By LINDSEY SCHIBELHUT, Staff Reporter.
Where did the cocaine epidemic of the 1980’s come from? The 1998 book “Dark Alliance” is based on the series of articles journalist Gary Webb wrote while at the San Jose Mercury News in California, about the CIA/Contra cocaine smuggling scandal under the Reagan Administration. The series would be the first of its kind to utilize the internet, by letting those visiting the Mercury News website see evidence which was collected for the articles. The coverup Webb would later uncover during his investigation would shock a nation and in August of 1996, when his series was finally published.
In the book, Webb describes how a message was left on his desk in July of 1995. He didn’t respond to the message until another one showed up on his desk a few days later. When he finally answered, he wound up in touch with a woman working for a law firm. She told Webb about her boyfriend who was in jail for cocaine trafficking charges and had yet to be brought to trial. She spoke of a government witness for the case who said he had been working with the CIA selling drugs. This put Gary Webb on the path to uncovering who was really behind the cocaine epidemic sweeping over not only the Los Angeles area, but various cities across the nation.
It took Webb a whole year of investigating, going through court files, and listening to recorded tapes and interviews before he could finally start putting the puzzle pieces together. He found that along with the gangs, America’s own intelligence agencies, were complicit in cocaine trafficking, allowing the drug to arrive into American communities. The reason for our government’s involvement in the cocaine business? The drug profits were being used to fund a rebel army called the “Contras,” who were being controlled by the CIA to overthrow the Nicaraguan government.
This was an amazing book to read, in part because it was based on true events. The amount of groundwork Webb went through in order to investigate this government coverup and report on it correctly is commendable. However, I’m not going to lie, the book is a lot to handle, especially all of the information and details. The amount of people who were involved in the cocaine deals in order to keep this covert illegal operation going was astounding. This book is not for someone looking for a quick read. If you’re going to devote the time to thoroughly read the book and connect the dots as you go along, then this is the book for you.
“Dark Alliance” will really make you think twice about who is in charge of our government. The book can be summarized well by the opening quote by American investigative journalist and author I.F. Stone (1907-1989), “Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.”