cannabisnews.com: Bin Laden Taliban Heroin Connection 





Bin Laden Taliban Heroin Connection 
Posted by FoM on September 18, 2001 at 13:54:41 PT
Released Today by Robert Weiner Associates
Source: U.S. Newswire 
Robert Weiner, former White House drug policy director of public affairs and spokesman for Drug Czars Barry McCaffrey and Lee Brown, is suggesting the investigation and prosecution of terrorist Osama bin Laden through the Taliban's "nurturing" of funds from Afghanistan's world-leading opium poppy cultivation, the raw product for heroin production, as an additional way to expose and prosecute the way "bin Laden and those who harbor him may get a great part of their operational money." 
Weiner's statement follows: As evidence grows of Osama bin Laden and his network's connection to the most horrific terrorism in our history, and as President Bush promises to mobilize the nation for a military campaign against those who harbor such terrorists and a disruption of their financing, consider this fact: Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the opium poppy, the crop refined into heroin. According to the State department, Afghanistan's poppy cultivation area has quadrupled since 1990. The Taliban government has made no effective attack against opium cultivation or production. On the contrary, they have nurtured the development of an infrastructure for the production of heroin "in contrast to several years ago when nearly all heroin refining took place outside the country," the State Department reports. Despite Taliban claims, officials believe that nothing indicates that the Taliban intends to take serious action to destroy heroin laboratories or stop drug trafficking. As in Colombia -- where the FARC, the ELN, and paramilitary extremists combine to commit more murders of civilians than in any other nation while deriving their funding from drug trafficking -- we can stop a huge portion of the funding of the terrorists if we go after the money of the drug traffickers -- they are likely one and the same. Colombia is the leading supplier of cocaine to the world; Afghanistan is the leading supplier of poppy for heroin. The Taliban, which harbors bin Laden, has overseen on its land the world's greatest growth in opium cultivation as well as heroin production and trafficking. It is not a coincidence and may well answer the question of where bin Laden and those who harbor and support him may get a great part of their operational money. U.S. consumers spend $57 billion a year on purchases of illegal drugs. Drugs were a national security issue even before the World Trade Center and Pentagon destruction. 50,000 die annually in the U.S. from drug related causes, we face over $100 billion in health and workplace damages each year, and over 60 percent of arrestees for all crimes in the U.S. test positive for illegal drugs. Hearings are set to begin on the confirmation of John Walters as the next Drug Czar, following Barry McCaffrey. Walters has been criticized for a record of statements indicating a predisposition to making a priority of enforcement and interdiction strategies rather than prevention, education, and treatment. We will never truly end drug abuse in America if we do not succeed in encouraging children to avoid these poisons. However, here is a case where all can agree. On Sunday and Monday, the Attorney General stated that the laws allowing us to go after those who harbor drug traffickers are stronger than ones letting us confront those who harbor terrorists. He, the Secretary of State, and the President have stated that we will punish those who harbor terrorists. Included in the investigation and prosecution of bin Laden and his network should be his and the Taliban's connection to opium cultivation and heroin production. The Drug Czar can make an enormous contribution to the current proper war against terrorism by emphasizing its link to drug trafficking, and supplying all possible resources to find and block the funding base of the drug traffickers in key terrorist states like Afghanistan and Colombia. In so doing he will not only be strengthening our national security by helping to root out the despicable perpetrators of deeds like the horrific ones in New York and the Pentagon, he will be protecting our children as well. Bob Weiner was director of public affairs for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy May 1995-July 2001. He is now president of Robert Weiner Associates, a public affairs and issues strategy company. To: National Desk: Released Today by Robert Weiner Associates: Contact: Bob Weiner of Robert Weiner Associates, 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700 Note: A.G. And Sec. State Should Look At Taliban Nurturing Funds From World-Leading Opium Cultivation And Heroin Production. Prosecute Bin Laden Through Taliban Heroin Connection, Ex-White House Drug Staffer Urges.Complete Title: Bin Laden Taliban Heroin Connection Prosecution Urged Source: U.S. Newswire Published: September 18, 2001Copyright: 2001 U.S. Newswire Website: http://www.usnewswire.com/Related Articles:War on Drugs a Closer Fithttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10928.shtmlTerrorist Strike Raises Stakes for Next Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10927.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by R.Earing on September 19, 2001 at 08:48:14 PT:
taliban drug trafficking!
The "taliban" produced heroin is smuggled into Europe by bulgarian gangsters by agreement with the CIA.The resultant money has been providing arms to the KLA in Kosovo,and more recently arming the factions in Macedonia.Y'all should really pay attention to how your government agencies sponsor terrorism worldwide.In a way it's as american a product as a chevy car.
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Comment #16 posted by Juan Costo on September 19, 2001 at 08:25:28 PT
Afghani heroin is consumed in Europe, not US
Arresting American pot smokers will not undermine the funding of Osama Bin Laden. 
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Comment #15 posted by dddd on September 18, 2001 at 23:50:14 PT
reality
War on Drugs +War on Terrorism = War on Terrorism and Drugs.The two wars will rapidly become one in the same,,in fact,I'msure that it will be made official soon,and the gov will say thatthey will join the recources of the drug war agencies,into theterrorism war,,,and they will tell the public that it will save the taxpayers money.dddd
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on September 18, 2001 at 21:55:24 PT
Here's a Related Article
Ban On Poppy Farming Virtually Wipes Out Opium http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8717.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by observer on September 18, 2001 at 21:42:08 PT
Narcs: ''drug trafficking is an act of terrorism''
These piggies have been sqealing to link pot smokers to drugs to drug trafficking to terrorism for some time. 1999:''As narcotic enforcement professionals, the members of the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations Coalition believe that the United States and all Americans are currently under attack from foreign-based enemies. We are faced with daily acts of terrorism that make the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City or the World Trade Center in New York pale by comparison. With the cost to Americans reaching more than $50 billion annually and thousands of lives lost each year, it is clear that the greatest threat to the security of this nation is drug abuse and the crime, violence, and social ills that accompany it. Quite simply, drug trafficking is an act of terrorism.''-- The Coalition (National Narcotic Officers' Association Coalition), Volume 4 Issue 1, Spring 1999http://www.natlnarc.org/newsletters/1999-06/newsletter.htmRemember too ... when these narcs squeal "trafficker," or "dealer," they just say that for public consumption. When prohibitionists say "dealers," they are lying: they really mean users.*___* Mar. 9, 2001 US ME: OPED: Two myths of the drug war http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n427/a03.html 
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 18, 2001 at 21:22:39 PT
News Article from The Washington Post
Taliban Refuses to Surrender Bin Laden; U.S. Develops Options for Military Action Troops Could Be Sent Overseas Within Weeks http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52744-2001Sep18.html
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Comment #11 posted by theropinfool on September 18, 2001 at 21:02:06 PT
sanctions against Iraq
A UN report on sanctions against Iraq stated that half a million children had died because of the sanctions. When confronted with the news of the report, Madeleine Albright said, "Well this is a price we feel we are willing to pay." This was in 1996. Mass slaughter of Iraqi children is "a price we feel we are willing to pay."Statesmanship at its finest. Madman theory: War on anybody who won't do what we tell them. I wonder what she has to say about her remarks at this time? With leaders like her no wonder we have enemies. Witness the hell we are paying now. Paybacks are a bitch, I guess.Osama bin Laden, nice guy that he is, returned in kind. He also subscribes to the Madman theory, in his own special way. Or is this Saddam Hussein paying us back?No matter who or what, it ain't good, that's for sure.Is it possible to trade Bill Clinton for Osama bin Laden? Six of one half a dozen of the other?Maybe we are being taken for fools not by Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein, but by our own leaders.Such a shame, we knew that they couldn't be trusted, and now we know why.Apparently, if you want to fool with Osama bin Laden, you better be ready.This is sad. God help us find PEACE. 
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Comment #10 posted by Silent_Observer on September 18, 2001 at 19:55:58 PT
lookinside...
I watched Bill Moyers interview him tonight. He was extremely likeable, and presented himself with great authenticity.
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Comment #9 posted by lookinside on September 18, 2001 at 19:48:09 PT:
a friend and compatriot sent this to me...
in a paranoid world, this might be consideredpropaganda...(admittedly this IS a paranoid world) but ifwhat this man says is true, some thought must be given toour REAL choices...i'll be interested in hearing what ourbetter informed posters have to say...Subject: War. Do We have the Belly?I can't confirm the validity of the signature of thisletter, but themessage rings true nonetheless:Subject: Letter From an Afghani AmericanDate: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 21:10:05 -0700I've been hearing a lot of talk about 'bombing Afghanistanback to theStone Age.' Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowedthat thiswould mean killing innocent people, people who had nothingto do withthis atrocity, but 'we're at war, we have to acceptcollateral damage.What else can we do?' Minutes later I heard some TV punditdiscussingwhether we 'have the belly to do what must be done.' And Ithoughtabout the issues being raised especially hard because I am fromAfghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 yearsI've neverlost track of what's going on there. So I want to tellanyone who willlisten how it all looks from where I'm standing.I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden.There is nodoubt in my mind that these people were responsible for theatrocity inNew York. I agree that something must be done about thosemonsters. Butthe Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're noteven thegovernment of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorantpsychotics who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is apoliticalcriminal with a plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis.When youthink Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think 'the people ofAfghanistan' think 'the Jews in the concentration camps.'It's not onlythat the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity.They werethe first victims of the perpetrators. They would exult ifsomeonewould come in there, take out the Taliban and clear out therats nestof international thugs holed up in their country.Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow theTaliban? Theanswer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated,suffering.A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are500,000disabled orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy,no food.There are millions of widows. And the Taliban has beenburying thesewidows alive in mass graves. The soil is littered with landmines, thefarms were all destroyed by the Soviets. These are a few ofthe reasonswhy the Afghan people have not overthrown the Taliban.We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back tothe StoneAge. Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care ofit already.Make the Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Leveltheir houses?Done. Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Done.Eradicate theirhospitals? Done. Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off frommedicine and health care? Too late. Someone already did allthat. Newbombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Wouldthey at leastget the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, onlythe Talibaneat, only they have the means to move around. They'd slipaway andhide. Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabledorphans, theydon't move too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. Butflying overKabul and dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against thecriminals who did this horrific thing. Actually it wouldonly be makingcommon cause with the Taliban--by raping once again thepeople they'vebeen raping all this time.So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me nowspeak withtrue fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is togo inthere with ground troops. When people speak of 'having thebelly to dowhat needs to be done' they're thinking in terms of havingthe belly tokill as many as needed. Having the belly to overcome anymoral qualmsabout killing innocent people. Let's pull our heads out ofthe sand.What's actually on the table is Americans dying. And notjust becausesome Americans would die fighting their way throughAfghanistan to BinLaden's hideout. It's much bigger than that folks. Becauseto get anytroops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through Pakistan.Will they letus? We'll see. The conquest of Pakistan would have to befirst. Willother Muslim nations just stand by?You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world warbetween Islamand the West. And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That'sexactly what he wants. That's why he did this. Read hisspeeches andstatements. It's all right there. He really believes Islamwould beatthe west. It might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he canpolarizethe world into Islam and the West, he's got a billionsoldiers. If thewest wreaks a holocaust in those lands, that's a billionpeople withnothing left to lose, that's even better from Bin Laden'spoint ofview. He's probably wrong, in the end the west would win,whatever thatwould mean, but the war would last for years and millionswould die,not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that?Bin Laden does. Anyone else?
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Comment #8 posted by aocp on September 18, 2001 at 19:00:53 PT
Just a tidbit
U.S. consumers spend $57 billion a year on purchases of illegal drugs.Ironic as it may seem, i found this very same headline in a newsclipping in 1997 and have kept it ever since, adding it to my "Wall o' Randomness". Since it relates to statistics from 1995, i fail to see what relevance it has currently. They should have something a bit more up to date, but that's the state of apathy in american journalism, isn't it? Hell, in my poli-sci class, no one had one current event other than the terrorism attacks, but me. What a shame, or sham, take your pick.
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Comment #7 posted by Jose Melendez on September 18, 2001 at 16:56:02 PT:
sad news
If only they would have concentrated on real crime instead of pretending to make a dent in the supply...I found the below info at:http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/18/inv.hijacking.philippines/index.htmlMANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- The FBI was warned six years ago of a terrorist plot to hijack commercial planes and slam them into the Pentagon, the CIA headquarters and other buildings, Philippine investigators told CNN. Philippine authorities learned of the plot after a small fire in a Manila apartment, which turned out to be the hideout of Ramzi Yousef, who was later convicted for his role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Yousef escaped at the time, but agents caught his right-hand man, Abdul Hakim Murad, who told them a chilling tale. "Murad narrated to us about a plan by the Ramzi cell in the continental U.S. to hijack a commercial plane and ram it into the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and also the Pentagon," said Rodolfo Mendoza, a Philippine intelligence investigator. Philippine investigators also found evidence targeting commercial towers in San Francisco, Chicago and New York City. They said they passed that information on to the FBI in 1995, but it's not clear what was done with it. -...there was more to the article, but I clipped it to show that the drug warriors are themselves endangering national security by not fighting violence and REAL crime instead of chasing potheads and creating more value in smaller and more lethal smuggled drugs. As so many before here have pointed out here in cannabisnews.com, prohibition actually, if not intentionally increases the flow of drugs.God help us all if they think they can fight a war on terrorism the same way as the War on (some) Drugs. The vast majority of drug related fatalities are due to enforcement, not consumption. If they want to end terrorism they need to promote hemp and marijuana, for peace, power, food fuel, fiber, resin, construction materials medicine and more.
drug war is crime - pot is for peace.
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Comment #6 posted by observer on September 18, 2001 at 16:48:32 PT
Classic Drug War Propaganda
U.S. consumers spend $57 billion a year on purchases of illegal drugs. . . . The Drug Czar can make an enormous contribution to the current proper war against terrorism by emphasizing its link to drug trafficking ... 1. The drug is associated with a hated subgroup of the society or a foreign enemy.http://drugwarpropaganda.selfhost.com/t.cgi?1 
Drug War Propaganda
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 18, 2001 at 16:44:06 PT
Virus Alert
I thought I should pass this information on. I feel a slowdown on line already and a search tool I use is down currently. Here it is.Nimda Computer Worm Hits WorldwideSeptember 18, 2001 4:33 pm EST By Duncan MartellSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A damaging new computer worm was spreading like wildfire across the Internet on Tuesday, hitting both home PC users and commercial servers, in an outbreak that could prove more widespread and costly than the Code Red viruses, computer security experts said.Known as "Nimda," which spells admin backwards, the worm spreads by sending infected e-mails and also appears able to infect Web sites, so when a user visits a compromised Web site, the browser -- if it has not been patched -- can spread the worm to a PC, analysts said.So far, it appears that Nimda arrives in e-mail without a subject line and containing an attachment titled "readme.exe," experts said.Internet security experts have warned of the potential for an increase in virus activity after last week's attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, but U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said there was no sign the outbreak was linked to those events."There is no evidence at this time which links this infection to the terrorist attacks of last week," Ashcroft told a news briefing.The worm may have started as early as Monday and was showing signs of overloading traffic on the Internet, Ashcroft said, saying that Nimda proved "heavier" than the Code Red worm that caused an estimated $2.6 billion in clean-up costs on Internet-linked computers after outbreaks in July and August."Compared to Code Red, it may well be bigger simply because it can affect home users as well," said Graham Cluley, senior technical consultant for Sophos Antivirus. If Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook e-mail program has not been patched with an update that became available in March, the recipient does not even need to open the attachment to activate the virus -- opening the e-mail itself is sufficient -- said Vincent Weafer, senior director of Symantec Corp.'s Symantec Security Response unit.Other e-mail programs, such as Eudora or International Business Machine Corp.'s Lotus Notes, require the recipient to open the attachment for the virus to replicate, he said.So far, the malicious program does not appear capable of erasing files or data, but Nimda has shown itself capable of slowing down computer operations as it replicates, experts said."In terms of data destruction, we haven't seen anything," Weafer said.Experts said Nimda had appeared in the United States, Europe and Latin America and was likely to spread to other regions as well."It seems to be very widespread and (moves) at an incredibly quick rate," Cluley said. "The reason it's become so widespread is because it not only travels via e-mail but it contaminates Web sites as well."The worm exploits an already detected vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Information Server Web software running on Windows NT or 2000 machines, the same breach that the Code Red viruses exploited, experts said.Once Nimda infects a machine, it tries to replicate in three ways. It has its own e-mail engine and will try to send itself out using addresses stored in e-mail programs. It also scans IIS servers looking for the known vulnerability and attacks those servers. Finally, it looks for shared disk drives and tries to replicate itself to those devices, Symantec's Weafer said.Experts urged companies and users to update antivirus software and to download the software patches, noting the principal reason the worm had spread so quickly was that people and companies had not downloaded the free software patches.Patches are available for both the IIS vulnerability and Web browsers at: http://www.microsoft.com/security
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Comment #4 posted by MDG on September 18, 2001 at 15:49:05 PT
U.S. consumers spend $57 Billion/yr. on drugs.
Seems like the market research has all ready been done. I guess now's as good a time to legalize as ever before! If they "go after the money" (chuckle-chuckle), they'll prove as ineffective as going after bin Laden's existing bankroll, won't they? Want to eliminate the money immediately from terrorist groups? Legalize now!Want to keep the U.S. dollar from going overseas? Legalize now!Want to restore Constitutional freedoms to U.S. citizens? Legalize now!Do I think they will? Obviously not.
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Comment #3 posted by krutch on September 18, 2001 at 15:18:21 PT:
Scapegoating
Leave it to Washington to blame everything on drugs. Drugs have nothing to do with the attack on 9/11. We have been in a covert war with this people since 1948. The mid-East experts I see on TV blame our one sided policies on Palistine, our occupation of Saudi Arabia, and our sanctions on Iraq for this attack. Our lax security at airports is also to blame. It is irresponsible for goverment officials to blame drugs. They do this to deflect public attention.
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Comment #2 posted by Poisoned1523Days on September 18, 2001 at 15:15:47 PT
hopefully they will stick to cannabis
"We can look forward to the farmers  re-planting their poppy fields in the future, and Afganistan  once again becoming a world leader in opium (and to a  lesser extent, cannabis) production."Hopefully they will concentrate on the cannabis.I like afghani the most.
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Comment #1 posted by Cannabis Dave on September 18, 2001 at 14:27:33 PT
The Taliban have vitually ended opium production.
During the last year or two the Taliban have been destroying the poppy fields. After their warning of dire consequences for any farmers who dared to grow the opium poppy again, most former poppy farmers there didn't replant this year. That policy caused even more starvation than they already faced, because the poppy was their main source of income, and it is the only crop they can successfully grow in those conditions. Nothing else they have planted has done very well, and the U.N. relief organizations offered virtually no assistance to the farmers. The Taliban was said to be very upset the world community didn't give them more credit for ending Afaghanistans' status of being the leading producer of opium in the world, and because they were offered no assistance for replacing the income previously generated by opium. That was an unfortunate mistake, and probably contributed to the conditions which cause terrorism to be nurtured there. We can look forward to the farmers re-planting their poppy fields in the future, and Afganistan once again becoming a world leader in opium (and to a lesser extent, cannabis) production.
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