Howdy. Just started getting mail for this list a few days ago, so I figured I'd drop a line and say what drew me to it... I have been following with interest the contra cocaine trail since the '80s when it was downright nutty to even think about the existence contra cocaine trails. By the '90's I was glad to see the Dark Alliance stories by Gary Webb since it validated what I'd been hearing all along, but was not surprised by the fact that the government undermined his credibility by having Mercury News print disclaimers. I also read a great article in Village Voice entitled, "How Ronald Reagan Funded Gansta Rap" which went into the contra cocaine supply network and its connections to Def Jam records in LA. Most recently, I read Terry Reed's "Compromised: Clinton, Bush and the CIA" and was quite interested in the career of Barry Seal. Net searches led me to http://www.madcowprod.com where I was stunned to see the connection between Seal and David Ferrie as well as the other biographical tidbits about Seal on that site (and the photo of Seal with Rodriguez, the "second Oswald", and Frank Sturgis.) I joined this mailing list via a link on the site. I've not yet purchased a copy of the American Drug Lords book with its detailed accounts of Barry and the Boys, but am looking forward to doing so at some point in the months ahead. ($ is often tight for me, but I try to make exceptions where good books are concerned.) I found Terry Reed's book to be remarkably well detailed, even if not incredibly well written. The exhaustive exploration of covert ops makes the book seem VERY CREDIBLE even when some of its claims are downright mindblowing. (The claim about witnessing Clinton smoking pot in a van outside of a Mexican restaurant is so outlandish that it begs the question of why it would have been included if it were not true as it brings into question the credibility of all the far more easily believed details.) Have others on this list read Terry Reed's book? Are there good sites and / or books on Barry Seal that I might have overlooked? One other thing, Reed portrays himself as having fairly clean hands... he admits to being centrally involved in the gun running end of the contra weapons supply effort but claims that he left the agency following disputes with the agency's drug smuggling. This seems believable to me, but Reed's portrayal of himself in the book is as a patriot who was a victim of circumstance. He portrays himself as both clever and as a dupe, self-images that seem to conflict in various ways. Anywayz, good to be involved in this discussion. Cheers! Zee Shady One writing archive at: http://www.ulster.net/~shady strictly commercial at: http://www.colorshack.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! http://click.egroups.com/1/3864/3/_/475667/_/957452400/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------
