Gary Webb

[sally]

He was the journalist that claimed the government was involved in the crack/cocaine epidemic among the black community and was later found dead in his apartment shot in the head twice. It was ruled a suicide. John Kerry has spoke about it, but not many people paid attention due to the Clinton/Lewinski scandal which was bigger news.

Do you think it's true? This is just what came up first among many so that's the one I copied.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-a-p...17820.html

[Maggot]

I have no doubt that past and current government agencies perform operations that would be deemed despicable by most of the population.

[sally]

I think maybe that's a big reason while people like Trump, He's an outsider like the rest of us. A rich one that could afford to do it, but a regular person like the rest of us. That's why he's going to win and why his supporters don't care about his flip flopping. I'd flip flop too if I was up there, at times my mind would override what I really need to say to please everyone. He's reactionary instead of prepared. I don't think he knows a goddamn thing about running shit, but I think he might have more integrity than Hilary,

[Duchess]

I see you, troll.

[Donovan]

I think maybe that's a big reason while people like Trump, He's an outsider like the rest of us. A rich one that could afford to do it, but a regular person like the rest of us. That's why he's going to win and why his supporters don't care about his flip flopping. I'd flip flop too if I was up there, at times my mind would override what I really need to say to please everyone. He's reactionary instead of prepared. I don't think he knows a goddamn thing about running shit, but I think he might have more integrity than Hilary,

Yeah that's what we need as president. An unprepared reactionary who doesn't know a goddamn thing about running anything. That should work out just fine. I wish I knew what this obsession was with people who pretend to be "just regular Joe's." Bush Jr did it, Reagan, and now the Cheetoh Jesus. I've MET regular people. Most of them are too stupid to bag my groceries. Why on earth any one would think that was what we want running our country baffles me...

[sally]

I'm really not trolling, that's what I see.

I completely disagree with him on the Mexicans though, they are our backbone and to be against them instead of with them I do not agree with at all. They get free ER visits like anyone else, we can't turn away people who are having heart attacks or babies or strokes. We don't kick people out in the gutter to die whether they're citizens or not. The ER stabilizes them and refers them to a specialist like anyone else. They don't get food stamps or welfare like everyone claims. that's a myth or they jumped a lot of hoops to get it. Where do people get this from? When you come to America you sign a paper that says you will not be a burden to society. Whether you come here legally or not the only thing that is entilted to you is ER care. That's it.

[sally]

I think maybe that's a big reason while people like Trump, He's an outsider like the rest of us. A rich one that could afford to do it, but a regular person like the rest of us. That's why he's going to win and why his supporters don't care about his flip flopping. I'd flip flop too if I was up there, at times my mind would override what I really need to say to please everyone. He's reactionary instead of prepared. I don't think he knows a goddamn thing about running shit, but I think he might have more integrity than Hilary,

Yeah that's what we need as president. An unprepared reactionary who doesn't know a goddamn thing about running anything. That should work out just fine. I wish I knew what this obsession was with people who pretend to be "just regular Joe's." Bush Jr did it, Reagan, and now the Cheetoh Jesus. I've MET regular people. Most of them are too stupid to bag my groceries. Why on earth any one would think that was what we want running our country baffles me...

That's not really where I wanted to go with this anyway, I was asking about the Gary Webb story and what you think about it.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Gary Webb was a real investigative journalist; I wish we had more of them today.

In my opinion, he cared about the truth and how it impacted society above all else and didn't make trade-offs or obscure what he believed to be the truth in order to curry favor with anyone in the government or within his industry. I believe that wound up hurting his career significantly, unfortunately.

But, he was also only human and I do think it's quite possible that he was wrong about the extent of direct and purposeful links between the US-backed Nicaraguan Contra 'rebels', the CIA, and the crack cocaine explosion in the U.S.

After Reagan's CIA was exposed for having sold arms to Iran's Ayatollah Kohmeni in order to help finance the right-wing Contra rebel's fight to defeat the left-wing Sandinista rebels (who had been more favored by Jimmy Carter), it wasn't difficult to believe U.S. government/CIA involvement in something like what Webb pieced together and alleged. I tend to believe that Webb was convinced of everything he wrote.

I'm convinced that Webb was right about the CIA turning a blind eye towards (and maybe even assisting) a couple of drug dealers who were probably beneficial to the Agency's covert Nicaraguan operations in some (unknown) ways -- which is bad enough on its own. But, I didn't think there was solid evidence that the CIA backed the epidemic of crack cocaine in order to fund the Contra rebels.

I read the Dark Alliance series years and years ago and thought it was possible that Webb was like a police detective who finds good evidence and then gets a bit tunnel visioned on a theory or a suspect and loses some objectivity when certain pieces don't fit.

Anyway, that's just my impression and Webb could have been right on the money about everything for all I know (or all anybody in the general public will probably ever know); I just didn't see enough evidence to be convinced that Nicaraguan coke smuggling into the U.S. at the time was another CIA covert operation like Iran-Contra.

[aussiefriend]

This sort of shit goes on all the time.

[Donovan]

HotS said a lot of it Very well. Regardless of how "conspiratorial" it may have been, it is well known common knowledge that the American government under Reagan directly caused a lot of the crime and drug war issues with their elaborate "war on drugs", and that the CIA profited hugely from that venture. So did the US backed dictators in central America. So did the for-profit privatized prison system. Generally if you want to know who is behind a policy or event, follow the money stream and find out where it goes. That's your culprit.

And they ALWAYS kill the messenger. Doing what's right is a hard and lonely road. Ask Ed Snowden.