U.N.: Iraq Emerging As Drug Trafficker

[Barrett808]

U.N.: Iraq Emerging As Drug Trafficker
By SUSANNA LOOF, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - A U.N. drug body warned Thursday that Iraq is emerging as a transit point for drugs, with traffickers working with insurgents and terrorists, and called on the international community to tackle the problem before it's too late.

Drug traffickers from Afghanistan have begun crossing Iraq to get to Jordan, the exit point for Asia and Europe, said Hamid Ghodse, the president of the International Narcotics Control Board. Afghanistan is the world's main source of opium and its derivative heroin.

Ghodse said traffickers cooperate with terrorist and insurgents, thereby worsening the situation in Iraq. He urged the international community and Iraqi leaders to act before the trafficking route becomes entrenched. All efforts to support Iraq must give due focus to the drug problem, he said.

"You cannot have peace, security and development without attending to drug control," he said.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050512/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_drug_trafficking_iraq

[NNN0LHI]

1. Why does everywhere our military goes turn into a crack house? n/t

[pocket]

3. get enough crackheads in one place

and youll soon have a crack house

[Roland99]

10. Central America, Afghanistan, Iraq

I guess Syria and Iran are next.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. The US uses the WoT as a pretext to grab colonies

The US uses the WoT as a pretext to grab colonies in Afghanistan and Iraq and can't maintain order in either.

It should be no surprise that the Bush regime couldn't stop recalcitrant warlords in Afghanistan or prevent resistance to colonial rule in Iraq. It shouldn't be any further surprise that an underground economy that supports these groups has risen.

[LynnTheDem]

4. OOOH a TWOFER! Record heroin sales Afghanistan, and now Iraq's

turning drug trafficker!

And it's ALL thanks to BUSH.

[wicket]

5. kick

:kick:

[KansDem]

6. You don't suppose Bush's decision to let poppy production resume...

had anything to do with this?

An Afghan Quandary for the U.S.
By Sonni Efron
The Los Angeles Times

Sunday 02 January 2005

Bush administration is split over a response to a likely record opium poppy crop: push for aerial eradication or let local officials handle it?
Washington - With a bumper poppy harvest expected in Afghanistan in the new year, a debate has erupted within the Bush administration on whether the United States should push for the crop's destruction despite the objections of the Afghan government.

Some U.S. officials advocate aerial spraying to reduce the opium crop, warning that if harvested, it could flood the West with heroin, fill the coffers of Taliban fighters and fund terrorist activity in Afghanistan and beyond. They estimate the haul could earn Afghan warlords up to $7 billion, up from a record $2.2 billion in 2004.

With the January planting season approaching, the State Department is asking Congress to earmark nearly $780 million in aid to Afghanistan, the world's largest opium producer, for a counter-narcotics effort that would include $152 million for aerial eradication.

Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declared a "jihad" against the drug trade, he has vetoed aerial spraying. And his stance is supported by some U.S. officials, who warn that attempts at mass crop eradication in spring, during the campaign season for parliamentary elections scheduled for April, will alienate rural voters. Instead, they argue for a delay in crop eradication but a vigorous crackdown on drug traffickers.

(more)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/010305I.shtml

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Isn't the CIA rumored to be involved in the poppy trade

as well as destablizing Iran and Iraq by selling weapons to each (same as Pakistan/India today)? Wasn't Bush 1 the head of the CIA at one time?

[stillcool]

8. ...and who can forget Ollie?...

nothing new here...same games, same players, same results. Smedley sure pegged it right.

[fedsron2us]

14. The trade in illegal drugs is worth $500 billion dollars per year

according to the United Nations. It constitutes a considerable part of the world economy. One way or another a good portion of this money ends up being invested in dollar securities such as T bills. This means the trade plays a significant role in financing the US deficits. Since Afghanistan is major source of the worlds heroin I would not be surprised if gaining control of this resource was a key factor in the decision to oust the Taliban. Certainly, I think it is as likely to have motivated the attack on that country as the proposed oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Indian Ocean which has caused so much speculation on the DU over the past two years.


http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2003/nar792.html

[Nevernose]

9. They showed Iraqi poppy fields the other day on the Idiot Box

More heroin -- just what the world needs.

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. Religion is the opiate of the masses. If you're not into religion...

...we have real opiates for you to try!

More liquor stores in poor neighborhoods, works like a charm.

[bemildred]

11. I Remember Another Quagmire (IRAQ).

If I read this right, the "terrorists" are funding their
activities against us by selling us drugs at artificially
inflated prices caused by our drug prohibition fetish.
Now that is clever.

[pnutchuck]

12. Lawless Iraq is 'key drug route'

Drug smugglers exploiting internal chaos in Iraq have turned the country into a transit route for Afghan heroin, an influential drug agency says.
High levels of insurgent violence and porous borders have drawn traffickers to Iraq, according to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

The board says Jordan has seized large quantities of drugs on the Iraq border.

Authorities in Afghanistan say their drug problem is so severe the country's existence could be threatened.

more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4541387.stm

Oh yeah, we're really stabilizing now....

[Jack Rabbit]

13. BBC Link: Lawless Iraq is 'key drug route'

From the BBC Online
Dated Thursday May 12

Lawless Iraq is 'key drug route'

Drug smugglers exploiting internal chaos in Iraq have turned the country into a transit route for Afghan heroin, an influential drug agency says.

High levels of insurgent violence and porous borders have drawn traffickers to Iraq, according to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

The board says Jordan has seized large quantities of drugs on the Iraq border.

Authorities in Afghanistan say their drug problem is so severe the country's existence could be threatened.

Read more.

[bpilgrim]

15. so, with most of the U.S. military on site we STILL can't stop drug trade

pitiful.

i guess that will be the excuse for the DRAFT... to get the situation under 'control' we will not be defeated and embarrassed :eyes:

the neoCONs are the most INCOMPETENT U.S. regime EVER :argh:

peace

[leesa]

22. It's not incompetence...it's a cash crop.

[Ilsa]

16. Here's the BBC article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4541387.stm
Lawless Iraq is 'key drug route'
Drug smugglers exploiting internal chaos in Iraq have turned the country into a transit route for Afghan heroin, an influential drug agency says.
High levels of insurgent violence and porous borders have drawn traffickers to Iraq, according to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

The board says Jordan has seized large quantities of drugs on the Iraq border.

Authorities in Afghanistan say their drug problem is so severe the country's existence could be threatened.
SNIP

[Moderator]

18. kick to combine

[Minstrel Boy]

19. Heroin routed through Iraq

Heroin routed through Iraq

May 12, 2005

DRUG smugglers are taking advantage of internal chaos in Iraq to route Afghani produced heroin through the Iraq and into Europe, according to the agency that implements UN drug conventions.

"Heroin and drugs produced with the opiates cultivated in Afghanistan take a transit route through Iraq and are entering Jordan en route to final destinations in Eastern and Western Europe," International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) president Hamid Ghodse said.

"This situation is due to the internal situation in Iraq, weakening of border controls and security infrastructures."

...

Jordanian authorities have reported a growth in the seizure of drugs and drug production paraphernalia along their border with Iraq over the last 12 months.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15271499%255E1702,00.html

[calimary]

20. Wow, we've really made things better over there, haven't we?

Oh EVER so much better! Praise the Lowered!

DAMN.

[sam sarrha]

21. where ever we go the hard drugs flow