Gene Tatum OPERATION RED ROCK
Breaking News 1996
OPERATION RED ROCK
Tatum's has written of his early career in the military, and his involvement in a highly sensitive and classified operation in an unpublished manuscript entitled "Operation Red Rock." Joining the Air Force in February 1970, he went through Army jump school; escape and evasion; jungle training; sea survival school; diving school and was assigned along with six others as "Combat Controllers" - the USAF equivalent of Special Forces - receiving his distinctive Special Forces burgundy colored beret. From there he was assigned to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and then on to Fort Bragg, North Carolina - home of the Green Berets - for training in C4 plastic explosives, mines, nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, plus indoctrination in electronic and psychological operations.
Posted
to South East Asia as Airman First Class (A1C) in December 1970, he was assigned
as a radio operator on a Forward Air Control (FAC) aircraft attached to Task
Force Alpha at Nakhon Phanom,
Thailand. In short order he was recruited (an involuntary
"volunteer") to Team Red Rock. The team was composed of eight US Army
Green Berets, three US Navy SEALS and two "cowboys" - a euphemism for
CIA paramilitary specialists. With Tatum attached, Team Red Rock totaled 14 in
all, and was about to be tasked with an operation that came directly from the
White House.
In
January 1971 the team received a final briefing from General Alexander Haig -
who had flown in specially - along with Central Intelligence Agency, Saigon
Chief William Colby - nicknamed by the team as "Mr. Peepers" because
of his resemblance to a well known character in a TV sitcom. Haig and Colby
outlined the plan, stressing it's
importance and extreme classification. President Nixon, desperate to quell
domestic riots over an increasingly unpopular war, sought to withdraw all US
personnel from Southeast Asia. Withdrawal would - and in the end ultimately did
- cause a military vacuum quickly leading to the defeat of South Vietnamese
forces.
During
those years, Nixon was also running a "secret war" in Cambodia and
Laos. In Laos, dwindling number of Meo tribesmen
together with covert US personnel employed by the CIA proprietary company, Air
America, were battling against superior North Vietnamese ground forces. A much
similar pattern was occurring in Cambodia, amid grave fears that the
"Domino Theory" would result if either of these two nations were to
fall to the communist North Vietnamese. Nixon hoped that the vacuum caused by
the withdrawal of US covert forces could be filled by native Cambodian forces.
Lon Nol, the Cambodian leader, continued to
stubbornly resist Nixon's diplomatic overtures to take up the slack - anxious
to hedge his bets and realistic about his chances of survival as Kymer Rouge and Vietnamese forces prepared to swarm-in
unhindered by US air power.
A
plan had been drawn up at the highest levels of Nixon's administration. Team
Red Rock were to secretly enter Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, and attack the
airport, military and civil installations - wrecking as much havoc as possible.
The plan called for the team to parachute into the outskirts of Phnom Penh
carrying with them captured NVA "Sappers." Taken in unarmed and
alive, the Sappers would be "sacrificed" and their bodies left to be
discovered by Cambodian forces. A furious, Lon Nol
would assume North Vietnam was to blame. Such an act would, it was hoped,
stiffen Lon Nol's backbone. With nowhere else to
turn, the US puppet would urgently seek US hardware to strengthen his forces
and continue the battle.
The
team were not told that they too were to be sacrificed
by their President to ensure that word of the operation never reached the light
of day. A detachment of Montagnard tribesmen (Yards)
in the pay of the CIA were assigned to liquidate each member of the team and
dispose of their bodies. The attack went successfully, but the teams suspicion of the "Yards" foiled the
betrayal. Using their knowledge of "escape and evasion" tactics the
team decided to trek to the Vietnamese border and back to safety with US
forces.1
Casualties
thinned out their numbers until only eight of them remained. Soon these, too,
were captured by NVA regulars and underwent hideous torture at the hands of
Chinese and Russian interrogators. Ultimately, only Tatum and one other team
member survived the ordeal. Convalescing, Tatum was debriefed by CIA station
chief, William Colby, and told he would, in future, be kept close to the
"Agency". Recruited into the CIA, the yawning door of future
"black" operations creaked open. Life would never be the same again
for Chip Tatum.
THE CONTRA COKE TRAIN
During
1983, Colby established contact again advising him he would shortly be
contacted by "a man called North." This, as
Tatum was to later discover was none other than Lt. Col. Oliver North - the
central architect of America's Nicaraguan Contra campaign. Besides fighting a
covert war, North was also the link-man in much, much
dirtier work.
The
"Contragate" years teem with well
documented accounts of illicit wholesale gun running and dope smuggling. The
expose series published in Autumn 1996 by the San Jose
Mercury Post, entitled the "Dark Alliance," openly finger-points at
the CIA and the Reagan administration for turning a blind-eye to massive
Cocaine smuggling. Moreover, the series of articles claim that the explosion of
"crack Cocaine" in Los Angeles resulted entirely from the Contra leaders-cum-dope
peddlers who made vast personal fortunes from their activities. Today, the
official argument remains that the Contra's were "freelancing"
without the knowledge or consent of their CIA "handlers" or North's
so called "Enterprise." Despite these assertions, mountains of hard
evidence point in a different direction including an entry from North's own
diary which shows his knowledge of Cocaine shipments.
In
stark contrast to these denials, Tatum says North's "Enterprise" not
only set-up the Cocaine factories, "ran" the Colombian cartels but
were also responsible for master-minding the massive shipments of narcotics
into the US. Significantly, he is not alone in making these accusations. A
number of those involved in Col. North's operations have subsequently come
forward and spilled the beans. Almost all of these "whistle-blowers"
have been hounded and jailed. Some have died, whilst others have fled. The
whole Contra thing, Tatum states, was also being used by an extremely covert
group called Pegasus.
During
February 1985, Tatum was piloting "Dustoff"
(Medevac) flights for the US Army's 3/498th Medical
Company, stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Two flight crews, including
Tatum's, were transferred to Palmerola Air Base,
Honduras. Each flight consisted of a Pilot, co-pilot, medic and crew chief.
Once familiarized, they assumed the Medevac mission
for Joint Task Force Bravo. In 1984, he had previously infiltrated the 3/498th
on the instructions of Lt. Col. Oliver North - who had established contact
under the code-name "Jake" (North had "control" of the
160th air wing and was also deeply involved with the tactical planning of
"black ops" missions in the Grenada invasion).
On
15 February 1995, during a flight to La Cieba,
Honduras, he was instructed to contact his local "handler" - Major
Felix Rodriguez - later to prove a major figure in the Iran-Contra
investigation. Rodriguez informed Tatum that in addition to his Army "Medevac" duties he was to support covert
"Pegasus" missions. These, he was told, would take priority over his
other duties. He was also given his "chain of command;" three
individuals - any of whom could authorize Pegasus missions.
In
addition to Oliver North and Felix Rodriguez, Tatum would, henceforward, take
orders from Amiram Nir, a
former Mossad agent and Advisor to Vice President
Bush. Aviation support for Pegasus missions operated out of Ilopango
airbase, Honduras (home of the CIA proprietary airline Corporate Air Services)
plus numerous Contra camps located in the jungles and mountains along the
Honduras/Nicaragua border3. A common feature of all future Pegasus missions was
the transport "of large white coolers in and out of the Contra
camps."
On
26 February 1985, Tatum and his crew were instructed to fly two individuals to
one of the larger Contra camps on the Honduran border. His flight log lists the
names of the two individuals as Bill Cooper and Buzz Sawyer - both of whom
worked for Corporate Air Services. Following a meeting between the CIA agents
and Contra leaders, Tatum was given a sealed cooler marked "Vaccine"
weighing approximately 200 lbs and instructed to deliver it to a USAF C 130
transport plane at La Mesa airport, Honduras. Two crew members off-loading the
cooler accidentally dropped it breaking the seal. Inside was over 100 bags of
Cocaine. Tatum resealed the cooler and later watched as it was transferred
aboard the C-130 outward bound for Panama.
On
his return to Palmerola Air Base, Tatum phoned Col.
North advising him of his discovery. North replied that it was "a trophy
of war" and that the "Sandinistas are manufacturing Cocaine and
selling it to fund the military." North closed the conversation by saying
that "the Cocaine was bound for the world courts as evidence" against
the Sandinistas.
The
whole incident struck him as odd and strongly reminded him of earlier missions
dating back to 1983-4 when he was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as a
Special Operations Pilot. Regularly he would transship white coolers marked as
"medical supplies" to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. On two
occasions he carried similar coolers to Mena airport, Arkansas. Deliveries of
medical coolers to Mena were picked up by Dr. Dan Lasater
- a close confidant of then Arkansas Governor, Bill
Clinton. Now almost two years later he decided to document his discovery to
safeguard his "retirement." Thereafter, all Pegasus flights were
documented on the reverse of his flight logs.
This
was a difficult time for Tatum, since he had three balls to juggle at the same
time. On the one hand he was flying classified active duty missions for the US
Army, on the other he was flying CIA missions arranged through Mil Group A
(CIA) - located at the embassy in Tegucigalpa - and thirdly he was flying
Pegasus missions under the control of William Colby, Oliver North and George
Bush following his recruitment into Pegasus by Colby in 1986,
Tatum
completed numerous missions during his rotation to Honduras. Picking up and
trans-shipping coolers containing Cocaine was a regular event. Extraordinarily,
this included infiltrating Nicaraguan airspace (Tatum says it was not difficult
to infiltrate any country and that Foreign Powers would kill to know how it is
done) and landing at Bluefields Airbase with
deliveries for placement aboard civilian C-123's and C-130's.4 This was
followed by a brief stint to Columbia, where he had been assigned to assist the
Drug Enforcement Agencies "war on drugs," only to discover the DEA
were heavily engaged in narcotics trafficking.
THE BOSS HOG LIST
One
of the most flamboyant individuals involved in the Cocaine trail from Columbia
through Honduras, Panama and on in to the United States, was Barry Seal. Seal
flew an assortment of aircraft, off-loading shipments of weapons in South
America, and picking up deliveries of Cocaine for his return flight to the US
on behalf of Col. North's "Enterprise." His primary base of
operations was Mena airport, Arkansas. Seal, a CIA "asset" was later
arrested and became a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) informer. Prior to his
killing in 1986 - allegedly by a Medellin Cartel assassination squad in revenge
for informing on them - Seal openly boasted he had information that implicated
high government officials - including then Vice President Bush - in the
Enterprise' narcotics trafficking business.
Tatum
would soon get to meet Barry Seal and become close friends. Tatum recalls being
present during a meeting between Oliver North, Felix Rodriguez, Amiram Nir and General Alverez from Honduras, when North stated that Vice
President Bush was going to have his son, Jeb, arrange "something out of
Columbia." This conversation focused on Barry Seal's increasingly
notorious activities. When Tatum later heard Seal had died he immediately
understood who was behind the killing. The discussion also made it clear that
VP Bush, Governor Clinton and his three respective "handlers" were
knee-deep in the Cocaine venture and making a fist load of money.
Unknown
to all those present, Seal had earlier provided Tatum with a list of names of
those high government officials deeply involved with or responsible for
controlling the narcotics business. Seal called them the "Boss Hogs."
This has remained a tightly held secret by Tatum until recent weeks. The list
cites the surnames and is re-produced below as I received it, complete with
misspellings where they have occurred. I have appended their full names and
titles in brackets where appropriate/available.
|
UNITED
STATES |
|
|
Casey |
Director
of Central Intelligence William Casey |
|
Clair-George |
Clair Elroy
George - Head of CIA's Central American Task Force |
|
Bush |
Vice
President George Bush |
|
Kissinger |
Dr.
Henry Kissinger, Chmn Kissinger Associates, former
US Secretary of State, former National Security Adviser |
|
Haig |
General
Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State |
|
Greg |
Donald
Gregg, former National Security Adviser to VP Bush, ambassador to Korea and
alleged joint "controller" of Panama's Manuel Noriega, along with
William Casey |
|
Clairage |
Duane
"Dewey" Clarridge, CIA |
|
Fernandez |
Joseph
Fernandez - CIA Costa Rican Station Chief |
|
North |
Lt.
Col. Oliver North - National Security Council Aide |
|
Singlaub |
John Singlaub, CIA covert operator |
|
Colby |
William
Colby, Director of Central Intelligence 1973-76 |
|
Secord |
Richard
V. Secord, regarded as a "brilliant" CIA black operative |
|
Weld |
William
Weld, head of Criminal division, US Justice Department - instrumental in
"blocking" Senate investigations into narcotics according to
testimony of former Senate special investigator, Jack Blum |
|
Rodriguez |
Felix
Rodriguez, CIA officer with close connection to VP Bush |
|
Peroot |
General
Peroot, Defence
Intelligence Agency |
Most,
if not all, of these names are readily familiar to Contragate
investigators and journalists covering this story. Allegations regarding the
involvement of former President George Bush in the Cocaine business are by no
means new - they abound in plentiful supply. The fact that Bush pardoned a
number of his closest advisors - who faced criminal prosecution and possible
jail - late on Christmas eve 1992, just weeks before
Bill Clinton's inauguration, left a sour taste in the mouths of many. If
prosecuted they clearly would've fingered the President himself.
PEGASUS - DIRTY MONEY LAUNDERING
But
Tatum's story takes us even further along the dark road of power, greed, and
corruption. During l986, he had left Honduras and set up a money laundering
business in Watertown, New York State - close to the home base of the Army's
10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. The location was chosen with care. With
access to Fort Drum's telephone lines for secure communications, he was
assigned a Cherokee 140 fixed wing aircraft5 used to ship personnel and
supplies - under radar cover - across the Canadian border. His tenure with
these companies lasted from 1986 through to 1990. This was a pure Pegasus
operation.
It was at Watertown, that Tatum was provided with a
civilian cover in the form of three construction companies: American National
Home Builders; American Constructors and American Homes. Funding was provided
by Henry Hyde, Republican politician for Illinois - well known as the CIA's
"black" money-man. Hyde provided a $250,000 line of credit with Key
bank, Watertown. (MDC subsidary company) Although Tatum was listed as the President in all
three companies, all were in reality under the control of Ben Whittaker, a
lawyer from Rochester, New York. Whittaker, Tatum says, is closely associated
with Tony Wilson of the Wilson family who owned Xerox Corporation. They are
extremely wealthy and "friends of the Rothschilds
and Rockerfellers." In addition, he was also
closely associated with South Eastern US Investment Group (SEUS) - an
investment bank in Savannah, Gorgia, from 1985
through to 1989. Another proprietary he was associated with was Irving Place
Development, a service organization of Irving Bank and Trust Company. Cocaine
proceeds were laundered through these companies by an ingenious use of
construction loans.
In response to a question asking why was the "drug
related money" placed in "Arkansas Colorado and Ohio," Tatum
simply explains that he doesn't know why, adding that "It was
being done before I got there. I assume banking laws and whether or not Bush
had people in his pocket in these areas." He does explain that the primary
figure involved in the laundry exercise in Arkansas, was "Jack
Stevens." Jackson Stevens, owner of Worthen Bank
& Trust Company is closely aligned with President Bill Clinton. Tatum
states that "...Clinton received the cash and divided it up between
Stevens and [Dan] Lasater to clean it up. Stevens company [Worthen bank] was used as
the guarantor providing 'warehouse' lines of credit."
Developing
this theme in more detail, Tatum explains that the "Enterprise" were receiving drugs in exchange for the guns they supplied
to the Contra's. The raw product in the form of coca leaves was supplied by the
Colombians and pressed into large cube-shaped bales and then shipped to
Nicaragua and Honduras.6 All the "product" was pre-sold and the
delivery into the US "guaranteed."
This
eventually resulted in the sale proceeds being pre-paid to Panama, under Noriega's control. Some of this money was washed through
banks and other companies operating in Panama and elsewhere. The rest was sent to
Arkansas, Ohio and Colorado. Thereafter, the dirty money was filtered via
construction loans with permanent "takeouts" "arranged by banks
and mortgage lenders." These, in turn, were later sold to Fannie Mae's and
Freddie Mac's - negotiable US Federal securities that are traded globally on a
daily basis. Each laundry "cycle" lasted from six months to a year.
The result was dirty money transformed into good, clean US currency.
This
system wasn't arbitrary or accidental. One initial "test-bed" was a
small residential mortgage lender named Carl I Brown (CIB), in Kansas. Others
were larger and still others became national. All were ultimately destined to
be purchased by a bank (proprietary) from Japan within a specific time-frame:
1996 - as part of ongoing Pegasus plans. Eric Brown, the son of the founder of
CIB was heavily involved in these activities. Three additional companies
were involved to Tatum's knowledge: US Homes, Pulte Homes and Richmond Homes.
All became very successful, providing "The American Dream - as VP Bush put
it in a meeting in 1987."
X
was invited to spend a relaxing week-end at a luxury hotel as a guest of his
friend George Bush. The evening started with cocktails and was followed by a
fine meal. "Nothing but the best were the
orders." Following the meal, he was ushered into the suite of a blonde
"bomb-shell," supplied by the CIA. A dose of Burundanga
had been ingested during pre-dinner cocktails.
His
host for the week-end was a trusted18 year veteran field intelligence officer.
X was gallant with the blonde as they both moved into the bedroom where video
cameras were already set-up in one corner. In short order, the blonde had X
standing naked in front of her, slipping his manhood in her mouth. All the
while the video cameras whirred. Slowly stripping off, the blonde then
instructed X to reciprocate the favor. Naked, the blonde boasted a large erect
penis, saying "now take it in your mouth," He obliged,
his love-making recorded 24 frames a second on celluloid. The male prostitute
was hired, Tatum says, from a bar in New York and killed the same evening.
Two
weeks later, X - wholly unaware of the events of that evening - was visited in
Nicaragua. He was presented with a copy of the video footage along with
instructions. Tatum says that X can never allow that video to be seen...
"Not only does it reveal his homosexuality, but it also reveals his
bestiality and satanic worship rituals." As frame after frame flicked by,
X wept, forced to watch himself kill and gut his homosexual lover, and then eat
the still warm heart. Neutralized, Mr X became a
leading member of the Nicaraguan government a few short weeks later.11
These,
plus other accounts of Tatum's thirty year life as a CIA deep cover agent and
membership of the ultra secret international hit-squad Pegasus.
I also have a copy of a TWIX message from the Commander US Forces, Honduras,
(Task Force Bravo) stating to his superiors that "It has become
increasingly evident during the past six weeks that Medevac
A/C in direct support of JTF's, in some cases, are being utilized for other
than Medevac requirements and are being controlled by
other than Medevac Officials." Tatum says he
obtained a copy of this message from his Pegasus controller.
I also have a copy of Tatum's full book manuscript on Operation Red Rock,
together with a letter he sent to William Colby, dated 6 March 1996, which
threatens "I will not only write about the missions but about the N.W.O.
timetable and planned events including a chronology. And I will name
names." I have other documents that I am not permitted to reveal but which
corroborate missions in South America.
The word "contact" is not meant to imply that Don Holmes was a CIA
type.
Tatum says that "through 1985 "aviation" support for Pegasus was
primarily out of Palmerola AFB, Honduras. Ilopango airbase is in El Salvador and it had
"operational" support.
Tatum
adds that he had limited flights to Bluefields but
"primarily the military aircraft used were USAF C141's and C130's at Palmerola, LaMesa and San
Lorenzo, Honduras. At San Lorenzo there were also civilian aircraft, including
civilian C123's."
In
addition to flying rotary wing aircraft Tatum also was competent flying smaller
fixed wing. He had access to both at Ft. Drum.
Tatum
adds in this connection that they were "supplied with leaves and paste
called "bazooko"... the reason for that was
because they were not supplying the paste fast enough so they needed the leaves
to make up for the time. The leaves were brought from Peru."
I
had written this sentence based on information provided to me and also
extracted from a long list of Q&A's provided to author Rodney Stich (in my possession) In reviewing this article for
errors, omissions, Tatum stated that "there were no US DEA or ATF agents
in Pegasus." This appeared to conflict with an earlier reply to one of Stich's questions which stated, in part "DEA was
represented. We had DEA agents. ATF agents."
Naturally I wanted this clarified and asked Tatum to explain this quite
significant amendment. He replied advising that "there were joint missions
where DEA and ATF agents were used... they were not officially part of
Pegasus." Nancy Tatum advises that since Chip Tatum was in prison at the
time these Q&A's were prepared for Stich, the
"misunderstanding" was hers.
Tatum
adds that he also "flew fixed-wing, multi-engine props and jets... for the
various mission," he was not limited to rotary-wing aircraft.
These
injuries occurred during the departure of the "team" - six hours
after the assassination itself - when they came under anti-aircraft fire as
they flew low level across the border.
Tatum
was wearing two Kevlar (lightweight body amour) vests which absorbed the impact
of incoming rounds.
Tatum
has provided me with the name of this individual, a well known politician. He
also asked that I consider excising this account from the article, for a
variety of understandable reasons. I have elected to keep it as I believe it is
both an important and highly significant account.
I
phoned and spoke with Ron Lard, an official at the DEA HQ, Virginia, to ask
about the properties of Burundanga. He was unable to
provide any information. However, through other sources I can confirm that this
drug is well known to cause both amnesia and a zombie like trance in which the
target follows all orders. Dr. Camilo Uribe, head of Bogota's toxicology clinic says "it's
like chemical hypnotism." See Wall Street Journal 3 July 1995.
http://www.druggingamerica.com/Tatum_pegasus.html
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Chip_Tatum.jpg
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Chip_Tatum_dd214.gif
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Chip_Tatum_Flight_plan_Graph2.GIF
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_A_CIA_FUNDING_OPERATION_19961228.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_A_Letter_To_The_Montana_Senate_19970322.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Affadavit_19960815.html
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_FBI_Terry_Nelson_and_Montana_Drugs_1996.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Chip_Tatum_Amicus_Curiae_Brief_19960828.html
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Chip_Tatum_Big_Sky_Cartel_Zeros_In_19970927.html
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Fort_Peck_Reservations_Twilight_Zone_19971021.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_GABRIEL_TABOADA_19970121.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_LA_TIMES_SPINS_CIA_DRUG_INVOLVEMENT_19961106.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Northern_Exposure_19970212.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Operation_Red_Rock_1996.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Pegasus_Dirty_Money_Laundering_1996.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_The_Contra_Coke_Train_1996.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_The_President_Cocaine_and_the_CIA_19961024.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_The_Tatum_Chronicles_1996.htm
http://www.stewwebb.com/Gene_Tatum_Arrested_Florida_20120512.JPG
Gene Tatum was a personal friend of
mine he and I did many radio show together in 1996-1997
as co-guests.
Bush Shadow Government Player CIA-NSA Gene Chip Tatum and
the Denver Connections Stew Webb’s ex-in-law Leonard Millman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs2byHPFkhM&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/stewwebb1
Gary Webb's serious of articles the
Dark Alliance in the San Jose Mercury Press was a result of Gene
Tatum’s exposure
of George H. W. Bush' CIA Narcotics Smuggling.
I, Stew Webb released
the Short Version below of the Cutolo Affidavit in
1993 after being given both the 90 page long version and the short version in
August 1993 by my Friend Bill McCoy DOD-CIA-Private Investigator (Murdered in
1997)
The reason the Long
Version has not been released is to protect those named in it who are still alive.
http://www.stewwebb.com/Cutolo_Affidavit_1993.htm
Stew Webb Video 1993 Corruption in High Place describing
the Cutolo Affidavit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYFLptTkNAY
http://www.youtube.com/stewwebb1
Note Dois Gene Tatum
http://www.stewwebb.com/Cutolo_Affidavit_Col_Carone_Deposition_19980929.html
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