Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press by Alexander Cockburn, Jeffrey St. Clair Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press
Book Review: A Superbly Researched Account of Some Unpleasant Events
Summary: 5 Stars
The CIA has always been a very secretive organization, and remains one today. In 1996, the publication of Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" series threatened the CIA with unwelcome public scrutiny by exposing its complicity in the drug trade: the CIA-created Nicaraguan contras were funding their operations, in part, by selling crack cocaine on the streets of Los Angeles, with the agency's knowledge.Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair's "Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs and the Press" jumps off from here. Wisely, Cockburn and St. Clair do not make Webb's story the core of their book; Webb's own book does that job admirably. What they do contribute to this story is a devastating account of the shameful way that the mainstream press, led by former intelligence officer Walter Pincus of the Washington Post, turned on Webb in an effort to discredit him and his story. Cockburn and St. Clair repeatedly expose the flaws in mainstream efforts to "debunk" the Dark Alliance series, and catch many reporters acting as little more than flacks for the CIA, often writing stories that said little more than "we know Webb's story is false because the CIA told us so."
But the core of "Whiteout" has a more historical perspective, as the authors set out to review the underside of the history of the CIA and its precursor, the OSS. And an ugly picture it is, too, as we see these agencies:
-recruiting the Mafia to assassinate foreign leaders.
-recruiting Nazi scientists to conduct experiments (often on blacks) in torture and mind control.
-helping war criminal Klaus Barbie escape Europe, and justice, to become a South American drug lord, arms dealer and apparent CIA operative.
-allying with the opium and heroin traders of Southeast Asia.
Working with drug dealers and other criminal elements is so common for the CIA that it would appear from this account to have been standard Agency procedure.
"Whiteout" is a well-written and well-researched book. Helpfully, the authors end each chapter with an annotated guide to further reading on the subject.
"Whiteout" is not pleasant reading; I could only take so much at a time before having to put it aside for the day. But it is necessary reading. In a democratic society, an agency such as the CIA, if it must exist, must be under constant scrutiny or it will lapse into lawlessness (the same is true of law enforcement agencies). It is clear that the mainstream media are not going to provide such scrutiny, so we must turn to independent journalists like Cockburn and St. Clair and others like them for the accurate information we need.
Book Review: An Eye-Opener
Summary: 5 Stars
As a person who grew up in the fifties, one of the myths I have found most painful to let go of is, "our government would not do anything dishonorable and whatever course of action our leaders choose is not only for the best, but is right and just." This book is a 'MUST READ' for any still laboring under that delusion. Cockburn and St. Clair are brilliant political analysts whom I have enjoyed reading in their newsletter, Counterpunch, and other venues. Their work consistently portrays the devastating reality behind the fifties myth, and this book is the latest example of that. Based on thorough and convincing research and absorbing to read, Whiteout presents a picture not easy to come by and without which the story of the CIA's role in drug-trafficking is incomplete at best.
Book Review: This will leave you madder than hell & gasping for breath!
Summary: 5 Stars
For those who laugh out loud when they see the pop quiz question: Are we winning or losing the war on drugs, this is the book. For those who have been living on mars for the last several decades and have missed the connection between big government, big money and drugs, check this book out. And for those who need only the most minimal reminder of how the bad guys (read CIA) have teamed up for fun and profit with other bad guys (read organized crime), this is your book. If you have ever wondered how hegemony works, or why the poor and people of color are increasingly on the receiving end of government tyranny, or when the pattern of imprisonment for drug abusers began, pick this book up. You won't be able to put it down. A great addition to the contemporary literature, and to those earlier works such as Braverman's Labor and Monopoly Capital and United Electrical's Labor's Untold Story. A deeply researched, lively work, often reading like a snappy who-done-it. The real mystery though is how one could not appreciate this brilliant work.Book Review: Rips off real researchers
Summary: 1 Stars
As the other reviews note, not only are there alot of inaccuracies, but basically this rehashes the terrain of much more thoughtful and careful researchers, such as Scott and Marshall, and of course, Gary Webb. Webb must be quite dismayed to find that his research and story somehow ended up in Cockburn and St John's book. More to the point, this is a book that is basically a careless bricolage aimed at conspiracy nuts and culled from other peoples work.Book Review: An extraordinary book
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an extraordinary book and a must read. It is a virtual compendium of crimes committed by this nation's most illustrious Intelligence Agency. It is packed with "just the facts", all meticulously documented, and the authors assiduously avoid speculation and theory. These authors have the gift for telling a complex story with grace and clarity, at times, interspersed with bitter sarcasms that have a humorous edge to them that might cause you to laugh out loud. [Their description of Dan Rather, standing before the camera, all decked out in Afghan garb, is a real hoot. I think, in this instance, the camera may well have "blinked twice".] Some of these crimes are so heinous, you might mistakenly think you are reading impounded dossiers from the Nazi death camps. This is news you won't find on "Good Morning America", but news that every patriotic American should know. It might well temper your patriotism. Everything about this book is first-class; even it's classic black-cloth hardbound cover makes it a fitting addition to the bookshelf. Ronald Roose