Duane R Clarridge

Duane R. ``Dewey'' Clarridge was a career CIA officer whose major posts included chief of the Latin American Division, chief of the European Division, and chief of the Counterterrorism Center. He retired from the CIA in 1987 after being formally reprimanded for his role in the Iran/contra affair. According to the NYTIMES, from poolside at his home near San Diego he still runs a network of spies.Over the past two years, he has fielded operatives in the mountains of Pakistan and the desert badlands of Afghanistan. Since the United States military cut off his funding in May, he has relied on like-minded private donors to pay his agents to continue gathering information about militant fighters, Taliban leaders and the secrets of Kabul’s ruling class. As chief of the Latin American Division from 1981 to 1984, Clarridge directed CIA efforts to support the Nicaraguan contras. One of the people helping Clarridge during this period was Lt. Col. Oliver L. North of the National Security Council staff. When Congress passed the Boland Amendment and cut off all aid to the contras in October 1984, Clarridge allegedly passed off responsibility for supporting the contras to Oliver North. In 2002, Clarridge set up two U.S.-based consulting firms that offer advice to companies doing business in global hot spots such as Iraq -- Dax Resources Corp., based outside Washington near CIA headquarters, and Dax & Associates, based in San Diego, where Clarridge lives. "Dax P. LeBaron" was an alias Clarridge used at the CIA.