Mystery Country 1: Nauru

As I read through the CIA Worldbook entries for the countries listed below, I was taken aback by how many of them were island assets of great empires (British, French, American) that somehow still managed to fly the flag of their colonial masters, usually for some geopolitical/military reason. Enter Nauru, depleted phosphate mining colony, failed money laundering facilitator, and stopover for fucked-up covert US intelligence operations:

Nauru is currently involved in an Australian lawsuit against the United States over a failed underground agreement. Allegedly, representatives of the United States offered billions of dollars worth of economic recovery to the island. In exchange, Nauru enacted legislation limiting the efficacy of overseas money laundering and tax evasion. Simultaneously, they established a Nauruan "stooge" embassy in China (actually functioning under United States control), assisting defecting North Korean scientists and officials across the border. This supposedly included Kyong Won-ha, the scientist allegedly responsible for much of Pyongyang's nuclear program. This initiative was termed "Operation Weasel." When news of this agreement surfaced after Nauru faithfully followed through with the necessary legislation and the preliminaries of the embassy (which rightfully drew suspicion from China as it was staffed entirely by westerners), the United States responded that the agents who made the deal with Nauru never had the authority to make such a contract, and Nauru has not yet received the promised aid. Nauru's case against the United States is still pending, but preliminary judgments favor the island nation over the superpower.

Operation Weasel, huh? I wounder who it could be named after?

[Nauruan former President Kinza] Clodumar claims [American Spy] Ray told him he had "a direct line to [US Vice-President] Dick Cheney". Both men also claim to be friends with North, a poster boy for the US Right since he ran the secret Iran-Contra deal to sell military hardware to Iran in exchange for the release of US hostages.

North is understood to have offered to help out on the Nauru issue. An unsigned letter written last year to a senior Nauruan minister talks of how "Oliver North would be able to interview you on Radio America and we could plan topics and arrange callers to phone in with positive comments."

Nauruan Finance Minister Remy Namaduk admits that North has invited him to speak on radio, while Clodumar says Smith and Ray told him they could get North to sign a copy of his new book if he wanted. [source]