cannabisnews.com: The Drug War vs. The War on Terror The Drug War vs. The War on Terror Posted by FoM on December 13, 2001 at 07:12:09 PT By Steve Chapman Source: Chicago Tribune On Oct. 25, six weeks after the worst terrorist atrocities in our history, the United States was bombing Afghanistan, Colin Powell was discussing a post-Taliban government, investigators were grappling with anthrax in the mail, and federal agents were . . . well, they were going after pot smokers in California. If John Ashcroft had been around during the Chicago fire, he would have been handcuffing jaywalkers. During his campaign, President Bush took the position that access to medical marijuana was a matter for the states to address without interference from meddlesome Washington bureaucrats. "I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose," he declared in his peerless rhetorical style. Californians agreed. In 1996, they had approved a ballot initiative sanctioning the therapeutic use of marijuana.But even with the war on terror demanding so much of the government's attention, the administration was not too busy--or too respectful of state prerogatives--to raid the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center. Drug Enforcement Administration officers seized computers, 400 marijuana plants and medical records for hundreds of patients. Those sick people suddenly found themselves cut off from the drug recommended by their physicians for such problems as chemotherapy-induced nausea.For the last two decades, our leaders have treated the enforcement of drug laws as the moral equivalent of war. On Sept. 11, it became blindingly clear that there really is no moral equivalent of war.War, we were reminded, is when foreign enemies are trying to kill as many of us as they can. Cokeheads and dope smokers, whatever their shortcomings, don't have that mission. The Al Qaeda terrorists do.But until the World Trade Center buildings collapsed, police and prosecutors were more likely to worry about busting potheads than rooting out Islamic zealots with dreams of mass murder. A Boston TV station reported that a few years ago, the FBI squeezed one local Al Qaeda member for information about heroin smuggling, but showed a conspicuous lack of interest in what he told them about Arab terrorists.Discrepancies like that raise questions about why we are--or were--so obsessed with preventing people from ingesting recreational substances that may not be optimal for their health. We don't send cops out to arrest alcoholics because they abuse liquor, or imprison smokers because they have a tobacco habit. Why, then, is the use of marijuana or cocaine a law enforcement matter?The federal government employs some 30,000 drug enforcement personnel, and drug offenders make up 60 percent of federal prison inmates. Police arrest 600,000 people every year for possession of marijuana.But that preoccupation can no longer be indulged. In the years to come, drugs are bound to get much less attention. The new head of the U.S. Customs Service says terrorism has displaced drugs as his central concern. "Terrorism is our highest priority, bar none," Robert Bonner declared in October. "Ninety-eight percent of my attention as commissioner of customs has been devoted to that one issue."The FBI has made the same turnabout. It's planning an overhaul that will greatly de-emphasize drug trafficking--which now consumes nearly a fourth of its budget. DEA agents have even been shifted to the terrorism battle. Even Atty. Gen. Ashcroft has said, "We cannot do everything we once did, because lives now depend on us doing a few things very well."State and municipal police also have turned their attention toward homeland security and away from drugs. If prosecutors have to spend more of their time going after terrorists, they will have to spend less time on something else. It's not murders and bank robberies that are going to be abandoned--it's drug cases. Why? For the simple reason, which we could ignore before, that they have little effect on public safety.Drug enforcement has not just stolen resources from anti-terrorism efforts--it has actually helped the terrorists. The opium trade furnished one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban during the time it ruled Afghanistan. The main reason the drug business was so profitable for the Taliban is that it's illegal: Prices are always higher in black markets than in legal ones. Every time we helped eradicate poppy fields in Mexico or Colombia, we enriched the criminal regime in Kabul.Nowadays, we may see our true priorities more clearly. The days when drugs topped the list of public concerns now seem like the time before Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden. The drug war was the luxury of a society with few really terrible problems. Three months ago, it became an unaffordable extravagance.Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)Author: Steve ChapmanPublished: December 13, 2001Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune CompanyContact: ctc-TribLetter Tribune.comWebsite: http://www.chicagotribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medical Marijuana Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htmWar on Pot is a Raid on States' Rightshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11553.shtmlUS Marijuana Clinics Raided in Crackdown http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11328.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #16 posted by qqqq on December 13, 2001 at 22:35:42 PT also For some reason,,the defense department has refused to release the bin Laden tape with the actual arab audio.......I'd trust Bill Clinton on an overnight campout with a troop of nubile cheerleaders,,more than I trust the defense dept.,and the other goons of shrubdom.... [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 13, 2001 at 22:20:01 PT Remember what McCaffrey said When they killed all those people at the end of the war with Saddam, McCaffrey said : This is the happiest day of my life. I'm almost sure that is word for word but if not it's close. That's being happy when people are killed too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Lehder on December 13, 2001 at 22:09:43 PT the bin Laden tape is a sleazy propaganda stunt Why was the tape kept from view until today? To keep people preoccupied while Bush abrogated the ABM treaty. A previous bin Laden tape was not shown at all, according to the g, so that bin Laden could not broadcast "secret messages" to terrorists using body language or Sesame Street puppets or whatever. But today, instead of discussing how withdrawal from the ABM treaty has irritated Russia, how a new arms race is threatened, how billions will be spent on junk science for the benefit of defense corporations, or how European countries and China are reacting to the US new star wars program - Americans were preoccupied with calling in to TV stations to patriotically express their shock over bin Laden's gloating and their support for continued bombing of Afghanistan. ANd just as important to the continuing propaganda campaign, Americans were treated to the recordings of call after inane call for bin Laden's head. Each caller competed to express greater personal shock and outrage than the last, and each recorded call provided an example of right thinking for the edification of stupid Americans. Just keep the Bush ball rolling while we begin a new cold war.And the bin Laden tape is of no significance anyway. We already know he hates us and delights in the success of the attack. Furthermore, how the tape constitutes proof of his guilt is beyond me. I watched a couple minutes and it only made me think of how the police must waste time accepting the hundred confessions of wackos whenever a bomb goes off or a celebrity is murdered. bin Laden chose to take credit for the attack. So what? Confessions have credibility only when they reveal inside information that is known to the police but not published and that could also be known only to the perpetrator. I have not seen the special knowledge that bin Laden should have provided. Maybe he's behind it, maybe not. We know only that he chose to take credit for the attack by inferential and leading statements like, as he claims to have said after the first crash, "be patient." That's not even a direct admission. But the g wants Americans to take it as proof. The whole tape is not worth squat, and its timed and calculated broadcast was a propaganda ploy to distract attention from the ABM treaty, a far more significant story. Exactly the same ploy - an anthrax scare - was used while the so-called PATRIOT act was rammed through Congress.Far fewer Americans are duped by this sort of propaganda than the media or the g will admit. Every broadcast reaction to the tape was the same - get bin Laden. As usual, propaganda fools no one and influences no one. It succeeds only in making Americans think that everyone has the same opinion as the ones that are broadcast and attempts to keep people like me who have quite different opinions sheepishly silent. But it doesn't work on everyone. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by dddd on December 13, 2001 at 19:56:27 PT another point Mayan brings up the term 'court of law',,,,,the mainstream network/corporate media ,,can be seen as a huge court of public opinion,and the jury,is the Sheeple,,,but wait a minute,,the only side that is presenting their case is the prosecuter,,the opposition is gagged,and not allowed to address the court.. ..those who have control of the media,have control of the court.They can manipulate the jury by presenting all the testimony and evidence...the opposing side has no voice,,,,....It's like a bunch of federal gangsters, who are the overlords of the media,,it's a racket,,a cartel,,a mob....This is what I keep ranting about.Those who can dictate the news,can herd the Sheeple any way they choose...There is no forum for dissent on a national level....If you want to take over a country,then you need to control "news"...If you can effectivly control the main source of information in a country,then you can take over without guns,,and that is what has,and is happening to America,,and it's such a huge,devious scandal,,that most people have a hard time believing it's true,,or they realize that it's happening,,but they dont realize,or appreciate how an empire can be built,and supported,by controlling the "news".... ....This is the first time that anything like this has happened on such a large scale...If you want to make a "Special Report",,of,"Breaking News",,,and you have control of CBS,NBC,ABC ,and FOX,,UPN,,etc..then you can simultaneously misinform the Agoras in Miami,and the cardigans in Seattle,,the lambs in San Diego,and the goats in Boston,.............This bin Laden tape is a good example of the alarming ramifications..like CongressmanSuet mentioned,concerning the presentation of the "smoking gun".....Dan Rather,,Peter Jennings ,,,the script was the same on all the networks...Highlighting the alleged,and supposed diabolical dialogue..Politicians soundbites saying,"There is no doubt",,,etc......I recorded the tape,,and after looking at it several times,,,I'm afraid that I am somewhat skeptical.....First of all,,consider the source,,the defense department does not rate very highly on my honesty scale,,,in fact,,I think the defense department is infested with crooked bogarts,and compromisers of integrities....If you take a good look at the tape,there are many curious,and questionable movements of the camera,,,,and one must also ask;Why would bin Laden make such a tape anyway?,,I mean,,is it like these guys always just hang out and bullshit while someone videotapes them,,complete with zooming in on them,and strange panning of the camera.....the whole thing is mighty fishy if you ask me......dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by mayan on December 13, 2001 at 17:17:55 PT For the Sheeple This tape may or may not be real but it is definitely just more drum-beat propaganda for the sheeple. It would be very easy for the Pentagon to do a voice-over though. I thought our government already had solid evidence implicating bin Laden in the 9/11 attacks? This tape would not be allowed as evidence in a court of law, unless it was a military tribunal...hmmm.Did Bush slip about prior 9/11 knowledge? http://rense.com/general17/lie.htmMedia Accomplices To 9/11 Crime Deserve Indictment http://www.realityexpander.com/articles/fritzspringmeier/fritzspring10252001.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Lehder on December 13, 2001 at 16:26:31 PT Hannah Arendt, Dan B, dddd and I agree:Origins of Totalitarianism, timely reviews:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0156701537/qid=1008288687/sr=2-3/107-2320466-5048546sample page (read 'antisemitism' as 'war on drugs' or 'war on terror'):http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/0156701537/reader/5/ref=lib_dp_/107-2320466-5048546#reader-linkIt's happened before and it's happening again. The Germans didn't believe it, the Jews didn't believe it and neither do Americans. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on December 13, 2001 at 13:25:57 PT My 2 cents I haven't watched the whole tape. I don't want too. The little bit I watched wasn't anything that shocked me. He believes god is on his side and is happy. We have fought wars with the same conviction. Remember the expression: Kill them all and let God sort them out.What's the difference? [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Dan B on December 13, 2001 at 13:19:47 PT: On Building a "Better" Police State Frankly, I don't care whether the tape is real or not. If it's real, it doesn't say anything new about bin Laden. If it's fake, it doesn't say anything new about our government. Personally, I think bin Laden is involved, but by no means the only person responsible for 9/11. But that doesn't really matter much, either. The fact is that our government and media outlets have conspired to create public support for a war against Afghanistan. Yes, Afghanistan. This war has absolutely nothing to do with catching bin Laden and everything to do with completely demolishing a third world country and starving its citizens into accepting an "American friendly" government (which really means an "American oil-freindly government"). Bin Laden is incidental, a convenient boogeyman to foment the wrath of the American sheeple. For that matter, Saddam Hussein has nothing to do with the soon coming war against Iraq (it will happen, just as soon as the ShrubDick administration gets antsy for more killin'). Is Hussein a bad man? Unquestionably, if you know much about how he has treated his people. Is he a convenient boogeyman? Again, unquestionably if you know anything about the Gulf War and how Bush the First let him off the hook. Why else would Bush the First decide to leave him standing, but to leave in place the boogeyman so he could scare the American people into submission? Believe me when I say that if the government really wanted to get Hussein and bin Laden, they would have been destroyed years ago.As mentioned many times before, both bad guys are held up to the American people so that the Shrubs will have an excuse to make war over their personal oil interests. And war has an important side effect here in America: popular permission to dismantle the Constitution, which translates into further empowering the rich while stomping on the heads of the poor and middle class. There is a difference between "security" and "imprisonment." It appears that the American government is foregoing its initial plan to place as many millions of Americans as possible into prisons in favor of making the entire country one large prison, complete with security checkpoints boasting armed guards and barbed wire enclosures at every border, including state borders. Furthermore, the latest "stimulus package" has nothing to do with giving a break to the middle class. The one month social security hiatus is nothing more than a carrot to get the middle class securely into its harness so that the rich can once again administer a beating, courtesy of the American government's big stick: tax breaks for large corporations. dddd has been correct in saying that the drug war has become somewhat of a sub-issue under the larger issue of preserving Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms. It has been the key to implementing the current anti-constitutional aims of our current government, but I can now see that it has been simply a stepping stone toward complete fascist control by a fully militarized ploice state. I hate the war on drugs, but I hate even more the complete destruction of the Constitution that is taking place in the name of "homeland security."Thanks for putting up with the rant. Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by dddd on December 13, 2001 at 11:56:41 PT the thing is.. ..the false holy grail of killing bin Laden,,,,,,,it dont mean shit!.....So what,,,are we to believe that somehow,once bin Laden is completely dead,,,once they DNA his ass,and make sure it's him that is dead..IT WILL MEAN NOTHING!!!...it's as if somehow the whole thing will end,and terror will be gone,,,and it will be some sort of "mission accomplished" thing...it aint gonna happen.........This hellbound,,senseless war gravy train,is not going to slow down,(unless it stops to pick up some more swine-hog cowboy bogarts to join in on the sheep;e-suckin' cash-fest).......yes....this is indeed a puppet show,,,but,,,far more gruesome and alarming than this particular puppet show,,is the fact that this puppet show was so unavoidably popular amongst the flocking masses,,,and as we watch the evolving perfection of manipulation through invisible and subconcious propaganda and mind control ,,,..we will see the further decay of civilization,as it morphs further into a small group of "haves",,and masses of angry "have nots".,there's gotta be a meltdown within the next ten years!...things just keep gettin' weirder every day....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by CongressmanSuet on December 13, 2001 at 10:06:39 PT The tape is interesting... and I agree with you, dddd, "The Great GOP Puppet Show for the Sheeple" is here, just take your places at the trough! I watched on CBS. Dan Rather was beside himself making quick assertions and judgements before the tape was even a few minutes into airing. He was quick to assure "us" that this tape IS the "smoking gun" and is proof positive of Bin Laden's guilt. True, if the translation was correct[ and one of the commentators who spoke the language said himself he had trouble translating it] it appears Bin Laden is quilty. My problem with all this, is that Im still not convinced he is really responsible. Taking credit for these acts would guarantee "Martyrdom" for him, a lasting place in Muslim history, the adoration of millions of Muslims, and with the reports by his "peers" that he is not capable of leading "eight ducks across a road" it seems unlikely he is anything more than a mouthpiece for a possibly Egyptian network. Just my opinion.... Online Petition to Impeach 3 Members of the Supreme Court. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by dddd on December 13, 2001 at 09:49:29 PT ........yup ...furthermore....let's say I had 3 percent of the defense budget,and it was my job to create a convincing video,,,fuzzy black and white....I could make a video showing Lehder and Kaptinemo having lunch with Barry McCaffrey and Janet Reno at the Space Needle!...I could produce a video of CongressmanSuet and Lookinside riding ponys with Richard Simmons in Dr Russos basement,,with Dan B and FreedomFighter smoking a hookah that Goneposthole is lighting for them........ ...OK...let's say this new bin Laden video is not fake...Let's just pretend that the honorable and honest people at the defense department gave us a genuine,unaltered tape,with a completely accurate translation.....Uncut!.......If that was the case,would it make any difference???...nope!...the warpig empire will continue to pursue this idiotic fake,corporate oil murder war........and when,or if they ever do get this new Manson movie star bin Laden guy,,and dance aroung the WTC ruins,with his head on a stick,,,,then they will move on to the next "target",,,the next "evildoer"....If there was no bin Laden,,then they would create one......and that is the most terrifying terror of all, when one comes to the realization that they are Wagging the Hog,,,and the corporate swine Evil Empire,is gorging at the trough of cash,,,,REAMING the American people,in a most shameless, and grisslesome Texas style way......It just aint pretty......nope......it aint pretty....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on December 13, 2001 at 09:18:29 PT dddd I'm sure you are right. I think it is probably a legitimate tape but with stuff cut out that they don't want us to see. My husband used to ask me everyday before 9-11 if they found Chandra yet. Now it is have they found bin Laden yet? How many people have died? I know how many we lost here in the states but how many civilians have died due to our bombing and they still haven't found bin Laden? War is hell. It seems like we are living in hell these days. If he is in Pakistan like the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday what's next? They have nuclear weapons and a good portion of Pakistan people admire the Taliban. Maybe they don't have enough to blast the USA but they could blow up the oil like what happened in Kuwait. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by dddd on December 13, 2001 at 09:08:35 PT ..I'll tell you the reason FoM... ..It's to try and keep the Sheeple behind the mayhem of the US bombing....I Do NOT trust the US government,,,much less the freakin defense department,,who released this FAKE skit....I think it's quite likely that this tape is a FAKE!.......Why havn't they "released" the earlier tape of bin Laden?,,you know,,the one that supposedly had hidden messages for terrorists.,,,why dont they show that now too???....This is a sham,,and a Scam,,,and a fakeout........think about it,,,,,for less than $2000 bucks,I could make a tape like this!....heck,,nowdays,,,you can create a "tape" of anything!....Why do you suppose they release this now?,,and have full network smotherage????....It's to saturate the hearts and minds of the Sheeple with a special treatment of endoctrination,and manipulation............This is just another puppet show fake out,to keep this illegitamate and criminal "war" going,,poisoning the masses with carefully designed misinformation......,.....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on December 13, 2001 at 08:38:42 PT Off Topic Every channel is playing this bin Laden tape. We finally turned on music. It's even on the Networks. I don't get it. What is the reasoning to show this tape? We don't like bin Laden but is it to fire us up to hate? [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Jose Melendez on December 13, 2001 at 08:11:09 PT: yes, luxury Maybe slaves did not consider themselves a luxury, either. I am no slave owner, but it seems to me servants would be a luxury. Tyrannical and oppressive maybe but certainly luxurious. PEACE :)"...Marijuana Prohibition was created in 1937, not to protect society from the "evils of the drug Marijuana," as the Federal government claimed, but as an act of deliberate economic and industrial sabotage against the re-emerging Industrial Hemp Industry." Conspiracy Theories - The Elkhorn Manifesto [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Patrick on December 13, 2001 at 07:30:29 PT Luxury? I agree with the overall jist of this author. But... The drug war was the luxury of a society with few really terrible problems. Three months ago, it became an unaffordable extravagance.I don't think non-violent cannabis users sitting in jail or sick people in need of medicine would consider no-knock raids a luxury. Tyranny and oppression maybe but certainly not a luxury. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment