US drug czar says terrorism profiting from drugs

Reuters ^ | 23 Oct 2003 23:43:30 GMT

[yonif]

PHILADELPHIA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - At least half the groups designated as "foreign terrorist organizations" by the U.S. State Department raise money from international drug trafficking, a Bush administration official said on Thursday.

White House drug czar John Walters, credited with a federal anti-drug publicity campaign linking drug use among American adolescents with the financing of terror groups, told a police group, "The American drug consumer is the single most important funder of terrorism in this hemisphere."

He warned that secret channels used to ship narcotics into the United States could also transport biological or nuclear weapons.

"It is a fool's paradise to depend on the scruples of people who already engage in terror and violence," he told the International Association of Chiefs of Police, or IACP, which represents law enforcement executives from over 90 nations.

About 14,000 police officers from around the world were attending the IACP's annual convention in Philadelphia this week.

The State Department's 2002 report on global terrorism, issued in April, lists 36 groups as foreign terrorist organizations, ranging from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

He provided no details about the groups he believed were profiting from drug trafficking and did not discuss the possible sums involved.

Jamaican Police Commissioner Francis Forbes told the audience he also believed illicit profits from drug trafficking were helping to finance militant groups.

But he warned that Washington's war on drugs, specifically its $1.7 billion aid program for Colombia, was pushing drug cartel operations into poor Caribbean countries.

The arrival of drug cartel operations in the Caribbean was encouraging a flood of illegal firearms from the United States, he said, forcing underfunded local police to confront a new menacing threat from "high-tech" criminals.

"The terrorists are poised to take the high ground," said Forbes, who called for substantive international cooperation to combat a new "unholy" union among drugs, guns and terrorism in the Caribbean.

"When the United States sneezes, we catch a cold," he told a predominantly American audience. "But if we sneeze, you are bound to catch pneumonia."

[LibertarianInExile]

Ban drugs! That will solve the problem! They won't have any source for their funding, because no one will buy the illegal stuff!

Oh, wait, we did that already. Wonder how they're making money on something that's illegal?

[livius]

This is certainly true. And terrorism is also profiting from a host of other crimes, ranging from extortion to money laundering to counterfeiting to - well, you name it. People who complain about anti-terrorism laws being used against "common criminals" obviously don't understand that it's all part of a whole.

[livius]

They'd make money on it if it were legal, too. Unless you plan to go to state cultivation of your coca plantation.

[JmyBryan]

Just keep them illegal, no matter what - and criminals will continue to profit from them. So simple, yet so divisive.

[StockAyatollah]

Bunk! It was the Bush admin. that paid THE TALIBAN to not grow opium.

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[GraniteStateConservative]

The War on Some Drugs-- does this mean they are bringing back those lame TV PSA ads?

[xrp]

Seems to me like the US government is making errr SEIZING a good amount of money thanks to illegal drugs as well.

Calling all totalitarian FReepers, here's another WoD/anti-WoD thread for you!

[eabinga]

Yay! Now we can combine the WOD and the WOT for the ultimate war on Liberty.

Think of the children!

[xrp]

He warned that secret channels used to ship narcotics into the United States could also transport biological or nuclear weapons.

And still no locking down of the US-Mexico border...

[xrp]

Of course, the only enemies here are the American people themselves.

[Phantom Lord]

Now that Tommy Chong has been captured terrorisms funding should dry up.

[Phantom Lord]

They'd make money on it if it were legal, too. Unless you plan to go to state cultivation of your coca plantation

I don't know much about cocaine or cocaine production. But I do know that if MJ was legal, 95% of those who smoke it would grow it themselves, or get it from their friend that grows it. The other 5% would get it at retail outlets, or from a friend who gets it from a friend. Not a single dime would go to any organization.

[Phantom Lord]

Oh, and a major funding source for Hezbullah (spelling is wrong, I know) was the smuggling of cigarettes, headquartered in Charlotte NC.

[Conservative til I die]

Then take (most of) the profit out of it by legalizing drugs. I'm not even in fedgov and I could figure that out. I guess the "laws" of economics take a hike only when the WOD is involved.

[Conservative til I die]

Maybe if they ban it 101% rather than 100% that will somehow make a difference. Funny how logic and the general rules of economics go out the window when the WOD is involved.

[Conservative til I die]

They'd make money on it if it were legal, too. Unless you plan to go to state cultivation of your coca plantation.

a) There are no terrorists or mafioso making money off the "trafficking" of tobacco or alcohol (although, surprise surprise! the increasing taxes on cigarettes in NYC has directly caused a spike in the black market).

2) The legitimate sellers of drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine are not going around financing terror wars.

[Phantom Lord]

Your wrong. Cigarette smuggling was a major source of funding for Hezbullah (sp?). A huge ring was busted in Charlotte NC. The bought them here in NC, VA, and other low tax states here in the south and shipped them north to sell for profit, which went to terrorists.

[edchambers]

Up until the 30s most drugs were legal in this country did we have drug addicts rolling around in the gutters on every street corner?I don't know I wasn't there, but I have been to a couple countries where most prescription drugs we have could be easily be purchased over the counter.I didn't see alot of whacked out dope fiends there either.