The story continues with William Colby, a former C.I.A. Director, urging his friend John DeCamp to back down from investigating child murderers to avoid getting murdered himself.
It appears that Colby was also later murdered.
Bill Colby addresses John DeCamp:
Bill Colby
"Relax, just a moment, John," he said. "Relax, and I will tell you my own personal story. Maybe it will have some message for you.
"Last night I returned from Russia," Bill began. Our conversation was taking place shortly before the now infamous August 19, 1991 coup attempt to throw out Gorbachov, and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union as it had existed since 1917.
"Why was I in Russia?" Bill explained. “For meetings in Moscow, to try to work with other world leaders and Russian leaders, privately and quietly, so that when and if a transition of power and a change of government and economic policy occur in Russia, they occur in such a way that it avoids a war.
"I was staying at a hotel located right near Red Square which, as you know, is the most guarded, sacred spot in the Soviet Union. It was about 1:00 in the morning. I could not sleep. The next morning I was to return to the United States. Not being able to sleep, I thought I would see if it was possible to walk around and get some exercise. "I walked out of my room, expecting to be stopped by the guards or secret police. But nobody paid attention to me in the hallway. I walked on down into the hotel lobby. Nobody seemed to care.
"So, I walked out the door of the hotel, directly onto Red Square. Nobody paid attention. I stopped by Lenin's tomb. I stood a few feet away from the entrance to the Kremlin.
"Then it struck me like a ton of bricks: It was over. Here was the head of the CIA, once hated and feared by the Soviet Union, wandering unwatched and unguarded around Red Square, after spending the previous week meeting with their leaders, trying to help them save themselves from economic collapse and political revolution, which might turn into a new totalitarian dictatorship. And nobody cared. The guards did not care who I was or what I was doing.
The system had collapsed. It was over. Communism was dead. That was the happy part."
Bill went on, quietly, “But I also realized, that this walk in Red Square was going to be the only victory parade I would have, to celebrate my forty-year battle for this. There were not going to be any parades down Madison Avenue with ticker tape. This walk in Red Square was the only victory parade I was going to have."
"So, what's the message?" I asked. "What are you trying to tell me?"
"Sometimes," Bill said, "There are forces too powerful for us to whip them individually, in the time frame that we would like. We have to keep working at our goal. But we have to be sensible enough, not to risk everything and get ourselves destroyed or killed in the process.
That victory we seek may take much longer than we wanted, and come in ways we never anticipated.
"Maybe, just maybe, you have to have your own private victory parade. You maybe have to face the fact that you cannot 'right' all the 'unrightable wrongs.' That there really are people too powerful, interests too big; that the rich and the powerful, even when doing evil, can and will succeed and you can do nothing about it at that moment.
"But," Bill continued, "you do the possible, recognize the impossible, and if you are right-and you are, and we both know it–there will be a time when victory will come and the good will triumph over the evil.
there will be a time when victory will come and the good will triumph over the evil
Only the when and where and how are usually unknown to us. The best we might be able to do sometimes, is point out the truth and then step aside. That is where I think you are now. For your own safety and survival, step aside."
"Maybe I should start carrying a gun," I suggested. gave a cynical laugh and Bill said, "No, that will only likely get you killed. If they are going to get you, a gun you are carrying is not going to stop anything. The best thing you can do for your personal safety is to tell your story, and make sure you have the national press interested in this and looking into it with some really good investigative reporters."
"Huh," I muttered, “Maybe the simplest thing for me to do is to try to tell the story."
"Maybe it is," Bill said, "Besides, I myself want to fully understand what you said at the beginning about what all those prominent individuals, from President Bush to Bob Kerrey, from myself to billionaire Warren Buffett, have in common."
"Maybe I'll have to write a book, and tell you, won't I, Bill?"
Well, here it is.
To be continued . . .