The cia, the contras, and the crack cocaine explosion, was the journalist with the san jose mercury news who caused such a fuss two years ago when his series of articles pointed to central intelligence agency cia complicity in the crack cocaine epidemic. In 1998, cia inspector general frederick hitz substantiated webbs charges in two reports. A revised version was published in 1999 that incorporated webbs response. His book serves as both a complex memoir of the time of the contras and an indictment of the current state of americas press. Dark alliance a threepart investigation into links between the cocaine trade, nicaraguas ciabacked contra rebels, and californias crack epidemic in the 1980s. In july 1995, san jose mercurynews reporter gary webb found the big onethe blockbuster story every journalist secretly dreams aboutwithout even looking for it. Special reports cocaine, conspiracy theories and the cia. The cia, the contras, and the cocaine explosion kindle. Dark alliance built upon more than a decade of evidence amassed by journalists, congressional investigators and agents of the drug enforcement administration who found numerous connections between the contras and drug. Two years ago, gary webb wrote a series of articles that said some bad.
Gary webb san jose mercury news aug 1996 permalink. Dark alliance author gary webb gave a fascinating talk on the evening of january 16, outlining the findings of his investigation of the cias connection to drug trafficking by the nicaraguan contras. The dark alliance gary webb s incendiary 1996 sj mercury news expose aug 22, 1996 cocaine pipeline financed rebels evidence points to cia knowing of highvolume drug network by gary webb san jose mercury news for the better part of a decade, a san francisco bay area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the crips and. In response to the public outcry following webbs allegationswhich were ultimately published in book form under the title dark alliancethe cia conducted an internal investigation of its role. Facing increasing public scrutiny from the fallout after webbs dark alliance series, the cia conducted its own internal investigations. With the release of the film kill the messenger this week, there is bound to be an uptick in media discussions about gary webb, the crusading investigative journalist whose 1996 dark alliance series forms the basis of the movie webbs reporting for the san jose mercury news cast a harsh light on the links between the ciabacked contras in nicaragua and drug trafficking in the united states. When they looked it up in the merck manual, they saw cocaine base and thought, well. Drawing from then newly declassified documents, undercover dea audio and videotapes that had never been publicly released, federal court testimony, and interviews, webb demonstrates how our government knowingly.
In july 1995, san jose mercurynews reporter gary webb found the big one. The cia, the contras, and the crack cocaine explosion is a 1998 book by journalist gary webb. The washington post article quoted webb as saying, weve never pretended otherwise. Gary webb was american investigative journalist, pulitzer prize winner. The opening about this series teaser made it clear that the times pieces would explicitly address, and deny, the validity of all the main assertions in dark alliance.
The cia, the contras, and the crack cocaine explosion. An excellent article written by brian covert on gary webbs investigative reporting published by project censored titled the ghost of dark alliance. The story behind the crack explosion, webbs series reported that in addition to waging a proxy war for the u. The cia, the drug dealers, and the tragedy of gary webb. Tribute to dark alliance and journalist gary webb, transcripts of a 1997 webb speech and. Selected writings by the author of dark alliance, by gary webb, is edited by his son, eric webb, and published by. Webb s reporting, focused on a few central players of the l.
Major motion picture based on dark alliance and starring jeremy renner, kill the messenger, to be be released in fall 2014 in august 1996, pulitzer prizewinning journalist gary webb stunned the world with a series of articles in the san jose mercury news reporting the results of his yearlong investigation into the roots of the crack cocaine epidemic in america. Politicians cited the article in both sacramento and washington. The life and times of gary webb by george sanchez, january 25, 2005. Pdf the publication of a series of articles in the san jose mercury, though they did. A new movie, an old story, and a discredited corporate press tells the story of the drug connections between the u. The intercept on december 10, 2004 investigative journalist gary webb died of two. The cia, the contras and the crack cocaine explosion from seven stories. It was an amazing scoop but one that would ruin his career. Dark alliance was a series written by californiabased reporter webb and published in the san jose mercury news in 1996. The story behind the crack explosion was the first investigative report to achieve national prominence primarily via. Webb profiled the relationship in his 1996 threepart article dark alliance, where he showed that the nicaraguans had cia connections. Hes portrayed heroically in a major motion picture set to premiere nationwide next month.
An august, 1996, series in the san jose mercury news by reporter gary webb linked the origins of crack cocaine in california to the contras, a guerrilla force backed by the reagan administration that attacked nicaraguas sandinista government during the 1980s. Rule 2 does not apply when replying to this stickied comment rule 2 does apply throughout the rest of this thread what this means. A simple phone call concerning an unexceptional pending drug trial turned into a massive conspiracy involving the nicaraguan contra rebels, l. In his own words 2004, video of interview with gary webb from guerrilla news network inside the dark alliance. After the original series of articles ran in the mercurynews in late 1996, both webb. Eventually, the media would mostly turn against webb, attempting to discredit him.
Gary webb on the cia, the contras, and the crack cocaine explosion, audio interviews 19971998 with gary webb from democracy now. Yet webb became unemployable for telling the truth. The intercept on december 10 2004, investigative journalist gary webb died of two. Like in the movie, the real gary webb attempted to uncover the connection between l. Key figures in ciacrack cocaine scandal begin to come forward.
With jeremy renner, robert patrick, jena sims, robert pralgo. Prize winning journalist gary webb stunned the world with a series of articles in the. Within the this audiobook version of dark alliance, webb produces a. These days, webb is being cast in a more sympathetic light.
Department of justice has been trying to explain why nearly everyone convicted in californias federal courts of crack cocaine trafficking is black. How the cia watched over the destruction of gary webb. A decade after the dark alliance newspaper series sent shockwaves around the world with its investigation into crack cocaineciacontra connections, a tribute is presented to dark alliance and its investigatorauthor, journalist gary webband to the true spirit of. A cspan segment in which gary webb elaborates on his investigative work on the dark alliance of cia agents, contra rebels, and california drug dealers. How the fake news killed gary webb the impious digest. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or. The investigation, headed up by webb revealed ties between the cia, nicaraguan contras and the crack. This collection of texts, images, and audio files is a copy of the online library that accompanied the publication of gary webbs dark alliance series and his followup reporting for the san jose mercury news from 199697 about the cias role in the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s. Gary webb was an award winning investigative journalist who is best known for his 1996 series of articles in the san jose mercury news, entitled dark alliance. Crack in the system premiering on al jazeera america in early 2015. In july 1995, san jose mercurynews reporter gary webb found the big.
Please keep any meta discussion directed at specific users, mods, or rconspiracy in general in this comment chain only i am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. After his resignation from the mercury news, webb expanded the dark alliance series into a book that responded to the criticism of the series and described his experiences writing the story and dealing with the controversy. For me, the tragic story of gary webb began in 1996 when he was working on his dark alliance series for the san jose mercury news. He also published the book dark alliance seven stories press, 1999. Gary webb pushed his investigation even further in his book, dark alliance. The updated paperback edition of dark alliance features revelations in justreleased reports from the department of justice, internal cia investigations, and a new cache of recently declassified secret fbi, dea, and ins filesmuch of which was not known to webb when writing the first edition of this book. Tjames madisonthis text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Their alleged role in the drug trade was exposed in 1996 in an explosive investigative series dark alliance by gary webb for the san jose mercury news. This is why webbs dark alliance series is an essential source, a primary text that every journalism student should study. Dark alliance is as necessary and valuable as it is horrifying and grim. Gary webbs dark alliance returns to the internet narco news. Gary webb sums up the story in his last major interview just days before his death. Pdf dark alliance download ebook full pdf download get.
Saint gary webb by charlie hardy, february 10, 2005. It is a story now told in the hollywood film, kill the messenger, based on the book of the same name by nick schou and webbs dark alliance. Jerry ceppos and the burning memory of gary webb by luis a. This doesnt prove the cia targeted black communities. And documents newly released by the cia provide fresh context to the dark alliance saga information that paints. In august 1996, a regional newspaper, the san jose ca mercury news unveiled the results of its yearlong investigation into links between the spread of crack cocaine in the u. It is one of the most bizarre alliances in modern history. Approximately 300 people, crowded into the first united methodist church in eugene, oregon, listened with rapt attention as webb detailed his. Pablo escobars son reveals his dad worked for the cia. Local dealers faced life sentences while the bigtime narcos from washington to managua went free.
533 880 323 1457 755 1188 886 1608 129 32 1610 1333 507 1277 1072 1459 944 930 185 933 183 404 249 211 257 15 363 954 574 932 805 737 69 437 56 159 1102 668 355