Summary of the (WHITEOUT) - Book Report/Review Example

Download file to see previous pages... The most unfortunate aspect of this heinous trade is the lack of media coverage and the unbearable silence of the press over these matters, which further intensifies the questions regarding the degree of control and influence the agency has over other areas of the United States. The book is truly a masterpiece in the field of investigative journalism and the substance of this prose will summarize six chapters of the book to illustrate and succinctly describe unfurl such an elaborate intrigue against the masses. I. Webb’s big story The chapter 1 of the book is titled ‘Webb’s big story’, which as it name suggests discusses some of the preceding research work carried out by journalist Gary Webb. In 1996 published an article that provided great details regarding the link between the CIA and the Nicaraguan drug cartels in the 80’s that basically led to the supposed ‘Crack explosion’ in the black community. Webb explained how the profits made from the drug trade by the Nicaraguan drug trade in Los Angeles were used by the Contra army established by none other than the CIA to fund the coup against the corrupt regime of the Nicaraguan leader, Anastasio Somoza. (P.p 1-5) The first chapter gives the readers a fair idea as to what to expect from the rest of the novel. Following the front page story written under Webb’s name, there was a major uproar on a public and government front; as the latter fervently denied all these charges. However, despite the furor, Webb stuck to his story and even alleged that it was the CIA, which had a huge hand in crippling the black community that they still haven’t been able to recover from the hazards of addiction that befell them during this period. Cockburn and St. Clair cite many names from Webb’s articles that clearly establish a strong link between the CIA and the Nicaraguan drug lords. Webb notes that the San Francisco drug ring was once headed by a man named Norwin Meneses, who also headed the Security and Intelligence division of the contra coalition forces led by the CIA. Hence, it is vastly obvious that the individuals involved in the drug trade network were also involved directly in the coalition forces, which if not confirms the agency’s involvement but does lead to an incredibly suspicious connection between the two parties. The remaining chapter further discussed all the ways through which the Nicaraguan drug lords have managed the drug trade in America and the coup in their country side by side. Webb further established that Meneses was in fact related to Somoza as well and had left behind a long trail of crimes that ranged from car theft to drug dealings as well. The audacious articles written by Webb led to harsh criticisms from many renowned publications such as The New York Times and the Washington Post, and demanded a proof of the validity of his evidences. During that time, Webb’s investigation was vastly dismissed as a mere conspiracy theory. However, Cockburn and St. Clair note that as the current events unraveled an intricate web of conspiracies on other fronts, CIA’s involvement in the drug trafficking business also became quite pronounced. The CIA’s involvement also led to underlining the lack of protection that is provided to the minorities as the Black community went through a downward spiral and crack addiction led to a serious rise in the crime rate within the community. The news was more disconcerting for the government agency for it showed a clear discrimination ...Download file to see next pagesRead More