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"…a densely researched, passionately argued, acronym-laden 548-page volume." —Michael Massing, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review
"I find his argument to be very well documented, very careful and very convincing. In fact, the readability of the book suffers a bit from what seems to have been a fear that if he didn't include absolutely every bit of evidence he had unearthed, he would open himself up to new criticisms of inadequate reporting—but this editor's quibble shouldn't stop anyone from buying and reading Dark Alliance. Long-time followers of the contra tale are likely to find new revelations in the book…" —Jo Ann Kawell, The Nation
About the Author
In 1996, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist GARY WEBB (1955–2004) wrote a shocking series of articles for the San Jose Mercury News exposing the CIA’s link to Nicaraguan cocaine smuggled into the US by the Contras, which had fueled the widespread crack epidemic that swept through urban areas. Webb’s bold, controversial reporting was the target of a famously vicious media backlash that ended his career as a mainstream journalist. When Webb persisted with his research and compiled his findings in the bookDark Alliance, some of the same publications that had vilified Webb for his series retracted their criticism and praised him for having the courage to tell the truth about one of the worst official abuses in our nation’s history. Others, including his own former newspaper and the New York Times, continued to treat him like an outlaw for the brilliant and courageous work he’d done. Webb’s death on December 10, 2004, at the age of 49, was determined to be a suicide.
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This is essential reading for anyone interested in this topic. Gary Webb faced a storm of criticism for his three-part series, "Dark Alliance," in the San Jose Mercury Newspaper. Some of it was fair, but most of it wasn't. Several of Webb's critics were merely acting as gatekeepers. Also, much of the criticism focused on details that didn't negate the overall discovery of his work. This book served as Webb's chance for a rebuttal. It is well-sourced and Webb thoroughly proved that the U.S. government was fully aware of Contras' drug trafficking. Our government also covered it up and helped them along the way. Dark Alliance prompted an investigation by the CIA Inspector General, the Hitz report. According to most newspapers, the Hitz report "proved" that the CIA wasn't complicit in drug trafficking. However, the Hitz report is now public information and any independent-minded reader will see that the CIA, along with other US government agencies, were closely linked with several major drug traffickers.
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
Just so sad to learn what is happening in the world , nowadays. The New World Order is here and very active, bribing, killing, cheating and controlling the human masses. Mr Webb is a hero and, unfortunately, this book took his life and the happiness of his family. A writer of courage, one of the few real men that still existed. The corruption is everywhere and , specially, in the press, which is not free, anymore. You need a lot of courage to read this book. Truth is hard to digest., do not read this book if you are depressed
Gary Webb was an investigative reporter with the San Jose Mercury News who exposed the story of how cocaine was smuggled into the USA during the 1980s and 1990s, with the connivance of top echelons of the US intelligence services: to fund the Contra struggle against Nicaragua's left wing Sandinista government.
Did it win him a Pulitzer Prize?
Sadly not.
Instead, he was forced to resign his job and, tragically, apparently commited suicide at the age of 49.
His series of features were published in August 1996, and linked the burgeoning power of the LA street gangs, most famously the Crips and Bloods, and their control of the crack cocaine trade, with a secret army backed by the CIA.
"This drug network... opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the crack capital of the world."
Some black politicians in LA took the leap that crack had been deliberately introduced to destroy their community, something Gary Webb had never said. Nor did he claim that the CIA “invented” crack or any of the outlandish accusations pointed at him.
But he was lambasted by colleagues in other papers, first of all the Los Angeles Times, annoyed that it had been scooped on its own territory; later, to their discredit, the New York Times and Washington Post also piled in.
Webb reveals that the CIA knew about the existence of crack long before it became an epidemic and did nothing about it: indeed, they protected some of the major dealers as they were connected to the Nicaraguan Contras.
Webb quotes a U.S. General Accounting Office report from 1989:
“In the early 1980s the gangs began selling crack cocaine. Within a matter of years, the lucrative crack market changed the black gangs from traditional neighborhood street gangs to extremely violent criminal groups operating from coast to coast. The lure of profits coupled with increased pressure from local police have prompted the Los Angeles gangs to extend their territories far beyond their neighborhoods. Within the past three to four years, members of the Crips and the Bloods have been identified selling or distributing crack in Washington, Oregon, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri, North Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere.”
The fact is, the crack was almost as accidental as its consequences were lethal. Faced with a tidal wave of cocaine which had once been the preserve of rich (white) society, dealers discovered a simple new way of pakaging it: and selling it cheap for massive profit.
One dealer who was to become famous, Ricky Ross, was moving more than 200 kilos of cocaine every single month. “That meant he was pumping out around 165,000 vials of crack a day—5 million rocks a month.”
“There was no market until we created it,” Ross said matter-of-factly. “We started in our neighborhood and we stayed in our neighborhood. We almost never went outside it. If people wanted dope, they came to us.”
Webb says in his conclusions: "That the Contras' cocaine ended up being turned into crack was a horrible accident of history, I believed, not someone's evil plan. The Contras just happened to pick the worst possible time ever to begin peddling cheap cocaine in black neighbourhoods. That, I believed, was the real danger the CIA has always presented- unbridled criminal stupidity, cloaked in a blanket of national security.”
Gary Webb’s immense investigation has been vindicated since his death. It was ahead of its time in more ways than one: all his evidence was loaded onto the newspaper's nascent webpage (in 1996!), so readers could follow the trail.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2013
Verified Purchase
Gary Webb was a cautious and careful journalist who gradually became radicalized by his discoveries. Eventually, what he learned destroyed him. The attacks on Webb demonstrate how badly compromised the corporate media is in its relationship with the CIA and other elements of the federal government (Operation Mockingbird).
At one point, Webb recalled: "If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me ... I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn't work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite? And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job ... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress..."
Unfortunately, one of the best-kept secrets is that drug trafficking has been big business for the elites of the world for hundreds of years. The "war on drugs" is nothing but a sick joke.
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2017
Verified Purchase
This book was pretty interesting and enlightening. It is about an investigative reporter named Gary Webb who got involved in investigating a drug dealer who was affiliated with the CIA. Webb spoke about the deep corruption of the CIA, how they worked with drug dealers to financially support the Contras, and how this fueled the crack cocaine problem in L.A. He also went on about how the CIA and other government agencies would warn drug dealers before a raid and how they would let drug dealers with major crimes walk away with light sentences. Gary Webb’s writing is slightly complicated, but very interesting. All in all, this book was a fun book to read. (pl)
5.0 out of 5 starsUS government/CIA responsible for Crack Cocaine epidemic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2019
Verified Purchase
I liked the depth and range of proofs that Gary Webb provided. It's a very convincing piece of work, and those who worked and work in the CIA FBI and DEA should be ashamed of themselves. His "suicide", 2 bullets to the head is questionable. The newspaper journalists who deliberately destroyed his reputation and career in spite of accepting the truth of his work? They must be disgusting individuals! After you've read it, you'll realise that the CIA is capable of just about anything if they can convince themselves that it's in their interest. The end justified the means for them.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
I'll keep this short. A very detailed story of wilful corruption to serve the means of a cruel and hypocritical government. But it's not just about the corruption itself. Reading this, you will realise how the dealings and tactics of the players involved have directly contributed to the phony bill of goods that we have been sold through certain popular media. You'll not only gain an enlightening account from this book, but it will also feed the philosophers amongst you.
4.0 out of 5 starsAn amazing and terrible story of corruption on a truly industrial ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 28, 2016
Verified Purchase
An amazing and terrible story of corruption on a truly industrial scale, but at times a very difficult book to read as it jumps about a lot and has a lot of characters which I've found difficult to follow.
