Cobb: Gary Webb: Dead

December 13, 2004

Gary Webb: Dead

You've got to be brilliant or crazy or a bit of both to take on the CIA singlehandedly. The bigger question is whether you can survive the success or failure of such an endeavor. All in all, the odds are against you, and now another David lies dead in the shadow of Goliath.

It was a suicide according to this article, but it might be more appropriately called a collective execution. Webb long ago lost the support of the profession, despite his willingness to go the extra mile to make his case.

The publication of his book 'Dark Alliance' set a lot of tongues wagging and eyebrows raising. But in the end it didn't prove enough to be the kind of damnation CIA haters would prefer or vindication CIA suckups desired. It showed a complicated and convoluted series of events with plenty of dirt and blame to go around. In the end, I believe that his profession abandoned him.

Webb's job may someday be internalized by massive organizations. Investigations of the sort he embarked upon over continents and years are the only way anyone can find out what goes on aside from those directing operations. In a publicly funded organization we have a right to know, even if most of us would prefer not to know.

Webb's death reminds us that there remain high prices to pay for the burden of unwelcome knowledge. Truth serves no man.

Posted by mbowen at December 13, 2004 01:14 PM

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Comments

This is sad news.

He did enough to prove his story. The Washington Post ripped him a new one, slammed Black readers, then in an article, on the inside of the A-section, on a Saturday, confirmed much of the information provided by Webb, which was denied in an earlier Post article.

Posted by: DarkStar at December 13, 2004 08:02 PM

I met Webb when he came to publicize his book in Ann Arbor. Must've been ten years ago. This is bad news.

Posted by: Lester Spence at December 13, 2004 09:02 PM

I've been wondering when Micahel Ruppert is gonna get his. Is this a shot across the bow?

Posted by: memer at December 14, 2004 09:50 AM