The Big White Lie: The Deep Cover Operation That Exposed the CIA Sabotage of the Drug War : An Undercover Odyssey (Paperback)

~ (Author), Laura Kavanau-Levine (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This hair-raising memoir by a former undercover DEA agent points out the U.S. government's failure to uphold anti-drug laws.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Reading more like a novel than serious nonfiction, The Big White Lie tells a former Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agent's story of dealing with cocaine traffickers in both the U.S. and South America. Levine, who has written two previous books on similar subjects, admits to considerable disenchantment with the "suits" running the DEA and to family involvement with drugs (a couple of fatal addictions), a combination that could hamper his objectivity. He was, nevertheless, involved with some major drug operations in which one U.S. government agency (the DEA) was trying to ensnare drug dealers while another (the CIA) was using the same people as sources: a delicate game that Levine found not only offensive, but also unplayable. While often a good read with numerous unsavory but believable characters and rich reconstructed dialogue, the book seems more a kvetch than a well-documented expos{‚}e; an introduction or some endorsements from objective experts would enhance its authoritativeness. Connie Goddard --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Pr; 1 edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560250844
• ISBN-13: 978-1560250845
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #336,911 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Was This Book "Privished?", August 7, 2002

By	Graham H. Seibert (Kiev, Ukraine) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Big White Lie: The CIA and the Cocaine/Crack Epidemic (Hardcover)

Note that this review is 4 years after publication... four years of silence.

A book that tears the mask off the fraudulent "War on Drugs". It exposes the growth of the war from two (highly mutually destructive) agencies in 1971 (Customs and DEA) to 55 and counting. It describes very extensive, high-volume CIA involvement in smuggling itself to obtain unaccountable funding.

It documents the cost of the fraudulent war. In dollars misspent, in innocent lives lost through raids gone amok and witnesses silenced, in the credibility of government agencies and the news media, and in the harm resulting from the 5-fold increase (his figures) in drug usage during the time $1 trillion has been wasted in the fight.

Recommend finding this book used or in a library, or reading Levine's chapter in "Into the Buzzsaw" by Kristina Borjesson.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book written by a very courageous individual, June 15, 1998

By A Customer

Michael Levine is a former DEA agent who, throughout the 1980's, worked to uncover, expose and convict many of the leading suppliers of cocaine to the United States. Unfortunately for Levine, many of the most powerful cocaine dealers proved to be CIA assets, supported and even bankrolled by the American government in pursuit of shadowy foreign policy objectives. Levine's diligence in fighting the so-called "drugs war" brought him the ruination of his reputation within the DEA and ultimately the destruction of his career. The cynicism that Levine exposes within the highest levels of American government is breathtaking - and profoundly depressing.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reads like a Tom Clancy novel - but this is TRUE, February 11, 2004

By A Customer

Mike Levine is a good writer. Add that to the fact that he was one of the best undercover agents in American history and you've got the equation for a great book. I had to stop myself a number of times to remember that this is NON-Fiction. The bumbling and deception that goes on at the higher levels of our Criminal Justice system would be laughable had this been a work of fiction. There is just too much detail here for it NOT to be true. This book, coupled with Levine's other book "Deep Cover" show you how the people in power manipulate the media to show the public the reality they want them to see. In light of the Iraq war "intelligence" misinformation, we can see that nothing has changed. In fact, the stakes have gotten higher.