The Novel Whiteout: The CIA, Drug and the Press - Book Report/Review Example

? s Whiteout: Summary The novel ‘Whiteout: The CIA, Drug and the Press’ is an eye-opening, detailed research that puts forth some extremely incriminating evidences against the CIA and their involvement with a vast drug trafficking network. The book is authored by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair, who use their journalistic style to unravel the conspiracy that has expanded drug and opium trade in not only the streets of Los Angeles but different parts of the world as well, most notably Burma, China, Laos and Vietnam. 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 against the minorities and further highlighted that the agency endangered their democratic institution, just so they could finance an overseas operation. II. Counterattack As discussed in chapter 1, chapter 2 of the book further delves in to the some of the hardships that Webb had to face after having those series of articles against the CIA published in the San Jose Mercury News. Cockburn and St. Clair highlight this attack on Webb as one of the most ‘venomous assault’ (p. 29) in the history of print journalism. The entire fraternity of journalists raised many questions regarding his competence that seemed more malicious than having a factual base. However, despite the negative publicity that Webb’s research seemed to attract, there were many people who took his work seriously and begin to identify the racist ideology that had seemed to infiltrate the government authorities. However, the criticism eliciting from major newspaper does not mean that every reporter blindly followed them and many journalists like Walter Pincus and Richard acknowledged the suspicions that had been surrounding the CIA from the very beginning (p. 31). As a result, Webb’s work led to many follow-up on his reports and also sowed seeds of insurgency within the people belonging to lower socio-economic status, which included both black and white segment of the population. The authors noted Webb’s big story had indeed turned into the talk of every show and particularly the Black community had started to become quite suspicious of the motives of the government that was led primarily by the White population. However, the media soon came out with degrading remarks that discouraged black paranoia and started to mock people, who were beginning to side with Webb’s. It is further noted that Webb’s work gained momentum with the advent of the internet, the article soon made its way on the cyber sphere and despite the heavy restrictions imposed on the print media in several Cuban-dominated cities in America, such as Miami, the people were still able to gain access to it. As the article continued to make its way to wider range of population, Cockburn and St. Clair notes that for the first time, the government showed a desperation to destroy Webb’s credibility and coerced the newspaper to leave the story be; they tried everything in their power to win black trust and reduce the amount of distrust that had seeped in their community against the white-dominated authority. There was much tension between journalists as a result of the articles and they even discuss the fiasco of an interview of Gary Webb by Christopher Mathews on CNBC, where he was openly assaulted for it. The string of assaults on Webb and his newspaper continued for a while; as there were many eminent journalists who were up against Webb, but there were also many who had recognized the CIA to be a shady organization that was involved in many nefarious activities and had also caused the deaths of many. As time went by, many of Webb’s findings turned out to be true and soon, there were many follow-up studies that caused the news to spread like wild fire. However, while Webb was away to Nicaragua to interview people associated with Somoza regime, the editor of the San Jose Mercury, Jerry Ceppos formulated a column in which he retracted many of the claims that were made in the series published under Webb’s name. (p. 52) The column elicited great protests from Webb, but his editor went ahead got the column published, in which he deemed that half of Webb’s work was merely hypothetical and completely exonerated the CIA of the charges that were pressed earlier. Ceppos further claimed that Webb’s articles were merely submitted in the form of notes and ideas, and his articles were not even compiled in a proper form. This raised many speculations and Webb naturally resigned from such a newspaper that no longer backed his research and abandoned him in the worst possible way. This move by Ceppos has been questioned by many and somehow cements the invisible control CIA has on the press of the United States and emphasizes their silence on such a crucial matter. III. Introducing the CIA Chapter 3 of this book elaborates upon CIA’s involvement in the drug trafficking business and it is highlighted in the first paragraph that it was reported in an Op-Ed article published in The New York Times, which stated that the ‘CIA had never directly or knowingly condoned drug smuggling in the United States’ (p. 95). The chapter discusses some of the gaping flaws in the agency’s policies and further brought some cases, which had openly implicated the agency’s involvement in drug trafficking. Cockburn and St. Clair cites the case involving a Venezuelan drug trafficker named Guillen Davila, who was in the Anti-Drug Unit in Venezuela and according to records he had smuggled nearly 22 tons of cocaine in the United States (p. 215). Upon getting arrested, Guillen testified that he received substantial amount of support from the CIA to help him continue with the drug trade in the US. He reiterated time after time that the cocaine shipments being brought in to the United States were actually approved by the CIA and they were completely aware of the various operations of the drug cartels. As usual CIA’s denial roused much interest and caused many journalists to refer back to Webb’s research that was so harshly dismissed earlier. It is reported that the CIA acted on its own accord and did not even seek the DEA’s approval for the illegal shipment that was being brought here in the US. Following the denial, there were many journalists who published articles in order to reiterate the innocence of the CIA but the suspicions kept on escalating. It was later revealed that the CIA has had everyone on strict surveillance and was randomly monitoring several people. It was also hypothesized that the CIA is also involved in an overseas Assassination program and were further implicated as it is revealed that the CIA were deeply involved in the development of unusual weapons that ranged from brain-washing, mind control and biological weapons that can easily spread harmful epidemics through a region. It has been alleged that the CIA has used bio-poisoning in order to subdue the revolution in Congo by capturing the freedom fighter Lumumba and then later on allegedly tortured and murdered him. The CIA had indirect involvement and it is revealed that not only was the CIA busy developing such deadly arsenal, but they had also trained military officers, who served more like assassins or mercenaries than respectable officers. By the end of the chapter, the authors produce copious amounts of data that further show that the CIA was also involved in plotting an assassination attempt on the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, which failed on many counts. The CIA had come up with unusual tactics, such as infusing his speech with a mind control background music that would subliminally imply to its listeners to turn against Castro and even tried to drug his cigars by lacing the cigar with a powerful hallucinogenic. They even tried placing poison in the Cuban leader’s shoes, which could have easily caused his beard to fall, but the amount in which it was used could have caused death and even paralysis. Despite the fact that all plans eventually failed at the last moment, the fact that these tactics were eve considered gives a fair idea into the arsenal of the CIA. These unusual methods were formulated in state of the art CIA laboratories headed by Sydney Gottlieb. Cockburn and St. Clair has further highlighted that the Central Intelligence Agency was known to have been involved on various levels of international politics and they were known to exert their control using highly dubious means. From mercenaries to biological weapons, the CIA were also involved in producing highly skilled interrogators too, who knew several painful ways to help extract information from a person. IV. The US Opium Wars: China, Burma and the CIA The United States had always feared the tightening control of communism in the Eastern bloc, therefore it was no surprise that following the establishment of Communist China under Mao Ze Dong. Therefore, the ninth chapter discusses the how the CIA tried to contain the spread of communism by naturally siding with Mao’s opposition, Li Mi, who was in Taiwan seeking refuge after Mao had taken control of China. In Taiwan, the remaining forces of Chiang Kai-Shek sided with Li Mi and together they gained control of an opium poppy field. The CIA had been helping Li Mi by supplying him with weapons and other forms of arsenal. The beginning of the chapter relates the loss of a CIA agent, who was barely mourned despite the fact that he piloted the planes taking out these shipments to Taiwan and played a crucial role in the CIA’s plan. Jack Kilman was murdered and his grave was left unmarked, after a drug and arms exchange went bad. Cockburn and St. Clair highlight that the drug trade was carried out through Burma and even the Thai secret police served as a key asset in their plan. Besides this top secret supply of arms, the CIA soon came up with a war on Drugs in order to justify their supply of arms in Burma and Thailand, as the former was quickly becoming one of the world’s largest raw opium and heroin producer. Opium usage has had a long history in the Eastern bloc; first introduced in the region by Arab traders and then later on for medicinal purposes in treating malaria. However, with the arrival of the East India Company, the British encouraged the export of opium to China. The Imperial government imposed heavy penalties for those smoked opium but such measures only caused them to carry out these activities in secret and therefore the underground drug network expanded substantially. These drug networks caused an influx of opium coming in and out of the country. There was a national furor to stop the opium trade in China, but the East India Company continued to back the underground drug network. The Opium wars continued to become very violent and subsequently, Shanghai became the center of all such activities. In later years, Opium magnates began encouraging the use of opium, claiming that the substance was harmless and smoking it was just like inhaling tobacco, which definitely was not so. However, with the dissolution of East India Company, the opium trade was largely left under CIA’s care. Coming back to present day, the drug wars in Burma and China have led to deaths of many. It is also alleged that it was the United States that had funded the KMT troops stationed in Burma led by Li Mi, who wanted to take over communist China through an elaborate coup. The book claims that then-President, Harry Truman had set aside a budget for this plan as well without even consulting the Burmese government. The CIA gave their support to Li’s army by providing them with finds collected through the drug trade in China and Thailand. When the Burmese Government discovered the plot hatched by the KMT and the CIA, the Ambassador quickly reached the Chief of Army’s staff to explain his country’s position only to be snubbed by him (p. 227). The Burmese government feared the outbreak of a violent conflict with China and hence took this matter to the United Nations. At first America fervently denied these allegations and the involvement of CIA with the KMT. They further claimed that the American weapons found in possession of the KMT were bought on the open market and therefore, the CIA had no direct relations to it. However, it was difficult convincing the UN and as the international pressure and censure mounted, the United States ceased their support to the KMT and the so-called invasion of China was never executed due to the lack of funds and arms. Despite their failed invasion of China, the KMT forces were known to trigger social and political turbulence in Burma and soon became an organization headed by notorious drug lords and after an armed action against them, the troops fled north. However, the violence did not cease even after that, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) placed Robert Horn in charge of the operations in Burma that eventually led to a 16 year long legal battle. The Wa ethnic leader named U Saw Lu, had been an informant working for horn who provided him with information regarding all the officials who had been involved in the drug trade. The Wa leader was allegedly tortured by the CIA and the legal battle led to a suspicious settlement and the case never reached a proper conclusion. V. Armies and Addicts: Vietnam and Laos The book relates that the CIA was not only involved in crippling the economies of the Eastern bloc by encouraging the illegal import and export of drugs, but they had also repeated their action when the Vietnam conflict broke out. In the tenth chapter titled ‘Armies and Addicts: Vietnam and Laos’, it is revealed that when the Vietnam conflict broke out the CIA had gained control of many Opium poppy fields in Laos and began making heroin that was vastly used by the American troops stationed in Vietnam. As following many series of conflict, the United States was running low on funds and therefore, the opium trade was very important in providing the US army with the much-needed funds. It claims that the CIA had created 150 short landing strips in Laos near the Opium poppy fields; this was in order to expedite the transportation of the heroin and raw opium from the fields to all over the world. It is further implied that that the CIA received most of its funds from the USAID to help get access and control of the opium fields. As the violence in Vietnam continued to escalate, the US officials had also established opium fields in Saigon which was under the South Vietnamese President Diem and his brother Nhu. The aforementioned siblings have long been associated with the United States and their involvement in Vietnam. After the French lost control of South Vietnam, the United States was quick to take control and Diem’s brother Nhu was made the in-charge of the Secret Police in Vietnam. The CIA continued to fund their army in the conflict but the international censure it attracted became too difficult to handle and most of the drugs were used by the American troops, which greatly destroyed their discipline and made the army more susceptible to attacks. The CIA had conjectured by then that the Vietnam conflict was a lost cause and as they had incurred heavy losses, the US finally pulled out of Vietnam. Their troops suffered from a worst case of addiction and as a result the men coming back home became more or less like liabilities. As Vietnam declared itself a communist nation, Diem and Nhu were no longer of use to the Agency, so they were assassinated in an elaborate coup, which was also plotted by the CIA. Therefore, Opium wars were indeed orchestrated by the CIA to help them tighten their control over other nations while also significantly crippling their economy and social structure. VI. The CIA, drug and the Central America The twelfth chapter of the book is a detailed description of the Press finally acknowledging the various cases of Drugs and arms exchange that were allegedly conducted by the government. However, Cockburn and St. Clair note that Washington Post only went ahead and published this story because they wanted to put an end to Senator Oliver North candidacy in the election and this was the most suitable way to malign him. The press at that time did exactly what they had criticized Gary Webb earlier for. It was very malicious on part of the press, because it was not the senator’s call and he was simply acting up on the president’s order, as he turned a blind eye to the drug for arms trade. Following Webb’s work and Washington’s post’s story on North, many journalists followed up on this and discovered that the CIA ran a huge drug ring to generate funds and this chapter delves into it in greater detail. Cockburn and St. Clair highlights that it was not only the agency that had perverted the government from its otherwise honorable way, but it was the press as well that encouraged such behavior through their silence. Instead of fulfilling their duty of becoming a watch-dog press and alerting the public at the misdemeanor of the government, the Press of the United States is described as ‘well fed… and fast asleep in their kennel’ (p. 278). It can be postulated that the CIA were intimidated by North’s popularity, who had a great chance in succeeding in the upcoming election. However, these chances razed to the ground as the article brought some of North’s diary entries to light through which it was ostensible that he had, though unwillingly, did play a role in the drug trade with the Contras. It also highlighted many of the contracts that he had signed with the contras that were eventually used to ruin his own career. However, in the midst of the political rat race, the post raised very strong, incriminating evidences against the CIA, which also proved the presence of the drug trading network in other parts of Central America as well, such as Honduras and Guatemala. While leading a coup in Nicaragua, the CIA had also established their control in Guatemala and it is further discussed that the CIA were involved in carrying out the coup d’etat in the country. They feared that the reforms introduced during the Arbenz regime would significantly loosen their grip on the country and as the reforms promoted a strong sense of nationalism and before the Soviets brought the country under their influence, the coup had been important, which was also funded using the money generated from exporting Nicaraguan crack within the black community and other parts of the world. The CIA-led coup had garnered immense support from President Harry Truman and in the CIA led the many Central American countries into a defense assistance pact with the United States. On the other hand, the CIA also established military centers in the Honduras that were given the task of wiping out leftists in the country. The officials were trained by the CIA and they were more like glorified assassins than respectable officials. Besides overseeing the assassinations of leftists, they also presided over the drugs and arms trade. The CIA provided arms and ammunitions to support their mission in the region and then used the narcotics manufactured in the country to rebuild their assets and funds, as these coups were indeed an expensive affair. The CIA serves as a major organization that helps the United States in maintaining and expanding their control over international countries and territories. In conclusion, the aforementioned summary of the chapters only provide a glimpse into an elaborate conspiracy that seems to have affected the lives of every individual all over the world. Be it narcotic trade or mindless bloodshed, the evidence is irrefutable that the CIA were indeed behind all of it. The entire book is well-conceived and the data is organized in such a manner that makes the information graspable and enables the individual to establish his own analysis of the events that has transpired in the last few decades, ever since the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency. Work Cited Cockburn, Alexander and St. Clair, Jeffery. Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press. Brooklyn, NY: Verso Books. 1999. Read More