AP: Iran stockpiling high-tech small arms (through legal weapons deals and a U.N. anti-drug program)

Monterey Herald ^ | 3/25/05 | George Jahn - AP

[wtc911]

The documented history of US involvement with criminal elements in hot zones goes back to WW2 and our deal with Luciano to get assistance in Sicily.

I've seen multiple US and NGO generated reports indicating the exponential increase in opium production in Afghan since we kicked the Taliban out. That is true in large measure because of our willingness to take the perceived lesser of two evils and let the tribal factions get rich again, as long as it keeps them from fighting us and each other.

It's an ugly world and we sometimes make ugly deals.

As for Iran taking any intel from us, it would seem to me that there would first have to be some form of dialogue that does not currently exist. It also seems fairly obvious that offering Iran satellite data of their sovreign territory is not something we would want to do openly, given the hotility between our countries.

As a final point, why would you think that Iran would even want to stop the traffic? They gain monetarily. They get to pump poison to the west. And the large heroin culture in Iran is kept satisfied...junkies don't show up for revolutions.