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Experience gained combating drugs has come in handy in the global war on terrorism, said DoD's top counternarcotics official. Mary Beth Long, deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics, said "it would be a mistake" to compare the two and say they are the same. Still, there are lessons from the war on drugs that are directly and indirectly applicable to the war on terror, she said. An important aspect of the war on terror is interdicting terrorists and their capabilities. This includes stopping their support mechanisms and their weapons, which could include chemical and biological weapons, as far away from the United States as possible. The same idea has been a cornerstone of counternarcotics activities for decades, Long said. "Lots of interdiction activities have been carried out for decades by law enforcement and law enforcement with DoD help," she said. U.S. agencies including the Coast Guard, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Southern Command have all gained experience in drug interdiction. It's "been there, done that" for them, Long said. These agencies and others have experience in dealing with an enemy that is not an "official" enemy, Long said. Narcoterrorists and terrorists move and evolve, she said. Terrorist chiefs and drug kingpins are smart and flexible and have money to work with. They move below the radar and seldom, if ever, challenge the strengths of the United States. "It's something that the counterdrug folks have been dealing with for decades," she said. "There are lots of lessons to be learned there." The other aspect of the war that officials are already pursuing is the anti- narcotics tactic of "following the money." Money is an intelligence weapon against terrorists and druggies and a commodity they must have to operate and survive. Officials can use bank records to trace terrorists and can choke off money to groups to make them ineffective. Long called terrorism "an illicit activity on steroids." Terrorists support themselves through legal and illicit activities, and there are direct connections between the drug world and that of international terrorism. "One of the things we're learning is, for example, the Madrid bombings were financed in part through the sale of methamphetamines," she said. "Terrorists in Afghanistan are financing their activities through the drug trade. We're attacking one of the support mechanisms (of terrorism). It's the financing, it's the transportation, it's the smuggling aspects of the drug trade that fit in with terrorists." Drug smugglers and terrorists are natural allies. "I would propose that in a many parts of the world where smuggling is part of the culture, they don't make a distinction whether (they're smuggling) opiates one day or Pakistani television sets the next or a Taliban fighter the next day," Long said. This already-established transportation network works against the United States and its allies. "If we ignore them, we do so at our own peril," she said. "Because these guys are smart. The terrorists are not going to invent a new network where one already exists; they are going to piggyback. And there are smuggling networks into our own country that have been well developed for narcotics or alien smuggling. And we are taking a new look at (these) to see whether they are vulnerabilities." Related Articles: ** U.S.
Supporting Afghan Counterdrug Efforts U.S. Supporting Afghan Counterdrug Efforts
Dec. 11, 2004 -- The United States is backing Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai's efforts to eradicate the production of narcotics in that country, a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan spokesman said today. Karzai has made stopping illegal-drug production a top priority for the Afghan government. And U.S. officials today announced a major assistance program to support counternarcotics operations in Afghanistan. During a news conference in the Afghan capital of Kabul, a military spokesman said the United States is devoting $780 million to help the Afghan government increase public outreach, judicial reform, interdiction, alternative livelihoods, and eradication. "President Karzai's counternarcotics initiatives will go a long way in growing a legitimate economy to sustain the country and will, ultimately, lead to prosperity for all people," the spokesman said. "The United States government and coalition forces stand ready to support the government of Afghanistan in this effort in concrete ways." Those efforts include sharing intelligence; providing logistics support, to include helicopter-lift support to transport counternarcotics forces to and from operations; and supporting counternarcotics forces on the ground, the spokesman said. Though they are not directly involved in ridding the country of narcotics, coalition forces are assisting counternarcotics efforts in other ways, the spokesman said. "Coalition forces have not been and are not involved in any poppy-eradication efforts," the spokesman said, but added, "If coalition forces do come across processed narcotics during the course of routine operations, we are permitted to confiscate narcotics and turn them over to the appropriate authorities for destruction." Over the past week, coalition forces have discovered narcotics at an increasing pace, the spokesman said. Coalition forces in Afghanistan reported that during searches of three different weapons caches, 54 kilograms of opium were found; two separate caches in Uruzgan contained 39 kilograms, and another 15 kilograms were discovered in the Kunar province. Also, three Afghan citizens were arrested for possession of narcotics after an exchange of fire between coalition forces and anti-coalition militia in Uruzgan province. The spokesman said the coalition agrees that reversing the increase in poppy cultivation and drug production is an "important step" as part of the overall process to continue the progress of peace and stability in Afghanistan. He also said the U.S.-led coalition will continue to provide support as long as it does not interfere with the primary missions of defeating terrorists and facilitating reconstruction and development of the country. In other news from Afghanistan, coalition officials there reported that the continued increase in size and capabilities of Afghan security forces has led to the need for additional facilities. The coalition is getting contract support from Western and Afghan agencies as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build new base camps in Gardez, Mazar-e Sharif, Kandahar, and Heart for Afghan National Army forces. "These camps will be able to accommodate more than 4,000 soldiers with the ability to expand in the future," the spokesman said. "These efforts are yet more affirmation of the United States' commitment to assisting the Afghan government and the people of Afghanistan build a more secure and prosperous future." Drug Testing Increased for Troops in Afghanistan
Dec. 10, 2004 – The Defense Department has increased drug testing for troops stationed in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, DoD officials said today. Mary Beth Long, deputy assistant defense secretary for counternarcotics, said the services will increase the number of urine tests given in Afghanistan and Iraq. The program already has begun, officials said. The testing is especially needed in Afghanistan, officials said, where the "poppy problem" was even a portion of President Hamid Karzai's inauguration speech. Karzai pledged to work with all to stamp out poppy production. Poppies produce opium, which laboratories refine further into heroin. DoD and CIA officials estimate that more than half of Afghanistan's gross national product is generated by the illegal drug trade. "One of the lessons that we have learned from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (in the late 1970s through the late 1980s) is that those troops went back to Russia with a drug problem," Long said. "Our forces are obviously very, very different. We certainly have no expectation that they would suffer the same kind of issues." But troops are under increased stress, officials said, and the availability of a potent drug like opium or heroin could be a temptation. DoD officials said they do not want a repeat of experiences during the Vietnam War, when some servicemembers came home from that conflict addicted to heroin. Long said there is very little drug use in the military, and that those "very few" who use illegal drugs abuse marijuana. Drug testing will continue to be an important part of the demand-reduction effort in the department, she added. She said that servicemembers should be "extremely proud" and hold "their shoulders and heads higher" because they are part of the largest drug-free organization in the Free World. |