The Kerry Committee report was an investigation by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding charges of Contra involvement in cocaine and marijuana trafficking. Lasting two and a half years, the Subcommittee released their final report on April 13, 1989. They found that "it is clear that individuals who provided support for the Contras were involved in drug trafficking... and elements of the Contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers."[6] The report cited legal cover provided by the CIA to anti-Sandinista rebels in the drug trade as well as accounting for $806,000 paid by the State Department to "four companies owned and operated by narcotics traffickers."[7] The Subcommittee found that the Contra drug links included: "Involvement in narcotics trafficking by individuals associated with the Contra movement." "Participation of narcotics traffickers in Contra supply operations through business relationships with Contra organizations." "Provision of assistance to the Contras by narcotics traffickers, including cash, weapons, planes, pilots, air supply services and other materials, on a voluntary basis by the traffickers." "Payments to drug traffickers by the U.S. State Department of funds authorized by the Congress for humanitarian assistance to the Contras, in some cases after the traffickers had been indicted by federal law enforcement agencies on drug charges, in others while traffickers were under active investigation by these same agencies."[7] The committee's findings provoked little reaction in the media and official Washington. A Columbia Journalism Review article noted that "the Washington Post ran a short article on page A20 that focused as much on the infighting within the committee as on its findings; the New York Times ran a short piece on A8; the Los Angeles Times ran a 589-word story on A11."[8] San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb sparked national controversy with his 1996 Dark Alliance series which alleged that the influx of Nicaraguan cocaine started and significantly fueled the 1980s crack epidemic. Investigating the lives and connections of Los Angeles crack dealers Ricky Ross, Oscar Danilo Blandon, and Norwin Meneses, Webb alleged that profits from these crack sales were funneled to the CIA-supported Contras.[8] Although Webb never claimed that the CIA directly aided drug dealers, it echoed the Kerry Committee conclusion that the CIA was aware of large shipments of cocaine into the U.S. by Contra personnel.[8] Interest in the series occurred outside the mainstream press, as the story spread through black talk radio and the Internet.[8] Hits to the Mercury Center's website escalated dramatically, some days reaching as high as 1.3 million.[8] Protests across the country were channeled through the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, who pushed both the CIA and the Justice Department to initiate internal investigations into charges of government complicity in the crack trade.[9] Rebuttals to Webb's argument came from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. The Columbia Journalism Review stated that "it was public pressure that essentially forced the media to address Webb's allegations" noting the contrast between coverage of the Kerry Committee report and "the newspapers' lengthy rebuttals to the Mercury News series seven years later—collectively totaling over 30,000 words."[8] Outside pressure eventually led the editorial board of Mercury News to concede that they had presented "only one interpretation of complicated, sometimes-conflicting pieces of evidence" .[10] At the conclusion of its internal investigation, CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz testified to the House Committee on Intelligence in 1998: "We have found no evidence in the course of this lengthy investigation of any conspiracy by CIA or its employees to bring drugs into the United States. However, during the Contra era, CIA worked with a variety of people to support the Contra program. These included CIA assets, pilots who ferried supplies to the Contras, as well as Contra officials and others. Let me be frank about what we are finding. There are instances where CIA did not, in an expeditious or consistent fashion, cut off relationships with individuals supporting the Contra program who were alleged to have engaged in drug trafficking activity or take action to resolve the allegations." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_epidemic

• published: 14 Jul 2013
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