Unwinnable War
In the debate of history, especially recently, we hear a lot of talk about "unwinnable wars". Which would you think, of all those, would be the best candidate for such a war? Some of you are shouting "Vietnam!" while others shout "Iraq!". Maybe even some are yelling "The War Between the States!", right? No, all these wars were (and are in the case of Iraq) winnable militarily and to the benefit of the United States. Leaving aside other symbolic and ridiculous wars like the wars on poverty, smoking, and obesity, the most unwinnable war we have ever waged has been the War on Drugs.
No war in U.S. history has lasted longer, cost more or done so much damage to this nation as the Drug War. Begun in the late 1960's during LBJ's administration as part of the destructive "Great Society", this modern day Prohibition sought to regulate the consumption of a variety of narcotics. Like its older brother in the 20's, it has caused an explosion in the strength and efficiency of organized crime.
Crime in the United States began its current upward trend after the initiation of programs like the Drug War, helped along generously with the destruction of poor families with the various Welfare programs, and saw its only fallbacks when massive crime prevention and prosecution netted waves of dealers and users in the 80's. The permissive '90's saw their return to some extent, but mostly set the stage by creating a bit of a vaccuum.
That vaccuum was filled by new and more lethal gangs from Central and South America, possibly the worst among them MS-13, which got its start in the Marxist insurgency against the El Salvadoran government. Deprived of their traditional sources of funding by the demise of the Soviet Union in the Cold War and international pressure, terrorist organizations, especially Al-Qaeda, developed working relationships in South America with some of the worst of the drug gangs. Coupled with pre-existing muslim enclaves in those countries, it allowed the terrorist networks to grow and flourish with their new allies, organized crime and remnant Marxist armies. As far as we know, these relationships exist through today.
The very worst elements of world society, not the least of which include our declared enemies, are funded by the lucrative drug trade made possible in large part by our government's draconian drug Prohibition.
What does this say about the "War on Drugs"? Regardless of your personal feelings on drugs, you might want to at least consider that its effects on our society, our culture, and our international position have been wholly deleterious. Prohibiting these drugs merely made them more desirable and more expensive. From a number of recreational users and a handful of hardcore addicts prior, we now have an explosion of hardcore addicts and a significant portion of our society that could easily be considered occasional or recreational users. Many of these, if not most, start when they're kids.
I personally don't like the thought of having most drugs fully legalized. I don't want my kid exposed to them. I don't want to have to deal with its exposure to my friends or family. But I've seen legal drugs, prescription drugs, do just as much damage and I had to deal with those consequences. Better responsibility taught to our children coupled with moderate controls on availability, like prescription drugs, will keep them out of the hands of most kids and remove much of the "aura" of desirability. I don't advocate "giving kids drugs" or letting them flood into our country. Take the restrictiveness out, though, and you'll take the majority of the money along with it. With that money source dried up, you will shrivel organized crime overnight and funding for various enemies of ours will be all but gone.
Isn't it ironic that the drug cartels in Asia and South America want the Prohibition as badly as our federal government? Shouldn't that give the feds pause? Shouldn't that make us think twice as well? Perhaps full legalization isn't the way, but neither has been full Prohibition, and every day it exists is another day we weaken our country to the benefit of our enemies.
In the debate of history, especially recently, we hear a lot of talk about "unwinnable wars". Which would you think, of all those, would be the best candidate for such a war? Some of you are shouting "Vietnam!" while others shout "Iraq!". Maybe even some are yelling "The War Between the States!", right? No, all these wars were (and are in the case of Iraq) winnable militarily and to the benefit of the United States. Leaving aside other symbolic and ridiculous wars like the wars on poverty, smoking, and obesity, the most unwinnable war we have ever waged has been the War on Drugs.
No war in U.S. history has lasted longer, cost more or done so much damage to this nation as the Drug War. Begun in the late 1960's during LBJ's administration as part of the destructive "Great Society", this modern day Prohibition sought to regulate the consumption of a variety of narcotics. Like its older brother in the 20's, it has caused an explosion in the strength and efficiency of organized crime.
Crime in the United States began its current upward trend after the initiation of programs like the Drug War, helped along generously with the destruction of poor families with the various Welfare programs, and saw its only fallbacks when massive crime prevention and prosecution netted waves of dealers and users in the 80's. The permissive '90's saw their return to some extent, but mostly set the stage by creating a bit of a vaccuum.
That vaccuum was filled by new and more lethal gangs from Central and South America, possibly the worst among them MS-13, which got its start in the Marxist insurgency against the El Salvadoran government. Deprived of their traditional sources of funding by the demise of the Soviet Union in the Cold War and international pressure, terrorist organizations, especially Al-Qaeda, developed working relationships in South America with some of the worst of the drug gangs. Coupled with pre-existing muslim enclaves in those countries, it allowed the terrorist networks to grow and flourish with their new allies, organized crime and remnant Marxist armies. As far as we know, these relationships exist through today.
The very worst elements of world society, not the least of which include our declared enemies, are funded by the lucrative drug trade made possible in large part by our government's draconian drug Prohibition.
What does this say about the "War on Drugs"? Regardless of your personal feelings on drugs, you might want to at least consider that its effects on our society, our culture, and our international position have been wholly deleterious. Prohibiting these drugs merely made them more desirable and more expensive. From a number of recreational users and a handful of hardcore addicts prior, we now have an explosion of hardcore addicts and a significant portion of our society that could easily be considered occasional or recreational users. Many of these, if not most, start when they're kids.
I personally don't like the thought of having most drugs fully legalized. I don't want my kid exposed to them. I don't want to have to deal with its exposure to my friends or family. But I've seen legal drugs, prescription drugs, do just as much damage and I had to deal with those consequences. Better responsibility taught to our children coupled with moderate controls on availability, like prescription drugs, will keep them out of the hands of most kids and remove much of the "aura" of desirability. I don't advocate "giving kids drugs" or letting them flood into our country. Take the restrictiveness out, though, and you'll take the majority of the money along with it. With that money source dried up, you will shrivel organized crime overnight and funding for various enemies of ours will be all but gone.
Isn't it ironic that the drug cartels in Asia and South America want the Prohibition as badly as our federal government? Shouldn't that give the feds pause? Shouldn't that make us think twice as well? Perhaps full legalization isn't the way, but neither has been full Prohibition, and every day it exists is another day we weaken our country to the benefit of our enemies.
posted by Rob Beck | 6:02 PM
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