The words “Drugs” and “Terrorism” have developed a power unto themselves. You can use them to justify any government action or expenditure and suddenly things like budget, logic, evidence or accountability are forgotten.
It’s no surprise that new UNODC director and hard-liner Yuri Fedotov understands this.
Growing links between crime and terrorism the focus of UN forum
Highlighting the growing nexus between global criminal acts, including drug trafficking and money laundering, and terrorism, a top United Nations official today called for boosting efforts to tackle these threats.
Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told participants at a terrorism symposium in Vienna that profits from criminal activity are increasingly being used to fund terrorist acts. […]“Thanks to advances in technology, communication, finance and transport, loose networks of terrorists and organized criminal groups that operate internationally can easily link with each other. By pooling their resources and expertise, they can significantly increase their capacity to do harm.â€
According to UNODC, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, the movement of illicit firearms and money laundering have become integral parts of terrorism.
Look! Drugs! Terrorism! We need to fight harder!
It’s a simplistic device designed to appeal to fear that ends up making us less safe.
The UNODC continues to appall. It is a disgusting agency rubber stamping the drug war.
I forewarn the representatives (past and present) at UNODC that the day will come when you will have to account, when you will be forced to before and international court, for your destructive policies of prohibition.
…and the never ending story continues to unfold.
And that reckoning may come sooner rather than later.
Everything is connected. What’s happening in Japan will accelerate the dissolution of the world economic system. Japan’s economy already was a basket case; now it’s going to become an economic black hole whose financial gravitic effects will tug on all the other developed nations hard, when just about every major nation is already teetering on economic collapse…including ours.
That means every nation will have to tighten already cinched-to-the-max fiscal (and therefore, social) ‘belts’ even further. And that means the long delayed economic triage of eliminating anything that is not immediately necessary for national survival will arrive in short order. For this will effect the societies of the developed nations in increasingly more deleterious ways. Think of the ‘butterfly effect’…with 6 inch fangs.
I’ve said it before, many times, that drug prohibition is a ‘rich man’s hobby’, and this nation isn’t a ‘rich man’ anymore not when over 40% of it’s operations are underwritten by our foreign creditors. In other words, the DrugWar was paid for by borrowed money from foreign countries, not from tax revenues. Tax revenues are waaaay down thanks to massive unemployment. And Uncle has lost his usual AAA credit rating; those foregn countries won’t lend any more money to us, and are moving to dump the dollar right now.
The bill has come due, and it’s just a matter of time before the collection agent is pounding on the door. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, the battering ram is next.
That is why we keep hearing this stuff about ‘cutting entitlements’ (while the banksters and their buddies sit on trillions of our bailout money); government doesn’t want to cut the sinews and muscle of its’ power projection means (police and military) and that’s why we haven’t heard so much about cutting the DrugWar.
But the day is coming soon when they will be forced by the increasingly restive and angry citizens to do just that to save the already ripped and torn social safety net programs.
Oh, the times, they are a-changin’. And the UNODC is no less subject to that change than you or me. Their funding is just as much a matter of a ‘rich man’s hobby’ as as the domestic anti-drug programs are. And that money…won’t be there, real soon.
The bills are coming due indeed Kapt. All it will take to push the ‘global economy’ right over the edge is another Japan style catastrophy.
The global economy is wobbly on its feet and its pulse is starting to race.
Sometimes I doubt your dire predictions kapt, but then I come across news like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks
They cannot possibly afford to keep funding this shit.
The ability of legalization to instantly evaporate the bulk of the funding for global terrorism is really under-rated.
These politicians always talk about sending messages but I truly can’t understand what kind of message were they intending to send by appointing a Russian diplomat as the UNODC head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AD2bzO09jE
Bunch of losers really. They’re fighting for their paycheck, all the while creating more karmic debt.
The quoted quote cracks me up:
“Thanks to advances in technology, communication, finance and transport, loose networks of terrorists and organized criminal groups that operate internationally can easily link with each other. By pooling their resources and expertise, they can significantly increase their capacity to do harm.â€
Let’s put the appropriate words in there shall we:
“Thanks to advances in technology, communication, finance and transport, loose networks of politicians and organized elitist groups that operate internationally can easily link with each other. By pooling their resources and expertise, they can significantly increase their capacity to do harm.â€
If you follow planet cycles and what they can mean this may interest you:
As the Sun enters Aries it forms a conjunction with Uranus, which moved into Aries just nine days ago on March 11, where it will stay until May 2018.
Uranus takes 84 years to orbit the Sun and journey through all twelve Signs of the zodiac.
The last time it transited Aries was 1927-1934/35, historically a time of tremendous economic and political upheaval.
Interesting.
I took the 84 years it take for Uranus to move in to Aries and counted backward. There has been toubled times duing that time. I went to 1836 and 1752.
1836:
1835 On October 2, the Battle of Gonzales is waged and the War of Texas Indepedence begins.
On October 9, the Battle of Goliad takes place and ends with a victory for Texas.
On October 28, Texans are victorious at the Battle of Concepcion despite beign outnumbered 5 to 1.
On December 11, the Seige of Bexar ends with the Texans capturing San Antonio.
1836 On March 1, the Convention of 1836 begins meeting to sign a new constitution and form a new government.
On March 2, the Texas Declaration of Independence is adopted.
On March 6, the Battle of the Alamo is lost by Texas and becomes a rallying cry for the continued struggle for indepencence.
On March 27, the Goliad Massacre takes place in which Mexican General Santa Anna orders the execution of 400 surrendered Texans. This also becomes a rallying cry for Texas independence.
On April 21, Texans under Sam Houston soundly defeat General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. This victory secured Texas’ Independence
Here I provided the link for what i found for 1752 if you care to read it. There was war then too.
1752:
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=ivs
Interesting.
Sometimes cynicism gets the best of me and start thinking that the UNODC has been infiltrated by the DTOs (Drug Trafficking Organisation) and their henchmen (in particular the Financial Sector), and that the UNODC works for them. Probably that’s a little bit too far fetched.
What is beyond doubt is that all those individuals involved in terrorism and criminal activities, including financial terrorism, are highly indebted to the “holy inquisitors†at the helm of the UNODC and the fanatics who support Prohibition.
Even the most mentally challenged policymaker, politician or commentator should be able to understand that it is prohibition that creates the drug black market that feeds and sustains the DTOs and their henchmen and not the other way round.
Prohibitionists put the cart in front of the horse and keep asking where is the horse!
Gart Valenc
http://www.stopthewarondrugs.org
Gart, the term ‘useful idiots’ comes to mind when I think of the UNODC. The DTOs don’t have to have anything but a monitoring presence (as in the UNODC has almost certainly been compromised); UNODC is as mindlessly destructive as a fire-and-forget missile, and serves the cartel’s interests just fine with its’ fanatical insistence on maintaining drug prohibition. They might as well be Siamese Twins, joined at the wallet.
And the irony of a former Soviet Communist Party official heading what behaves like an autocratic institution is not lost on the aware. “Birds of a feather…” and all that. They all deserve each other.
sometimes the truth is told, if one seperates the wheat from the chaff:
“a terrorism symposium in Vienna that profits from criminal activity”
Now that fits.
To add to Kap’s musings on Japan… they are the second leading holder of US loan notes. They are by all accounts, fubar economically. The earthquake and tsunami were bad enough (1,000 year events) but the nuclear disaster is unfolding in two ways – it is a loss of control of a highly toxic radioactive reaction and it is tied to corruption (anyone shocked?) between the industry and the alleged government regulators. A report this morning in Bloomberg’s Business Week details the cover-ups and lies told by the nuclear industry in Japan. The Fukushima catastrophe passed the severity of 3 Mile Island a couple of days ago and is now creeping up on a Chernobyl level event.
Tying together the 3 calamities will be a back-breaker. And the repercussions, as Kap notes, will be international in scope.
On the positive side… what is taking place in Wisconsin gives me pause and hope. 100,000 people on the streets in mid winter is no shallow feat. People are recognizing the moves there as another assault on the middle class. And the assault nationwide on the educational system and teachers… guaranteed it will backfire on the Repubs. In Idaho (as with WI and elsewhere) you will find the Koch Bros name prominently obscured in the discussion. Arising here is the battle between big big money and all the rest of us… I expect PJ O’Rourke’s great catch phrase will start gathering some momentum as the wealth disparity conversation continues – “Eat the Rich”
And still yet to be embraced is the Academy Award Oscar winning documentary Inside Job
Not only has no one gone to jail but Wall St continues to fly high and top execs are still garnering multi-million and/or billion dollar bonuses.
The system is both financially broke and systemically, operationally broken. Nothing short of ending the corporate/criminal justice lockup of the Bill of Rights and booting the carperbaggers and other lobbysists out of DC will bring change.
With the WOD the law enforcement framework for handling nationwide insurrection is in place. If our revolution is not conducted properly and Constitutionally we will find ourselves in lockdown, the US as police state. The apparatus is in place. (ever seen the police presence around a national politparty convention?)
The list of the faulty goods we’ve been sold is long. Whether we have the determination or persistence to make change… I remain skeptical. I suspect those operating at the top are willing to sacrifice (literally) any and all beneath them just to remain last man standing…
“With the WOD the law enforcement framework for handling nationwide insurrection is in place.”
And I would submit to you that that was its’ exact purpose.
The dynamics behind what is happening today was mapped out a very long time ago in the early 1970’s, with the ‘Club of Rome’s dire predictions for the next few decades.
The destruction of the financial house of cards based upon fiat money figured very highly in the Club’s prognostications about a future collapse of society…and what those at the top of the economic pyramid (those very same Club members) would do to defend their ‘holdings’ within society as said societies imploded. In short, the Club predicted the return of neo-feudalism on a grand scale.
Katrina was a test run; private mercs (wearing the ‘livery’ of Blackwater) were hired to protect the wealthy’s property while the police in NOLA bugged out when they realized the enormity of the problem facing them…and the fact that nobody was home to defend their own families from the chaos.
The mechanisms for a fascist police state were slowly cemented into place, brick by brick, layer by layer, under the rubric of a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’; the drug cartels, who were nowhere near the threat then that they are today, were turned into the boogeyman of the hour, with fanciful fictions of them getting their hands on the kind of weapons they only now have access to (thanks to CIA hobnobbing with drug cartel personnel) and causing mayhem on American streets by outgunning the local police.
Didn’t happen then. Hasn’t happened now. No platoon sized pitched battles between the boys in blue and the ‘bad guys’. But something else did happen.
SWAT, which was only supposed to be used as a last resort if hostage negotiations failed, were allowed to expand their mission as the supposed counter to the fictional 10 foot tall druglords armed with military hardware. Meanwhile, the boys in Langley made sure their friends in certain locales provided the cartels with all they needed, hardware wise, under the flag of anti-Communism.
So now…all the machinery is in place, waiting to be revved up the moment the dollar is jettisoned as the reserve currency of the world…and that could happen any day, now. In the name of ‘preserving order’ and ‘continuity of government’, the guns and cages are prepared. All just waiting for the whistle to blow…
aye… and a cheery top o’ the morn’ to you Kap!
Dude… we stand on the precipice. Whether we allow ourselves to wither and fade with a whimper or stand united depends on getting people to see that any voices advocating hate and/or division are the enemy. The whole lib-con shell game is just that, a rigged distraction we can’t win. While we squabble our pockets are picked for our last few pennies…
I feel sorry for those who will be unable to adapt to the loss of the modern, high gloss facade of opulence. And no matter the direction of change, there is big change just around the corner and “less” is part of it.
I also have a sneaking suspicion the deflation the cultural ego (USA #1!) will not be taken well by the less-than-emotionally-functional ethnocentric psychopaths.
And still… amidst it all… there exists the posssibility of things actually working out.
… nah…
“All just waiting for the whistle to blow…”
.. better get me my brown slacks and red jumper!
lol… aye laddie, dapper is always appropriate!
It will be extremely difficult for Fedotov to retrieve the mistakes of the former head of UNODC. The current anti-drugs regime lacks credibility and legitimacy. The new war on drugs requires new principles and structures to stop the flourishing drug trade. Let’s hope the new head can, at least, try to reorient the current international drug-regime.
The “War on Drugs†and “Terrorism†is just the latest incarnation of the boogie man that endangers “civilization as we know itâ€. Civilization is an illusion just as fragile as the world economy. The boogie man is a slight of hand distraction to occupy the feeble minded masses while serious problems remain unaddressed. It is an age old government strategy.
Ending the “War on Drugs†and “Terrorism†would require a significant shift in the paradigm of our social and economic order. With no more “druggie†or “terrorist†boogie man what would our society focus on? If we are focused on problems we only see problems. What are our other choices?
The last time we had a leader that proposed a dream he was killed. The last time we had a leader that set a goal, we went to the moon.
I don’t see end it War on Terror for at least 25 years and beyond to some crazy terrorists Arabs if your Christian or anything else convert and Gay your a perv or get lost or eventually they dispose of you.
Same in our country Drug war Pro-hibs stop the Drug use Illegal and Legal there way on or its jail or No knock Swat raids or medical Marijuana raids that can result in prison or death, Yeah it maybe incarnation of boogieman, but it will be with us for a very long time.
Over at Reason John Stossel has good article on ending Drug War has usual here’s Link maybe you have read already,called End the Drug War Save Black America.
http://reason.com/archives/2011/03/17/end-the-drug-war-save-black-am
Oil revenues funded the most horrific acts of terrorism to date. Perhaps the UNODC can declare petroleum a drug and start busting slimy oil barons.
Didn’t George W. Bush say America is addicted to oil? That should be enough for any prohibitionist to make some twisted connection and criminalize the stuff. Zero tolerance!
Moreover, what the UNODC calls terrorism is oftentimes really guerilla warfare, as in the case of FARC in Colombia. Guerrilla warfare doesn’t seek the complete destruction of a governmental structure it seeks to take over, nor does it antagonize or terrorize the local population, which it seeks to win over.
For those in the UNODC who cannot distinguish terrorists from guerillas, I suggest they consult Che Guevara’s excellent discussion of the distinctions in his little handbook: Guerilla Warfare.
Colombia is a textbook case. There you will find the devastating effects of Prohibition and War on Drugs policies in all their “gloryâ€. Corruption at all levels of their society. Violence coming from all sides: far left (guerillas) and extreme right (paramilitaries). Political institutions being totally discredited by the interference of DTOs (i.e. infiltration, threats and killings). Development of a very sophisticated criminal infrastructure at the service not only of DTOs but also open to be used/hired by anybody wishing to enforce or pursue their illegal deals, personal vendettas or political ambitions.
Ask anybody familiar with the Colombian situation and they will tell you that it is extremely complex (for historic and socio-economic reasons), but one thing is clear: the real and only source of DTOs power is the enormous wealth they have been able to cumulate over the many decades the prohibition regime and the WoD have been in place. No other industry or activity (legal or illegal) could have possibly generated the billions and billions of dollars the illegal drug market has put in the hands of criminals. No one is naïve enough as to believe that Colombia’s political and socio-economic problems will disappear if drugs were legalised, but it would certainly solve the lion’s share of the misery, violence, corruption and social havoc the criminals that control the drugs market have been imposing on Colombia (or Mexico for that matter) for so many decades.
It is just a snap, but I recommend having a look at this contemporary view of Colombia’s situation here:
http://colombiareports.com/opinion/the-colombiamerican/14234-the-war-on-drug-gangs-finally-begins-but-is-it-too-late.html
Gart Valenc
http://www.stopthewarondrugs.org
Actually, Allan,. I do see things working out…eventually. Only because survival dictates it.
Nobody could ever accuse me of being Pollyanna. I’m not blindly optimistic about anything. I am all too well aware of what the late, great Frank Zappa said about stupidity, not hydrogen, being the basic building block of the Universe. using that metric, drug prohibitionists are downright Protean.
But stupidity has a price. And although the price for the stupidity of the DrugWar hasn’t even yet been fully calculated, but we have a pretty good ballpark ‘figure’: innocent citizens murdered without due process by agents of government, trashed civil liberties, an emptied treasury, an incarceration rate that should shame any nation that calls itself ‘civilized’, etc.
It ‘s a price this country may have been willing to pay socially, but financially we’re only a few heartbeats away from total bankruptcy.
The global Meltdown engineered by the banksters is like a virtual version of what’s going on with those reactors in Japan. But, like the real thing, the financial Meltdown is having some very real physical consequences. Very expensive ones.
I had mentioned in an earlier comment a link to a site in which the author relates how societies undergo massive, abrupt changes on a cyclic nature. Needless to say, those changes are often so violent that a society becomes completely different from what it had been before. I honestly do believe that we are on the verge of such a violent sea-change.
The symptoms of that are found in places like Wisconsin, Ohio and now, Michigan. This is going to spread, as the forces mentioned in that article have, like tectonic plates, built up so much tension over the years that when they cut loose, we can expect a full-blown societal shift…and perhaps a revolution.
In any event, the old ‘paradigm’ in which drug prohibition was able to survive (essentially, in what amounted to an artificial hot-house environment, for a government forced to live within its’ means could never have afforded it) is changing, and the reality is society must choose its’ priorities in order to ensure it’s continued survival, or face anarchy.
Up to now, those priorities have been decided by the wealthiest for the wealthiest, with little regard for the desires of the rest of society. Now, with the evidence of class warfare no longer being obscured, and with the fiscal situation (created by the wealthiest, or, as the late, great George Carlin called them, The Owners) reaching the breaking point, the Owners are now facing an increasingly restive population, and will either be forced to make concessions (and their present actions in places like Wisconsin show no hint of that happening, due to their habitual arrogance) or face their eventual extermination via revolution.
The gloves and the masks are all coming off. The vacantly bright-eyed, happy, pointless chatter of the Captive Media and the shiny distractions don’t work anymore. Once more, it’s ‘brass tacks’ time. It is indeed time to change things in this country, to have the cultural revolution that was derailed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. One that cannot ever tolerate a DrugWar to exist.
Kapt: It is indeed time to change things in this country, to have the cultural revolution that was derailed in the 1960′s and 1970′s. One that cannot ever tolerate a DrugWar to exist.
I also think its time for a Renaissance in the way we think and see life and society in general. I feel with out that ,there will be no meaningful change.
Someone at UNODC just tweeted this very blogpost! I hope they get to keep their job.
UNODC in the news: Drugs and Terrorism the ultimate free rides: http://bit.ly/hd3hxw
This ,”sea change”(revolutionary tsunami), can’t rush in fast enough for me. Be prepared to chop wood, carry water, and eat the rich (smells like pig, tastes like chicken). Then again ,maybe they’ll just print more $$$…
Not an option if th US is no longer the worlds reserve currency. Think Greese or Yugoslavia
BlueOx, I’m counting on them to. It will only hasten a collapse, but they’re seemingly dumb enough to do it; Bankster Ben Bernanke has already devalued the currency by 20% courtesy of his ‘Quantitative Easing 2’ (inflating the money supply by printing more ‘monopoly money’, causing it to lose value).
Any more, and the foreign creditors will drop the dollar like it’s a chunk of irradiated Japanese real estate. Then it’s all over but for the shouting.
Will the no more nuclear power result of Japan’s catastrophe increase the collective perceived desirability of hemp derived fuels?
Yes Kapt and This not My America a Renaissance AND YOU SAY CULTURAL REVOLUTION THAT WAS DERAILED I AGREE is needed it has peaked its way out through the years came way out in the 6o’sAND 70’S but then was slapped back down by fear mongers and Nanny state on both left and right. and yes Kapentino I have my own different thoughts on terror and war but I do agree that what you are saying about symptoms in Wisconsin,Ohio,and now Michigan,is going to spread and maybe a revolution,yeah I agree its about time for God’s sake.The Drug war is Banking scandals,now oils prices,food prices. we are caught in a catch 22. government needs to live within it means to help less fortunate we can not cut everything, Oh yes of I have an idea if they get rid of Drug War in USA that would generate millions of dollars for the states and release prisoners and might fix a few budget problems, I know it sounds to easy hey I could be a Czar, a Czar that would dismantle the drug war that would be one cool job and I would practically do it for free just enough money for a blue Mustang yes I love ford mustang ,Oh and money enough for shitload of cannabis to fill a small bathroom. My needs are simple.HA HA JESUS
I need a Little silly that whole earthquake In Japan coverage is so surreal and tragic whether your watching it stoned or not its been totally surreal to me and is not the Japanese government lying about the radiation stuff or not how much would our government lie to us about Nuke plant. Oh slap me our government has been lying about Marijuana and dozens of other things there credibility is zilch pardon me.
Many law makers say changng drug laws would mean releasing ‘criminals’ into the streets.
Well we know most of those in prisons or jails are of the non-violent consumer type. As for the rest…well…more state need to adopt the concealed carry law. Any violent criminals can be taken care of quick enough if he /she gets out of line.
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes. Everybody knows
~ Leonard Cohen
Roadblocks To Restoring Rights
US FL: Editorial: Sarasota Herald-Tribune 3.12.11
The speed with which they acted – on a matter involving other people’s voting rights – doesn’t make these politicians look decisive; it makes them look dictatorial.
GOP 2011-12 Agenda: Union and Voter Suppression
Twenty months out from the 2012 election, the GOP’s voter suppression strategy is taking shape. By crushing public sector unions and expanding felon and student disenfranchisement, they hope to weaken Democratic turnout. While they have always supported these strategies, the margins Republicans gained in state houses in the November elections have empowered them to launch a much stronger voter suppression campaign.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott and other Cabinet-level officials voted unanimously Wednesday to roll back state rules enacted four years ago that made it easier for many ex-felons to regain the right to vote.
Now, under the new rules, even nonviolent offenders would have to wait five years after the conclusion of their sentences to apply for the chance to have their civil rights restored.
A Lie College Students Might Want To Tell – YaHooka Forums
So far, about 190,000 students across the country (and abroad) have told the truth and been denied financial aid. It’s impossible to know how many lied and headed off to college, federal aid in hand. Nearly 300,000 student-aid applicants, however, simply ignored the question in 2000-2001, the first school year in which it was asked.
Congressman Fattah, President Clinton, and Congressman Mark Souder (R-IN) celebrate the signing of the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
“When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly . . . [However, now] there’s a lot of irresponsibility. And so a lot of people say there’s too much freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.”
– US President Bill Clinton
Yup This is Not America, totally agree with all your on prison and jail,non-violent and conceal carry law and getting out of line statments , are on same page regarding that.Cool.