cannabisnews.com: Tears of Allah





Tears of Allah
Posted by FoM on October 05, 2001 at 13:28:56 PT
By Edward T. Pound and Chitra Ragavan 
Source: U.S. News & World Report
Osama bin Laden's search for new ways to strike at the West may have gone beyond planes and bombs. Officials believe that shortly after the Saudi exile's operatives bombed two U.S. embassies in August 1998, he began searching for another weapon in his war against the West–a super-charged drug that bin Laden hoped would worsen addiction and possibly even kill the infidels. He called it the "Tears of Allah." These officials told U.S. News that bin Laden's plan to let loose a plague of potent heroin on the United States and its friends was detailed in intelligence reports from U.S. allies. 
Tears of Allah was described as a liquid drug, requiring 50 kilograms of opium to produce one liter of heroin. Officials say the reports describe how bin Laden and his al Qaeda network of terrorists recruited chemists in South Asia in an unsuccessful attempt to create the powerful new concoction. "It was a chemical dud,'' explains one official. "He wanted a deadly form of the drug and he wanted to get it to the U.S. He wanted to kill." Officials disclosed the plan to underscore the breadth of bin Laden's efforts to maim and murder his enemies. Bin Laden is now the most hunted man in the world, said by the U.S. and its allies to be the brains behind the deadly Sept. 11 bombings of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. His ties to the illicit drug trade have been difficult to pin down. But American authorities are now convinced of the accuracy of foreign intelligence reports detailing his involvement. "He sees it as a way to poison the West,'' says one U.S. official. Experts say bin Laden has profited from the drug trade by taking payment for providing armed fighters to protect opium and heroin shipments moving from Afghanistan to the West, primarily Europe. They also say that the intelligence reports link bin Laden's people to the labs in Afghanistan where heroin is produced. Officials maintain that bin Laden does not need the drug trade to finance his terrorism, but instead became involved as a good will gesture designed to cement his relationship with the militant Islamic Taliban government. The Taliban–which controls most of the impoverished nation–has provided bin Laden with a safe haven for more than five years. Opium is one of Afghanistan's few cash crops, and there is no doubt that the Taliban government profits from the illicit trade. Western officials say the opium and heroin trade provides a ready source of badly needed cash for the Taliban. A United Nations report issued earlier this year put it this way: "Funds raised from the production and trading of opium and heroin are used by the Taliban to buy arms and other war materiel, and to finance the training of terrorists and support the operations of these extremists in neighboring countries and abroad.'' U.S. officials estimate that the Taliban makes at least $50 million a year by taxing and selling opium and by providing protection for smugglers. Afghanistan became the world's largest producer of raw opium in the 1990s, supplying more than 70 percent of global demand. According to U.S officials, the country produced more than 3,600 metric tons last year. Last July, U.S. officials say, the Taliban sought to polish its image by declaring a ban on the cultivation of opium poppy. Opium production did drop substantially, but U.S. officials contend the move was part of larger scheme to reduce supply and drive up the wholesale price. The Taliban stockpiled much of the 2000 crop, and the wholesale price did indeed rise tenfold to $301 from $30 a kilogram, according to the United Nations. American officials now say it is essential for the United States and its coalition to destroy the poppy fields and choke off this valuable revenue stream if the war against terrorism is to succeed. Anticipating a possible strike, U.S. officials say, law-enforcement agencies both here and overseas have provided the Defense Department with the locations of some of the stockpiled opium and heroin. The trouble now is that since Sept. 11, the Taliban has been moving the stockpiles, the officials say. In an interview, Asa Hutchinson, the new administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, declined to say whether he thought the United States would go after the stockpiles. "The focus is obviously to get after the terrorists,'' he says. "But, whenever you see the terrorist training camps and the poppy fields and the opium labs in the same geographic area, there is a correlation that is impossible to avoid." "Heroin is to Afghanistan what oil is to Saddam Hussein,'' says another American official. "It is the juice.'' He says that by destroying the fields, the West would be killing off a critical source of cash to the Taliban and hurting bin Laden as well. The United States needs to "starve the terrorists' treasuries of money,'' adds Rep. Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican, who wants DEA agents to begin training border police in the region. Efforts to track down or kill bin Laden have failed. After his network bombed the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in August 1998, then President Clinton ordered missile strikes on training camps used by bin Laden's forces in Afghanistan. Bin Laden avoided the attack. Soon after that, he began trying to develop the new potent form of heroin known as the Tears of Allah, according to an American official who has reviewed foreign intelligence reports. "He wasn't just thinking ABC,'' the official says, referring to atomic, biological, and chemical warfare. "He was thinking ABCD'' to include drug warfare. Note: Another weapon in Osama bin Laden's war against the West.With Linda Robinson Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch IINORML Media & CommunicationsSource: U.S. News & World Report (US)Author: Edward T. Pound and Chitra Ragavan Published: October 4, 2001Copyright: 2001 U.S. News & World ReportContact: letters usnews.comWebsite: http://www.usnews.com/Related Articles:U.S. Official: Taliban in Opium Trade http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11025.shtmlHeroin a Major Source of Revenue for Taliban http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11016.shtmlTaliban Rely on Drug Money, says DEA Chief http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10981.shtml 
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Comment #13 posted by lookinside on October 06, 2001 at 13:58:59 PT:
thanks tim...
those courses are waaay in the past...taken during my eligible years for the draft...but what you said tells me a little about the process...spent more time studying billiards than the periodic chart...at the time a chemist's life expectancy was 52 years(i'm 51)...went into heavy construction instead...
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Comment #12 posted by Tim Stone on October 06, 2001 at 13:45:37 PT
lookinside
I'm pretty sure that heroin is diacetylmorphine, if that means anything to a chem major. 
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Comment #11 posted by lookinside on October 06, 2001 at 09:56:46 PT:
heroin...
although what college i have was as a chemistry major, i know nothing about the chemical structure of heroin...that said, i can only imagine that if such research took place, it was at the behest of someone with more money than brains...if something more potent could be distilled from the sap of the opium poppy than heroin, our drug companies would have done it 100 years ago...heroin is recognized as the most potent pain reliever known to medical science...if a "super drug" comes along, it will probably be a designer drug with the capability of permanently altering the chemistry of the brain...(airplane glue???) creating a generation(if that many are that stupid) of morons and neurotics...
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 06, 2001 at 07:15:32 PT
Hi Tim
I'm very happy to help. That's what I love to do. I always have been that way and I consider it part of what I do here.
I love truth and don't like anything but the truth and I know many people feel that way particularly in light of our current situation because of the WTC tragedy. If you ever have any questions please ask. Then I can do what I enjoy and try to find the answer! PS: dddd, You are so special! Thank you for the color and bluntness you add to C News. I mean that too.
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Comment #9 posted by dddd on October 06, 2001 at 04:48:11 PT
Tim Stone
"I feel embarrassed pointing out these elementary fallacies in the above article, but it's amazing how many people will actually believe this tripe.".......
Please,,Tim,,dont feel embarassed about pointing out anything!...I've looked back on many of the comments I've made,,and I could easily have been labeled "The Village Idiot",if someone wanted to pick apart the seemingly obvious drivel I "embarass" myself with.We need any and all sound arguments to refute this "tripe",no matter how elementary,or obvious they may seem..........Dont be shy,,,your eloquent comments are quite excellent in my view.....Sincerely....dddd 
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Comment #8 posted by Tim Stone on October 06, 2001 at 00:31:50 PT
Thanks, FoM
You got so much on your plate already that I'm especially grateful you could take the time to do my lazy-ass homework for me and find the right URL. :) You're clearly much better at running search engines than I. The article you posted is the same as the originalNot that I doubted your ability to accurately reproduce, but the article was so idiotic, I thought maybe something might have accidently been left out that might have made the article seem less idiotic. Nope. The article _was_ that idiotic and no bones about it. Thanks for your trouble and time in finding the original URL. In future, I'll try to do my own lazy-ass homework and spare you the effort. :)
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 05, 2001 at 21:12:20 PT
Tim
Hi Tim,
 Here's the link to the article. Does this help? 
Tears of Allah
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/terror/heroin.htm
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Comment #6 posted by Tim Stone on October 05, 2001 at 20:41:48 PT
Barnyard Aroma
I couldn't find this article in a cursory search of the "US News.." web site, but let's assume it's verbatim.Notice that the sources for this story are identified only as "Officials." Please quadruple-check me, but I can't find any reference in the above article to who these "Officials" are. Not only are they not identified by name or position, they're not even identified by country, fer crikie sake. That right there puts my Media B.S. Detector over the red line. If an article won't even tell you what country its quoted "Officials" are from, let alone give some context for what part those officials occupy in gov't, the article is pure bull, right off the bat. Hazarding a guess, I'd say the "Officials" are one or two deluded wards of Providence from the United Nations Drug Control Office. That at least might explain why the reporters didn't identify what country these "Officials" call home. This sounds like another in a looooong list of wartime "They're trying to poison us with drugs" wartime mythology. During World War I, there was a report out of Iceland, of all places, that the Evil Hun, with their advanced pharmaceutical industries, had perfected a "One time = Adicted for Life" drug that they had put into toothpaste, so as to addict Americans and sap our will to resist. The report proved unfounded. During the Cold War, it was the "Evil Chinee" who were shipping boatloads of heroin to addict Americans and sap our will to resist so the "Chinee" could walk ashore on California beaches unapposed.And the idea of some sort of super-heroin, to be used as a terror weapon to kill users, is another old variation on a theme of the "super-drug" myth. Chemically, heroin is heroin, just as alcohol is alcohol. The main variable in the strength heroin is how much it has been diluted and cut with other substances before it reaches the end user. The main variable in the strength of alcohol is the whim of the buyer, since the alcohol industry is controlled and regulated, and the alcohol percentages is usually printed on the container, or can be reliably inferred from context (For example, some states won't allow alcohol percentages to be printed on beer bottles, but the consumer quickly learns that the small beer is labelled "beer" or "3.2", while the strong stuff is called "malt liquo or some such. The vagaries of state and local liquor laws.). The "super-drug" myth is asking your to believe that, say, a disgruntled tee-totaler is trying to poison alcohol drinkers by smuggling in a new super brand of whiskey that is 400% alcohol. I feel embarrassed pointing out these elementary fallacies in the above article, but it's amazing how many people will actually believe this tripe. Better times, Tim Stone
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on October 05, 2001 at 15:46:14 PT
Oops -- report -- Rewriting history in real time
Opium production did drop substantially, but U.S. officials contend the move was part of larger scheme to reduce supply and drive up the wholesale price. The Taliban stockpiled much of the 2000 crop, and the wholesale price did indeed rise tenfold to $301 from $30 a kilogram, according to the United Nations. Jesus, they sure turned on a dime.Now we all saw the stories posted here just a few short weeks ago where the UN was BRAGGING that this price increase was their shining achievment.Talk about dropping a hot potato. Maybe we are are witnessing the beginning of the end of the "using taxpayer money for drug interdiction to increase the price of illegal drugs on the black market" school of drug policy?
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on October 05, 2001 at 15:45:36 PT
Stalin would be proud
Opium production did drop substantially, but U.S. officials contend the move was part of larger scheme to reduce supply and drive up the wholesale price. The Taliban stockpiled much of the 2000 crop, and the wholesale price did indeed rise tenfold to $301 from $30 a kilogram, according to the United Nations. Jesus, they sure turned on a dime.Now we all saw the stories posted here just a few short weeks ago where the UN was BRAGGING that this price increase was their shining achievment.Talk about dropping a hot potato. Maybe we are are witnessing the beginning of the end of the "using taxpayer money for drug interdiction to increase the price of illegal drugs on the black market" school of drug policy?
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Comment #3 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on October 05, 2001 at 14:58:43 PT
Disinformation and prohibition
Here we go again.....**Opium production did drop substantially, but U.S. officials contend the move was part of larger scheme to reduce supply and drive up the wholesale price. The Taliban stockpiled much of the 2000 crop, and the wholesale price did indeed rise tenfold to $301 from $30 a kilogram, according to the United Nations. ***Shortage equals increased profits for traffickers.**American officials now say it is essential for the United States and its coalition to destroy the poppy fields and choke off this valuable revenue stream if the war against terrorism is to succeed**No No nO..this will only help the market... With NO afghan opium columbia will take u the slack and we'll have a reason to go fully military in columbia. THAT's in the plan I think. Plus this will increase funds for whoever is traffick opium.
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on October 05, 2001 at 14:51:00 PT:
At the risk of sounding pedantic . . .
. . . I don't think anyone here would be surprised to hear that the only way to truly cut off the supply of "drug money" to terrorist cells and other unsavory persons is to legalize it and regulate it. Of course, the only problem government officials have with legalization is that they would then have to call their anti-drug missions what they are: assassination, robbery, genocide, treason.Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by Doug on October 05, 2001 at 14:40:25 PT
Can You Say 'DisInformation'?
We will continue to be plagued by these stories that someone, somewhere says the great bin Laden is hatching yet another dasterdly plan to enslave the West. I wonder when the rumor will start that bin Laden is behind global warming.It is interesting to compare this story with that in the book 'Acid Dreams' that the CIA experimented with LSD and many other drugs in the attempt to make some kind of weapon. But hey, we're not terrorists, so it's alright.
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