Gary Webb and the 'Dark Alliance'

[The Bookie]

Heard bits and pieces of this story over the years but it looks like it's set to get some new attention.

More than 18 years have passed since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb stunned the world with his “Dark Alliance” newspaper series investigating the connections between the CIA, a crack cocaine explosion in the predominantly African-American neighborhoods of South Los Angeles, and the Nicaraguan Contra fighters -- scandalous implications that outraged LA’s black community, severely damaged the intelligence agency's reputation and launched a number of federal investigations.

It did not end well for Webb, however. Major media, led by The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, worked to discredit his story. Under intense pressure, Webb's top editor abandoned him. Webb was drummed out of journalism. One LA Times reporter recently apologized for his leading role in the assault on Webb, but it came too late. Webb died in 2004 from an apparent suicide. Obituaries referred to his investigation as "discredited."

Now, Webb’s bombshell expose is being explored anew in a documentary, “Freeway: Crack in the System,” directed by Marc Levin, which tells the story of “Freeway” Rick Ross, who created a crack empire in LA during the 1980s and is a key figure in Webb’s “Dark Alliance” narrative. The documentary is being released after the major motion picture “Kill The Messenger,” which features Jeremy Renner in the role of Webb and hits theaters on Friday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/gary-webb-dark-alliance_n_5961748.html

The original Dark Alliance series can be read here:

http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/shock/stories.htm

Declassified documentation:

http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB2/nsaebb2.htm#1

Recent reports of the CIA and DEA working with Mexican cartels:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/07/2012721152715628181.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2014/01/14/was-operation-fast-and-furious-really-part-of-a-secret-deal-between-the-dea-and-mexicos-sinaloa-drug-cartel/

[GLASSJAW]

Really eager to watch that doc. I've seen some interviews with Freeway Rick Ross in the past, he seemed like a well-spoken guy, all things considered. But I've never heard much about the Webb story. After reading the Huff Post article and a few wikipedia entries, I feel none the wiser, but a bit more paranoid, for some reason

[Brick Tamland]

Film looks great...

[BanTSN]

So all that political hip hop from the early 90's was right?

[Jägermeister]

So all that political hip hop from the early 90's was right?

There's a reason the CIA shot Tupac. <--- This is a joke.

[The Bookie]

Really eager to watch that doc. I've seen some interviews with Freeway Rick Ross in the past, he seemed like a well-spoken guy, all things considered. But I've never heard much about the Webb story. After reading the Huff Post article and a few wikipedia entries, I feel none the wiser, but a bit more paranoid, for some reason

I'm more interested in the doc than the feature film too. It looks alright and I don't mind Renner, but it's mostly the subject matter that gets my attention.

So all that political hip hop from the early 90's was right?

Well ... somewhat - good example of a true story spun out into a myth. It got telephoned over the years until the narrative became 'the government invented crack and pushed it into the ghetto!' . My take is more they just used a pre-existing situation as a fundraising opportunity, but who really knows. I'll wait until seeing that doc to offer more of an opinion.

[theminister]

So all that political hip hop from the early 90's was right?

You claim I'm selling crack

But you be doing that

Your laws are minimal

Cause you won't even think about lookin' at the real criminal

[theminister]

I'm more interested in the doc than the feature film too. It looks alright and I don't mind Renner, but it's mostly the subject matter that gets my attention.

Well ... somewhat - good example of a true story spun out into a myth. It got telephoned over the years until the narrative became 'the government invented crack and pushed it into the ghetto!' . My take is more they just used a pre-existing situation as a fundraising opportunity, but who really knows. I'll wait until seeing that doc to offer more of an opinion.

Operation Whale Watch was the supposed code name of the action to use offshore oil rigs for the smuggling of cocaine into the US by the CIA.

Was it real? Who knows.

It doesn't seem implausible though.

[The Bookie]

Operation Whale Watch was the supposed code name of the action to use offshore oil rigs for the smuggling of cocaine into the US by the CIA.

ah yes, George HW and the Harbinger Group, formerly known as Zapata Corp.

it sounds like a bad joke, or something out of a Bond movie