On 5-11-00 at 7:04 PM, EDT, a single AP story was posted without fanfare. It happened after all of the deadlines had passed for evening news broadcasts, after anyone on the West Coast who actually caught the story might have had a chance to respond. It happened as quietly, perhaps, as the Third Reich might have announced in 1944 that it had found no evidence of death camps anywhere in Europe.

In a demonstration that the United States Congress and the CIA had evolved and improved their propaganda techniques over those of the Nazis, a black man actually helped make the announcement of CIA innocence in drug trafficking. This, in spite of the fact that the CIA's own public documents establish their complicity in a cocaine epidemic that decimated African-American communities throughout the 1980s.

By the 1940s all the Jews in German public life had already been sent to the camps. And, by way of either acknowledging the shame or of resting comfortably in denial, not a single national media outlet has further reported on the story that was released so quietly that it almost went unnoticed.

The headline on the Associated Press story read, "House Committee Sees No CIA Role in 1980s Drug Smuggling." AP writer Tom Raum's lead said, "The CIA did not play a role in bringing crack cocaine into the Los Angeles area in the 1980s, the House Intelligence Committee [HPSCI] concluded in a report Thursday." Two paragraphs later appeared the quote, "'Bottom line: the allegations were false,' said the committee chairman, Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla." Two paragraphs later the AP story added, "'The committee found no evidence to support the allegations that CIA agents or assets associated with the Contra movement were involved in the supply or sale of drugs in the Los Angeles area,' the committee said in a report." Two paragraphs after that - in perfect cadence - came the following quote: "'All the issues raised by the 'Mercury News' articles were addressed in the investigation,' said Julian C. Dixon of California, the committee's senior Democratic [and ranking African-American] member.'

'I believe that the committee's effort, together with the work of the Justice Department and CIA (inspector general), thoroughly examined those issues.'"

The term "no evidence" was repeated three times in the 13 paragraph story which ultimately implied that the blame for all of this exhaustive government expense and waste of the taxpayer's money fell squarely at the feet of former "San Jose Mercury News" reporter Gary Webb. Webb's August, 1996 "Dark Alliance" stories began the investigations. There was, of course, no mention of the publicly available Volume II of the CIA's Inspector General report, the Casey-Smith letter of 1982 or the voluminous hard evidence that exists showing direct CIA complicity in drug trafficking. That evidence, as reported ad nauseum in FTW, exists in the CIA's own documents and is available to anyone who wants to read it at our web site. While shocking in its audacity and absolute disregard for the truth, HPSCI's move was not unexpected. With Volume II still open in the committee it was a ticking time bomb in the 2000 Presidential election. Chairman Goss, (himself a former CIA officer), had a need to close the report out before its revelations could have publicly damaged George H.W. Bush and his son, George W., the Republican candidate for President. Also, the CIA has made motions to move class action lawsuits filed against the Agency, on behalf of Los Angeles residents, to Florida in preparations for motions to dismiss the suits as unfounded. Attorneys working on behalf of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits are planning on contesting the CIA motions to move the Los Angeles suit to Florida.

I am aware that last month's lead story in FTW, exposing a drug money pipeline into Al Gore's campaign might have provided the Republicans on HPSCI with a shield to use against opposition from Rep. Maxine Waters and other Democrats to their move. But if I have learned anything in 22 years it is that the truth can never be compromised, for any reason, in the hopes of securing crumbs of justice. I have never seen it work. Safety for activists and whistleblowers alike lies in never hiding, soft-pedaling or concealing any wrongdoing for any purpose. Arguing for the lesser of two evils is still arguing for evil.

HPSCI's actions will be hotly discussed by experts and activists at a cia-drugs conference to be held in Eugene, Oregon on June 10th. Presenters will include Peter Dale Scott, Celerino Castillo, Dan Hopsicker, Catherine Austin Fitts, activist Didon Kamathi and Mike Ruppert. Further information on the conference is available in the April issue of "From The Wilderness", or can be obtained by e-mailing conference coordinator Kris Millegan at roadsend@aol.com. A web site with current information on the conference, lodging and speaker's schedule is at http://www.cia-drugs.org/.

All this means is that the paradigm has shifted and we must shift with it and adapt. As of this posting there is no evidence that Rep. Maxine Waters (D), Los Angeles has made any public reaction to the report, has seen it, or is even aware of yesterday's actions by HPSCI. FTW and all concerned activists will be watching closely to see what she does but we are emphatic in that any action, or lack thereof, by the Congresswoman will not affect our position or our future actions. We wonder if she can politically afford to remain silent with so many of her constituents watching and aware. HPSCI staff today advised that my copy of their final report is already "in the mail" to me. We wonder how they are sending a copy to Maxine.

Mike Ruppert

Publisher/Editor

www.copvcia.com