Gary Webb the HERO!!!!

Is Gary Webb a hero or a zero? I believe that many people could see him differently based on their views as a member of the United States. Although I personally see him as a hero some people may not support that idea. Gary Webb was a journalist and during his time working for the San Jose Times he came across a lead to a story that included the CIA and the drug cartel in Nicaragua, along with the rebels in the war. What happened was the United States was trying to stay out of a war that included the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, who were backed by the communist Russia, and the Nicaraguan Contras. The Contras were trying to stop communism from entering their country and taking over, while the Sandinistas were trying to impose communism on the people of Nicaragua with the help of the Russians. America decided to help the Contras to stop the spread of communism in Central America, but we didn’t want the world to know that we were the ones helping so we came up with a plan. The CIA headed the operation to help the Contras by selling cocaine on the streets and using that money to pay for guns and ammunition for the Contras. The reason they sold cocaine was because the people on the streets were willing to pay a high dollar for it and if they sold it this way there would be no trace of where the money came from. So we secretly sent the money over and helped the Contras and the CIA did this with ease and never got caught until Gary Webb came along.

Gary found this story and decided to roll with it because it was set at the time to be the biggest story in the history of investigative journalism. He dug deep and it even took him on a trip to Nicaragua to research deeper into the topic. Once he finally had enough evidence to release the first article of three in the series the Dark Alliance these papers shocked the nation and blew up just as Gary expected and they finally revealed what the CIA had been doing all along.

I see Gary as a hero because he didn’t shy away from this story. He stood up to one of the most powerful agencies in the world and wasn’t afraid to back them into a corner and exposed them for all that hidden things that they had done. Gary was a hero because he put out one of the most revealing stories of all time and I believe he should go down not as a lying coward but as a brave investigative reporter that stood up for what reporting is meant to be, exposing the world to the truth.