Drug legalization

Drug Legalization: Could It Aid the War on Terror
By Daniel G. Jennings
The legalization, or more precisely the decriminalization of drugs, could help America achieve victory in the War on Terror.
The production, smuggling and sale of drugs like cocaine and opium, from which heroin is made, is an important source of funding for terrorist organizations. Al Qaeda gets money from the opium fields of Afghanistan and Pakistan, leftist guerrillas and right wing death squads in Latin America reap a fortune from the cocaine trade, Hezbollah and other groups in Lebanon have profited from the drug trade as well. Terrorists profit from the drug trade in two ways, first they participate in it directly and secondly drug producers and smugglers often pay terrorists for protection from authorities.
The huge profits terrorists reap from the drug trade enable them to purchase weapons and set up recruiting networks and training camps. These profits enable terrorists to pay off authorities, local tribesmen and others who protect their operations. Even here in the United States, domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh may have made and sold drugs to finance the Oklahoma City Bombing.
Beyond the money many terrorists make by participating in the drug trade, the drug trade and the criminals who participate in it act as a support system for terrorists. The smuggling networks drug dealers set up enable terrorists to move their people and weapons all over the world. The money laundering networks drug lords organize enable terrorists to move money between countries to fund their operations. The arms trade that exists to supply drug dealers also supplies terrorists.
Another way the drug trade breeds terrorism is by destabilizing regions around the world creating safe havens for terrorists. The drug trade gives local warlords, tribal leaders, private militias, guerrillas and terrorists the money and resources they need to break free of government control. The lawlessness created by the drug trade creates power vacuums that terrorists fill.
In many developing countries, drugs like opium and cocaine are the only profitable crops peasants and poor farmers can grow. Naturally, this gives the average people a reason to side with terrorists and guerrillas who protect the drug trade and against the central government and the USA. This creates safe havens where terrorists can set up bases and training camps and operate with impunity. In some cases the massive amounts of money generated by the drug trade have enabled terrorists to set up what amounts to alternative governments for entire regions.
In Afghanistan, the war on drugs could undermine America’s war effort in two ways. First, drug eradication efforts which threaten the livelihood of poor farmers could turn much of the population against America and the government and to the Taliban and other terrorists. Second, money, aircraft, troops and resources which could be used to rebuild the country or hunt down the bad guys are diverted for opium eradication efforts, which turn Afghans against the USA. This is not my imagination, a similar state of affairs exists in Colombia where the drug trade finances Communist guerrillas and gives ordinary people a reason to support insurgents.
Closer to home, vast amounts of money and resources that could be used to fight America’s real enemies the fanatics who want to hurt and kill us are diverted to the war on drugs. Law enforcement, military and intelligence resources that could be used against terrorists are used against drug dealers.
Therefore drug legalization, or scaling back, the War on Drugs at this point in time makes a lot of sense. We could deprive terrorists of money, their support network and one of the causes of support for terror groups in many areas of the world. No, drug legalization wouldn’t be a miracle cure that would end Terror, but it could make it easier for the good guys to fight and eventually win the War on Terror.