[From the diaries -- Hunter]
With Negroponte's nomination for the new intelligence czar post, this diary holds extra meaning. I hope I will not dissapoint. I will specifically mention Negroponte several times, as well as several others you will recognize.
Today we are going to get really down and dirty. No short history lessons on the CIA during the Cold War. Today the CIA will be effectively selling crack. And tomorrow the CIA will be propping up the very "terrorists" we are currently fighting.
My last diary got the least notice of all my diaries - something along the lines of 10 comments. I love to write this stuff, and will keep going forever, but not if no one is listening. It's a huge investment of my time, energy, and emotion. I know my writing is long-winded and not perhaps best suited for this format, but even if you aren't going to read the whole thing right now, please just let me know you are listening - and help spread the word by recommending it - if you think it deserves it, of course. But with the ties to Negroponte, I don't think (I hope) this will be an issue today.
Considering the hot subject matter, I am going to give you a diary to be proud of, perhaps something my last two diaries were not. I would have completed the whole story in this diary, but with Negroponte's Nomination I think I should just publish this diary and finish it in another diary (which I can focus on another theme in anyway). I am not going to reiterate what I said in my last diary. I think it's for the best. If you want to know about what the CIA did during the Cold War, then by all means
read it and find out. I am not even going to provide the list of plugs and resources (just today - reform groups are important!) You can, once again, find them
here. This diary
is a continuation of the
previous one, however.
This is definitely the stuff that conspiracy theories are made of, although I will largely refrain from any outright speculation, as it's just not necessary in this diary.
So, that cuts out alot of fat. Now where did we leave off? We have narcotics dealing and organized crime as a firmly engrained as a CIA tactic, both in manufacture and traffic. Quite simply, it worked, and we didn't care what the cost was.
[A note on sourcing: I am not going to source most of what is said here, and this is an informational/opinion piece, not a historical document. However, all of this is well documented, and sourcing for what has been said can be found in The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade by Alfred McCoy (an EXCELLENT read that is extensively sourced and resourced - under threats from the CIA!) as well as Dark Alliance, which includes the Mercury News story that original broke some of this, as well as many other related pieces of information. That said, there is no way to guarantee I didn't make a mistake - I wish I could, but I can't.]
Iran-Contra "Who can compete with the government?" - John Gotti, Jr. on whether he has been dealing drugs.
I gave you a little taste of Iran-Contra, but I will summarize it here. There are two important backdrops to this. The first is our support of Manuel Noriega in Panama, who just so happened to be a drug lord, which started in the 50s and continued on into the Contra scandal. The second is Nixon's "War on Drugs" (better known as the "War on the 60s",) which he fought with due diligence in the 70s (with what appears to be sincerity at least on some level,) but his efforts would fail in the end, in fact they only inflamed the situation in many cases, and he would soon leave the White House in disgrace. Most of what happened at home, and the large farce that it was, is reserved for the third history diary - and I have to say, the "War on Drugs" and 1972 VERY closely resembles the "War on Terror and 2005. Nixon did, however, make a real mess of foreign policy in his efforts (which targetted Turkey, France, Panama, and Mexico, among others,) that's for sure.
Many of the guys who were involved, behind the scenes, in the Secret War in Laos will go on into our next scandal, Iran-Contra. This likely includes John Negroponte, who was involved in the Vietnam/Laos Saga as a political officer in the Vietnam War. Exactly what he did is a total unknown. He did describe that time as a "career defining experience." His role, however, was likely limited to Vietnam - he was a "Vietnam Expert" - not interested in complications like Laos. People who were actually involved in Laos that would go on into the Iran-Contra Scandal include Ted Shackley (CIA Agent), Thomas Clines (CIA Agent), Oliver North (who called the Contras "freedom fighters" and was convicted on three counts only to be overturned on a technicality), and Richard Secord.
Another major figure involved in both scandals was Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State under Powell (is he taking up any other position now?) and a signer of PNAC, the neo-con manifesto (and a terrible piece of writing). In Laos, according to the Christic Institute's affadavit, he was involved in funnelling drug money from Laos and Thailand into assasination programs and other nefarious activities in Vietnam. During Iran-Contra, he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security, at which time he apparently opposed the arms sales (read on), on the grounds that the Iranians were "sleazebags." What a guy.
UPDATE: Apparently the Christic Institute has been largely discredited. I apologize for using such a shaky source that I should have investigated further - which is why I specifically sourced it. That does not mean this allegation is false, not all all, however.
The beginnings of Iran-Contra would signal a marked shift in our foreign focus, from East Asia to Central/South America and the Middle East - where it largely remains today.
Let's start by talking about the Contras. They were the militants who opposed the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua (FSLN), who held power beginning in 1979. This government was accused by the Reagan Administration of supporting communism, and joining with Cuba in supporting communist revolutions in Latin America, in countries such as El Salvador. While many members were surely strong communists, I am not sure that has even been verified, but it's not important.
Anyway, the Contras were a group that we created, out of remnants of the opposition (Somoza's National Guard.) The CIA financed them, trained them, and armed them. They operated out of Honduras (where Negroponte was ambassador) and Costa Rica, which both border Niceragua. We also put a full embargo on Niceragua. Guerilla war soon ensued - a really nasty one, might I add - and a topic I am sure you will read plenty about in the coming days if you haven't already. One of the best examples of it's brutality were the death squads that were supported under Negroponte's watch. Needless to say, this was brutal and disgusting, and Reagan's Administration would stop at nothing in it's insane crusade against the Sandinistas.
Eventually Congress would make funding the Contras illegal. Well, since when did that stop the CIA and Pentagon? The Contras needed funding, and the taxpayer lifeline was cut off. So what did they do? They did two things. The first, very commonly known thing they did was illegally sell arms to Iran, and use the money to fund the Contras. This has been widely investigated, yet the results wound up secret and ineffective.
The arms sales were not all by a long shot. Why they call this "Iran-Contra," I know not. I can speculate several reasons, but I will keep them to myself. We will return to Iran when we get to the Middle East, namely Pakistan and Afghanistan (and Iraq for that matter - why we sold arms to Iran when we were, I do believe, simultaneously supporting Saddam Hussein I do not know, but I intend to find out.) Anyway, the second source of funds. A - likely large - amount of Contra funding came from drug money. Yep, the Contras (and many Contra supporters - which we in turn supported) were drug manufacturers and traffickers - in cocaine, this time. Now, that's nothing new for US Policy, as I have made clear. It's almost like "oh, we supported drug dealers [it's almost a requirement], so what?" Well, we did alot more than support them. We directly assisted them selling their drugs on American soil. In fact, the CIA might have been responsible for the whole thing in the first place, if the CIA weren't the drug dealers themselves! Now, we did directly support the drug aspect in Laos before with Vang Pao. He had a heroin lab in a CIA Base, and we financed his smuggling. But in that case, it wasn't (at least in any significant number,) coming home. Sure, much of it was going to our troops in Vietnam, but who cares about them?
That's right, we are talking about finished cocaine - not raw product - providing aircraft, protection as they trafficked into the USA, and protection as they operated on US Soil. It's unfortunate, but we don't know exactly how much cocaine was involved, percentage wise at least. Unless there is a formal investigation, chances of which are moot, it's just not going to be known. And just wait - there's more!
The Kerry Commission (as in John Kerry) would conclude that "There was substantial evidence of drug smuggling through the war zones on the part of individual Contras, Contra suppliers, Contra pilots mercenaries who worked with the Contras, and Contra supporters throughout the region" and that "Senior U.S. policy makers were not immune to the idea that drug money was a perfect solution to the Contras' funding problems." Unfortunately, the Kerry Commission didn't even come close to getting to the bottom of the drug issue.
Now, I mentioned Manuel Noriega for a reason other than the fact that he was a drug kingpin. The other reason was that he was directly involved in Iran-Contra. He facilitated "guns-for-drugs" flights for the contras - supplying guns for drugs (which he proceeded to sell, of course.) He also provided protection and pilots, safe havens for drug cartel members, and money laundering. I even mentioned that, despite all this, that many US officials - including CIA Director William Webster and several DEA officials - sent him letters of praise in his fighting drug trafficking. It's too bad his fighting of drug trafficking was only against his competitors. Eventually the US would discover that he was assisting the Cubans and Sandinistas, and they would turn on him and take him down by force - all of a sudden he was the obstacle to a drug free America, according to the Administration. Ironically, drug trafficking through Panama increased afterwards, as he was no longer thwarting his competitors.
Meanwhile, in America...
On to America Soil and some developments. First, let's describe the type of protection, exactly, that these drug dealers would recieve in and on the way to America. When you are working with the CIA, you are untouchable. The CIA can show up and end any criminal action in it's tracks. And that they did. There are numerous instances of minor traffickers being arrested (in the USA) for smuggling drugs, and the CIA will go to the local police or courts and get them off because they would often threaten to talk. And that would be the end of that. The DEA has collaborated this, and been complicit in it, and in some instances has even admitted it.
As for the smuggling, at least four transport companies received US government contracts to carry supplies to the contras that were implicated in drug smuggling. Southern Air Transport, which was "formerly" CIA-owned, later under Pentagon contract, was involved in the drug running itself. Cocaine-laden planes flew all over the USA - to Florida, Texas, Louisiana and other locations, even including several military bases. Designated as 'Contra Craft,' these shipments were not to be inspected. As can be expected, when some zealous authority wasn't clued in and made a bust, the CIA or Pentagon would step in and that would be the end of that.
The Crack epidemic not-so-coincidentally occurred right in the middle of all this. While Crack (freebase cocaine, it's a smokable form of cocaine that provides a super-strong but super-short high, and is super-addicting) was discovered in the mid-70s, the epidemic didn't explode until the mid-80s. And it's quite clear that it was caused by the Contra scandal. You see, crack was cheap, potent, and addicting. It was the perfect drug to reap billions from the poor, especially blacks. Essentially you have a tax on poor blacks - who then proceed to suffer even more - to pay for an illegal, secret war. It is disgusting. And not a damn thing has been done about it. What can be done? We are dealing with the untouchable CIA and Pentagon here - as well as the Republican Party (including several idols and people currently in power.)
This whole thing is what started the whole Columbian Drug Lord mess we are now in. The connections set up during the Contra scandal still remain today. The CIA themselves set up the connections, and used the drug money to fund the contras. That's right - the CIA was directly facilitating the sale of cocaine. It's almost mind-boggling. Before the CIA brought wholesale South American Cocaine to LA in the form of crack at rock-bottom prices ($5 a hit - today, at least), both cocaine and crack were both unobtainable in black communities. Now it's a plague.
This story was broken by the Mercury News of San Jose, by Gary Webb, in a three part special that printed in 1996. I wish I could give you links, but you have to pay a (modest) fee for the articles. I strongly urge you to read them, if you are so inclinded, as well as the other sources I mentioned. You can find them by searching for "Dark Alliance," they were published in three articles, August 18th-20th 1996. You can also find much supporting and background information at Dark Alliance at Lycaeum.
UPDATE: I have been given a link to the stories - more than what I had, too. Gary Webb's Dark Alliance Stories. Props to salinas for this link.
Here is a taste:
'CRACK' PLAGUE'S ROOTS ARE IN NICARAGUA WAR COLOMBIA-BAY AREA DRUG PIPELINE HELPED FINANCE CIA-BACKED CONTRAS '80S EFFORT TO ASSIST GUERRILLAS LEFT LEGACY OF DRUGS, GANGS IN BLACK L.A.
GARY WEBB, Mercury News Staff Writer
For the better part of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, a Mercury News investigation has found.
This drug network opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles, a city now known as the ''crack'' capital of the world. The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America - and provided the cash and connections needed for L.A.'s gangs to buy automatic weapons.
It is one of the most bizarre alliances in modern history: the union of a U.S.-backed army attempting to overthrow a revolutionary socialist government and the Uzi-toting ''gangstas'' of Compton and South-Central Los Angeles.
The army's financiers - who met with CIA agents both before and during the time they were selling the drugs in L.A. - delivered cut-rate cocaine to the gangs through a young South-Central crack dealer named Ricky Donnell Ross.
Unaware of his suppliers' military and political connections, ''Freeway Rick''' - a dope dealer of mythic proportions in the L.A. drug world - turned the cocaine powder into crack and wholesaled it to gangs across the country.
...
Not-so-small Side Topic: Narco Dollars
NYSE chairman Richard Grasso embracing a Columbian FARC Commander
I was going to write about this, but it doesn't really seem necessary. With Jerome a Paris' excellent diary about our Crack-Based Economy, the issue seems largely covered. Our stock market is bloated with laundered money, most notably drug money, and our companies are reaping the rewards. They are profitting from other people's suffering (in some cases.) It's outright disgusting, and it's a bubble that will pop eventually.
Catherine Fitts wrote a pretty good series about this, which I urge you to read, if you are so inclined.
To be concluded... (Afghanistan, Pakistan - full circle)
UPDATE: Negroponte's Ties
There is a very nice article on Negroponte from when he was appointed as ambassador to the UN, here:
Negroponte:
Horseman of the Neo-Con Apocalypse
But I'm being childish if I expect Negroponte to unload his conscience at a Senate confirmation hearing. What do I expect him to say? The guy's a keeper of secrets, deep secrets. The US ambassador to any country is a powerful person, and the ambassador to a Central American nation exceptionally so. From 1981 to 1985, Honduras became a staging ground for Contra rebels working to undermine the Sandinista government and replace it with one made up of former dictator Somoza's old cronies. People disappeared and were murdered by the army - over 300 in one year, as reported in Honduras' papers. Military aid from the US went from $4 million to $77 million, and Honduras became the eighth largest recipient of US foreign aid. Known cocaine smugglers were flying weapons into Honduras from the US; in return, they were permitted to load up with cocaine and fly it to airstrips in Arkansas or Florida without being searched. Of course the US Ambassador to Honduras knew about these things. John Negroponte is no idiot.
While Costa Rica (who was ambassador?) was the main exporter of the cocaine involved, Honduras was involved as well.
ACTION ALERT! - It doesn't appear there is any hard evidence of Negroponte being personally involved in the cocaine trafficking (that is documented at this time,) much like there is no hard evidence he was personally involved in any of the Contra stuff. But keep digging guys, and if we find something, you surely will find out about it.
I would like to quote a post by Tirge Caps, as it summarizes the point quite well. I hope he doesn't mind.
I don't recall coming across Negroponte's name as much with cocaine trafficking as with the pass he gave to the training of death squads in Honduras that were involved in action in Nicaragua.
The two are linked however. The training received much of the financial suppport from cocaine trafficking. I don't think there is any question about this. Negroponte was ambassador from '81-'85. The Boland ammendment was passed in '83 forbidding further gov't aid to the Contras.
Were Negroponte not aware these troops were funded by alternative funds, he was negligent, and unfit for the job. However, he was aware. I don't believe anything different. And that makes him scary.
Another Update:
"Honduras was another country that was key for the Contras. Honduras was the base of contra operations. Most of the contra supplies came through Honduras. We wanted to do nothing to embarrass the Honduran military. Ramon Matta Ballesteros, a member of a gang that was involved in the Camarena murder, went to Honduras and found refuge there. He was walking the streets of Tegulcigalpa openly and publicly. The response of the United States government was to close the DEA office in Honduras and move the agent stationed there to Guatemala. We took testimony from that DEA agent. He said it made no sense. The drug trafficking was going on in Honduras, and the Honduran military were at the center of it.
When the war ended, almost the minute the war ended, to our credit, the administration arranged the midnight extradition of Mr. Matta Ballesteros, who is currently serving a life term in American prisons. The response of the Honduran military was to allow a mob to burn down a portion of the U.S. facilities in Tegulcigalpa.
But we sat by, as long as they were helping us, and allowed them to carry on their illegal business." (Jack Blum in testimony before Sen. Arlen Specter)
Essentially, wherever you use the words "Death Squads" in conjunction with Negroponte, you can add "crack/cocaine trafficking" as well.
FINAL UPDATE/NOTE: If you are interested, read through the comments. There is some excellent stuff out there, including some from several people who know more about this that I do! It's way too much to edit this diary with. The only things I will add to this diary are links to Negroponte, if anything more is uncovered. I will touch upon some things I might have left out in Part 3, and many of the comments and the info they provide will be addressed in Part 3, if they haven't been in Part 1, which I encourage you, again, to read if you are interested in this stuff.
Thanks, to all of you. I look forward to bringing you more. (Part 3 is up!)