Drugs Are The Fuel For The US War On Terror

[Frazzel]

US military interventions lead to bigger drug flows into the USA. After the US intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, the Afghani-produced proportion of heroin consumed in the USA went from zero in 1979 to 52% in 1984.

Later, the Taliban government cut opium production from 3,656 tons in 2000 (90% of Europe's heroin supply) to 74 tons in 2001 (US State Department figures), wiping out 70% of the world's illicit opium production. US forces, in alliance with a drug trafficking network, the Northern Alliance, defeated Al Qa'ida, another drug trafficking network. The US funded the Northern Alliance warlord and terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, making him the world's biggest heroin trafficker.

Under US occupation, Afghan opium production has risen from 3,700 tons in 2002, to 3,400 tons in 2003, to 4,200 tons in 2004. The Financial Times wrote, "The U.S. and UN have ignored repeated calls by the international antidrugs community to address the increasing menace of Afghanistan's opium cultivation." It is now the world's leading producer of illicit drugs, producing 90% of the heroin sold in Britain and Europe. President Karzai of Afghanistan has made Rashid Dostum, a warlord, drug runner and terrorist, his military chief of staff.

According to the Colombian government, the antigovernment guerrillas of FARC (the supposed target of the 'war on drugs') had 2.5% of Colombia's cocaine trade; the government's allies, the paramilitary death squads, had 40%. Drug production in Colombia and its drug imports to the USA have now doubled to a new record.

[Frazzel]

journalist Mike Ruppert:

"Before 1980, Afghanistan produced 0% of the world's opium. But then the CIA moved in, and by 1986 they were producing 40% of the world's heroin supply. By 1999, they were churning out 3,200 TONS of heroin a year ­ nearly 80% of the total market supply. But then something unexpected happened. The Taliban rose to power, and by 2000 they had destroyed nearly all of the opium fields. Production dropped from 3,000+ tons to only 185 tons, a 94% reduction! This enormous drop in revenue subsequently hurt not only the CIA's Black Budget projects, but also the free-flow of laundered money in and out of the Controller's banks"


"Afghanistan had been the world's largest producer of opium/heroin, claiming close to 70% of the world's total production. That opium, consumed largely in Western Europe and smuggled through the Balkans, was a direct source of cash deposits in Western financial institutions and markets.


... Prior to the WTC attacks, credible sources, including the U.S. government, the IMF, Le Monde and the U.S. Senate placed the amount of drug cash flowing into Wall Street and U.S. banks at around $250-$300 billion a year.

In that context, the real history of Osama bin Laden, as America's useful terrorist-du-jour reveals a long and continuous history, interwoven with the drug trade and the Bush family, of supporting conflicts that have benefited U.S. military and economic interests."

"THE TALIBANS DESTRUCTION OF THAT (OPIUM) CROP WAS APPARENTLY THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ACT OF ECONOMIC WARFARE AGAINST US ECONOMIC INTERESTS THAT THE TALIBAN HAD EVER COMMITTED".

It invited the war that would come shortly after.

The facts related to CIA involvement are fairly well documented at this point. It seems unlikely that this level of "economic activity" would continue to flourish without US participation.
Before the Taliban's rise to power, a "whopping" 60% of Pakistan's GDP is estimated to have come from the illicit trafficking of drugs; making it a factor that penetrated every area of Pakistan society. (The ISI, the equivalent of the CIA, was a particularly large beneficiary of drug receipts)

What is striking about these charges of US involvement in narco trafficking is that suggests a compelling interest on the part of the banking establishment to prosecute the war in Afghanistan. Up to this point, many critics had alleged that the Energy giants were driving the bus. Now, it appears that there was a confluence of interests (Big Energy, Banks, Wall Street and arms dealers) who elected to steer the country towards war.
This illustrates the gravity and the magnitude of the "Iraq-Afghanistan" campaign. .
Afghanistan's "final status"; a fractured country broken into regional fiefdoms (ruled by warlords) to facilitate the ever-burgeoning drug trade. As we have seen, the narco dealing provides crucial resources and liquidity to American markets and the banking industry.
Afghanistan is being condemned to a future of unending violence and neglect by powerful constituencies in the US.'

Thanks to Mike Ruppert's "From The Wilderness" FTW's story, The Bush-Cheney drug Empire in October, 2000.

[paul wright]

That's all about why 'our boys' are in Helmand , isn't it?
To protect the opium crop for the 'friendly' routes, to allow the heroin factories free access to the Kosovo routes to the West, allowing cheap smack on the streets of Europe, UK and the US
That's the sole purpose of the British Army in Helmand
The security of the Heroin routes

[TonyGosling]

Over 90% of the world's opium now comes from Afghanistan. In this shocking new film, we ride the drugs caravan, from cultivation, to process, to market. On route, we lift the curtain on the hidden world of the drug barons; learn how to process heroin in the crudest of laboratories and encounter deadly gunfights on the Iranian border...

Graphic documentary about Afghan opium smuggling which begins with the Iranians ambushing opium smugglers.


Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfVYj1qkrpc

Crouching behind rocks in the mountain passes between Iran and Afghanistan, Iranian guards prepare an ambush. As opium smugglers come into view, the guards open fire. One trafficker falls to the ground immediately, killed by their first shot. But the others fight back until police reinforcements arrive, wielding large machine guns.
Shoot outs like this happen every day. Over 200 Iranian guards are killed a year patrolling the Afghan border. "Drugs production has increased tenfold in Afghanistan", laments Captain Miri. So much opium is flooding across the border, anti-drug units now calculate the value of their hauls in tonnes rather than kilos.