US should say yes to drugs in Afghanistan
Sunil Ram: A rational policy requires buying poppies from Afghan farmers, and
cutting out warlords
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=2649
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November 1, 2008
US should say yes to drugs in Afghanistan
Sunil Ram: A rational policy requires buying poppies from Afghan farmers, and
cutting out warlords Pt3
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Related Episode
Drugs and Afghanistan
In part three of our interview with security expert Sunil Ram, Sunil provides
his answer to the hypothetical 3am phone call from the new U.S. president over
what to do in Afghanistan. Sunil advocates for the replacement of the Karzai
administration with a western military rule along with the open engagement in
the Afghani drug economy, thus removing the financial lifeline of the warlords
and the Taliban as well as providing economic stimulus to the Afghani
population in a more effective way than the aid programs that are already in
place. The opium could be marketed as a pharmaceutical product, as advocated by
the Senlis Council, or even burned immediately, believes Sunil, but it must be
taken out of the hands of the traffickers. Sunil attributes the unwillingness
to pursue an active drug strategy not to a state of ignorance of the role of
drug money, but rather to a combination of corruption and a general preference
within the administration toward
focusing on Iraq, a preference that has been present since day one.
Bio
Sunil Ram is a military and security expert with Alexis International, an
international consulting firm. He is the Contributing Editor of SITREP, the
private defense journal of the Royal Canadian Military Institute, and has
served in the Canadian Forces as both a soldier and officer between 1980-86 and
1997-99. Sunil also served as a military adviser to the Saudi Royal Family for
over ten years, including involvement in the 1991 Gulf War and the Yemeni
conflict in the 1990s. He has won a series of awards, including the UN Global
Citizen Award presented to him in 1995 by the UN. He has also published a
variety of articles and books and has had columns on military affairs published
in newspapers, such as Canada’s Globe and Mail.
Comments from Registered Users
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Casper 2008-11-01
This is the most biased news i've seen from this site. Although there havent
been proven connections to the US army inflating the drug growth, it is no
coincidence that three times in similar conditions within afganistan alone,
drugs production grew to substantial global numbers within 1-2 years that US
'rescued' the local citizens. Another note, the local farmers get no more money
from selling drugs than they do for selling any other regular product, they are
not the ones profiting from the business. Under 'west'/US rule, opium
production thrives, under taliban rule the opium farms were destroyed. I cannot
believe that is it still being quoted that talibans are the ones pursueing the
drug economy or that they just happened to randomly slow the growth of the
opium. An opium based economy is not sustainable. Besides this one article
though, i continue to enjoy the other independant news, thank you.
DavidV 2008-11-01
Mike, you are forgetting that poor Afghan farmers need to make a living. The
only way they will give up growing poppies is if there are given a viable
alternative.
Mikeyidh 2008-11-01
If US Commandos could enter Syria to kill a terrorist and 8 innocent people.
Why not have them spray the opium fields to destroy heroin production
completely. This would halt the many deaths from heroin coming out of this
region and shake the economics of the terrorist.
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Link using this Permalink:
http://therealnews.com/id/2649/November 1,
2008/US+should+say+yes+to+drugs+in+Afghanistan
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Link to all three interviews on the topic Drugs in Afghanistan & Pakistan with
ALEXIS's Sunil Ram
http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=250
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Once the involvement of governments into the international drug trade is fully
exposed people will lose all trust and confidence they might have placed into
everything to do with and coming from their governments.
The amounts of money involved and the degree of corruption in this dwarfs the
magnitude of the current financial crisis.
It does not come as a surprise that you will find all the major banks and
bankers involved in this drug money laundering operation. New York, London,
Frankfurt, Geneva, Zurich,Milan,Pristina/Kosovo, and many other places in the
world are part of this invisible and very powerful set up.
You never believed our statements on the issues unfolding right now and refused
to even imagine what is unfolding in the financial industry right now. Let us
tell you have not seen anything yet.
We have been telling people in the private and public sector for years what
would be unfolding in the financial market. The degree of denial and perception
distortedness is now going to destroy them. We are witnessing the largest ever
wealth destruction process ever.
One of our groups senior partners and most sophisticated market experts coined
the following phrase:
"Money is a medium of exchange , Money is a measure of value , Money is a
standard of value, Money is a store of value. Unfortunately Money is currently
only a medium of exchange. All the other very important functions of money have
been destroyed purposely by governments
Most investors in today’s world operate under the assumption that government
and highly-rated (AAA, etc.) agency bonds of the G7 are the safest investment
one can have.
This couldn't be further from the truth -- the government bonds of the G7 are
certificates of guaranteed confiscation of wealth." TA
The governments are already hold the controlling interest in the global drug
trade. A self-re-pricing commodity that shields them from the unfolding wealth
destruction.
Connect the dots and you'll get the picture.
Have a pleasant weekend.
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