A muckraking account, parts of which were originally published by the Christie Institute, that argues the CIA and the Nicaraguan contras were involved together in the drug trade during the 1980s, and that this sordid alliance was not unusual, but rather reflected covert operations and political intrigues stretching back over many years. The bottom line is that the first front of the war on drugs must be in Washington, which has up to now been part of the narcotics problem, not a source of creative solutions.