Both CIA and DEA have filed reports long before September 11th on the peril of allowing this group to go unchecked. Almost all of their quasi-revolutionary activities are financed through the cultivation and sale of narcotics.

Since September 11th all eyes have been focused on the Middle East. As the Administration ponders the next moves in the War On Terror, while continuing to quash repeated attempts by Al Qaeda to create weapons of mass destruction, the situation in South America becomes graver by the hour. Here, right next door to us, the real meaning of narco-terrorism becomes abundantly clear.


President Bush made an unprecedented visit to Peru, in order to reinforce our policy of zero tolerance, both for narcotics and terrorism. Following a bombing by Peru’s Shining Path, a narco-terroristic organization, Peru was shaken to its core. An excellent book, which discusses in an intelligent, well thought out fashion, what this group has done, is Sendoro Luminoso’s The Shining Path.


Both CIA and DEA have filed reports long before September 11th on the peril of allowing this group to go unchecked. Almost all of their quasi-revolutionary activities are financed through the cultivation and sale of narcotics. Primarily cocaine. However, a new and troubling development has arisen. Poppy fields are now also being cultivated in Peru. This spells a drastic shift in the distribution of heroin to US markets. Until now, most of the heroin being sold in the US has been Asian in origin, with Mexican Brown heroin being sold as a “cheaper” alternative.


This new Peruvian heroin will be sold here and the profits used to directly finance terrorist operations. As international crime lords are becoming more and more interconnected in the global drug trade, it is not inconceivable, that monies from US drug sales will go to such organizations as Hamas, Hezbolla, or Al Qaida. This is a very dangerous state of affairs we are faced with.


Add to this the Colombian cartels, and we are looking at the unthinkable. For these groups, bloated beyond belief with drug profits, can afford to purchase the finest weapons of mass destruction known to man. And… they will. These men have no conscience, no scruples and no hesitation in killing in the name of money and power. Human life means nothing to them. Their savage cruelty matches or exceeds anything attributed to Saddam Hussein or Al Qaida. They are right next door.

As this Administration casts its eyes around the globe, seeking its next target, I respectfully suggest it is time to clean up our own backyard, before taking on someone elses. The situation in South America presents a clear and present danger to US interests and security. Our US Intelligence Services have been severely hamstrung in this theater, since Iran Contra reared it’s ugly head. It is past time to deal with this long standing and dangerous are of the planet. And in taking a decisive stand, it sends a clear message about where we really stand in the War On Terrorism.