The Suriname Contra Affair:
Three countries. Three conspiracies. Could one man hold the key?
The rifle barrel pressed against the back of Major Toby Rufty's skull felt cold against his sweat-soaked skin. Face-down on the concrete floor of Zanderij Airport, arms spread-eagle, the Air Force pilot could hear his own heartbeat thundering in his ears as Surinamese rebels screamed orders in Dutch around him.
In that moment—gun to his head, 4,500 miles from home—Rufty carried secrets that could shift the global balance of power. The three strange-looking aircraft on the tarmac behind him weren't just military transports. They were America's most advanced airborne nuclear command platforms, carrying technology so sensitive that their capture could compromise the nation's most critical weapons program.
It was 12:00 noon on February 25, 1980. As Americans back home watched Olympic hockey replays and followed the Iran hostage crisis on the evening news, they had no idea their country was hours away from a second, potentially catastrophic international incident. This one involved more hostages than Tehran, higher stakes than anyone imagined, and secrets that could have ended the Carter presidency before the 1980 election even began.
Most people have never heard this story. There's a reason for that.