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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (11697)	11/27/2001 10:17:18 AM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Quiz: Where is 70% of the planet's heroin grown? Ans: 70% (maybe even more) of the world's opium is grown in the parts of Afghanistan controlled by the Northern Alliance (that's pre 9/11). What's the prize?

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (11697)	11/27/2001 9:18:46 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi TLC, You really had to reach back into the archives for that one. Thanks for your views. I believe we've endured a semantic tempest in a tea pot on this matter. My comment was meant in a similar vein to Bill Maher's on "Politically Incorrect", and I was quite surprised it got a similar reaction here among the sophisticated SI crowd as Maher's tacky comment did in the main media. There's a very raw nerve still from the events of 9/11. You ask: Quiz: Where is 70% of the planet's heroin grown? Answer: In territories controlled, or soon to be controlled by Northern Alliance warlords. The new crop is already in. The ban on planting imposed by the Taliban lasted exactly one season. Apparently long enough to deal with a troublesome over-supply issue. If only De Beers could have had the Taliban working for them on the 100MM carat annual diamond production problem...... <w> BTW, here's an article on Afghanistan and opium from last Sunday's NY Times: nytimes.com <Snip> A War on Terror Meets a War on Drugs By TIM GOLDEN FROM the first days of the war in Afghanistan, United States officials have pointed to a dangerous weapon in the desolate Afghan countryside: the poppy fields that have spread over thousands of acres in recent years, turning the nation into by far the largest source of opium and heroin in the world. For the Taliban, American officials said, taxes on poppy farmers and opium dealers helped to finance the movement's rogue state. For Al Qaeda terrorists, the officials warned, the opium trade might also be a way to move money or fund attacks. At the least, Afghanistan's mix of political radicalism and diplomatic isolation had made for a drug threat that appeared to be well beyond America's reach. <continues......> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Re: This is not about Net Worth of Total Destruction on some slimeball's tax return. Lloyd's of London reported today that losses to their "names" are growing and are larger than initially estimated. Currently the figure stands just shy of USD 3 B. A crisis is developing (pun intended) in the commercial real estate sector, due to the terror exclusions being written into new comprehensive P&L policies. Many property owners are finding insurance completely unavailable. The implications for breaches of mortgage covenants is fairly dire, to listen to industry representatives. Unless the Federal government steps up to the plate, as it has previously on flood insurance, it is anticipated that lenders will simply curtail future loans to commercial real estate developers. The implications for the economy are not good, to say the least. The 19 individuals who were responsible for the events of 9/11 were undoubtedly "moral morons" as you say. I would also hazard a guess they hardly knew how much follow on damage in terms of commercial chaos and hotel havoc they could create in our fragile economy by their heinous act. BTW, "brilliant criminal genius" wouldn't be a term of comic book derision in my book. It would apply to the likes of a Hitler, Stalin, Milosevic, Pinochet, Idi Amin, Hussein, Noriega, and many others. Evil exists, and it often is brilliant, ruthless and utterly amoral. Why just look at the fate of any number of 401(k) holders at Enron who put their faith in Ken Lay. <w> -R.