For those who don't know, Robert Parry had a big hand in documenting the crimes around Iran-Contra, and is, in my opinion, one of the most substantial reporters, as well as one of the best writers, we have.
He's gone into, no bones about it, the criminal activities of the Rev. Moon and the Republicans who profit from him. Including Bush:
From petty local scams to international money-laundering, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s political/media/business/religious empire has all the looks of a global "ongoing criminal enterprise," albeit one with enough powerful friends in Washington to protect it from serious consequences.
Parry details a fishing scam, poaching baby leopard sharks, which were then sold to private buyers.
Despite the evidence of these close Moon connections to the illegal scheme, the Bush administration reached a "non-prosecution" agreement with Moon’s church in which it agreed to pay $500,000 to help restore the damaged habitat. (While U.S. Attorney Kevin V. Ryan was deliberating this case, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales demanded his resignation as one of nine U.S. attorneys to be replaced by Bush political loyalists.)
He cites this poaching skim as part of a massive pattern of small-scale schemes, not forgetting that
Bigger-ticket items, like the Washington Times, rely on smuggling vast sums of money from overseas, according to former church insiders, including Nansook Hong, Moon’s ex-daughter-in-law.
In both Asia and South America, Moon’s operations have been linked to major crime syndicates including the Japanese yakuza and Latin American cocaine cartels.
I don't want to run afoul of copyright so not many more quotes. It's a very long article, and Parry goes on to detail Moon's involvement with fascist organizations, right wing dictators (including big buck donations to Paraguay's leader--Paraguay strike any bells here), and South America's largest drug-dealers. This last is interesting when you reflect that
...Moon’s organization also used its political clout in Washington to intimidate or discredit government officials and journalists who tried to investigate Moon-connected criminal activities. ....when journalists and congressional investigators began probing the evidence of contra-drug trafficking, they came under attacks from Moon’s Washington Times. ...
This included heavy assaults on Sen John Kerry's investigations into Iran-Contra drug-dealing, which, in the normal course of events, would have led to George Bush Sr's drug world ties.
Well, all this is about 1/3 through the article. The rest covers
Over the past quarter century – as Moon invested in prominent Republicans – this pattern of government disinterest in his illicit operations remained one consistency.
That disinterest wasn’t even shaken when disenchanted Moon insiders went public with confessions of their own first-hand involvement in criminal conspiracies.
For instance, Moon’s former daughter-in-law, Nansook Hong...
made specific charges of money-laundering, backed up by many former cult-members (she wrote a great book from the inside of the cult). Parry goes into how Bush Sr (through nearly $10 million in speaker fees) and Jr (through his library), as well as Jerry Falwell, Republican operative Richard Viguerie, and the American right in general have benefitted from literally billions of dollars in Moon cash, most of it laundered coming in and going out.
Parry also reminds us that the Washington Times, which pretends to be a newspaper, has had a long history of assaulting the integrity and the sanity of Democratic candidates. It was this propaganda rag which started the "Obama went to radical Muslim school" lie, the Lincoln advocated hanging Congressmen lie, and many others.
There is a clear pattern of criminal activity and Republican connections that extends back for decades. I remember Moon, during Watergate, supplying Pat Buchannan with cultists who staged pro-Bush demonstrations that were reported as popular assemblies. Can't remember if Moon had gotten a pardon from Nixon or Bush subsequently. I'm perpetually driven mad by the thought that Jerry Falwell supports Moon's false-front church organizations--which are tightly allied with Falwell and most of the other Hypocrit-and-Viper Christians--knowing full well that Moon teaches that Christ was a miserable failure. This is, supposedly, why Moon has come to save us. He has stated, explicitly in his own words, to being an anti-Christ, no way around that. In '05 and '06 Moon tried to enlist many black churches to talk Republican social-issues talk. And to take down their crucifixes. Falwell acknowledges Moon's financial support with "Well the Devil's had the money long enough. Now it's God's turn." But he doesn't explain why the anti-Christ would want to keep Falwell in business. I have a theory.
The Republican leadership is not so much statesment and political leaders, as a bunch of thugs. Or am I not supposed to say that for the sake of a bi-partisanship atmosphere we'll never see?
Please read the whole article. You'll be amazed and disgusted.