9/27/2016

Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America by Peter Dale Scott & Jonathan Marshall

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CocainePolitics:Drugs,Armies,andtheCIAinCentralAmerica
abookbyPeterDaleScott&JonathanMarshall
[1991]
FromPublishersWeekly
Thisimportant,explosivereportforcefullyarguesthatthe"warondrugs"is
largelyasham,astheU.S.governmentisoneoftheworld'slargestdrug
pushers.TheauthorsunearthcloselinksbetweentheCIAandLatin
AmericandrugnetworkswhichprovideU.S.covertoperationswith
financing,politicalleverageandintelligence.CIAprotectedPanamianruler
ManuelNoriegasupplieddrugs,pilotsandbankingservicestoHonduranand
CostaRicancocainesmugglerswhowerepartnersinReagan'ssupport
programforNicaragua'sContras.Together,HonduranandCostaRican
traffickerssuppliedonethirdofthecocainesmuggledintotheU.S.inthe
1980s,accordingtotheauthors.TheBushadministrationshowershundreds
ofmillionsofdollarsonLatinAmericanmilitaryelitesinGuatemala,
Colombia,etc.toenlisttheminthe"warondrugs."Insodoing,chargethe
authors,theU.S.risksempoweringtheveryforcesthatprotectdrugpushing
crimesyndicates.TheU.S.alsogavecovertaidtoAfghanguerrillaswho
smuggleddrugsinconcertwithPakistan'smilitaryanoperationthatproducedhalfoftheheroinconsumedin
theU.S.duringthe1980s.Scott,aprofessoratUCBerkeley,andSanFranciscoChronicleeconomicseditor
MarshallcallforimmediatepoliticalactiontoendWashington'scomplicity.Theirheavilydocumentedbook
deservesawideaudience.
Copyright1991ReedBusinessInformation,Inc.Thistextreferstoanoutofprintorunavailableeditionofthis
title.
"CocainePoliticstellsthesordidstoryofhowelementsofourowngovernmentwenttoworkwith
narcoticstraffickers,andthenfoughttosuppressthetruthaboutwhattheyhaddone.Thewaysand
meansbywhichU.S.governmentofficialsjoinedforceswithcocainecriminals,andthenengagedin
alargelysuccessfulcoveruptohidethetruth,aremeticulouslydocumentedbyMarshallandScott,
makingCocainePoliticsessentialreadingforanyoneinterestedinunderstandingthereal
Iran/Contrastory."
JonathanWiner,Counsel,KerrySubcommitteeonTerrorismandNarcotics
"Thisimportant,explosivereportforcefullyarguesthatthe'warondrugs'islargelyasham,asthe
U.S.governmentisoneoftheworld'slargestdrugpushers...ScottandMarshallcallforimmediate
politicalactiontoendWashington'scomplicity.Theirheavilydocumentedbookdeservesawide
audience."
PublishersWeekly
"[ScottandMarshall's]accountofthevariousinterlockingconnectionsbetweentheContras,
ManuelNoriegainhisearlierincarnationasCIAhenchmanandtheagencyitselfisunlikelytobe
betteredsoon."
DavidRieff,NewYorkNewsday
"Combingthroughhundredsofdocuments,conductinginterviewswithgovernmentofficials,
journalists,mercenariesanddrugdealers,ScottandMarshallpiecetogetherthecomplexpictureof
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9/27/2016

Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America by Peter Dale Scott & Jonathan Marshall

theconvolutedcontradrugtraffickingscandal,U.S.involvementincoveringitupandhowthe
entireepisodemirrorspastCIAhandlingofrightwingnarcoticsoperations."
LouieEstrada,TheTimesoftheAmericas
"Fortheevidencethatnarcotics...havebeeninstrumentsofU.S.foreignpolicy,yousimplyhaveto
readCocainePolitics.This,onethemostenlighteningbooksoftheyear,willredefineyourusageof
thesillyterm'drugwar'.Whenyouseethosetwowordsfromthenon,youwillthinkofacovertwar
financedbydrugs."
ChristopherHitchens,TheNation

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