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War on Terrorism and Drugs

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Discussion: Integration of the Global War on Terrorism with the War on Drugs

Unfortunately, like the war against Terrorism, there is also a war against drugs. It appears to be a connection between drug activity and the undermining of governments around the world (Creed, 2007). Mark Kleiman states, “…links between illegal drugs and terrorism are important considerations in formulating a drug control policy and a campaign against terror.” After the events of September 11, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Northern Command was created to pay close attention to utilizing all resources that are available to counter terrorism as well as use those very resources in a way that will combat the fight against drugs. Both fights (Terrorism/Drugs) should be considered as one. With integrating the two, the transformation of the drugs can become more global rather than domestic, just as terrorism is a global threat (Creed, 2007). The elements of national power play a major role in developing strategies must be synchronized and stick together in a way that when faced with national and international power the end product can be a success.
“Narco-terrorism is defined as a complex nexus between the illegal drug trade and terrorism. DEA describes narco-terrorism as a group of organized individuals working together in order to further, or fund, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets with the intention to influence their respective ideologies. DOD joint doctrine defines narco-terrorism as narco-supported terrorism, which is terrorism that benefits from or uses drug trafficking to further individual or group terrorist activities (Creed, 2007). “ The National Defense Authorization Act of 2004 utilizes the military to provide more support towards counter-narcotics activities. This support should assist both the local and federal law enforcement agencies. At first, both levels of law enforcement treated drug trafficking and terrorism as a separate issue, yet post 9/11, they were seen as one (Creed, 2007). For instance, when the Trade Center was bombed in 1993, Mohammed Salameh, was arrested in reference to the bombing and connected to $5 million dealing with narcotics profits. Another example is Al Qaeda sold hashish to finance bombings that occurred in Madrid of 2004 (Creed, 2007). It is also said that Colombia has three terrorist groups on the U.S. State Department’s list that profits from drug trafficking. With this being said, it is obvious that there is a connection between terrorism and drug activity, which supports what has been previously mentioned. Overall, strategies and trusting, as well as lasting relationships must be created in order to eradicate terrorism. In order to do this, elements of national power must be implemented. Creed states, “Highlighting the important roles that diplomacy, information, military, economics, finance, law enforcement and intelligence have on creating a strategy that encompasses unified, coordinated approach to this threat to international and national stability and security is vital in establishing a successful strategy. “ The DEA uses diplomacy as special trained agents work with the Afghanistan national police towards the usage of interdiction techniques. Although these special trained agents are in Afghanistan, this country has heroin, which is very profitable and some of these profits go towards funding the Taliban (Creed, 2007). The military can also be very useful when it comes to the efforts of drug interdiction, only if the aggressive approach continues to be taken. It appears that the military has its work cut out for them; yet they must be utilized in order to have any chance of winning the war on narco-terrorism and terrorism as a whole. In order to obtain success, a wide array of information of intelligence is needed to move forward. Intelligence is a vital part of eradicating terrorism and narco-terrorism. The gathering and sharing of information on both domestic and international levels will help with the identification of critical nodes and hopefully discover the organizations that are or could be behind future terrorist attacks (Creed, 2007). “By examining intelligence on terrorism with the goal of determining linkages to the illegal narcotics trade, you must identify those networks that require disruption, which will result in curtailing the financing of their terrorists’ activities (Creed, 2007).” The primary focus towards implementing a strategy should be a huge focus on countries in which illegal drugs originate. It appears that intervention is needed in this matter, rather than prevention in order to make strategies successful. In conclusion, national powers are the major players in the war against Terrorism and the war on drugs. Integrating counter-drug and counter-terrorism strategies is a beneficial way to achieve success in this matter. There has to be a major meeting of the minds in order to make these strategies work. Overall, if there is any chance of winning these wars integration and synchronization is key.

References:
Creed, Barry. (2007). Integrating The Global War on Terrorism With The War on Drugs. Retrieved on September 7, 2011, fro https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=479408m.
Kleiman, Mark. (2004). Illicit Drugs and the Terrorist Threat: Casual Links and Implications for Domestic Drug Control Policy. http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32334.pdf.

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