During World War II, Nazis raped Europe seizing everything from objects of art to the gold fillings of concentration camp victims. Systematic stripping of human life for wealth is a real side of every war. Rape occurs in many forms and current US wars highlight this as taxpayers are in the process of being stripped of over $1 trillion dollars and much more when deteriorated social uplift programs are considered. Unlike Germany’s $5 billion settlement for World War II victims announced in 2000, wealth stolen by Japan during World War II has never been returned.¹

Understanding that much of this wealth was used for secret US operations opens a window into how the combination of wealth and secrecy is still threatening America’s democracy.

Japan’s war elite once ran an efficient and ruthless operation that unfortunately is repeated by today’s US war elite.² This part of War World II history, called Golden Lily, remains classified even after a half century.³ The reason is that understanding Golden Lily illuminates how presidents since Truman have funded black-bag intelligence operations without Congressional oversight.

Golden Lily’s roots go back to at least January 18, 1932 when five Japanese intelligence agents incited Chinese in Shanghai by singing offensive songs. The outraged Chinese lynched one of the Japanese on the spot. This false-flag provocation was staged to give Japan an excuse to protect its citizens and conduct a series of “rapes” across East and Southeast Asia. The most famous Japanese “rape” occurred on June 1, 1937 with the rape of Nanking where approximately 300,000 defenseless people were slaughtered.

At about the same time as the rape of Nanking, prior Japanese plundering operations were formalized into Golden Lily. The purpose of Golden Lily was to steal treasure from twelve Asian countries. Prince Chichibu, Emperor Hirohito’s brother, founded and led the organization. To accelerate Golden Lily operations, over 35,000 kempeitai (undercover agents who wore a chrysanthemum on the underside of a lapel) were deployed throughout Asia. Detailed wealth inventories were produced by the kempeitai so that the military could quickly secure bank vaults and other high-value targets.

In 1943 the US navy successfully cut off Japan’s naval traffic from the Philippines. The devastation from US submarine torpedoes forced General Yamashita Tomoyuki to create secret treasure vaults. Vaults were constructed in the Philippines because Japan’s leadership was confident they would retain the Philippines in any post-war settlement. The vaults were intended to guarantee that if Japan lost the war militarily, it would not lose financially. In total, 175 imperial treasure vaults were constructed. To keep the operation secret, on June 1, 1945, all 175 chief vault engineers were gathered 220 feet underground and executed. General Yamashita, in a massive vault lined with gold bars, thanked the Japanese engineers before leaving for the surface. Soon after Yamashita left, dynamite explosives collapsed the access tunnels and the men were buried alive.

At that time very few people remained with the knowledge of all 175 vaults and a few of them came into US custody. In September 1945 General Yamashita, receiving official notice that the emperor surrendered, presented his sword to a group of US Army officers. Edward G. Lansdale, a future Cold War general, had recently joined the US Army because President Truman shut down the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). To preserve US intelligence assets, General William Donovan assigned former OSS personnel to the military, media, and government. Lansdale’s role is highlighted because he interrogated Yamashita’s staff and in October 1945, Major Kojima Kashii revealed over a dozen vault locations.

Lansdale briefed General MacArthur on the discovery and was sent to Washington to brief President Truman. Truman decided not to tell the American people and use the treasure to fight communism.⁴ One of the first funded operations was the US manipulation of the Italian elections in 1948. How the funds are used today to manipulate elections and fund other covert operations is highly classified.

Occasionally the CIA will appear to be revealing the “family jewels” with documents that are declassified after 30 or 40 years.⁵ The true family jewels, like Golden Lily and the US program to manage these funds called the Black Eagle Trust, remain classified over a half century later. Americans almost caught a glimpse of this program when the 106th Congress passed Public Law 106-567 on December 27, 2000.⁶ This law was to declassify World War II documents and at the last minute a loophole was added allowing the CIA to continue to withhold documents.

Today, fear and false-flag operations give the US an excuse to protect its citizens and conduct a series of “rapes” across the Middle East. On another parallel to the Golden Lily vaults, on September 11, 2001 a modern US vault was destroyed. In addition to the Twin Towers, World Trade Center Building 7 was pulverized at 5:20 p.m. which was 7 hours after the North Tower collapsed.⁷ The 47-story Building 7 is not even on the same block as the Towers and is separated by Building 6 and Vesey Street. So how does a building collapse even though it was not hit by an aircraft? My interviews in the Middle East and research confirm that Osama bin Laden is responsible for some of what happened on 9/11. At the same time even Osama bin Laden does not take credit for everything that happened that on 9/11.⁸ I am on the record that the US government magnified what happened on 9/11 and what happened at Building 7 is the smoking gun.⁹

The New York Times revealed in November 2001 that Building 7 was the location for a secret CIA office and Sensitive Compartmentalized Intelligence Facility (SCIF).¹⁰ SCIFs are where the most sensitive intelligence information is stored. These facilities are routinely swept for electronic listening devices. They may even have bullet proof windows, air filtration, and independent water supply. Operatives would routinely meet following a classified operation in a SCIF to debrief and identify loose ends to maintain program integrity. Explosives, designed to burn classified documents and equipment, are available if the facility is compromised.¹¹

Logic dictates the CIA building was destroyed for a reason. Fire alone cannot result in an all steel building falling at free-fall speed into its footprint. In a clear sign of a coverup, the 567-page 9/11 Commission Report does not explain why Building 7 collapsed. Page 305 does state some people remained in a bunker to “continue conducting operations, even though all civilians had been evacuated from 7 WTC.”¹² Is it possible, like the experience of Japans’ vault engineers, CIA agents were killed from an intentional SCIF explosion which created the Building 7 fire and subsequent decision to pull the entire building? Such a question would appear beyond what is possible if it were not for declassified Top Secret documents like Operation Northwoods that reveal Americans can be targeted by their own government.¹³ Given what we already know about Vice President Dick Cheney, it is not hard to imagine his crimes could be on par with General Yamashita Tomoyuki.

We do know some of what happened at Building

7 because the lease-holder, Larry Silverstein, gave an interview on PBS and admitted Building 7 was pulled and collapsed.¹⁴ James Risen of the New York Times revealed special CIA teams were dispatched immediately after the 9/11 attack.¹⁵ Whether the special teams recovered agents that were killed or secured materials is classified. We are left wondering if what happened at Building 7 is related to why the Bush administration resisted the formation of the 9/11 Commission for 441 days.                

Someday, under a different administration, a new 9/11 investigation will likely be commissioned. I will offer two questions to help determine if the crimes of the Bush administration far exceed those already visible. The first is “How many and who were the US intelligence agents killed on 9/11?” This inquiry may uncover teams with black-bag demolition backgrounds. The second question is, “Who were the people that elected not to collect millions of dollars in put trades and do they have connections to the CIA?” A put is a securities order when a stock price is expected to drop. The answer to this question may reveal that the put trades were an attempt to grow the CIA’s unaudited slush fund.

In the last few years Congress has been asking many questions that the Bush administration refuses to answer. Their questions and the ones raised by millions of Americans should be answered. A democracy, to function successfully, needs transparency. If it is opaque, its citizens cannot participate intelligently, and their votes become irrelevant. History teaches us that secrecy and money are an explosive combination and nations do sometimes manufacture excuses of protecting their citizens to rape them.

By Dave Dionisi

Detailed footnotes are available at www.teachpeace.com/learnmoreaugust.htm.

David Dionisi is the Chief Information Officer for Teach Peace (www.teachpeace.com) and is the author of American Hiroshima. He fights terrorism by teaching alternatives to violence and working to help the poor in Africa