just say no....mo' money
now playing: dar williams, "mortal city"
on CNN, today, contained in a story on Tenets' testimony to the 9/11 commission, is the following blurb:
A staff summary released by the commission highlights in part unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to undermine bin Laden. It describes a sustained government effort between the spring of 1997 to September 2001 to convince the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to expel bin Laden.
"The efforts included inducements, warnings and sanctions," the summary said. "All these efforts failed."
i guess the $125 million dollars given to the Taliban by the US in 2001 alone (under the guise of "humanitarian aid") was a pretty seriously strong inducement. they also gave them an additional $43 million on may of 2001 for the "official" banning of poppy cultivation. the result of this "ban"?
"Taliban rulers had agreed to assist us in our senseless drug war by declaring opium growing "against the will of God." They weren't serious, of course. Although reliable economic data for Afghanistan is nearly impossible to find (there simply is not much of an economy), the reality is that opium is far and away the most profitable industry in the country. The Taliban was hardly prepared to give up virtually its only source of export revenue, any more than the demand for opium was suddenly going to disappear. If anything, Afghanistan's production of opium is growing. Experts estimate it has doubled since 1999; the relatively small country is now believed to provide the raw material for fully 75% of the world's heroin." (source)
interesting that the equally futile "war on drugs" ties in with the "war on terra" at this juncture in such a manner. equally obvious, when you add this to the mix, how necessary iraq became as a "smoke and mirrors" punching bag, to the avoidance of the real enemy in this war.
"all these efforts failed", the commision says.
personally, if the kid who's leaving flaming brown bags of shit on my porch and ringing the doorbell is staying down the street, i don't think i'm gonna be inclined to pay his parents' mortgage.
however, i am writing my congressman this afternoon and telling him that i'm instituting an official ban on poppy growth at 511 chestnut street in west reading, and giving him my checking account number so that he can just wire my cash directly into my account.
on CNN, today, contained in a story on Tenets' testimony to the 9/11 commission, is the following blurb:
A staff summary released by the commission highlights in part unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to undermine bin Laden. It describes a sustained government effort between the spring of 1997 to September 2001 to convince the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan to expel bin Laden.
"The efforts included inducements, warnings and sanctions," the summary said. "All these efforts failed."
i guess the $125 million dollars given to the Taliban by the US in 2001 alone (under the guise of "humanitarian aid") was a pretty seriously strong inducement. they also gave them an additional $43 million on may of 2001 for the "official" banning of poppy cultivation. the result of this "ban"?
"Taliban rulers had agreed to assist us in our senseless drug war by declaring opium growing "against the will of God." They weren't serious, of course. Although reliable economic data for Afghanistan is nearly impossible to find (there simply is not much of an economy), the reality is that opium is far and away the most profitable industry in the country. The Taliban was hardly prepared to give up virtually its only source of export revenue, any more than the demand for opium was suddenly going to disappear. If anything, Afghanistan's production of opium is growing. Experts estimate it has doubled since 1999; the relatively small country is now believed to provide the raw material for fully 75% of the world's heroin." (source)
interesting that the equally futile "war on drugs" ties in with the "war on terra" at this juncture in such a manner. equally obvious, when you add this to the mix, how necessary iraq became as a "smoke and mirrors" punching bag, to the avoidance of the real enemy in this war.
"all these efforts failed", the commision says.
personally, if the kid who's leaving flaming brown bags of shit on my porch and ringing the doorbell is staying down the street, i don't think i'm gonna be inclined to pay his parents' mortgage.
however, i am writing my congressman this afternoon and telling him that i'm instituting an official ban on poppy growth at 511 chestnut street in west reading, and giving him my checking account number so that he can just wire my cash directly into my account.
posted by tom at 10:03
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