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investigation is intended to create a "climate of suspicion" around the CIA. |
On the Trail of the CIA-Contra-Crack Connection
by Ruffin Prevost
Special Assignments Team
PSCPRuffin@aol.com
Representative Maxine Waters is mad as hell, she's sick and tired, and she's not going to take it any more!
She's sick of lies and corruption, including corrupt police departments with cops who deal drugs. She's mad as hell about a justice system that treats crack cocaine 1,000 times more strictly than the powdered variety. She's sick and tired of the devastation crack has brought to her community. And most of all, she's tired of listening to the same old story from the CIA when it comes to crack.
But unlike a lot of Americans (and politicians), Maxine Waters is doing something about it all. She's working, as she calls it, to "connect the dots" between the CIA and the explosion of crack in Los Angeles. She's got a lot of folks in high, spooky places very angry, which is almost a sure sign she's on the right track.
Maxine Waters is the U.S. Congressional Representative for California's 35th District, covering some of the toughest neighborhoods in South Central Los Angeles, including Inglewood, Hawthorne and Gardena.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, Waters spoke to a group of students, activists, teachers and community leaders at Cal-State Northridge in north Los Angeles, and let them know just how mad she was. Though none of the usual mainstream media corporations bothered to cover her speech, ParaScope was there.
Amidst a maelstrom of public outcry regarding the CIA-crack-Contra connection, Waters has been particularly outspoken. The crack plague has hit her district harder than anywhere else in America, and she says her constituents are entitled to some answers about their government's involvement with the problem.
"The task for all of us -- government agencies, elected officials, community leaders and the media -- is to get to the bottom of the charges, not pooh-pooh them," Waters said. "What we need to find out is who knew what, when did they know it, and how high did it go."
Not trusting the CIA Inspector General to conduct a thorough investigation, Waters has launched her own investigation to connect the dots between the CIA and the rise of crack in South Central L.A. She has been a thorn in the side of a wide array of slow-moving federal agencies, investigators, spokespeople and bureaucrats who would just as soon let the whole mess blow over.
Though she had heard stories and rumors of CIA ties to the crack trade, Waters points to the San Jose Mercury News "Dark Alliance" series as the catalyst that sparked public debate about the issue and brought it to the forefront of her agenda as an elected representative.
"That Dark Alliance series by Gary Webb unleashed some information that made my heard pound," she said. Her conclusion after studying the facts? "The CIA fueled the expansion of the crack cocaine epidemic in America."
Maxine Waters spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of individuals, at times raging against the machinery of the federal government that has created such an ugly situation, yet also expressing the need to reconcile past problems and move forward to reach a lasting solution.
ParaScope will continue to follow Rep. Maxine Waters and her efforts to "connect the dots" between the CIA, the Contras and the crack cocaine epidemic. Look for future updates on this developing story soon.
(c) Copyright 1996 ParaScope, Inc.
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In Her Own Words: Maxine Waters on the CIA |
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More on the CIA/Contra/Cocaine Connection |
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