Pakistan Drugs Create Al Qaeda Chaos Under Bhutto Assassination Radar, Say ex-White...

Pakistan Drugs Create Al Qaeda Chaos Under Bhutto Assassination Radar, Say
ex-White House Drug Spokesman Robert Weiner and John Larmett; U.S. and
Military, with 'No Plan,' Fail to Block bin Laden Funding Source

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Under the radar screen of
the Bhutto assassination, Pakistan is fast evolving into the same drug-funded
chaos, financing al Qaeda and bin Laden, which its neighbor Afghanistan has
already become," asserts Robert Weiner, former drug policy spokesman for the
White House. "By neglecting to block the drugs, Pakistan and we are funding
our worst enemy, who showed on 9/11 that they want us dead."
In a Miami Herald op-ed today, "Afghanistan/Pakistan: No Plan to Fight
Taliban, al Qaeda," Weiner, spokesman for the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration (1995-2001), and John
Larmett, former Foreign Affairs Legislative Assistant to Rep. Jim McDermott
(D-WA) and Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), point out that Afghanistan supplies 92%
of the world's heroin-producing opium, and Pakistan now transports a growing
36% of Afghanistan's illicit opium. "Afghanistan and Pakistan are the number
one export and transit nations in the world for opium used for heroin. Opium
production, on our watch, has increased 33 fold from 185 tons in 2001 to over
6,000 tons in 2006."
"The resurgence of the Taliban is closely linked to the opium industry,"
Weiner and Larmett add. "As Senate leaders reported in passing an amendment in
2006 to strengthen counter narcotics assistance to Afghanistan, stripped by
the Administration and Republicans in conference, 'The Taliban generates
roughly 70% of its income through the production and sale of opium.'"
Weiner and Larmett argue, "The U.S. military presence, afraid to disrupt
supposedly U.S.-friendly Afghanistan and Pakistan's economies, has maintained
a blind eye rather than eradicate the drug trade."
"Far from blocking drug trafficking, the government of Pakistan has
negotiated a truce with rebels in northwestern Pakistan, with ties to the
Taliban and al Qaeda, providing carte blanche to grow, transport, and get huge
money from the illicit crops."
Weiner and Larmett conclude, "Isn't it time for a plan?" They suggested
today, "Our military should be helping theirs to fight drugs. There must be
bolder surveillance and eradication of poppy fields, stronger enforcement of
cross-border anti-smuggling measures, and bank funding freezes of traffickers'
finances."
Link to article: http://www.miamiherald.com/851/story/378570.html
Contact: Bob Weiner/Rebecca Vander Linde 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700
SOURCE Robert Weiner Associates

Bob Weiner, +1-301-283-0821, or Jay Wind, +1-202-329-1700, both of Robert
Weiner Associates