Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan’

Do you believe the War on Drugs is mostly being conducted to reduce the illegal drug trade or make drugs more profitable? We ask that question of members of our Underground Knowledge group in our latest poll on Goodreads.com – and so far 41% of respondents say it’s to make drugs more profitable.

US soldiers on patrol in the poppy fields of Afghanistan.

Some 25% say it (the war) is to reduce the illegal drug trade; 27% are unsure; and 7% cannot say “as I’m high right now and can’t think!”

As in all our polls, some of the respondents’ comments make for interesting reading.

A random selection of comments (abridged) follows:

It goes so much deeper than these four simple response choices. The war on drugs is about control. It has bred such evil corruption within government. The drug forfeiture laws that allow police to basically steal and rob from innocent citizens their property, all in the name of “potential” drug activity, is unconscionable!

I think even if the War on Drugs started out as per the official story (which is a very big IF in my view) these days I agree it’s mostly a cover for one of the biggest money-making operations on the planet. By making them illegal it drives the price way up and by invading drug-producing nations it allows certain superpowers to gain most of the worldwide drug revenue. CIA involvement in decades long large-scale drug operations is all on-the-record.

 

I believe governments genuinely have got themselves into the war on drugs to reduce the illegal drugs industry. But the reason why they have, is in itself sinister – a mindset that sees force and discipline as the only way to tackle a problem. It’s an error of judgement that has fundamentally increased crime, not reduced it. In Latin America it has had disastrous results.

During the Taliban’s reign of Afghanistan (before 9/11) they had decimated heroin production in the country that traditionally produces the most heroin in the world. After 9/11 once the Taliban were ousted, the heroin trade immediately flourished once more.

The War on Drugs!!! The war is to control distribution, illegal narcotics are as in the words of Colonel Ollie North, “Black Money for Black Ops”. Heroin and Cocaine have been flooded into the USA by government agencies, Read “Dark Alliance” author Gary Webb, who “committed Suicide” after it was published, also Whiteout CIA Drugs and the Press, Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey Sinclair, two very well researched and accurate books.

Currently, Afghanistan’s heroin production is at a record high even though there are US forces, UN troops and soldiers from various other Western nations supposedly patrolling the fields…Go figure how that’s possible!!

The War on Drugs probably interrelates to various other corrupt systems (such as the highly lucrative private prison system).

The world must wake up, US forces in 174 countries now,with “Black ops personnel” in more countries. Narcotics are flooding the streets of Europe/UK/USA/CAN/AUS/ and other places courtesy of government agencies. The amount of Narcotics that is coming in with very little interdiction is ridiculous. It is a massive game for the governments, for the ordinary people it is a massive nightmare about to become real.

 

To view more comments, or better still to have YOUR say, go to: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/142309-underground-knowledge—a-discussion-group?type=group

Poll ends July 30.

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Our Underground Knowledge discussion group is aimed at those with an interest in the world we live in and a desire to learn or to uncover “underground knowledge” on important issues of our times.

Everyone’s welcome to join! All you need is an enquiring mind and a desire to learn. Our members include scientists, social activists, teachers, historians, authors, former military and intelligence agency personnel, bankers, housewives, whistleblowers, students, former police officers, journalists, readers and many more.

Visit the Underground Knowledge discussion group at: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/142309-underground-knowledge—a-discussion-group

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A discussion thread titled “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nuthin!” on our Underground Knowledge group on Goodreads.com has prompted an outpouring of anti-war comment, the overwhelming concensus being that war is, indeed, good for absolutely nuthin.

Gulf War Photobox.jpg

The discussion was prompted by publication of an excerpt from our book THE ORPHAN CONSPIRACIES. It was lifted from a chapter titled ‘False flag operations’ and reads as follows:

According to our research, WW2 was one of the last legitimate wars. Legitimate in that there was probably no other alternative but war. Nearly all other wars since – especially the Gulf Wars, Vietnam, The Falklands War and the various Afghan wars – have simply been money-spinners spawned by the fear of fabricated enemies or at least unproven enemies.

This all leads to other questions.

Were communists ever a valid threat? When the US pulled out of Vietnam, why didn’t the much hyped Domino Theory ever occur? Why weren’t most other Asian countries overrun by communism as this theory stated was inevitable?

Is it realistic to have a war on ‘terror’ instead of a conventional war against a recognizable nation or group of nations? Can bearded nomads living in caves in Afghanistan or Pakistan really be a genuine threat to superpowers? And can isolated and impoverished nations like North Korea prevent world peace if the rest of the world wants peace?

Would North Korean president Kim Jong-un actually order his military to fire nuclear weapons and incite war? If so, what would be in it for North Korea when they’d obviously be committing suicide by inviting the rest of the world to immediately invade them? Can a leader of any nation really be that stupid?

 

A random selection of some of the more interesting responses from group members follow. (Names withheld):

Some conflicts/wars I believe are a necessary evil – a terrible waste and disgraceful but if you lived in Africa wouldn’t you want someone to help you. There in lies your argument who decides where we go to war and where we ignore?

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I’d replace the word ‘country’ with ‘government’. That’s the biggest con of all- this belief that we’re all countries of people starting and fighting wars, when it’s always been the top elite (government, royalty…) creating those wars. And in today’s age especially, the vast amount of people in the world want peace. It’s the governments that make those decisions, not the people.

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Somewhere along the way the US was hijacked by elitists and American values were discarded.

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War is often propaganda-dly sold to us with fear.

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All we’ve got to do is defend rather than invade. It’s effing simple.

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At the beginning of the “War on Terror,” here in New Mexico I was shocked and awed to see so many American flags erected on private properties as well as a popular bumper sticker which said; “SUPPORT OUR TROOPS,” which really meant “SUPPORT OUR WAR.”

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There used to a sarcastic slogan back in the 60’s; “Sure its a dirty little war. But its the only one we’ve got.”

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Fighting just creates more fighting; its an endless loop in human history that will never cease until we go about things another way.

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If we don’t work for those in power… if we don’t pay those in power, they’re stuffed. But it’ll take a huge amount of people, including people in politics, armed forces, police forces… to come together to change the world.

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History strongly suggests that the human story is the story of wars and dominance. So, to escape all that has gone before, it seems necessary to do something new; a miracle, if you will. Its hard to keep believing in the face of reality.

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ISIS seems like yet another fabricated enemy ala Al Qaeda. And indeed there is already much evidence to support this theory.

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There have always been evil doers…terrorists, dictators, are all over the show – yet for some reason we always inflate the Middle Eastern ones and under-report other ones…5 million people have been killed in the Congo (formerly Zaire) in the last 10 years plus 1 million women have been raped. But no Western country wants to invade The Congo and try to do the right thing.

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Trying to achieve peace by one more war is like saying terrorists can be defeated by terrorizing other nations in the charade they call the War on Terror…For me, Jim Morrison said it best when he sung “They got the guns, but we got the numbers.”… It’s similar to what Gandhi said during the time of the British Raj: “100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians, if those Indians refuse to cooperate.”

 

The debate continues. To see all comments, or better still to have YOUR say, go to: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1953926-war-what-is-it-good-for-absolutely-nothin

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The Underground Knowledge group is open to everyone! All you need is an enquiring mind, an interest in the world we live in and a desire to learn or to uncover “underground knowledge” on important issues of our times.

Goodreads: Book reviews, recommendations, and discussion

Our members include whistleblowers, scientists, historians, conspiracy theorists, students, authors, doctors, teachers, librarians and more.

To visit our Underground Knowledge group go to: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/142309-underground-knowledge—a-discussion-group

 

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Just as mineral wealth – oil in particular – is a major reason for wars (look no further than Iraq), many would argue so, too, is heroin. Afghanistan being a case in point.

Afghan farmers collected raw opium in a poppy field.

Operation Enduring Freedom, the on going conflict in Afghanistan that was sparked by 9/11, has rather uncharitably been called Operation Opium by those who subscribe to the theory that heroin is behind that conflict.

One who subscribes to that theory is Canadian economist Dr. Michel Chossudovsky, author of The New World Order and perhaps the foremost authority on drug wars. We quote the good doctor extensively in a chapter titled ‘Drug Wars’ in our book THE ORPHAN CONSPIRACIES: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy.

Here’s an excerpt from The Orphan Conspiracies:  

Dr. Chossudovsky also believes heroin is a primary motivating factor in the war in Afghanistan…In an article published in RonPaulForums.com and dated June 25, 2013, he says, “Since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the Golden Crescent opium trade has soared.”

Click on the slide!

The documented Northern Route for drug trafficking out of Afghanistan.

In the same article, Dr. Chossudovsky says in the previous four years there was a surge in Afghan opium production. He quotes UNODC (the UN Office on Drugs and Crime) figures which reveal that poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2012 covered an area of more than 154,000 hectares; he also quotes a UNODC spokesperson as confirming in 2013 that opium production is heading toward record levels.

Dr. Chossudovsky is also extensively quoted in the GlobalResearch.com site, which provides some of the most credible, in depth research and reporting on the Afghan drug trade.

On alert in a poppy field in Afghanistan.

Under the tell-all heading “The Spoils of War: Afghanistan’s Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade”, Global Research carries yet another article by Dr. Chossudovsky. It was first published in May 2005. In it he states:

“Heroin is a multi-billion dollar business supported by powerful interests…One of the ‘hidden’ objectives of the war (in Afghanistan) was precisely to restore the CIA-sponsored drug trade to its historical levels and exert direct control over the drug routes.

“Immediately following the October 2001 invasion, Opium markets were restored. By early 2002, the opium price…was almost 10 times higher than in 2000.”

Readers are reminded that “prior to the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) opium production in Afghanistan and Pakistan was directed to small regional markets” and “there was no local production of heroin.”

Dr. Chossudovsky claims “the Afghan narcotics economy was a carefully designed project of the CIA, supported by US foreign policy”.

History lends some weight to the doctor’s claims. Out of the chaos that followed the Soviet-Afghan War, the ruling Taliban decreed that opium production be significantly curbed. That ruling was followed by another ordering that opium cultivation cease totally.

A solitary US Marine patrols a poppy field in Afghanistan.

There has been considerable speculation that America’s invasion of Afghanistan was prompted by this development. Whether true or not, one result of that military action is not in doubt: the opium ban was quickly lifted and Afghan opium production rapidly rose to record levels.

Of course, this could be passed off as coincidental. An innocent result of an invasion that saw Afghanistan’s war lords back in control and opium growth thriving once again. Indeed, that’s the official line and that’s how many perceive it.

However, if commentators and researchers are united about any one thing it’s that the CIA is inexorably linked to Afghanistan’s illicit drug trade and has been, in the words of one commentator, “since the agency funded Taliban fighters to oppose the Soviets”.

 

Read more in The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy  http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Conspiracies-Conspiracy-Theories-ebook/dp/B00J4MPFT6/

A book that’s for the common people…the 99%.

 

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Ever wonder why peace in certain countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo is never achieved no matter how many thousands of international peacekeepers are sent?

The answer may be that despite appearances, the world’s powers-that-be don’t actually want peace in those countries to be achieved any time soon.

Engaging in diplomatic talks and sending in UN peacekeepers is just a farce, apparently. According to our research, it’s far more lucrative for the global elite to keep wars going so the invaders can plunder resources for as long as they can. If we are correct in this analysis, then maybe wars like Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam were not about winning, but something else. Something much more sinister.

More than any other region on the planet, Africa’s probably the best example of these vicious, imperialistic strategies. Unfortunately for Africa it has many, many resources the outside world wants, needs and will kill to get its hands on. Resources like its vast water reserves, unlimited land, oil and precious metals such as gold, diamonds, cobalt and uranium to name a few. Not to mention the continent’s wildlife and cheap human labor.

U2’s lead singer Bono possibly summarized it best in a 2004 speech he gave at the University of Pennsylvania when he said, “Africa needs justice as much as it needs charity.”

In our conspiracy thriller novel The Ninth Orphan, we wrote the following pertinent paragraphs about the African continent:

As the seemingly well-intentioned French journalist spoke about Africas scarcity and its limited resources, Nine smiled to himself almost condescendingly. He considered such statements an absolute joke. Africa did not, nor did it ever have, limited resources.

Nine knew something the journalist obviously didnt: Africa was the most abundantly resourced continent on the planet bar none. Like the despots who ruled much of the region, and the foreign governments who propped them up, he knew there was more than enough wealth in Africas mineral resources such as gold, diamonds and oil not to mention the land that nurtured these resources for every man, woman and child.

He thought it unfortunate Africa had never been able to compete on a level playing field. The continents almost unlimited resources were the very reason foreigners had meddled in African affairs for the past century or more. Nine knew it was Omegas plan, and that of other greedy organizations, to siphon as much wealth as they could out of vulnerable Third World countries, especially in Africa.

The same organizations had the formula down pat: they indirectly started civil wars in mineral-rich regions by providing arms to opposing local factions, and sometimes even helped to create famines, in order to destabilize African countries. This made the targeted countries highly vulnerable to international control. Once the outside organizations had divided and conquered, they were then able to plunder the country’s resources.

The defeated eyes of the starving children on screen reminded Nine of his fellow orphans growing up in the Pedemont Orphanage. Although he had never experienced malnutrition, he knew what it was like to be born into a living hell.

Sadly, since The Ninth Orphan was published in 2011, not much has changed in Africa; international governments, multinational corporations and the likes of the World Bank and the IMF continue to profit from Africa’s vulnerability.

Wars in numerous African countries continue to go unchallenged and untold millions are raped, killed, maimed and starved while the rest of the world just looks on. It has become such a repetitious story in Africa that wars in the region rarely make international headlines anymore.

Conflict in Africa…all too familiar.

Divide and conquer. That’s the global elite’s proven strategy when it comes to its treatment of Third World countries in Africa and indeed throughout the world. Or, to put it another way, order out of chaos is the global elite’s favored tactic. They engineer chaos by financing both sides of revolutions, movements and civil wars then create order by providing solutions to governments and citizens in these war-torn countries.

To quote the British group James from their 2008 song Ha Ma: “War is just about business.”

 

You have been reading an excerpt from our non-fiction book THE ORPHAN CONSPIRACIES: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy. To read more go to:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Conspiracies-Conspiracy-Theories-ebook/dp/B00J4MPFT6/

Not all is as it seems!

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As the dust settles in Afghanistan (kind of) and tensions simmer in the Ukraine and America deliberates on what to do about the situ. in Iraq, we are reminded that to create wars there don’t need to be any genuine enemies, only perceived enemies. If enough citizens believe their national security’s in jeopardy then politicians who propose wars will receive the support they need.

Governments have known this for a very long time, and manufacturing consent to go to war – à la False Flag Operations – ain’t new.

 

Take Vietnam for example… In our new release book THE ORPHAN CONSPIRACIES: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy, we highlight the false flag that began the Vietnam War. Here’s an excerpt…

On August 4, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson alerted his fellow Americans on national television that North Vietnam had attacked the American destroyer USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Not long after, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave Johnson the green light to begin military operations against North Vietnam. American troops were soon stationed in Vietnam and neighboring countries, and the war that would dominate an era began.

However, President Johnson and his Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, successfully hoodwinked the American people because North Vietnam never attacked the USS Maddox as the Pentagon had claimed, and the so-called unequivocal evidence of a second attack by the North Vietnamese is now commonly acknowledged as being a false report.

A National Security Agency (NSA) report on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, declassified in 2005, concluded that USS Maddox had engaged the North Vietnamese Navy on August 2, 1964, but (and this is a big but) “The Maddox fired three rounds to warn off the communist boats. This initial action was never reported by the Johnson administration, which insisted that the Vietnamese boats fired first.”

Regarding the all-important second attack on August 4 – which effectively caused the Vietnam War – the NSA report concluded there were no North Vietnamese Naval vessels present during the entire incident: “It is not simply that there is a different story as to what happened; it is that no attack happened that night.”

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“No attack happened.” – NSA report on Gulf of Tonkin incident.

If an organization as biased as the NSA says no attack ever happened then it seems very safe to say the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was nothing but a phantom attack on the US Military. It was carefully crafted propaganda devised to manufacture consent for all-out war.

In this instance that propaganda ended up costing approximately 60,000 American lives and three million Vietnamese lives.

 

Not so much conspiracy theory as conspiracy fact.

 

Read more in The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy – available now via Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Orphan-Conspiracies-Conspiracy-Theories-ebook/dp/B00J4MPFT6/

A book that’s for the common people.

 

Happy reading! –James & Lance

 

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