ethical: Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras & The Drug War

Powderburns: Cocaine, Contras & the Drug War

Rate Points :3.5
Binding :Paperback
Label :Sundial
Manufacturer :Sundial
ProductGroup :Book
Studio :Sundial
Publisher :Sundial
EAN :9780889625785
Price :$13.95USD
Lowest Price :$8.27USD
Customer ReviewsThe Bush Crime Family involved in drugs? Say it isnt so!
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :18
The foreward, written by Michael Levine, encourages the reader to cancel all appointments for the next several hours as the reader will not be able to put this book down. Levine wasnt kidding. This book is about the life of Cele Castillo. It begins with Celes childhood under the rule of a military father. Cele ends up being drafted for the Vietnam war and his experiences in Vietnam are so amazingly vivid that its impossible to put this book down. The drug use in Vietnam was so rampant that this is where Cele learns that narcotics were much more of a threat to America than Communism as he vows to fight the illegal drug industry if he ever makes it out of Vietnam in one piece. Cele survives the jungle, the snipers, and even his first helicopter crash. Hes hired by the DEA and assigned to work in New York. He works hard, risking his life many times to bust drug dealers and ends up working in Central America. As if a second helicopter crash and being the guy responsible for upsetting powerful drug lords werent risky enough, Cele stumbles upon the CIA and Oliver Norths involvement in the illegal drug industry & illegal gun running during the Iran-Contra scandal, which also involved Bush Sr. & the Reagan administration. North & his crew were selling over-priced weapons to Iran as well as selling tons of cocaine to American cities as they used all of those profits to buy massive amount of weapons that they flew in to the Contras. As the cash and weapons were flown into the Contras, cocaine was brought back to America under the protection of the US military and CIA. The airplanes & airplane hangars were all CIA and NSA owned, and the pilots (Barry Seal & others) were contracted by the CIA. The corruption and involvement of our own CIA in the illegal drug industry wasnt enough to make Cele give up, he kept fighting to make a dent in the illegal drug industry. He was warned to stay away from the operations of Oliver North and the CIA but he pressed on anyway. Thats when his career suffered as an internal investigation was launched against him. As if death threats and surviving a plane crash (his 3rd crash) werent enough, trumped-up charges were used against him to end his career at the DEA. Cele risked his life countless times, got tons of cocaine off the streets of America & traded his marriage for dedication to his career. Senator John Kerrys investigation went nowhere, Bush Sr. pardoned Norths crew as they only got a slap on the wrist (probation) while the DEA rewarded Cele by ending his career.

Wendy
Rating Point :1 Helpful Point :1
Garbage! I have not even made it to chapter 1 yet and there are SO many spelling mistakes. Not sure who proof read this but they sure didnt have even a basic grasp of the english language. That bieng said, there is no reason to read anymore of this garbage - if the author was so lazy not to even use the spell check I dont have alot of confidence in the rest of this book. Dont waste your money.

100% true
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :2
I live in El Salvador and know many of the people involved. Down here this is all highly common knowledge to the point that it is not even a conspiracy. I have personally spoken with many of the people who were on the side of the CIA and contras, and who benefitted from this, who sit and laugh about it over beers and talk about how gullible Americans are for believing that only foreign governments are corrupt. I also am friends with a CIA "consultant" during the war, an American ex-marine (this was before Blackwater made this sort of thing common) who was contracted to train the contras in the jungle. He was friends with Oliver North, and has photos of the two of them all over his house. He said that he personally escorted and helped pilot boatloads of crack and cocaine from Puerto Cabezas, Nicargua to Houston, TX and New Orleans, and the govt, coastguard, etc. was instructed to look the other way. This guy went to jail for Iran Contra for 2 years and was pardoned, and even though he fully admits to all of the activities and shenanigans, and took the fall for it, he thinks that Oliver North is a the greatest American we have. Yet even he concedes that Americans and the media are gullible idiots for everything that they got away with. Others have mentioned that there was no incentive becuase the US was funding the operation- this is BS- the whole reason for Iran Contra, as well as the drugs, ws because congress was cutting off funding and heavily restricting the funding that they did get. The guy who said otherwise on this board is either lying or has no idea what he is talking about. There are still a lot of spooks down in this part of the world, although its mellowed out since 9/11 since the govt. has other priorities...

www.truthring.org gives it 2 Owls Up!
Rating Point :5 Helpful Point :8
Excellent book. Not only is this book based on a life of a top DEA agent, but its also written very well! Its not dry nor tedious, its a pleasure to read! And the information contained here is a goldmine.

This book is a must-read for every single hard-working Patriotic American who is ready to Wake Up.

review by www.truthring.org

Great story, but...
Rating Point :1 Helpful Point :0
Castillo tells a great story, even if there isnt much truth to it. Yes, all guerilla groups inevitably get involved with drugs. Thats about where the truth ends. John Kerrys investigation went nowhere because there was no evidence, and he admitted that. The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Dept. also came up empty. So naturally it MUST be a dark conspiracy! Please. The contra leaders were adamant that their subordinates NOT raise money via illegal means. Besides, if the Contras HAD all of that drug money, they wouldnt have needed so much US funding. The cartels ended their association with contra armies by 1982. Bottom line: Castillos book is not about drugs its a shameful attempt to rewrite history in favor of Americas red enemies.

Based on a series of explosive articles written for the "San Jose Mercury News", this book uncovers the roots of the crack cocaine epidemic in America, revealing connections between a Bay Area drug ring, an L.A. street gang, and CIA-backed Nicaraguan

The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade

Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, Updated edition

Barry & 'the Boys': The CIA, the Mob and America's Secret History

Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb