As a young senator, John Kerry spearheaded courageous investigative work on the Contra drug scandals, shedding light on the hypocrisy of the Reagan/Bush administration.
http://www.alternet.org/election04/20004/Courage Under Fire
By Jan Frel, AlterNet. Posted September 28, 2004.
There is a general lack of attention to Presidential candidate John Kerry's 20-year record in the Senate in this election. Using his background as a state prosecutor in Massachusetts, Kerry launched his Senate career conducting investigations from his perch as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Commmittee. Kerry spent almost all of his first term (1984-1990) in the Senate investigating the Iran-Contra drug scandal in Nicaragua, the role of the Panamanian government in drug trafficking and the corrupt activities at the Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI).
Former Associated Press reporter Robert Parry recently highlighted some of Kerry's work in the Contra scandals in his new book, "Secrecy and Privilege," which explores how the two George Bushes have risen to the pinnacle of political power. AlterNet spoke with Parry, who covered the Contra drug scandal in the mid-1980s for the Associated Press, about Kerry's investigative work in the Senate.
There's a passage in your book that details a part of John Kerry's career in the Senate – his investigations into the Central American Contra scandals in the 1980s. You show that Kerry stayed firm under pressure from his colleagues, the White House and the mainstream press. Could you start by painting the background on the Contra affair?
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