Gary Webb > Quotes

“I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress.”
― Gary Webb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion

“One of the questions I have been asked many times since this story broke is this: Now that the facts are out there, what can we do? My answer, depressing and cynical as it may be, is always the same. Not much. Not now. And certainly not until the American public and its Congressional representatives regain control of the CIA and shred the curtain of secrecy that keeps us from discovering these crimes of state until its too late.
Perhaps when the government officials who presided over these outrages are safely in their crypts, and their apologists and cheerleaders are buried woth them, future historians can finally call these men to account for the miseries they caused. Even if that's all that ever happens, it will be fitting and just, because the favorable judgment of history is ultimately what they craved.”
― GaryWebb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion

“Freelance investigative reporter Danny Casolaro was looking into the Cabazon/Wackenhut projects as part of a larger conspiracy investigation at the time he was found dead in a West Virginia motel room in 1991, allegedly a suicide victim. He had told friends he was convinced that "spies, arms merchants and others were using the reservation as a low-profile site on which to develop weapons for Third World armies, including the Nicaraguan Contras.”
― GaryWebb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion

“If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me ... I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn't work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite? And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I'd enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn't been, as I'd assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job ... The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress ...”
― GaryWebb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Cocaine Explosion

“This book was written for them, so that they may know upon what altars their communities were sacrificed. —G.W. Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed. — I. F. STONE, 1907-1989”
― Gary Webb, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion

“That was the Northern Ohio Bank, which US Organized Crime Strike Force investigators said had been taken over by the Mob. The bank collapsed in 1975, costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $30 million. Stansbury”
― Gary Webb, The Killing Game

“Banks and other lending institutions—fearing loss of investor confidence—are notoriously loathe to admit they’ve been swindled. Therefore, they make excellent targets. Marvin”
― Gary Webb, The Killing Game

“Gaus said; “I think Peter Crosby is a myth. I have never met the gentleman.” First”
― Gary Webb, The Killing Game

“In 1975, con men looted five times as much money from banks as did armed robbers, but only 16 percent of the swindlers wound up in jail, serving an average of slightly less than one year. The”
― Gary Webb, The Killing Game

“James Vincent Suarea, a small time Florida con man, said this of his more adept brethren: “These guys, they’ve got minds like corkscrews, and all they can figure is big rip-off. They’re not happy unless they’re screwing somebody.” Marvin”
― Gary Webb, The Killing Game