Posted on 02/15/2007 7:54:04 AM PST by nuconvert
Responding to Iran with words only has bitten us quite a bit IMO and for about 30 years.
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No kidding?
This area of Iran is controlled by drug lords, not rebels and certainly not freedom fighters. Do a little homework.
Noreiga, Sadam Hussein, the Taliban and bin laden...just a few of the 'enemies of our enemies' we crawled into bed with in the past fifty years.
Oh I am so sorry I apologize profusely for offending you please, please forgive me. I couldn't find the part of this story that talks about drug smuggling, other than in passing, in fact, I would swear it talks about sectarian violence in Iran. Perhaps I am simply a weak woman and unable to acertain the contents as well as you. I thought it said, "So who is responsible? A group called Jund Allah (The Army of Allah) claimed responsibility. It is a predominantly ethnic Baluchi outfit whose stronghold is the area between Khash and Taftan, close to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The group's leader is one Abdul-Malik Khan, who calls himself sardar (headman).
"The Baluch, although an Iranian people, are distinct from the Persian majority thanks to their language and culture. However, the main cleavage is because BALUCHIS ARE SUNNI MUSLIMS WHILE PERSIANS ARE SHITIES." Again, I apologize and swear I will never, never, never again question you.
Personally, I think it was nothing more than a training exercise.
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It is good to acknowledge your limitations.
Now, if you're finished being snarky why not do a little homework on the region instead of relying on one article.
Gotcha!
Yeah so?
These folks are Mohammedans and don't mind simply wiping out a portion of their population to fix a problem. We'll see.
Afghanistan never got rid of their opium trade.
Your story is somewhat true...here's some other facts you need to know.
Taliban were still selling opium even after ban of cultivation by the Regime. Did you know Opium has a good shelf life if stored properly. Why would the Taliban be still selling Opium? Economics.
Taliban had so many sanctions against them by the UN...like Women's Rights issues throughout the 90's and then blowing up the Buddhist statues at Bamiyan in March 2001 did not help the Taliban. They had to take advantage of drug trade.....in other words the Taliban were giving lip service to the United Nations.
Here's an article pre-911.
UN Panel Accuses Taliban
on Drugs
By Edith M. Lederer
Associated Press
May 25, 2001
A U.N. panel accused Afghanistan's Taliban rulers Friday of selling opium and heroin to finance its war against northern rebels and to train terrorists. It called for the United Nations to monitor the drug trade as part of an existing arms embargo.
In a report to the Security Council, the five-member panel questioned the sincerity of the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, when he banned the cultivation last July of poppy, the raw material used to make heroin and opium. The report said the Taliban was stockpiling the drugs, suggesting it only halted production in order to keep opium and heroin prices from plummeting.
According to the U.N. Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Afghanistan's opium production was about 2,500 tons in 1998, 4,600 tons in 1999, and 3,100 tons in 2000. ``If Taliban officials were sincere in stopping the production of opium and heroin, then one would expect them to order the destruction of all stocks existing in areas under their control,'' the report said.
Read More
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/afgnstan/2001/0525moni.htm
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Yeah so?
I agree. Like the KGB were choir boys....
Soviets sponsored a coup to take out the leader in Afghanistan to put their puppet in 1979.
Soviets armed Saddam to the hilt during the Iraq and Iran War.
And don't forget the Soviets trained Arafat. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001716
The Soviets wanted to be a major player in the Middle East and did rotten things too...and many people forget that.
http://www.proconservative.net/PCVol8Is121RubinBRevKGBThirdWorld.shtml
No Country is innocent.
And all Puppets were willing participants.
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