NOTE: At the time this story was written it looked like the House Intelligence Committee was going to get away with closing out the CIA drug investigations. But thanks to the efforts of From The Wilderness that resulted in class action suits being filed against the CIA in Los Angeles and Oakland and other publicity we have generated Volume II has not been closed out. They can't because too many people are watching. On October 12, 1999, investigators from House Intelligence came to Los Angeles and copied 6,000 pages of our records for review. Going into 2000, Volume II is still very much an open investigation and FTW is proof that something can be done. - MCR

HIGH NOON

In the 1950s classic western about honor and conformity, fear and courage, Marshal Gary Cooper faces a murderous gang of killers all by himself while a town, paralyzed by fear, does nothing to help. Cooper risks not only his life but the love of Grace Kelly and does what honor, and a higher moral compass require of him. The spineless town, which had hired him to do for them what they would not do for themselves, vacillates, cringes and waffles. Cooper, terrified and abandoned, faces the gunmen alone. At the end of the movie the killers are dead but there is no resolution. The only thing that remains is an empty street awaiting the next group of bandits. There is no Marshal, no hero, no martyr. He has left in disgust, happily for him, with Grace by his side, his badge lying in the dust. There is nothing there worthy of sacrifice.

The San Jose Mercury News reported, on November 22, that hearings in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) will take place sometime in mid to late January on Volume II of the CIA Inspector General's report on Contra drug trafficking. The Mercury calls the pending hearings, Congress' "final look" at the issue. With those hearings every issue raised by Gary Webb's stories and all the efforts of many men and women, for decades, will be laid to rest. There will be no more chances in our lifetimes. The matter will be officially closed.

I offer you two scenarios. Scenario One: Moved by a massive outcry from the public and enormous pressure on the news media, HPSCI holds well publicized hearings, with advance publicity, and calls Gary Webb, Cele Castillo, Mike Levine, Mike Ruppert, Dee Ferdinand, Danillo Blandon, Oliver North, John Poindexter, Robert Gates, Alan Fiers and a dozen others as witnesses. The hearings result in a massive public outcry and Congress, faced with overwhelming evidence of CIA wrongdoing, condemns the Agency and opens the door for reparations, abolition of CIA, and long overdue reforms in our criminal justice system.

Scenario Two: Due to the fact that no public interest was expressed, HPSCI holds sudden hearings, which are covered only by C-SPAN with no notice. The witness list is short and limited only to Fred Hitz, George Tenet and Maxine Waters. The major media does not cover the hearings live and brief spots on the evening news report only that CIA was sloppy and received a minor wrist-slapping for its association with drug dealers during the Contra war years. Vague recommendations are made that the CIA undertake a review of its procedures with no time-specific period for completion. The matter is closed. As CIA apologist David Korn of The Nation has predicted - "CIA gets away with it." The bandits all head for the saloon to get more whiskey, women and song. The town is doomed. Each citizen returns to hoping that someone else will be the next victim.

There's a time for reading, for learning, and for waiting. There's also a time for doing. The scenario, which plays out in January, is entirely up to you. Make no mistake about the stakes. As reported by Alex Cockburn in his book Whiteout, New York Times reporter Keith Schneider wrote in 1987 that, "such a story could shatter the Republic." If you believe that life cannot exist without the Republic then do nothing. If you believe that life rests on something more fundamental and pure then get off your behind and do something - now. CIA is still dealing drugs and if they are not challenged then the saloon door, the entire town and you are standing wide open. With what has been revealed in Volume II we will never have a chance like this again.

Throw Your Weight Around!

FROM THE GOVERNMENT WE WANT:

1. Disqualification of retired CIA covert operative J. Porter Goss as Chairman of the
House Permanent Select committee on Intelligence before any hearings on grounds of
conflict of interest.

2. Adequate public notice in advance of the hearings so that the press may cover them.

3. Testimony from all relevant witnesses including Celerino Castillo, Mike Levine, Rick
Horn, Mike Ruppert, Bob Parry and Gary Webb.