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Journalist
commits suicide after truth is denied
On
Dec. 10, 2004 investigative journalist extraordinaire
Gary Webb committed suicide in his Sacramento
home. Webb is best known for his 1996 "Dark
Alliance" series in the San Jose Mercury
News revealing CIA complicity in the importation
of cocaine into the United States, and South
Central Los Angeles in particular, during
the Contra war of the 1980s.
Webb
reported that CIA planes were used at least
once to bring a shipment of cocaine into
the United States using Homestead Air Force
base in Florida, that CIA operatives were
protected from prosecution for their involvement
in drug smuggling, and that some of the
profits from the sales of the cocaine were
funneled back to the Contras to wage a covert
terrorist war against the government of
Nicaragua. The story fueled outrage in urban
areas across the United States which had
suffered as a result of the influx of cheap
and affordable cocaine in the 1980s.
The
mainstream press in this country acted immediately
and launched one of the most vociferous
and despicable smear campaigns against a
reporter in history. Denials from unnamed
government sources graced the front pages,
while few bothered to examine Webb's sources
or his articles.
Despite
an astounding number of articles purporting
to undermine Webb's assertions, the basic
claims made in the "Dark Alliance"
series remained intact. In fact, a couple
of years later, an investigation by the
CIA inspector general confirmed many of
the details of the "Dark Alliance"
story. A letter from the Department of Justice
to the CIA in the early 1980s also stated
that the CIA was under no compunction to
report the narcotics trafficking violations
of its intelligence "assets."
Of course, the major media continued to
misrepresent Webb's initial stories, and
refused to admit that they had been wrong.
The
unscrupulous attacks destroyed Webb's career
as an investigative journalist. His own
paper recanted the story despite its veracity.
The story of official complicity in the
drug trade had the potential to deal a serious
blow to the legitimacy of the American government.
For that reason it was suppressed and denied.
A mainstream reporter is encouraged to seek
out the truth as long as it will not seriously
challenge the ruling elite. Webb did just
that, and his career was destroyed as a
result. The noted dissident Noam Chomsky
has pointed out that it is the duty of the
intelligentsia to seek out and report the
truth to people who can do something with
such knowledge. Unfortunately, intellectuals
tend to focus on the crimes of others while
conveniently glossing over the crimes committed
by their own state.
If
Webb had written the same series but had
attributed the blame to an official enemy,
he would have been praised, and maybe even
awarded with a Pulitzer. Less evidence would
have been required in such a case.
This
should be abhorrent to anyone concerned
with making a positive difference in the
world. Intellectuals routinely shun topics
that could ignite popular disaffection with
state industrial policy. Instead the public
is treated to a list of horrors in the world
that it is powerless to prevent or do anything
about. The price one pays in the United
States. for breaking this rule is marginalization.
Lamentably, Webb was not prepared to deal
with the backlash that his story created.
Sterling
Harris is a history major at CSULB.
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