Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

The U.S. Department of Defense defines irregular warfare as "a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations." By this definition, Mexico is fighting an irregular war. The Mexican government's campaign against the drug cartels is far more than a law enforcement problem; the two sides are engaged in a violent struggle for influence over the Mexican population.

Heroin makes Lou Reed feel like Jesus, and it won't leave Guns N' Roses alone, but how does it end up here in the United States? We take a look at the global opium trade from the poppy fields of Afghanistan to a shady street corner near you.

One of the most revealing things we learned this week about the war in Afghanistan came in a Los Angeles Times report headlined "Taliban Drug Proceeds Lower Than Thought."

We've been told again and again for years on end that the Taliban were running their operations off the opium trade, clearing as much as $400 million per year. Now, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigation says the proceeds are closer to $70 million.

But that's not the real news. The real news is what's missing: If our enemies aren't taking as much money as we thought to provide protection to the source of raw material for 90% of the world's heroin, then who is providing that protection?

MEXICO CITY, Sep. 6 (Rebel News) -- A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA "rendition" flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament.

The CIA is the largest franchisee of the international narcotics trade and controls most of the industry in North and South America. 90% of the world's illegal drug trade is licensed to government agencies close to the ruling elites of their countries. It is the world's biggest and most profitable industry due to government enforced, tax-payer funded monopoly protection.

The United Nations has announced that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has soared and is expected to increase by 59% in 2006. The production of opium is estimated to have increased by 49% in relation to 2005.

The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. The Bush administration is said to be committed to curbing the Afghan drug trade: "The US is the main backer of a huge drive to rid Afghanistan of opium... "

Yet in a bitter irony, US military presence has served to restore rather than eradicate the drug trade.