Monday, December 13, 2004

Gary Webb, 49 : Journalist Investigated CIA/Contra/Cocaine Connection

Consortiumnews.com

"Let me be frank about what we are finding. There are instances where CIA did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity or take action to resolve the allegations." -- FREDERICK P. HITZ, INSPECTOR GENERAL CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, TO THE HOUSE PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE, MARCH 16, 1998

Gary Webb, 49, died Friday December 10, 2004, an apparent suicide.

Webb was the San Jose Mercury reporter whose three-year investigation into alleged California cocaine-trafficking by the Nicaraguan "Contras"
unearthed evidence of CIA complicity. Ridiculed uniformly by a mainstream media who had ignored--or covered up--this story throughout the 1980s, Webb was reassigned to a backwater suburban bureau by Mercury editor Jerry Ceppos, and resigned in disgrace.

Yet the public record seems to bear out Webb's investigation.

The
CIA inspector general's report, released in January, 1998, confirmed that unnamed CIA authorities had effectively blocked federal investigations of Contra drug trafficking. It also gave evidence of the complicity of William Casey and the Reagan administration by frustrating independent investigations for political reasons (this was also the era of the Iran/Contra "arms for hostages" scandal).

Another important story under-reported by America's "liberal" media. Thank you, Gary Webb.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You tell it, Doc.