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Dark Alliance : The CIA, the Contras, and the C...

A book released July 1, 2003 by Gary Webb

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A Story About The CIA, Drugs & Crimminals That Cost The Author His Life

Jun 17, 2010

by MindsiMedia
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

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     Gary Webb was an investigative reporter for The San Jose Mercury News who was good at his job and would probably still be alive today if he hadn’t returned a phone call that came from a woman whose boyfriend was in jail awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. That phone call took him to a story that rocked the nation and should have   led to a serious examination of the realities behind the “war on drugs”.
     It was a story about how drug dealers who were helping to fund the Contras in Nicaragua touched off the crack cocaine epidemic in this country with a wink and a nod from the White House & the CIA. Sadly it was a story that America’s establishment wasn’t willing to explore and was refuted and quashed by the mainstream media. Never mind the basic facts of the story were never disproved and were in fact eventually supported by the CIA’s own investigation it ended up costing Gary his job and eventually his life.
     Dark Alliance is the book that came out three years after he first broke the story. It expands on the information presented in the original three part investigative series that ran in the Mercury News. The additional material in the book is largely drawn from declassified government documents and other official sources. In the back of the book there are over 70 pages devoted to footnotes that explain the sources of the story.
     The book also tells the story about how the mainstream/corporate media worked to discredit him and the story he was telling. While they weren’t able to disprove the basic facts of what he was saying they were able to raise enough questions on side issues to get his paper to back off. And soon Mr. Webb found himself reassigned to another bureau 150 miles from his home. This was the beginning of a downward spiral that ended in 2004 with his death from two self inflicted bullets in the head.
    Those that would doubt this story or chalk it up to a minor operation that got blown out of proportion by Mr. Webb would do well to look at what is going on in Afghanistan today. Where no less than the brother of the president and a number of other warlords allied with us are suspected of being a major players in the drug trade. Let’s not forget because “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

Our YouTube station Mindsi2 / Peace Through Courage has a number of videos dealing with the war on drugs here is

one that feature Gary Web.

A Story About The CIA, Drugs & Crimminals That Cost The Author His Life

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MindsiMedia June 21, 2010

Thanks glad it piqued your interest. I'm reading now another book on this topic called "Drug War" by Dan Russell. It is a broad historical look at the subject that goes back centuries. And we have a playlist of other drug war videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/Mindsi2#grid/user/8BD4FED6D3EA2AF3

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devora June 21, 2010

Sounds like a fascinating book. I live close to San Jose and am surprised that I've never heard this story before, so I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for including that video!

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More Dark Alliance : The CIA, the C... reviews

Quick Tip by SMLeddy. June 23, 2010

A Quick Tip by SMLeddy

A bold and riveting look at purported government conspiracies.

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About the reviewer

Mike Beyer (MindsiMedia)
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Slowly becoming digitized man at one time I had thousands of records and cd's now I have about fifty cds I use in my car. Most of my listening is on Pandora where I have a number of stations that … more