Edwin Atkins
 Edwin Atkins  ( spook) | ||||||||||||
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| Born | 1930 | |||||||||||
| Died | 31 January 1997 (Age 66) Florida, USA | |||||||||||
| Nationality | US | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Harvard College | |||||||||||
| Spouse | Elaine P. Atkins | |||||||||||
CIA spook
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Edwin Franklin "Ted" Atkins was a CIA spook.
Contents
Education
He graduated from Harvard College.
Career
He joined the CIA and was posted in Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Italy and France, before retiring in 1981. [1] Covert Action Information Bulletin reported that Atkins had quickly succeeded James M. Potts as Eugen Burgstaller's replacement as the CIA's Paris station chief by June 1980, after arriving in Paris in late 1978.[2]
Iraq
The Journal of Cold War describes his activities is in Iraq in 1963:
At the time of the 1963 Ba'ath Party coup, there was no U.S. labor attache in Baghdad. Instead there was a State Department labor reporting officer, Edwin F. 'Ted' Atkins. By all indications, Atkins was a CIA officer under diplomatic cover. As the Ba'thists hunted down Communist labor leaders in the wake of the coup, Atkins anticipated in his report to Washington that Iraq would move toward "freer trade union organization, anti-Communism and close ties with other Arab labor movements and, hopefully, with ICFTU." He added, "The Iraqi labor movement is, after all, the second largest and may prove (in conjunction with Ba'athism's new lease on life) the most influential movement in the Arab world."[3]
Lloyd Haskin traveled to Baghdad at the end of March to establish contacts between the International Federation of Petroleum Workers (IFPW) and the new Ba'thist labor leaders. His report to Jay Lovestone indicates that the strategy for cultivating a relationship with the Iraqis emanated from the IFPW's side rather than from the U.S. government, although Haskins worked closely with Atkins during the visit. After arriving in Baghdad, Haskins told Atkins he planned to suggest to the Iraqi union leaders that they exchange delegations with U.S. labor organizations and that the Iraqis "invite the labor press of the United States... to see the situation [in Iraq] firsthand." He also hoped to meet with the Iraqi foreign minister to discuss the WFTU resolution before the UN and to gain the release of Hajj Ibrahim Salih, whom the regime had detained.[3]
As they talked in Atkins's home, at about 1:30 in the morning, Haskins and Atkins heard two volleys of rifle fire. Atkins explained that less than two blocks away was a main Ba'thist detention center, where Communists were typically executed in the early morning hours. Writing to a colleague in Denver a few days later, Haskins commented, "[The Ba'thists] apparently are having no mercy on the Communists and their stooges."[3]
Haskins's and Atkins's concern evidently did not extend to the other thousands of political detainees in Iraq at the time, and given that they were fully aware that the Ba'thists were systematically killing Communists, they must have seen the promotion of the IFPW's principles of free trade unionism as less important than eliminating the Communists from Iraqi unions. [3]
References
- ↑ https://afsa.org/sites/default/files/fsj-1997-06-07-june-july_0.pdf
- ↑ https://covertactionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAIB09-1980-2.pdf
- ↑ a b c d Journal of Cold War studies Volume 17, Issue 1, Winter 2015 The Kennedy Administration, the International Federation of Petroleum Workers, and Iraqi Labor under the Ba'thist Regime]
