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NYTs Belated Admission on Contra-Cocaine
October 4, 2014
Exclusive: Since the Contra-cocaine scandal surfaced in 1985, major U.S. news outlets have disparaged it, most notably when the big newspapers destroyed Gary Webb for reviving it in 1996. But a New York Times review of a movie on Webb finally admits the reality, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Nearly three decades since the stories of Nicaraguan Contra-cocaine trafficking first appeared in 1985, the New York Times has finally, forthrightly admitted the allegations were true, although this belated acknowledgement comes in a movie review buried deep inside Sundays paper.
The review addresses a new film, Kill the Messenger, that revives the Contra-cocaine charges in the context of telling the tragic tale of journalist Gary Webb who himself revived the allegations in 1996 only to have the New York Times and other major newspapers wage a vendetta against him that destroyed his career and ultimately drove him to suicide.
The Times movie review by David Carr begins with a straightforward recognition of the long-denied truth to which now even the CIA has confessed: If someone told you today that there was strong evidence that the Central Intelligence Agency once turned a blind eye to accusations of drug dealing by operatives it worked with, it might ring some distant, skeptical bell. Did that really happen? That really happened.
Although the Times review still quibbles with aspects of Webbs Dark Alliance series in the San Jose Mercury-News, the Times appears to have finally thrown in the towel when it comes to the broader question of whether Webb was telling important truths.
The Times resistance to accepting the reality of this major national security scandal under President Ronald Reagan even predated its tag-team destruction of Webb in the mid-1990s, when he was alternately pummeled by the Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The same Big Three newspapers also either missed or dismissed the Contra-cocaine scandal when Brian Barger and I first disclosed it in 1985 for the Associated Press and even when an investigation led by Sen. John Kerry provided more proof in 1989.
More:
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/04/nyts-belated-admission-on-contra-cocaine/
Wella
(1,827 posts)I remember Maxine Waters was very concerned but then it all died.
Why can't I get that rec button to record more than one rec? You know, we were talking about Amy Goodman in another post. Well, Robert Perry is another good one to keep track of.
MattSh
(3,714 posts)as if it can do no wrong. Them and many other news outlets.
Just how many examples of journalistic malpractice does anyone need before they understand they need to ditch, not just the Times, but the mainstream media as a whole?
LuvNewcastle
(16,846 posts)My ass.
Lenomsky
(340 posts)A means to an end meddling in Sovereign countries business. I'm from UK we meddled in far too many countries.
We have our secrets:
Lord Hutton also decided that evidence related to the death, including the post-mortem report and photographs of the body, should remain classified for 70 years.[3] In October 2010, Hutton claimed that he had done so to protect Kelly's wife and daughters from the distress of further media reports about the death