Sunday, March 9, 2008

The Heroin Lobby, Part 3

(Continued from Part 2)

One important quote in Smuggler's Blues, Part 1 comes to mind here, because it is not just the money from heroin that is finding its way to the US, including into Congress; the heroin itself, from Afghanistan, is showing up in the United States, as well:

More heroin from Afghanistan pouring into U.S. cities, 2007

"We have talked about these problems and this increase," said M. Ashraf Haidari, the first secretary of the Afghan Embassy in Washington. "It's logical that where there is demand there is a supply. Drugs from Afghanistan are making their way to the United States."


Just to get an idea of what we are talking about, the following is from the UN World Drug Report 2007. Heroin seizures worldwide are going way up,



and the price of heroin has come way down!



How come that happens with heroin, and not with gasoline?

This is not just an adult problem; as this graph shows, there has been an increase in heroin use in American high schools, including a spike in 2000:



On average, heroin use in American high schools has roughly doubled since American foreign policy has become subservient to the heroin lobby.

And, as I document in Smuggler's Blues, Part 1 and Smuggler's Blues, Part 2, this heroin is unusually pure and high quality; its purity and quality are catching drug users off-guard, causing a rise in overdoses and deaths.

In the light of all this, it is interesting to consider who are the members of this Congressional Caucus that G. Lincoln McCurdy and the Turkish Coalition of America have established (see Part 2 and The Turkish Lobby, Obstruction of Justice and Henry Waxman):

Rep. Robert Wexler – Co-Chair D-Florida/19th Rep.
Ed Whitfield – Co-Chair R-Kentucky/1st
Rep. Kay Granger – Co-Chair R-Texas/12th
Rep. Robert Aderholt R-Alabama/4th
Rep. Gresham Barrett R-South Carolina/3rd
Rep. Joe Barton R-Texas/6th
Rep. Howard Berman D-California/28th
Rep. Charles Boustany R-Louisana/7th
Rep. Dan Burton R-Indiana/5th
Rep. G. K. Butterfield D-North Carolina/1st
Rep. Steve Chabot R-Ohio/1st
Rep. Ben Chandler D-Kentucky/6th
Rep. Howard Coble R-North Carolina/6th
Rep. Bud Cramer D-Alabama/5th
Rep. Henry Cueller D-Texas/28th
Rep. Lincoln Davis D-Tennessee/4th
Rep. Norm Dicks D-Washington/6th
Rep. Lloyd Doggett D-Texas/25th
Rep. Phil English R-Pennsylvania/3rd
Rep. Eni Falmeoveaga D-American Samoa
Rep. Virginia Foxx R-North Carolina/5th
Rep. Paul Gillmor R-Ohio/5th
Rep. Alcee Hastings D-Florida/23rd
Rep. Rush Holt D-New Jersey/12th
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. D-Illinois/2nd
Rep. William Jefferson D-Louisiana/2nd
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson D-Texas/30th
Rep. Tim Johnson R-Illinois/15th
Rep. Tom Lantos D-California/12th
Rep. John Lewis D-Georgia/5th
Rep. Betty McCollum D-Minnesota/4th
Rep. Mike McIntyre D-North Carolina/7th
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks D-New York/6th
Rep. Brad Miller D-North Carolina/13th
Rep. Dennis Moore D-Kanasa/3rd
Rep. Jim Moran D-Virginia/8th
Rep. John Murtha D-Pennsylvania/12th
Rep. Ortiz Solomon D-Texas/27th
Rep. Bill Pascrell D-New Jersey/8th
Rep. Mike Pence R-Indiana/6th
Rep. Joe Pitts R-Pennsylvania/16th
Rep. Todd Platts R-Pennsylvania/19th
Rep. Earl Pomeroy D-North Dakota/At Large
Rep. David Price D-North Carolina/4th
Rep. Adam Putnam R-Florida/12th
Rep. Nick Rahall D-West Virginia/3rd
Rep. Jim Ramstad R-Minnesota/3rd
Rep. Silvestre Reyes D-Texas/16th
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Florida/18th
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger D-Maryland/2nd
Rep. David Scott D-Georgia/13th
Rep. Pete Sessions R-Texas/32nd
Rep. Chris Shays R-Connecticut/4th
Rep. Mike Simpson R-Idaho/2nd
Rep. Ike Skelton D-Missouri/4th
Rep. Adam Smith D-Washington/9th
Rep. Cliff Stearns R-Florida/6th
Rep. Tom Tancredo R-Colorado/6th
Rep. John Tanner D-Tennessee/8th
Rep. Gene Taylor R-Mississippi/4th
Rep. Bennie Thomson D-Mississippi/2nd
Rep. Henry Waxman D-California/30th
Rep. Heather Wilson R-New Mexico/1st
Rep. Joe Wilson R-South Carolina/2nd



To be sure, not all the people on this list are involved in something illegal, and neither, presumably, are all the people at the TCA. There is legitimate work that goes on, promoted by Turkish Americans and their friends, and which benefits both the United States and Turkey. Presumably, most of the Turkish lobby's work is above board, and lobbyists in general are not necessarily a bad thing: they help legislators understand the nature of problems and the ramifications of laws and proposed legislation.

However, as we know, things don't always end there.

Starting in Part 4, I will present lists of candidates, including Congressional representatives from the above list of the TCA's Congressional Caucus, whose campaigns have received, in this election cycle, contributions of money from PACs that front for foreign organized crime -- traffickers of heroin, traffickers of arms, traffickers of women for forced prostitution (sex slaves), and even traffickers of nuclear secrets -- organizations which are tied in with international terrorism, including with Al Qaeda.

I will have names, dates, and dollar figures -- with links, so you can see the documents!

Continued in Part 4.

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