The Gary Webb Interview
Investigative journalist Robert Parry credits Webb for being responsible
for the following government investigations into the Reagan-Bush
administration's conduct of the Contra war:
On December 10, 1996, Los
Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block announced the conclusion of his
investigation into the issue, publishing a summary of the investigation
at a press conference. He announced at the press conference that "We
have found no evidence that the government was involved in drug
trafficking in South-Central." Nevertheless, the report included
information that supported some of the charges. Charles Rappleye
reported in the L.A. Weekly that Block's "unequivocal statement is not
backed up by the report itself, which raises many questions." Much
of the LAPD investigation centered on allegations made in a postscript
article to the newspaper's "Dark Alliance" series.
On January 29,
1998, Hitz published Volume One of his internal investigation. This was
the first of two CIA reports that eventually substantiated many of
Webb's claims about cocaine smugglers, the Nicaraguan contra movement,
and their ability to freely operate without the threat of law
enforcement.
On March 16, 1998, Hitz admitted that the CIA had
maintained relationships with companies and individuals the CIA knew
were involved in the drug business. Hitz told the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence that "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." Senator John Kerry reached similar conclusions a
decade earlier in 1987.
On May 7, 1998, Rep. Maxine Waters, revealed a memorandum of
understanding - item 24 between the CIA and the Justice Department from
1982, which was entered into the Congressional Record. This letter had
freed the CIA from legally reporting drug smuggling by CIA assets, a
provision that covered the Nicaraguan Contras and the Afghan rebels.
Source: The Film Archives
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