from  "    "   Ministry of Fishing;
	3  from  "    "      "      " Basic Industry;
	3  from  "    "      "      " Culture;
	1  from  "    "   National Institute of Sport;
	1  from  "    "   Central Planning Board;
	43 from  "    "   Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR)
   (of which 22 were officers and the rest translators and service personel)
	9  from  "    "   Ministry of the Interior
	12 compromising the twin crew and guards of the Cuban AF plane which
   landed the day before the invasion;
	2  Government passengers on the plane.  One from MINFAR and the other
   from Central Committee's America's department;
	18 from the diplomatic mission, including women and children.

	Hardly the Cuban "take over" that Reagan liked to portray it, now
isn't it?

	Of the 784 mentioned, only 25 could be said to have a specific
military function (the advisors from MINFAR).

	I also note that you fail to mention that the reason why Cuban
construction workers were on the island was because they were sub-contractors
to the British construction company which had won the contract to build the
new airport!



--
Brian Ross__________________________________________________________________
	"If it is dangerous to suppose that government is always right, it
will sooner or later be awkward for public administration if most people
suppose that it is always wrong."______________________________J.K.Galbraith
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