cannabisnews.com: DEA Official To Monitor Afghan Anti-Drug Plan





DEA Official To Monitor Afghan Anti-Drug Plan
Posted by CN Staff on August 18, 2004 at 10:36:38 PT
By Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times
Source: Washington Times 
The Bush administration is dispatching the Drug Enforcement Administration's top intelligence officer to Afghanistan to oversee counternarcotics operations.   Administration officials say it is one step in a plan being hammered out by the White House to curtail Afghanistan's record-breaking poppy crop that threatens to turn the burgeoning democracy into a narco-state.
Harold D. Wankel, the DEA's assistant administrator for the intelligence division, will report directly to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador in Kabul. Mr. Wankel is a 34-year veteran of international drug wars and is seen by the administration as the right man to try to coordinate various counternarcotics programs.   "He will oversee counternarcotics out of the embassy," said an administration official who asked not to be named. "It's certainly an indication of the seriousness that we consider the problem which needs to be addressed."   Both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill say the effort to eradicate opium-producing poppies in Afghanistan has been a failure. Privately, administration officials say the crop is likely to double this year, as well as the next. Afghanistan's poppies make it the world's largest supplier of heroin.   The White House has been coordinating a far-reaching interagency review that is likely to produce a new counterdrug strategy. One option is to bring the U.S. military into the drug war for the first time by having special units attack distribution points.   Current policy has coalition forces doing separate roles. Britain is in charge of overall policy. The Afghan army and police are supposed to eradicate the poppy crop. And the U.S. military plays a support role, providing training, intelligence and equipment.   But Afghanistan has been reluctant to attack the crops for fear of antagonizing regional warlords who dip into drug profits, say administration sources. President Hamid Karzai wants a peaceful countryside this fall when Afghanistan holds historic presidential elections.   One major question facing the intelligence community is the extent to which Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terror network are involved in Afghanistan's drug trade.   Lawmakers who visit the region and speak with military and DEA personnel return to Washington to declare that bin Laden is now a drug kingpin.   Privately, Pentagon officials agree. But publicly, their comments are more guarded.   The Defense Intelligence Agency said in a recent statement: "We are certain that the narcotics industry benefits various extremist and terrorist groups, such as the Taliban [and] the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan that intend to undermine stability in Afghanistan and that work with al Qaeda. We cannot precisely estimate how much these groups rely on the narcotics trade for financial resources or logistical support, but we suspect that they receive substantial benefits from the trade."   Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch IISource: Washington Times (DC)Author: Rowan Scarborough, Washington TimesPublished: August 18, 2004 Copyright: 2004 News World Communications, Inc. Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.comRelated Articles:U.S. Reassesses Role in Afghan Drug Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19340.shtmlRumsfeld in Kabul for Drug Talks http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19320.shtmlOpium Farmers Return to Their Only Cash Crophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11427.shtmlBush Cuts Faustian Deal with Talibanhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10954.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #9 posted by breeze on August 19, 2004 at 05:13:03 PT
may be they will try this...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Living/SciTech/anti-drug_vaccines_040819-1.htmlIncreasing evidence of a coming police state. They never consider if the vaccine could inhibit pain killers needed for chronic illness- such as morphine.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by dididadadidit on August 18, 2004 at 15:55:57 PT
CIA Drug Lords Exempt
The CIA has supplemented black ops (and individual retirement) budgets with heroin out of 'Nam, cocaine from Latin America, and have been all over our Afghan colony as their poppy production has soared with the defeat of the Taliban. Any troops involved in a drug war in Afghanistan better watch their backs and be extra careful just whose heroin they are messin' with.Cheers?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by The GCW on August 18, 2004 at 15:04:56 PT
Depressing news.
This occured in My area. It is unrelated, but this is kinda where I come to get depressing news to a safe outlet... Thank You for just thinking about this couple...It is tramatic to have a baby. It is tramatic to have a baby die. Now the man is going to add trama. I thought I'd post this; maybe someone could send a letter of encouragement to this young couple, to the editor of this paper... 420STOPS US CO: Home of SIDS death under investigation Pubdate: Aug. 17, 2004 
Source: Summit Daily News (CO) Contact: jpokrandt summitdaily.com 
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php Viewed at: http://www.summitdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040817/NEWS/108170005 Home of SIDS death under investigation BY JANE STEBBINS 
August 17, 2004 An investigation is under way in Alma where a couple was found to have allegedly been growing more than 100 marijuana plants in their home. The couple, Erich and Sasha McLean, called Park County officials Aug. 13 to report the death of their infant, Stella. She would have been five months old Aug. 19. Services for the baby will be held today at 1 p.m. at Carter Park. According to Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener, the investigation is not focused on the baby's death, which was ruled as a sudden infant death syndrome incident, but rather the illegal plants growing in the house. Wegener said a full report would be forthcoming on Thursday.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by The GCW on August 18, 2004 at 14:51:08 PT
DEA - CIA...
US Gestapo: Search and destroy (US citizens)
 George Bush appointed a new leader to tranform the CIA/gestapo into a new dimension of terror to the people. (If I'm correct he is one of the dudes who covered up the JFK murder, how coincidental.) Representative Porter Goss, Bush"s favorite for the head of the CIA, has introduced legislation that would allow the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct law-enforcement operations inside the United States-including arbitrary arrests of American citizens. The legislation, H.R. 4584, was put on the floor on 16 June 2004, under the guise of "intelligence reform". The changes would reverse a 57 year old ruling that disallowed the CIA from conducting internal law enforcement activities. The bill would give the CIA broader authority to include arresting Americans suspected of what ever might be arbitrarily deemed as suspicious. Apparently there is not going to be any hard and fast rules - only a perspective judgment call "I think this person may be a crimer". The bill"s language is not fully known yet, but it would add the clause "except as otherwise permitted by law or as directed by the president". This would give Bush the ultimate retaliatory weapon against his critics which he deems as "unpatriotic" and "anti-American". The Pentagon has also demanded new enforcement powers to conduct intelligence operations (Search and destroy?) inside the United States. A proposal, adopted last spring by the Senate Intelligence Committee at the request of the Pentagon, eliminates the privacy act. Democrats are concerned that the Florida Republican, Porter Goss, a former CIA officer himself who has chaired the House Intelligence Committee, has been too partisan and too close to the Bush White House. In the upcoming confirmation hearings, Goss may come under heavy fire for his attitudes toward civil liberties. His bill clearly indicates congress needs to look more deeply into Goss. But on the other hand, if the confirmation hearing committee members give Goss too bad of a time, they will feel the sting of the lash after Goss is confirmed. A frightening prospect. Goss will be confirmed, we know that already - and the Democrats will have to table their fears or they will be branded as obstructionist to national security. Ergo: enemies of the state, very worrisome words that are circulating from within the White House now. The troika, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and Goss, will even give Dracula the night sweats. Journalist will have to change their tone. Repeat after me - Bush ist der Sieg. Michael Berglin Pravda.Ru http://www.thc-ministry.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2455US Gestapo: Search and destroy (US citizens)
 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by billos on August 18, 2004 at 14:30:49 PT
Our boys and girls will now have a choice...
where they want to go to fight and die. Fight the "terroists" in Baghdad or the "drug lords' in Afghanistan.
Yup. All to protect our country and children.Be all that you can be.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 18, 2004 at 13:05:15 PT
Hiya hempity!!!
It is so GOOD to see you! I hope you are doing well! 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by hempity on August 18, 2004 at 13:03:17 PT
My Poppies'
Ain’t touching MY POPPIES’Has America corp. finally hired horticulturists?None of the police here know poppies from roses.Sure glad you are still here FoM.Mitaoyate,hempity
http://thehungersite.com
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on August 18, 2004 at 11:27:08 PT
Poppycock
This is the most blatant crap yet from the nation's premier drug dealers, the U.S. government itself. Spare me the B.S., I already know how the game works. They'll "bust" one poppy field for the benefit of the "journalists" while arranging protection and deals with 20 others.By the way, it's a mystery to me why no one ever questions the fact that DEA has ZERO JURISDICTION in foreign countries, seeing as how they don't even have any true authority in the 50 states in the U.S. Just a little reminder: the federal government, including criminals like the DEA, only have legal jurisdiction in the District of Columbia and in U.S. territories (i.e. Virgin Islands, etc.). Everything else they do is outside the law, and illegal according to the Constitution.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by 13th step on August 18, 2004 at 11:04:41 PT
Uh huh
"One option is to bring the U.S. military into the drug war for the first time by having special units attack distribution points."Really? The first time? Gee whiz, I must've been misinformed about Colombia, etc.Hmm, Osama is now a drug kingpin.
Drugs support terrorism.How can you say this and not see that legalization would take away those profits?Hey, left hand, look over there.Wasn't there a lot of stories about Vietnam and how certain drug kingpins were protected by certain military divisions?Hmm.Opium, heroin, cocaine, etc.
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines.Be all you can be baby.[/end ramble]
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment