- Which proves more worthless? The "War on Terror"
for the past five years or the "War on Drugs" for the past 35
years?
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- When you realize that our borders remain open 24/7 to
smugglers who traffic in drugs, little wonder that America's 35 year drug
war proves inane, insane and useless. The 'root-cause' of both is obvious,
but we don't go there why not? I recently interviewed retired (but
VERY active) police officer and detective Howard Wooldridge at www.leap.cc
for an update in this third part of our series dealing with the futile
"War on Drugs."
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- "Smuggling of illegal drugs and people along our
nation's borders surpasses epidemic proportions," Wooldridge said.
"Our coast guard spends more time-and-energy intercepting boat loads
of Columbian cocaine than detecting and stopping those entering our country
illegally. The United Nations reported that since 1994, the sales of illegal
drugs has been the number one revenue source for terrorists all over the
world. Experts testifying before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
in the spring of 2007 reported that Al-Qaeda will earn some $3 billion
dollars selling Afghanistan's heroin and opium, mostly in the U.S. Others
tell us the volume is much greater."
-
- Priorities way out of balance
-
- "Thousands of dedicated federal agents pursue
marijuana and coca patches instead of people who fly airplanes into buildings,"
Wooldridge said. "Such are the unintended consequences
of our nation's policy of drug prohibition and its strategy of War on Drugs.
Smuggling-routes for illegal drugs were established decades ago to move
tons of mostly marijuana from Mexico into the United States. Today
we know those same routes transport tons of other drugs like cocaine, heroin
and methamphetamine.
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- "We don't know how many people are smuggled into
the U.S. that may have ideas other than honest work. Clever smugglers
of drugs continuously probe the border for weaknesses of manpower, technology
or physical barriers. For the right price, nobody doubts these vicious
criminals would smuggle terrorists into the U.S. Or, has it already
happened?
-
- "It is not just the infamous, porous border with
Mexico of which I speak. Several would be terrorists have been captured
on the border of Canada. We in law enforcement know that tons of high priced
'BC Bud' cross from Canada daily into Washington, Idaho and Montana. The
Hell's Angels have largely taken over the management of this operation.
For a price they would no doubt smuggle the wrong people across the
border, using the same routes they established for the marijuana trade."
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- Drug enforcement forces could easily STOP illegal immigration
-
- "All this continues under the noses of drug enforcement
officials that spend $70 billion annually of your tax dollars, year after
year, decade after decade," Wooldridge said. "No one takes
accountability for the gross lack of success."
-
- Drug enforcement exists to exist! In other words,
it's a paycheck for a lot of folks doing a lot of nothing. Year after
year, $130 billion in drugs crosses into the USA. You can hardly call
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) a success.
-
- "According to an FBI agent I spoke to three years
ago, on 9/11 the FBI had about 1,100 agents looking for terrorists," Wooldridge
said. "They also had 2,400 agents helping the DEA bust drug dealers
and their labs.
-
- Sufficient resources to block the 9/11 tragedy, but employed
elsewhere
-
- "Had those numbers been reversed, with terrorism
and illegal immigration the focus, maybe the dots would have been connected
in time to save the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Immediately
after 9/11, Director Mueller directed that most of his drug agents shift
their efforts towards the obvious national threat of radical, Muslim extremists
and other terrorists. However, in speaking last year with an FBI employee,
I learned that the agency still has many hundreds looking for drugs dealers
and marijuana patches.
-
- "Few doubt we are locked into a long, life-and-death
struggle with Al Qaeda. Despite the knowledge that these terrorists make
billions and billions off the drug trade, which finances weapons' purchases
to kill our troops, the Drug Czar's response has been to launch a scorched
earth policy of destroying the poppy plants. It has worked 'so well' in
Columbia. This despite the testimony that this action will drive
the farmers into the arms of the Taliban! Al Qaeda tells the farmers,
'These guys are here to destroy your livelihood, so let's take up arms
against them.'"
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- Public relations nightmare
-
- "And they have," Wooldridge said. "The
public relations nightmare means our NATO troops are losing. But
at least the policy is working, right? Not quite. Two
years of efforts and yet the production of opium increased a staggering
57 percent last year, according to published reports in the Washington
Post.
-
- "The 'War on Drugs' is defeating the 'War on Terror.'
"
-
- "Our troops are being shot with AK-47s and blown
up by RPGs purchased from the fantastic profits derived from selling opium
and heroin," Wooldridge said. "As reported by Misha Glenny in
the Washington Post, the 'War on Drugs' is defeating the 'War on Terror.'
Every speech you hear on Iraq-Afghanistan or the drug war from Bush-43
and his fellow-travelers in the U.S. Congress -- illustrates a horrific
disconnect from reality. Since 1971 my profession (law enforcement) has
spent a trillion tax dollars, and lost hundreds of dedicated officers,
killed-in-action, and has precious little positive to show for it."
-
- By arresting 38 million Americans, we eradicated drug-use,
right?
-
- "Even after the arrest of 38 million Americans and
the seizure of thousands of tons of narcotics, drugs are cheaper, stronger
and readily available to our teens," Wooldridge said. "In the
century of 9/11 we divert precious enforcement resources away from protecting
our country and waste them chasing drugs and druggies. Wasted --
because most of my colleagues now admit publicly that every drug dealer
arrested is quickly replaced and clever criminals over-ship enough
to cover any drugs seized by police.
-
- "Will we ever become as wise as our grandparents
-
- and end this New Prohibition?"
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- For further information:
-
- Today, my brother Howard works as part of an energetic
task force in Washington, DC to educate and enlighten Members of the U.S.
Congress at the highest levels. Watch for him on C-SPAN, wearing
his trademark white ten-gallon cowboy hat. He is working
in the hallowed Halls of Congress and in speaking engagements all
over America for a better future for all Americans.
-
- He can be reached at: Education Specialist, Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition (LEAP), <http://www.leap.cc/>www.leap.cc, Washington
, DC. He speaks at colleges, universities, Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions
Clubs and other service clubs across America. He also presents his
exciting program at political conferences in Washington.
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- The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of unintended
harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and
to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately
ending drug prohibition just as was done with alcohol some eighty
years ago.
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- © 2007 Frosty Wooldridge - All Rights Reserved
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