cannabisnews.com: DEA Exhibit: Illicit Drug Sales Support Terrorism DEA Exhibit: Illicit Drug Sales Support Terrorism Posted by CN Staff on September 03, 2002 at 15:34:18 PT By Christopher Newton, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press Attorney General John Ashcroft and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani helped open a museum exhibit Tuesday intended to show Americans that buying illegal drugs can support terrorist attacks. The exhibit, titled "Target America," includes Sept. 11 rubble from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It is housed at a museum in the Drug Enforcement Administration's headquarters. DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the exhibit aims to educate Americans about the role drug money has in terrorism. "Before terrorism hit home on Sept. 11, few Americans realized the connection, and fewer still understood that drug money has been used to fund terrorism," Hutchinson said. Attorney General John Ashcroft said, "Terrorism and drugs go together like rats and the plague. ... They thrive in the same conditions, and they feed off of each other." The exhibit, supported by $650,000 from the DEA budget plus private financing from donors, will go on nationwide tour next year. It includes photographs from Afghanistan that outline connections the al-Qaida terror network and the Taliban militia, Afghanistan's former rulers, have had to drug trafficking. An interactive map illustrates that some reputed opium sellers and distributors support the Taliban. The rubble from the World Trade Center sits as part of a replica of the ruins left after the towers fell. Another section of the exhibit is devoted to exploring the history of the "narcoterrorist," the Bush administration's label for drug runners who support groups like al-Qaida. Since Sept. 11, the war on drugs has taken a lower emphasis to the war on terror. In June, FBI Director Robert Mueller told DEA agents that they could expect less field support from FBI agents, who have been redeployed to domestic security. The museum exhibit brought criticism from some groups pressing for legalization of drugs. "This is a sad exploitation of the memories of the 3,000 people killed Sept. 11," said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman at the Marijuana Policy Project. "We felt it was important to tell the true story: It is the war on drugs that funds terrorism by driving up drug profits and forcing the drug trade underground." Federal authorities have recently amassed what they say is hard evidence of connections between drugs and terrorism, uncovering an illegal drug operation in the United States that was funneling proceeds to Middle East terror groups such as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. A series of DEA raids in January indicated a methamphetamine drug operation in the Midwest involving men of Middle Eastern descent has been shipping money back to terror groups, officials said. DEA officials said the men, most of whom were indicted on drug charges after their January arrests, were smuggling large quantities of the chemical pseudoephedrine from Canada into the Midwest. Giuliani said the links between drugs and terrorism are substantial. "The link has been known to law enforcement for a long time, but we didn't see it as Americans because we thought we were immune to terrorism," Giuliani said. Complete Title: DEA Exhibit Presses Message That Illicit Drug Sales Support Terrorism On The Net: DEA: http://www.dea.gov/ DEA Museum: http://www.deamuseum.org/ Marijuana Policy Project: http://www.mpp.org/targetamerica/Source: Associated Press Author: Christopher Newton, Associated Press WriterPublished: Tuesday, September 3, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Articles:DEA: Drug Money Funds Terror Group http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13955.shtmlDrug Czar Says Drug-Smuggling Funds Terroristshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13930.shtmlDEA Launches Exhibit - Drugs = Terrorism http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13918.shtmlFBI Shifts From Drug War to Terror http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13582.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on September 04, 2002 at 05:44:35 PT: Uh...WHO'S the terrorists, here? In the year 2000, the United States government gave 43 million in aid to the Taliban...ostensibly because they were eradicating opium in their territories.They had murdered hunrdeds of their own people, many of them women and kids, for violating their religious precepts. Killing in the name of religion. That's constitutes terrorism in my book. The US supported terrorists.So, now the US is working with the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan...which is up to it's hair follicles in the opium trade. They've planted what amounts to a bumper crop of poppies this year, and the returns from this will buy more arms for the NA. Aside from eliciting the usual - and totally disingenuous - professations from the Norhtern Alliance about eradicating opium in their territories, the US has played the "Pontius Pilate" ploy and said that it can do nothing about that crop.The NA are out allies of convenience...for the moment. Which we support. And they are anything but angels.Tell me again, John, how drug monies fuel terrorism? [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by SWAMPIE on September 04, 2002 at 03:28:33 PT DEAth EXHIBIT.....ASSCROFT...... These 'sumbitches need to be "Crucified"!Maybe we should start carrying crosses with us to ward-off these evil-idiots!And burn them once they are nailed up right by the thumbs and knees!Don't forget the stones and the Diesel fuel and the Bic lighter.Didn't we learn about this in Bible School? [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by bbbb on September 03, 2002 at 23:30:06 PT .................(?)................. .....Gosh...I hope I dont sound bitter,,,,but in the months following 9/11,I remember how the media was portraying Rudy Giuliani as some sort of hero.......Giuliani is a GHOUL!...... He is a member of the world class HobGoblin creepshow militant rightwing rats of the empire!... .....I knew this was gonna happen!...and the worst is yet to be seen!...The article speaks for itself!: ... The exhibit, titled "Target America," includes Sept. 11 rubble from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. It is housed at a museum in the Drug Enforcement Administration's headquarters. DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the exhibit aims to educate Americans about the role drug money has in terrorism. "Before terrorism hit home on Sept. 11, few Americans realized the connection, and fewer still understood that drug money has been used to fund terrorism," Hutchinson said. Attorney General John Ashcroft said, "Terrorism and drugs go together like rats and the plague. ... They thrive in the same conditions, and they feed off of each other." The exhibit, supported by $650,000 from the DEA budget plus private financing from donors, will go on nationwide tour next year. ..."...private financing from donors,"........... "DONORS"??? ....I think I will make it my new project,,to effectivly heckle and belittle this absurd charade!... This is nothing less than another example of the new federal dictatoresque intrusion on America,and Americans! ....on a weird side note:...God must be kinda pissed about all this shit,,,,BUT,,,of course,,God knew all this stuff was gonna happen,,so it's no real surprise to God that these evil fools are playing out the parts of history that are taking place........... So... does this mean that God somehow forced Ashcroft and Bush into fulfilling the pre-ordained legacy of evil that now seems to have manifested itself in the new Evil Empire?,,, or,, is it kinda like ; 'If the shoe fits...',type thing????? [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on September 03, 2002 at 21:45:00 PT Thanks Tomato! Nice name and good link! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Tomato on September 03, 2002 at 21:12:22 PT More on smuggling cigarettes http://www.mackinac.org/4461 [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 03, 2002 at 20:00:41 PT Smuggling Cigarettes JR, John Walters on the news this morning mentioned smuggling cigarettes by Terrorists. I heard it a while back but just in passing on the news. Washington Journal Video: Tuesday, September 03, 2002 Donna Leinwand, USA Today, Reporter Watch Topic: Nevada’s Marijuana Possession Ballot Initiative Length: 30 min. http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/mdrive/wj20020903.rm?start=2:32:40 [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 03, 2002 at 19:48:07 PT SudaFED Cocaine isn't the only drug with a terror connection. And remember, the cocaine "terrorists" in Columbia aren't flying jetliners into skyscrapers - or doing anything on US soil. They're trying to blow holes in the pipeline which our oil barons are forcing through their lands, and our oil chief has appropriated $98 million to protect. But I digress. The recent publicity about the "methamphetamines"... if you read closely, the "narcoterrorists" were buying mass quantities of pseudoephedrine, smuggling it in to the country, then selling it to methamphetamine manufacturers. True, black market meth is a bad thing - but pseudoephedrine is in every medicine cabinet in America! I remember, a month or so after 9/11, Richard Cowan had a story on the Pot-TV News about some of the hijackers who had bought cigarettes in a state with low taxes and they were selling them on the black market in New Jersey, a state with high cigarette taxes. This is the only source I heard talking about this story, I'd love to see some corroboration. But the terrorists will trade in anything that can make them enough money. A caller to Washington Journal today expressed doubt that the government in Nevada could operate their proposed cannabis sales efficiently enough to keep the costs low enough so that the black market would be priced out of existence... admittedly, something I had not thought much about. However, if every American was given [back] the right to grow cannabis plants of their own, then there's no way the terrorists can exploit that system for their own profit. "Hydroponics for Hezbollah"? I doubt it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by John Tyler on September 03, 2002 at 19:28:54 PT Clean hands Notice how in these propaganda pieces there is no mention of Uncle Sam or any his current allies's involvement in any type of drug trade. This is only part of the story that the taxpayers are paying for. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 03, 2002 at 18:41:30 PT The spin masters at it again With the same old hyper bull we've heard before. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Nasarius on September 03, 2002 at 17:36:51 PT Once again... ...they carefully avoid naming drugs. Really, cocaine is the only legitimate target of this whole campaign. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo MD on September 03, 2002 at 17:35:22 PT: Wishing Does Not Make It So In the movie, "Hearts in Atlantis," Anthony Hopkin's character tells his young friend, "Wishing does not make it so." This is a hard lesson that the DEA would be well-advised to heed. Their case is a weak one on this issue, and for clinical cannabis, it is probably totally spurious. The credibility gap widens daily. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by mayan on September 03, 2002 at 16:52:03 PT Ruppert in NYC & NJ!!! The following announcement is from - http://www.unansweredquestions.orgUQ is now supporting two upcoming New York City events featuring Michael Ruppert, a very active 9/11 investigative journalist, and long time publisher of From the Wilderness. Our documentary short, produced in association with GNN, will also be premiered.Manhattan on September 7th Where: Tishman Auditorium, The New School, Building A; 66 West 12 St. Date: September 7, 2002 Time: 5:30PM -- 11PM Cost: $10 The evening will open with the world premiere of our new video project Aftermath: Unanswered Questions of 9/11 - a co-production of Guerilla News Network and Unanswered Questions. Michael Ruppert is the featured speaker and his powerpoint presentation and workshop runs approximately 2.5 hours and will be followed by an extended period of Q & A. -----------------Wayne, New Jersey on Sunday, September 8th Mike will also present his workshop in New Jersey the following day, September 8th, from 2PM - 7PM at William Paterson University at Wayne. (ww2.wpunj.edu/aboutus/directions/cfm). Again, the UQ/GNN video will be shown.Please show your support by attending if you are in the area or by letting your NYC area friends know about the events. Thank you for your support.relative -THE COMPLETE 9/11 TIMELINE: INTRODUCTION, CREDITS AND LINKS http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/4f/3b/200209021319.3db9d567.htmlHunter S. Thompson interview on the performance of the post 9-11 US media.(Real Media file) http://abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/audio/hunters290802.ramU.S. CONCENTRATION CAMPS - FEMA AND THE REX 84 PROGRAM: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/camps.htmlCamps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision - http://www.apfn.org/apfn/camps.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by pokesmotter on September 03, 2002 at 15:49:31 PT: prohibition=profit If terrorists do get money from drugs, they would hate NOTHING more than to see the United States LEGALIZE them. but that will not happen any time soon. Remember: PROHIBITION=PROFITS PROFITS ARE AN UNSTOPPABLE ECONOMIC FORCE [ Post Comment ] Post Comment