Smuggler's Blues, Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

An Interview with Sibel Edmonds (Page Two), 2004

SE: You might have an organization supposed to be promoting the cultural affairs of a certain country within another country. Hypothetically, say, an Uzbek folklore society based in Germany. The stated purpose would be to hold folklore-related activities – and they might even do that – but the real activities taking place behind the scenes are criminal.

CD: Such as?

SE: Everything – from drugs to money laundering to arms sales. And yes, there are certain convergences with all these activities and international terrorism.

It's the lure of easy money,
It's gotta very strong appeal.

The Candidates on Kosova ... and perhaps beyond, 2008

(D) Senator Hillary Clinton who insisted that her husband initiate the NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 has repeatedly declared that the bombing of Serbia was "a success". She has been the honored guest to of many Albanian fundraisers and is hailed as someone that would continue her husband’s legacy as a friend and defender of Albanians. Hillary receives 63% of her campaign donations from individuals who donate $2300 or more and 37% from those who donate the maximum $4,600; in short, she is a "big money" candidate. Hillary Clinton is a socially liberal and aggressively interventionist.

Perhaps you'd understand it better
Standin' in my shoes,

McCAIN AND THE KLA CONNECTION, 2000

It's the ultimate enticement,
It's the smuggler's blues,

McCAIN AND THE KLA CONNECTION, 2000

The caption accompanying the above photo says McCain was in New York doing some fundraising, and it is fair to ask: how much money did he get from the Albanian lobby? As the great "reform" candidate who denounces the influence of "special interests" and the power of money in politics, McCain had better tell us exactly how much the Albanian lobby has thrown his way – and to what effect. Of all the lobbyists in Washington, it is the "special interests" represented by the agents of foreign powers that pose the greatest threat to the integrity of the Presidency.

Smuggler's blues.

The Turkish Lobby, Obstruction of Justice and Henry Waxman, 2008

While we're at it, notice who took a great deal of money from the Turkish lobby for her Presidential bid.

See it in the headlines,
You hear it ev'ry day.

The Turkish Lobby, Obstruction of Justice and Henry Waxman, 2008

And whose smiling face do we see on the list?

They say they're gonna stop it,
But it doesn't go away.

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

U.S. Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, a Republican who represents suburbs north of Chicago, said the Bush administration had been slow to respond to indications that more heroin from Afghanistan was coming to the United States. U.S. law enforcement officials also have told him privately that Afghanistan's share of the American heroin market is growing, he said.

They move it through Miami, sell it in L.A.,

Embassy of Afghanistan quoting "Unlikely allies: U.S., Iran separately fighting a common foe -- the Afghan drug trade", 2006

"As far as Pakistan, we don't have much cooperation," Haidari said. "They have not been as effective as we would have hoped. Not only traffickers but also terrorists regularly cross borders and attack.

"We are getting assistance more from Iran. One reason is they have a more established, cleaner counter-narcotics police force. They are watching for drug traffickers coming in from the Afghan side, and interdict them and arrest them and put them in jails in Iran."

They hide it up in Telluride,
I mean it's here to stay.

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

"More heroin is definitely coming in from Afghanistan," said Kirk, who's visited Afghanistan as a reserve naval intelligence officer. "The problem is the official reporting lags as to what we're actually seeing in the streets."

The increase in the U.S. supply of Afghan heroin is further evidence that Afghanistan is awash in illicit opium and plagued by official corruption.

It's propping up the governments in Columbia and Peru,

Heroin Heroes, 2000

Now free of the war and the repressive Yugoslav police machine, drug traffickers have reopened the old Balkan Road. With the KLA in power -- and in the spotlight -- the top trafficking families have begun to seek relative respectability without decreasing their heroin shipments. "The Kosovars are trying to position themselves in higher levels of trafficking," says the U.N.'s Tony White. "They want to get away from the violence of the streets and attract less attention. Criminals like to move up like any other business, and the Kosovars are becoming business leaders. They have become equal partners with the Turks."

Italian national police discovered this new Kosovar outreach last year when they undertook "Operation Pristina." The carabinieri uncovered a chain of connections that originated in Kosovo and stretched through nine European countries, extending into Central Asia, South America, and the United States.

You ask any D.E.A. man,
He'll say "There's nothin' we can do,"

UN World Drug Report, 2007 page 45

The route from Afghanistan continues to go mainly via Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the Balkan countries to distribution centres in West Europe. However, alternative routes have also been established to circumvent the border between Turkey and Bulgaria, some via Ukraine to Romania and along the Balkan route to West Europe.

From the office of the President,
Right down to me and you, me and you.

McCAIN AND THE KLA CONNECTION, 2000

THE DIOGUARDI-McCAIN CONNECTION

There they are, the two of them, DioGuardi and McCain, side by side: one who would carve an Albanian empire in the midst of the blood-soaked Balkans, and the other who would be President of the United States. It is a disturbing juxtaposition, to say the very least.

It's a losing proposition,
But one you can't refuse.

Corruption and Organized Crime in Kosovo: An Interview with Avni Zogiani, 2008

John Rosenthal: Your organization focuses on the links between organized crime and politics in Kosovo. Can you give us some idea of the nature of the problem and the particular forms organized crime takes in Kosovo?

Avni Zogiani: You've had cases where politics was mixed with organized crime in a very blatant manner: for example, cases of high officials who were found to be involved in arms smuggling or in money laundering. Because of the lack of integrity of the public sphere in general and especially the political institutions, very often you will find that a part of the money that goes to organized crime comes in fact from public funds. This is one aspect of the problem. Another aspect is human trafficking: women are brought to every corner of Kosovo to be sold into prostitution. Human trafficking in Kosovo is a very big deal and also drug trafficking is a big deal.

It's the politics of contraband,
It's the smuggler's blues,

John McCain armed Kosovo Islamic terrorists, 2008

Smuggler's blues.