[PEN-L:6835] CIA/crack/contra conspiracy/connection covered

[JDevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

For those interested in the "CIA/crack/contra conspiracy," you
might want to look at Sunday & Monday's L.A. TIMES (front page,
10/20 and 10/21/96). I think the series continues until
Wednesday. If the past is any indication of the future, the
series will sooner or later appear at the LAT's home page
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/

I haven't read the whole series (last week's series on the
biology of the brain was more interesting), but I'd say that it
can be summarized as minimizing the role of the CIA & the contras
in the crack epidemic. The contras were involved, but it wasn't
very profitable for them. There were lots of other suppliers. The
LAT reports CIA denials of involvement. They are skeptical about
a lot of the details the San Jose Mercury series and even more
skeptical about conspiracy theories.

I must say I think is skepticism is justified. Conspiracy
theories usually don't work very well and have pretty bad
political implications (if we could just replace the
puppet-masters with our own people, everything would be
hunky-dory). Remember that conspiracies can't abolish the forces
of supply and demand (or the laws of motion of capitalism).

Again, I'm no expert on this subject. There are some conspiracies
(though the most successful ones probably remain unknown). It's
_possible_ that the CIA conspired to wipe out the
African-American community with crack. But there are lots of
aspects of the entire workings of the current political economy
(does Reaganomics ring a bell?) that conspire, as it were, to
wipe out that community and other "minority" communities.

Even without the conspiracy, the fact that CIA is and has been
involved with gangsters and the drug trades (not to mention
fascists and torturers) is sufficient cause to abolish the damn
organization.

(does Reaganomics ring a bell? it sure seems to do so in the
White House.)

in pen-l solidarity,

Jim Devine   jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<74267,2057@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ.
7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
"Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way
and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.