cannabisnews.com: FBI Shifts From Drug War to Terror 





FBI Shifts From Drug War to Terror 
Posted by CN Staff on July 30, 2002 at 18:26:21 PT
By Christopher Newton, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Associated Press
FBI director Robert Mueller said Tuesday that the war on terrorism demands that the FBI pull agents away from narcotics task forces and no longer make drug enforcement a top priority. The comments, which came at the 20th anniversary celebration for the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, followed statements by Attorney General John Ashcroft reaffirming that the drug war would be reorganized but not abandoned. 
Ashcroft said law enforcement agencies have created a ``most wanted list'' of 54 drug organizations that must be toppled here and abroad. The list will allow crime fighters to focus their resources, Ashcroft said. But the FBI will be less involved in the effort because of the shift toward preventing terror attacks and gathering information on terror groups in the United States, Mueller said Tuesday. ``We ought to defer to the Drug Enforcement Agency on cartel cases,'' Mueller said. ``We will still participate but with fewer resources. Where there were 10 (FBI agents) on a drug task force in the past, now there will be five.'' Mueller listed stopping terror attacks, counterintelligence and undermining strikes at the nation's computer networks as the FBI's new top three priorities. He listed corporate crime investigations as another major draw on the FBI's resources. Mueller has spoken before about the need to reallocate resources away from narcotics enforcement, but Tuesday's comments were the strongest yet. ``(Sept. 11) has required us to look at our resources and make hard choices,'' Mueller said. ``That is the bottom line for us _ participate (in drug enforcement) but not in the ways we have in the past.'' About 400 agents will be taken from narcotics efforts and placed on counterterrorism task forces, Mueller said. There are 11,324 agents in the FBI. The agency will focus on assisting narcotics enforcement when it intersects with terrorism and in attempts to financially disrupt drug cartels. Reaction to the message was mixed. John Fernandes, an assistant director of the DEA in Los Angeles, said that the shift will not lead to more drugs on the streets. ``We are broadening the war on drugs and looking for ways to fight smarter, instead of harder,'' Fernandes said. ``We are getting better at sharing intelligence and resources to compensate.'' Seattle police officer Mike Helton said the FBI's diminished presence would hamper efforts. ``Fighting the drug war will be harder without the extra manpower of the FBI--there is no way around it,'' Helton said. ``This is a signal that drugs aren't the most important thing anymore and that will be reflected out across America.'' Ashcroft said the Bush administration is committed to the drug war. ``I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs,'' Ashcroft said. ``We will defeat drugs.'' The focus on terrorism has shifted the way law enforcement officers plan to fight the drug war, with more concentration on cartel finances and organizations. DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson said the agency is seeking new training for agents and analysts and 20 special agents for money laundering cases. Other agency chiefs who spoke at the conference alluded to the shift away from fighting drugs. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas Collins said efforts aimed at narcotics enforcement fell by 90 percent after Sept. 11. Coast Guard officials said the current figure is about 5 percent lower than pre-Sept. 11 levels. But the number of drug seizures has increased, Collins said, because of searches aimed at stopping terrorists. ``These are not battles that must be fought separately,'' Collins said, noting that two of the Coast Guard's largest cocaine seizures happened after Sept. 11. Source: Associated Press Author: Christopher Newton, Associated Press Writer Published: Tuesday, July 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Articles:War on Drugs No Longer Feds' Highest Priority http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13137.shtmlDid The Drug War Claim Another 3,056 Casualties? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13041.shtml 
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on July 31, 2002 at 07:34:36 PT:
How do you defeat an inanimate object?
``I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs,'' Ashcroft said. ``We will defeat drugs.''Yepper. Uh-huh. Moving right along..."Ideals of freedom"...such as freedom of choice? Many others have made a better job of explaining that, ultimately, the ability to change your consciousness is the ne plus ultra of freedoms, as it fundamentally alters the way you think...and therefore, act. But someone like Ashcroft, who has locked up who knows how many people without a hearing or trial, who forces his personnel to sing inane patriotic songs, who runs prayer meetings in his office (and how many who attend see rapid promotion - as opposed to those who don't attend?) and refuses to allow the public to see statues they paid for with tax dollars in their original glory because he finds partial nudity disturbing, is no one to lecture anyone on 'freedom'.I sincerely hope that all those sheeple who were politically inactive in the last Presidential election have realized their terrible error in their complacency. I also hope that the next time confirmation hearings are held, people contact their Congresscritters and Sin-a-tors and demand no more Fundie fruitcakes be allowed control of any government department.But then, I am hoping against hope, perhaps. We wouldn't be in the pickle we are in as a nation if, just once, the 'sheep looked up'.
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Comment #5 posted by krutch on July 31, 2002 at 07:33:39 PT:
Ashcroft said. ``We will defeat drugs.''
``I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs,'' I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom would ever have a war on drugs. Do something productive for a change. Stop waging war on your own people.Ashcroft and the rest of Administration is out of touch. They need to be fired.
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Comment #4 posted by herbdoc215 on July 30, 2002 at 19:42:07 PT
Somewhere, enshrined in a metal file cabinet, 
which contains a manila folder, and enshrined in that manila folder is a file with my name on it. And in that file it details all my horrendous crimes against humanity such as attemting to alleviate the suffering of the sickest Americans who came pleading to me for help, etc. I am sure I am on so many government list's... it's a shame what it costs to be free today. There is no telling the amount of money thats been spent to try and put me in prison for trying to help others and teaching horticulture, when the list of missing children is growing everyday and those that are recovered always rescue themselves, when is last time you heard about cops saving anybody? Be a shame after pot is legalized and being a cop will not be such a cushy job, actually having to chase dangerous bad guy's instead of hassling people and chasing other peoples wives is sure going to take all the fun out of it!!! Peace, Steven TuckPS... Maybe parents should hang a doughnut on a rope around their kids necks so if something does happen they can at least get police to start looking for them before it's too late.
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Comment #3 posted by Dark Star on July 30, 2002 at 19:08:36 PT
Who's on the List?
The targeted groups on Ashcroft's list could include NORML, MPP, George Soros, and a few members of this forum.
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on July 30, 2002 at 18:38:10 PT
We know who's on his list
Ashcroft said law enforcement agencies have created a ``most wanted list'' of 54 drug organizations that must be toppled here and abroad. The list will allow crime fighters to focus their resources, Ashcroft said.
Who wants to bet that 50 of these organizations are medical marijuana providers in California.
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 30, 2002 at 18:35:39 PT
Sure let's build on our past successes
``I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs,'' Ashcroft said. ``We will defeat drugs.''
Uh huh, just like the federal government defeated alcohol.They had to make and break Al Capone before they'd give up on that dumb idea.Wake up and smell the century, fool!
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