--- Begin Message ---
-Caveat Lector-
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/9/26/150144.shtml
The New Opium War: How U.S. Lost the War on Drugs
Charles R. Smith
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002
The ancient poet Homer once wrote the sad tale of Ulysses, the hero of the
Trojan War. Ulysses expected a short and victorious trip home, after having
defeated the Trojans with his innovative ruse of the wooden horse. However, his
voyage was a black adventure cursed by the gods. One such curse occurred on the
island of the Lotus Eaters.
"On the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food
that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our
crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten
and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the
place might be, and they had a third man under them."
"They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no
hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who
ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say
what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the
Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return."
"Nevertheless, though they wept bitterly I forced them back to the ships and
made them fast under the benches. Then I told the rest to go on board at once,
lest any of them should taste of the lotus and leave off wanting to get home, so
they took their places and smote the grey sea with their oars."
Opium Today
More than 2,000 years ago Homer described the curse of drug addiction. Today,
the ancient curse is carried on in the form of the opium poppy. The poppy itself
has zero value except for the narcotic drugs it produces.
Most of the world's opium is grown in two areas of the world, Southeast Asia and
Southwest Asia. After it is harvested the vast majority is sold locally as pure
opium, addicting millions inside China, Burma, Thailand, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, Iran and other nations along the Asian trading routes.
The remainder is reprocessed into heroin for resale in Europe and America.
It is estimated that more than 20 million people are addicted to heroin
worldwide. In 2001, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency concluded that America has
more than 100,000 heroin addicts.
Heroin is known to produce more than $20 billion in profits for criminal
organizations and terrorist factions around the world, including the Taliban and
al-Qaeda factions in Afghanistan, which provided protection to opium producers
for a large fee.
Dominated by Chinese Gangs
Southeast Asia heroin trafficking links run from independent brokers and
shippers in Asia through overseas Chinese criminal populations to ethnic Chinese
criminal wholesale distributors in the United States. In the United States,
ethnic Chinese criminals rely upon local criminal organizations for the
distribution of heroin.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, "despite the recent decline in the
trafficking of Southeast Asian heroin in the United States, Chinese criminal
groups remain the most sophisticated heroin trafficking organizations in the
world."
Asian heroin shipments destined for U.S. markets often travel through China,
Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan or South Korea. U.S.-based
ethnic Chinese heroin traffickers control distribution within the United States,
principally in the Northeast and along the East Coast.
During the late 1990s, Vancouver, British Columbia, emerged as a key operational
headquarters for ethnic Chinese criminal elements. These criminal groups
established close connections with North American gangs of Asian descent and
began to transport heroin to the United States, mainly to the East Coast.
Afghanistan's Role
In comparison, a large portion of Southwest Asian heroin is consumed in Europe,
Pakistan and Iran. However, traffickers operating from Middle Eastern locations
smuggle heroin to ethnic enclaves in the United States.
Criminal groups composed of ethnic Lebanese, Pakistanis, Turks and Afghans are
all involved in supplying the drug to U.S. groups for retail distribution.
Heroin traffickers and wholesale distributors rarely conduct heroin business
with persons not of Southwest Asian or Middle Eastern backgrounds. The ethnic
aspect of Southwest Asian heroin has made it prevalent in areas with large
Southwest Asian populations.
The trends are not good. U.S. Department of Justice statistics indicate that
U.S. federal law enforcement authorities seized 1,575 kilograms of heroin in
2000, compared to 1,149 kilograms in 1999. The United States reflects only a
portion of the global statistics for opium and heroin production, which by even
the most conservative estimates are up more than 10 percent in 2002.
Code Name 'Lotus Eater'
Yet, there is another story about the Lotus Eaters. In the 1990s, a major U.S.
university, working closely with an U.S. Army biological warfare lab, developed
a genetically altered fungus code-named "Lotus Eater." The Lotus Eater fungus is
specifically designed to attack the opium poppy plant and nothing else.
The Lotus Eater fungus is reported to be so effective that one potent strain
could eliminate almost all the global opium crop within five years of its
release. A second, less potent strain was also developed which could wipe out a
single season of poppy crop exposed to the fungus, but it could not reproduce
itself beyond a short lifetime.
It is here, after the two strains were developed, that the story of the Lotus
Eater turns upside down. The Clinton administration suddenly withdrew all
research monies, closed the university site and took the fungus strains away. No
further research, or development has ever been recorded.
In 2002, the U.S. military reportedly offered to use the Lotus Eater fungus on
Afghan opium crops. The plan was to use U.S. control of Afghan airspace to seed
the fungus from highflying C-130 Hercules transports.
Yet the Bush administration reportedly turned down the idea. According to
high-level intelligence sources, the plan to end opium production inside
Afghanistan was nixed by the CIA. The reason given was quite simple.
Apparently, there are several large factions inside Afghanistan and Pakistan,
friendly to the U.S., that directly depend on funding from opium. These factions
threatened to overthrow the Afghan and Pakistani governments if they were not
allowed to continue trafficking heroin and opium.
The specter of a nuclear-armed Pakistan being run by radical opium gangs put the
Lotus Eater plan on hold. The CIA reportedly noted that if Lotus Eater was
released into the poppy fields that several Southeast and South-west Asian
governments would fall.
The consequences of a Lotus Eater attack directly effected corrupt elements
inside the Russian and Chinese armies as well as the intelligence service inside
Pakistan. The disruption of trade could even start a world war in Asia.
It is here that our dark tale ends. The opium and heroin trade continue to
flourish. The poppy fields continue to fuel the bank accounts of radical
terrorists and addict millions in its wake.
The most powerful nation on earth is a helpless giant, unable to stop the
devastating trade even when armed with the ultimate weapon. We have become the
Lotus Eaters.
****************************************************************
FOR THE BEST ENCRYPTION SOFTWARE VISIT www.softwar.net
OFFICIAL SOFTWAR COMMUNICATION
SOFTWAR EMAIL NEWSLETTER COPYRIGHT (C) 2002 SOFTWAR INC.
09/26/02 TO UNSUBSCRIBE REPLY WITH UNSUBSCRIBE AS SUBJECT
****************************************************************
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
--- End Message ---
