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Thread: It is time for a post-drug war Marshall Plan

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    It is time for a post-drug war Marshall Plan

    http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/da...-marshall-plan

    DANNY KUSHLICK , 1 August 2012

    If prohibition was a genuine protection racket, at least we would be protected from harm. But it isn’t. It is much worse than that. It is effectively an “endangerment racket”, says Danny Kushlick

    Fifty years ago almost every United Nations member state signed up to support a global prohibition on the non-medical use of certain drugs. Ever since, citizens all over the world have repeatedly voted for governments that proclaim the virtues of fighting a “war on drugs”. Through taxes we pay governments to enforce drug laws to protect us, our children, our communities and our countries from the all too real harms of drug misuse.

    However, the regime of prohibition (the criminalisation of production, supply and use) has been applied only to certain drugs. It has rarely been applied to tobacco and alcohol. But who does this prohibition protect?

    In a classic protection racket, a racketeer threatens damage to a business, or harm to an individual, unless the victim pays the racketeer “protection” money. The 1961 UN Single Convention on drugs, to which the UK is a signatory, frames its approach in terms of a concern for the “health and welfare of mankind” and a desire to “combat” the “serious evil” of “addiction to narcotic drugs”. It then places an obligation on signatories to put in place a blanket prohibition (and thereby eliminate use and eradicate supply) in order to protect us from this “evil”.

    The threat, as articulated, is that if we do not support the prohibition, the “evil” will take over and we will no longer be “protected” from addiction. But the global prohibition – the “war on drugs” – has singularly failed to stop people using drugs. The reality is that worldwide there are up to 300 million users. All the evidence shows that the level of law enforcement has little or no direct relationship with levels of drug misuse.

    A gift to the drug barons

    Not only has law failed to regulate drugs misuse, like alcohol prohibition, the war on drugs has gifted the multi-billion pound trade to drug-trafficking organisations and unregulated dealers, who are genuinely dangerous to all of us, our children and our communities. In 2008, The UN Office on Drugs and Crime conceded that the “drug control system” (a euphemism for prohibition) itself fuels the $320 billion a year criminal trade, describing it as one of five major “unintended consequences”. The recently published Alternative World Drug Report gives an even more comprehensive exposition of the harms caused by the war on drugs.

    Governments use this “unintended consequence” - the creation of the second largest money earner for organised crime globally - as a further pretext to demand more “protection” money. However, this second payment, now apparently spent on fighting organised crime, does nothing to stop drug trafficking organisations. In fact, it serves as a price support mechanism, turning simple agricultural products into commodities literally worth more than their weight in gold. An understanding of basic economics tells us that squeezing the supply of any trade that has a heavy demand will serve only to raise the price (notwithstanding the fact that prices are further hiked by virtue of the risk undertaken throughout the supply chain). And so a self-perpetuating vicious circle is created, whereby control of the market by unregulated suppliers is used to justify continuation or escalation of the war.

    These two “rackets” (the one built upon the other) have not only failed to protect communities and children, but have also brought entire nation-states to their knees. Prohibition has turned Guinea Bissau, for example, from a fragile state to a narco-state within months of the cocaine trade crossing its borders.

    Dirty and dangerous

    Prohibition has also brought the law into disrepute around the world, as millions break an unenforceable law and use whatever drugs they want, and the vast criminal profits are used to corrupt officials at all levels. Prohibition has made the drugs trade as dirty and dangerous as it could possibly be; unregulated dealers sell adulterated drugs to minors and violent criminals control much of the trade, and more than 50,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related violence since 2006. Year after year the Afghan poppy crop supplies the majority of the raw material for the manufacture of illegal heroin.

    If prohibition was a genuine protection racket, at least we would be protected from harm. But it isn’t. It is much worse than that. It is effectively an “endangerment racket”. The first payment we make creates plentiful money-making opportunities for organised crime. The second payment provides the budgets for those given the task of “fighting organised crime” – FBI, CIA DEA, SOCA and many others around the world. The second payment of “endangerment money” distracts us from the fallout from the first racket and further serves to perpetuate the overarching prohibitionist regime.

    However, there is good news. Governments are not organised crime groups. We can stop paying “endangerment money” any time we like, by voting for an individual or party that is seeking alternatives to global prohibition, and the endangerment racket that accompanies it.

    We can stop governments spending our money on a regime that ultimately endangers those who are most vulnerable and at risk, and press them to reassign the vast sums involved to a “post-drug war Marshall Plan”. Around the world we are seeing the beginning of more pragmatic approaches to legalisation and regulation. As citizens we have a choice. We can use our vote for peace – or for war.







    About the author
    Danny Kushlick is director of Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which he founded in 1996. He is a former drug counsellor and now campaigns for an end to the war on drugs. He was contributing editor for After the War on Drugs – Blueprint for Regulation, 2009

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    The Mexicans are dying at a rate close to that of U.S. Servicemen in Vietnam...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nickdfresh View Post
    The Mexicans are dying at a rate close to that of U.S. Servicemen in Vietnam...
    ....and Vietnam itself was largely about preserving CIA/BCE drug smuggling operations (a.k.a. "The Golden Triangle")
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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    ....and Vietnam itself was largely about preserving CIA/BCE drug smuggling operations (a.k.a. "The Golden Triangle")
    No. That would have made way to much sense. Vietnam was a meandering, quicksand-like clusterfuck with a whole host of well meaning fools...

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    ....and Vietnam itself was largely about preserving CIA/BCE drug smuggling operations (a.k.a. "The Golden Triangle")
    I didn't know that. But of course it's about money.
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    ...By the time the Vietnam War was in full swing, the CIA and its Vietnamese underlings were busily peddling huge amounts of Heroin from the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia. Historically, the French controlled the Opium trade in this part of the world. After WW11 it was agreed that members of the underworld would manage Opium smuggling on behalf of 2eme Bureau of French Military Intelligence. This was the top secret project known as Operation X, sanctioned at the highest levels. Raw opium was cultivated by the Hmong hill tribes and then trucked to Saigon. Here it was turned over to the Binh Xuyen bandits for distribution throughout the City. At this point, members of the Corsican underworld took their share of the drugs, shipping them to Marseilles and then to America. This smuggling route later became known as the "French Connection." Captain Savani of 2eme supervised the entire arrangement.

    With the embarrassing defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French began to withdraw her forces from Indochina. This resulted in top CIA operative, Major General Edward Lansdale being sent to Saigon. A year earlier, during a fact finding mission to the region, Lansdale had learned of the existence of Operation X. There now ensued a power struggle between the remnants of 2eme, along with their Corsican gangsters and Lansdale's American team under the watchful eye of CIA director, Allen Dulles. Open battles were fought in the streets and Lansdale, more than once came close to death. However, the die had been cast. The French were "out" and the Americans were "in," and the Opium trade began to rapidly grow.

    Years after the Vietnam War was over, the CIA remained the principal beneficiary of Heroin shipments from the Golden Triangle. This fact emerged during the latter part the 1980's by Colonel Bo Gritz. Possessing a truly remarkable daredevil record, Gritz is a legend in the Special Forces community. Sylvester Stallone modelled himself on Gritz in the gutsy Hollywood smash hit "First Blood."
    more here

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    Quote Originally Posted by envy_me View Post
    I didn't know that. But of course it's about money.
    Yeah, we made a killing in cash there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    more here
    Hugely over-simplistic. Certainly the CIA had ties to the drug trade, but there was little in the way of benefit to it...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nickdfresh View Post
    Hugely over-simplistic. Certainly the CIA had ties to the drug trade, but there was little in the way of benefit to it...
    The CIA had two main purposes for dealing drugs:

    1) Easy way to fund "black ops" without having to explain them to Congress in order to get "official" funding in the budget.
    2) Stoned populations are less likely to resist whatever bullshit the BCE/CIA is pulling in their country.

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    I have been saying the above for years.

    The Federal Government is directly responsible for the huge illegal profits made each year by the drug cartels.

    Why doesn't anyone file a lawsuit against the Federal Government for this? Well, probably because they would end up "committing suicide" by shooting themselves in the head twice.

    The article above spells out the incredible damage this "prohibition" has done to the human race.
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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    The CIA had two main purposes for dealing drugs:

    1) Easy way to fund "black ops" without having to explain them to Congress in order to get "official" funding in the budget.
    2) Stoned populations are less likely to resist whatever bullshit the BCE/CIA is pulling in their country.
    The CIA has over 20,000 employees and is a government department. That means they will be a bit shit. What you have down as an all knowing death machine probably spend half their time filling in requisition forms for staples.

    Secondly just how threatening can an organisation with an HQ called 'The George Bush Center for Intelligence' be?

    Every morning driving up to the place the people must crack a smile at the sign and how evil can you be after that?

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    The CIA had two main purposes for dealing drugs:

    1) Easy way to fund "black ops" without having to explain them to Congress in order to get "official" funding in the budget.
    2) Stoned populations are less likely to resist whatever bullshit the BCE/CIA is pulling in their country.
    The CIA was dealing with people already heavily involved in drugs in the Golden Triangle. In the 1950's-60's, they had to explain nothing to Congress and had a blank check. Certainly they funded paramilitaries fighting the North Vietnamese and NLF/VC in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. But they weren't just dealing drugs, it was hugely complicated and the NLF was also heavily involved in drug dealing and drugs were a pervasive problem in the US military by the end of the war...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hardrock69 View Post
    Why doesn't anyone file a lawsuit against the Federal Government for this? Well, probably because they would end up "committing suicide" by shooting themselves in the head twice.
    Ah, an awesome Gary Webb reference. "Dark Alliance" was definitely an interesting read. It should be required reading for anyone who claims to know fuck-all about the CIA and how they operate.
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    I've never read the book, but I have read some of the SJMN articles a long while ago. It should be said that Webb's work was often mischaracterized and oversimplified. And that there are both valid criticisms and kudos for it. For instance, he never said the CIA was directly involved in drug dealing, just that they were well aware of it and looked the other way or played dumb....
    Last edited by Nickdfresh; 08-21-2012 at 11:07 AM.

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    We all know that the CIA have done dodgy shit over the years I just wonder if maybe after 40 years of evil CIA guys in movies we haven't got to the point that we overplay all that.

    I'm actually surprised they haven't rebranded themselves something else by now with a new name and so on.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    We all know that the CIA have done dodgy shit over the years I just wonder if maybe after 40 years of evil CIA guys in movies we haven't got to the point that we overplay all that.

    I'm actually surprised they haven't rebranded themselves something else by now with a new name and so on.
    Nah, they're trying to rebrand themselves through the corporate media. Seems like there's another TV show featuring "heroic" CIA characters popping up every year.

    Back in the 1990's, ABC (which was then owned by "former" CIA director William Casey) tried to launch a CIA tv series which was essentially a clone of their old FBI series from the late 60's/early 70s. (Which coincidentally was about the time THAT agency was looking to clean up the image they got from the J.Edna Hoover reign of terror).

    It was a big flopping turd.. But now, in the age of media consolidation, you have "Burn Notice", "Covert Affairs", "Alias", "Missing" and others I'm probably forgetting, singing the praises of a rogue agency, founded by the same people who funded the Third Reich.

    To be fair though, "Burn Notice" is a decent show, and at least in the earlier years, was more critical of the CIA, told from the perspective of a guy who got kicked out. But more recently, he got kicked back in.

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    The CIA isn't a "rogue agency." I agree TV shows that fluff them are useless and I can't stand watching any of that shit whether they portray the CIA as paladins riding on white horses or as basically dimwitted, organized criminals. I recently watched the film "Safe House" with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, which goes the other way and just portray all intell people as corrupt hooligans without ever really giving us a solid reason as to what they gained from be so bad that they had to wipe out their own fellow CIA teams to cover everything up. The CIA certainly has done dodgy shit, had ignominious failures and some notable successes. But they truth is that they get the wrap for whatever administration and the scummy fuckwits like Ollie North and Rumsfled have them do. The CIA doesn't set policy, they carry it out for better or worse.

    But I cannot see blanket-indicting the CIA as mindless bogeymen and scapegoats when it was many within the Agency that opposed the Neocons and the Bushleague Admin's march to war with Iraq, for instance...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    The CIA has over 20,000 employees and is a government department. That means they will be a bit shit. What you have down as an all knowing death machine probably spend half their time filling in requisition forms for staples.
    Probably like somewhere in the middle...

    It's a secretive agency with all sorts of sub-groups within...

    It would be easy to pull off some of the so called "conspracy theories" of the last 100 years...

    Especially prior to the internet...

    That's why THEY (them people) want to control and sensor it...
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    There may very well be some folks working for the CIA who went into it for the best of intentions, but that doesn't change the fact that the agency was literally funded by Prescott Bush, the Dulles brothers and the rest of their Hitler-funding, Nazi importing BCE gang. Or the fact that President Truman, even at the time they were founded, called them "a tool of Wall Street banks".

    The CIA created Al Qaeda. They overthrew a Democracy in Iran and replaced it with the puppet Shah. MKUltra, Bay of Pigs, JFK/RFK/MLK/......

    Exactly what has the CIA ever actually done for the benefit of the American people? Not a single goddamn thing that I'm aware of.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    There may very well be some folks working for the CIA who went into it for the best of intentions, but that doesn't change the fact that the agency was literally funded by Prescott Bush, the Dulles brothers and the rest of their Hitler-funding, Nazi importing BCE gang. Or the fact that President Truman, even at the time they were founded, called them "a tool of Wall Street banks".
    Yeah and the US was founded by a bunch of slavers and William Wallace murdered civilians, time moves on.

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