What did U.S. officials know about contra drug trafficking? Documents now online offer some chilling clues. Contra/Drug Documents Online by Jon Elliston Dossier Editor pscpdocs@aol.com The contra cocaine debate rages on. Though it is centered around events that took place over a decade ago, this scandal continues to arouse heated argument on talk-radio shows, internet bulletin boards and the editorial pages of major U.S. newspapers. Allegations that members of a CIA-directed force of Nicaraguan rebels helped launch the crack trade in the United States have spread like wildfire since August 1996, when an investigative series in the San Jose Mercury News ignited an issue that had smoldered quietly since the 1980s. The series, titled "Dark Alliance" and authored by Gary Webb, sparked numerous official investigations and anti-CIA protests in the months that followed. Now inquisitive cyber-citizens can delve into a wealth of related online documentation -- once-secret records that detail the roots of the scandal. ParaScope has devoted extensive coverage to the series and the controversy surrounding it, including: a special report on the response of the major media, a photo-spread documenting a "Crack the CIA" protest, and a full transcript of former CIA Director John Deutch's encounter with angry citizens at a spectacular town hall meeting in South Central Los Angeles. Ours is one of many online outlets that has highlighted the "Dark Alliance" allegations. The Mercury News series was itself largely propelled by the power of the Internet. The paper's online version takes full advantage of the medium, and visitors to the Mercury Center can inspect hundreds of pages of documents that are cited by Webb. Though his reporting has been hotly contested by major media outlets and criticized by even Mercury News executive editor Jerry Ceppos, Webb has assembled an array of documentation from federal agencies and drug trials that suggests that at least some contra factions were involved in the coke trade. A Congressional report issued years before Webb's controversial series adds fuel to the present day contra-cocaine fire. The Web site Pink Noise has excerpted online an extremely informative document, the Kerry Committee report. The committee, headed by Senator John Kerry, investigated contra ties to drug smugglers and in 1989 reported that "is it is clear that individuals who provided support for the Contras were involved in drug trafficking, the supply network of the Contras was used by drug-trafficking organizations, and elements of the Contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers. In each case, one or another agency of the U.S. government had information regarding the involvement either while it was occurring, or immediately thereafter." That some high-ranking U.S. officials were aware of contra drug trafficking seems indisputable, in light of the information contained in declassified materials assembled online by the National Security Archive (NSA). The researchers and Freedom of Information Act experts that staff the NSA, a non-governmental library of foreign policy records located in Washington, DC, are responsible for many crucial disclosures that greatly increased public understanding of the Iran-Contra affair and other Reagan administration scandals. The NSA's online briefing book, "The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations," offers a revealing look into the clandestine world of key Reagan officials involved in the war against Nicaragua's Sandinista government. Ever wonder what National Security Council aide Oliver North knew about contra drug running? Apparently he was well informed of such improprieties committed by the guerrillas he championed, as evidenced by declassified memos to North as well as his own notebooks, selections of which are featured on the NSA site. A choice quote from August 9, 1985: "Honduran DC-6 which is being used for runs out of New Orleans is probably being used for drug runs into U.S," North wrote while meeting with his liaison to the contras, Robert Owen. (A Washington Post investigation in 1994, when North was in the midst of his failed campaign for Senate, turned up no evidence that North relayed this information to U.S. drug enforcement officials.) Also available are court documents and reports from the FBI and DEA that shed light on the contra-cocaine connection, and analysis by the NSA's Peter Kornbluh, a veteran investigator of U.S. covert operations. Serious investigators of the contra drug saga should not miss this site. The publicly available documents provide significant facts on drug running by some contra factions, but key questions remain unanswered. Exactly what, and when, did the CIA know of contra drug smuggling? Once U.S. officials became aware of the illegal trade that sprang from their covert war, what corrective actions were taken? So far the American public has been denied a full accounting of these troubling issues. Further scrutiny of the official record on the contras and cocaine is underway. The Justice Department and the CIA's Inspector General are investigating the issues raised in the Mercury News series, and the intelligence committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives continue to look into the case. Perhaps most troubling for the CIA -- which has suffered a public opinion lashing over the contra coke story -- is the fact that the declassified materials now online will facilitate thousands of unofficial investigations by concerned citizens. (c) Copyright 1997 ParaScope, Inc. Dossier: Covert Ops & Secret Documents Dossier message board: Share your views