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    Maylasian Airline MH370: Investor

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    Anonymous zvbJbW5Wg1
    - 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a technology company involved in military defense projects, were passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. - After the plane disappeared, Jacob Rothschild became the sole owner of a patent being developed by 4 of the Freescale employees, raising conspiracy theories about his involvement. - Freescale develops microchips for applications like radar systems and electronic warfare, fueling speculation about what technology or information the employees were transporting. The strange circumstances of the plane's disappearance and loss of technology experts remains mysterious.

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    Maylasian Airline MH370: Investor

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    Anonymous zvbJbW5Wg1
    129 views34 pages
    - 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a technology company involved in military defense projects, were passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. - After the plane disappeared, Jacob Rothschild became the sole owner of a patent being developed by 4 of the Freescale employees, raising conspiracy theories about his involvement. - Freescale develops microchips for applications like radar systems and electronic warfare, fueling speculation about what technology or information the employees were transporting. The strange circumstances of the plane's disappearance and loss of technology experts remains mysterious.

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    2014-04-21 - News cuts

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    2014-04-21 - News cuts

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    - 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a technology company involved in military defense projects, were passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. - After the plane disappeared, Jacob Rothschild became the sole owner of a patent being developed by 4 of the Freescale employees, raising conspiracy theories about his involvement. - Freescale develops microchips for applications like radar systems and electronic warfare, fueling speculation about what technology or information the employees were transporting. The strange circumstances of the plane's disappearance and loss of technology experts remains mysterious.

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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    129 views34 pages

    Maylasian Airline MH370: Investor

    Uploaded by

    Anonymous zvbJbW5Wg1
    - 20 employees of Freescale Semiconductor, a technology company involved in military defense projects, were passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. - After the plane disappeared, Jacob Rothschild became the sole owner of a patent being developed by 4 of the Freescale employees, raising conspiracy theories about his involvement. - Freescale develops microchips for applications like radar systems and electronic warfare, fueling speculation about what technology or information the employees were transporting. The strange circumstances of the plane's disappearance and loss of technology experts remains mysterious.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 34

    Maylasian Airline MH370

    With the Disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH-370, Jacob Rothschild Became


    the Sole Owner of 'Freescale Semiconductors' Patent
    26 March 2014
    The disappearance of four members of a patent semiconductor traveling on
    Malaysia Airlines MH370 makes the famous billionaire Jacob Rothschild, the sole
    owner of the important patent.
    The mystery surrounding the Malaysian Airlines MH-370 is growing as each day
    passes with more mysterious silence shadowing the disappearance of the airline.
    More and more conspiracy theories are beginning to boom on the internet.
    One of the conspiracies one is the Freescale Semiconductors ARM microcontroller
    KL-03 which is a new improvised version of an older microcontroller KL-02. This
    crazy story about how Illuminati Rothschild exploited the airlines to gain full
    Patent Rights of an incredible KL-03 micro-chip is going haywire across the
    internet especially when its involving Jacob Rothschild as the evil master plotter.
    A US technology company which had 20 senior staff on board Malaysia Airlines
    Flight MH370 had just launched a new electronic warfare gadget for military radar
    systems in the days before the Boeing 777 went missing.
    Freescale Semiconductor has been developing microprocessors, sensors and other
    technology for the past 50 years. The technology it creates is commonly referred
    to as embedded processors, which according to the firm are stand-alone
    semiconductors that perform dedicated computing functions in electronic
    systems.
    Why were so many Freescale employees traveling together? What were their jobs.
    Were they on a mission and if so what was this mission? Can these employees be
    the cause of the disappearance of this plane? Could the plane have been then
    hijacked and these people kidnapped? Did these employees hold valuable
    information, did they have any valuable cargo with them? Did they know company
    and technological secrets? With all the might of technology why cant this plane be
    located? Where is this plane where are these people?
    The 20 Freescale employees, among 239 people on flight MH370, were mostly
    engineers and other experts working to make the companys chip facilities in
    Tianjin, China, and Kuala Lumpur more efficient, said Mitch Haws, vice president,
    global communications and investor relations.
    These were people with a lot of experience and technical background and they
    were very important people, Haws said. Its definitely a loss for the company.
    In Malaysia, Freescales modern operations facility that manufactures and tests
    integrated circuits (IC) is based in Petaling Jaya.
    Based on information obtained from Freescales website, the facility began
    operations in 1972 covering an eight hectare site and is specifically designed for
    the manufacturing and testing of microprocessors, digital signal processors and
    integrated radio frequency circuits.
    It also owns Freescale RF which is involved in creating solutions for Aerospace and
    Defence listed below.
    1. Battlefield communication
    2. Avionics
    3. HF Radar Band L- and S-

    4. Missile Guidance
    5. Electronic Warfare
    6. Identification, friend or foe (IFF)
    Freescales shareholders include the Carlyle Group of private equity investors
    whose past advisers have included ex-US president George Bush Sr and former
    British Prime Minister John Major.
    Carlyles previous heavyweight clients include the Saudi Binladin Group, the
    construction firm owned by the family of Osama bin Laden.
    The fact that Freescale had so many highly qualified staff on board the Boeing 777
    had already prompted wild conspiracy theories about what might have happened.
    The company says they were flying to China to improve its consumer products
    operations, but Freescales fresh links to electronic warfare technology is likely to
    trigger more speculation and deepen the mystery.
    Experts have been baffled how a large passenger jet seems to have flown
    undetected and possibly beaten military radar systems for up to six hours.
    Avoiding radar via cloaking technology has long been one of the objectives of
    the defense industry and Freescale has been active developing chips for military
    radar.
    On its website, the company says its radio frequency products meet the
    requirements for applications in avionics, radar, communications, missile
    guidance, electronic warfare and identification friend or foe.
    Last June it announced it was creating a team of specialists dedicated to
    producing radio frequency power products for the defense industry.
    And on March 3, it announced it was releasing 11 of these new gadgets for use in
    high frequency, VHF and low-band UHF radar and radio communications.
    The company did not respond to questions from Express Online, including whether
    any of its missing employees had been working on the defense products.
    It neither provided any responses to the latest bizarre conspiracy theory being
    widely published on the comments sections of newspaper websites and other
    internet forums.
    The comment reads: It reads: Have you pieced together the puzzle of missing
    flight 370 to Beijing China? If not, here are your missing pieces.
    Four days after the flight MH370 disappear, semiconductor patent was approved
    by the U.S. patent office patent is divided in parts of 20% between five starters.
    One of the owners is the company itself, Freescale Semiconductor, Austin, Texas
    (USA), and the other four Chinese employees of the company: Peidong Wang,
    Zhijun Chen, Cheng and Li Ying Zhijong, all the Suzhou City. And they all
    passengers of Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared on March 8, according Eternity.

    It adds: Here is your motive for the missing Beijing plane. As all four Chinese
    members of the Patent were passengers on the missing plane.
    Patent holders can alter the proceeds legally by passing wealth to their heirs.
    However, they cannot do so until the Patent is approved. So when the plane went
    missing, the patent had not been approved.
    However, the theory does not add up.
    Although a Freescale patent does exist under number US8650327, none of the
    names listed actually appear on the passenger manifest released by the
    Malaysian authorities. ( But maybe the names have been removed from the flight
    manifest)
    If the patent holder dies, the other owners share equally in dividends from the
    deceased. If four of the five patentees die, then the patentee left alive gets 100%
    of the patent. That remaining patent holder is the company Freescale
    Semiconductor. Who owns Freescale Semiconductor?
    The answer is: Jacob Rothschild
    (You can read the complete history of the House of Rothschild HERE).
    British billionaire owns the company Blackstone, which in turn owns the company

    Freescale Semiconductors. Several speculations on the Internet now pay attention


    to this circumstance.
    - See more at: http://humansarefree.com/2014/03/with-disappearance-ofmalaysian.html#sthash.K2A34b06.dpuf
    http://humansarefree.com/2014/03/withdisappearanceofmalaysian.html

    20FreescaleSemiconductorEmployeesWhatweretheydoing?Whobenefits?Updated

    15Apr201404:42

    WrittenbyKerryCassidy

    Iwassittingaroundchattingwithafriendanddiscussingtheunlikelyeventthatisthedisappearanceof
    Flight370.Whenwedecidedtofollowthetrailofthevariousclueswherenooneappearstobe
    looking.
    Forexample,if20employeesofthesamecompanyallwentaboardthesameplane,assumingatleast
    severalmayhavebeenashasbeenreported,possiblypatentholders.Thenwhenexactlydidtheybuy
    theirtickets?Onemightaskwhenall20employeesboughtticketstoflydirecttoChina?Andif,the
    illuminati(specificallyRothschild)whoownsFreescaleSemiconductor,didnothavethenecessary
    timetoadequatelycreateanalibiforlet'ssay,aplanneddisappearanceandredirectingoftheplaneto
    DiegoGarcia...Itwouldbeinterestingtowonderif:
    1.The20employeesallboughtticketsaroundthesametime...evenlastminute.
    2.The20employees(orevensaysomeofthem)mighthavebeenplanningsomething..saya'walk
    out"orpossiblybandingtogethertodelivertopsecretplanstotheChinesefortherecentcontroller
    chip(KLO2)thattheyjustreleased.
    3.Orwereall20employees,mindcontrolledanddirectedtoallboardthesameplane,contraryto
    prudenceofatopchipmanufacturerputtingtheirbestandbrightestallononeplane.Notawisemove.
    Unlessthoseemployeeswerebeing"directed"todoso...
    Itseemsclearafterevaluatingtheclueswehavesofarthatthisoperationwasnotwellplannedand
    perhapshadtobepulledtogetheratthelastminute.
    Iwouldbewillingforexample,tobetthatthetwosocalledsupposedterroristswhoboardedwithfake
    passports,boughtlastminutetickets.Theyseemedtobepartofaverylastminutepoorlyconstructed
    alibiforthedisappearanceofaplanethatcouldnot,wouldnot,mustnotatallcosts,reachits
    destination...China.
    Itseemsnooneislookingatthisscenariocloselyenoughtobeabletoseethatthissocalledfalseflag
    doesnotseemtohavebeenplannedinadvance.Instead,itseemsthattheplanewastakenoffcourse
    becausenewsofeitherwhatitcarried,whattheemployeeswerecarryingorwhatwasonboard,could
    notbeallowedtoreachitsdestination.
    Weneedtodeterminewhatitwasthatthe20Freescaleemployeeswerecarryingthatwhoever
    engineeredthisstealthkidnapping,didnotwanttoreachtheChinese.Thismuchseemsclear.

    ItseemsthattheVERYPUBLICDISAPPEARANCEofacommercialjetwith239peoplewouldhave
    toeitherbe:
    1.Apurposefulshowof"strength"andtechniquedisplayedasamessagegovernmenttogovernment,
    whetherAmericanstoChineseorRussiansorIsraeli...setoutattheexpenseofthoseonboard.
    2.OritwastheresultofanunexpectedlastminuterevealtothoseinchargeofFreescalethat
    somethingwasgoingonboardalongwiththose20employees.
    Theseeminglycoincidentalnatureofthefactthatyouhaveacompany(Freescale)thatdealswith:
    1.Stealthtechnology
    2.Hasjustamonthbeforereleasedtheirlatestcontrollerchip"thesizeofadimpleonagolfball"
    cannotbesimply"acoincidence".Asidefromthefactthattherearenocoincidences..Everything
    playsaparthoweverinsignificant...leadsonetowanttoinvestigatefurtherintoexactlywhatthis
    "controllerchip"iscapableof...andwhether,revealingthetechnologybehindsuchachipisenoughto
    riskthepublicdisfavorandagrandstandingmanueverofsuchapparentdisdainforthelivesofthe
    innocentsonboard.ItwouldseemthatatleastsomeoftheFreescaleemployeesonboardwerenotso
    innocent.
    IsthischipasortofminiSKYNETcommandandcontrolcentralizerforrunningwhoknowswhat
    amountofsoftware/hardwareatwhatdistance.Thisisanexampleofaquestionthatmightbeasked.
    InarecentRenseradioshow,TimRifat,occultmagicianandresearcher,mentionedthepossibilitythat
    thehijackingwasinordertogetholdofsay,the12ChineseFreescaleemployeeswhomightbewhatis
    calledSUPERUSERS...inordertohookthemuptoanAIundercommandandmindcontrolandget
    themtocontrolsay,Putin,inordertochangethetrajectoryoftheUkrainesituation.Butthisseems
    while,verytantalizinglyscifi(andquitealongthelinesoftheupcomingJohnnyDeppmovie
    TRANSCENDENCE)...lessthanaccurate.Theverypublicdisplayofdisappearingawholecommercial
    jetof239peopleintheprocessseemslikeoverkill.Rather,ifalltheywantedtodowaskidnapand
    controlahighleveltechie,orseveralofthem...thentheycouldquiteeasilydothatanytime.They
    wouldn'thavetodoitpubliclyandwithall20fromthesamecompanyinplaindaylightontheworld
    stage.
    Whatismuchmorelikelyisthatthisplanecontaining20employeesofthesamecompanywasheaded
    directlytoChinawithsomethingonboardthattheyweregoingtoDELIVER.Onemustask,whenthe
    dustsettlesandwhatyouhaveisquestionssuchas:
    1.Whythisparticularplane?
    2.Doeswhereitwasheadedhaveanythingtodowithwhyitwastaken?
    3.Whywere20employeesofacompanyspecializinginstealthtechnologythathadjustreleaseda
    worldclasschiponthescenedisappeared?
    4.IsitpossibletheemployeesofFreescalehadbandedtogetherandfiguredoutsomethingkeyabout
    whattheyweredealingwith?OrweretheymadeanoffertheycouldnotrefusebytheChinese?
    5.AsreferencedbymyinterviewwithFieldMcConnellandDavidHawkins,wasitacoincidencethat
    MichelleObamawasinahotelinthesamecitywheretheplanewassupposedtobeheaded?Could
    shehavebeenthereto"brokeradeal"?Didshefail?
    Thesearejustsomeoftheimportantquestionspeopleandespeciallyrealjournalistsshouldbeasking.

    ItisalsoimportanttonotethatmyinterviewwithMikeHarris,radiotalkshowhostandformer
    contractortotopexecutivesatMotorolawhenFreescaleSemiconductorwaspartofit,wastoldtoshut
    up,justafterhisinterviewwithme.Thatinterviewhasbeenverywidelyviewed.WhatisitMike
    knowsrelatedtothehistoryofFreescalethatwouldbesoimportantthattheCIAwouldwanttosilence
    him,nodoubt,intheinterestof"nationalsecurity"?
    ADDENDUMTOARTICLE:
    AccordingtoasourcetheIsraelistooktheplaneinordertostealthecontrollerchipbecausethey
    needitinawaragainstIran.Paraphrasing,imagineamissilethatdeliversdromesassmallasinsects
    thatflyorcrawl,andhavedeadlycapabilities,theycanclimbintotheventilationsystemandkill
    everyoneattheIraniannukefacilities.
    Perhaps,anIsraelifantasy(warwithIran)however,isthistherealreasonbehindtheabductionofthe
    aircraftanditspassengers?
    Itisalsosignificantthatthenewchip(amicrocontroller)alsocalledtheKLO2releasedintothepublic
    domaininFebruarybyFreescalecanturnahumanintoacomputerWhichsoundsremarkablyuseful
    forcontrollingandmanipulatingandroids(ahumanlookingrobot)
    http://www.wired.com/2013/02/freescalestinyarmchip/
    TheSKYNET,terminatoraspectsofthisstoryseemtobeexpanding.
    ItwouldseemactuallythatIsraelisalreadydeeplyinvolvedinFreescaleandwouldhavenoneedto
    abductajetwiththeirownemployees.FreescalehasanIsraelioffice.
    ItwouldalsobesuicideforIsraeltoattackIranevenwithU.S.help.BecauseultimatelytheIsraeli
    peoplewouldbetheonestosufferThecountryissotinythatitwouldtakeverylittletowipeitoff
    themap.SowhyblamethedisappearanceofthejetonIsrael?Thissoundslikeaconvenient
    misdirect.
    WhatismorelikelyisthattheU.S.andIsrael(andtheUK)conductedajointoperationredirectingthe
    flightusingtheBoeingnoninterruptibleautopilottoDiegoGarcia.TheemployeesofFreescaleare
    likelytohavebeenputbacktowork(albeitasprisoners)inanundergroundbase(underDiegoGarcia)
    orperhapsatanotherlocation.
    Itseemsunavoidabletoconcludethatthetechnology(whetherpatentholdersornot)asabraintrust
    viatheemployeesonthatplaneoractualspecsorothersignificantcomponentsmusthavebeenonthat
    plane.
    ThefalseflaguseofFlight370doesnotholdupsimplybecausetheycanuseANYplaneforthe
    purposeofafalseflagandwouldnthavetogotoallthetroubletoabduct239peopleonacommercial
    jetintheprocess.
    Onehastoask,whythatjet,whyonthatparticulardateandwhyonethathasthatnumberof
    employeesallfromthesamecompanyThisisthedirectionthatalegitimateinquiryshouldgo.
    Indeed,themostobviousmotivewouldappeartobesomethingthattheU.S./IsraelandtheUKdidnot
    wanttogetintothehandsoftheChinese.
    http://projectcamelotportal.com/blog/31-kerrys-blog/2084-20-freescalesemiconductor-employees-what-were-they-doing

    DrugsandWar
    Whyaren'tweputtingUSagenciesontrialforfinancingElChapo'sdrugwar?
    FromCaponetoMexico'scapturedcocaineking,thevillainswelovetohateobscurethetruthabout
    America'ssecretsupport
    o

    GabrielMatthewSchivone

    theguardian.com,Thursday10April201415.14BST

    "ThisAmericansystemofours,"shoutedthefamedgangsterAlCaponeina1930interview."Callit
    Capitalism,callitwhatyoulikegivestoeachandeveryoneofusagreatopportunityifweonlyseize
    itwithbothhandsandmakethemostofit."
    Sincethoseuntouchabledays,Chicagoofficialshaveawarded"PublicEnemyNo1"statustoonlyone
    otherperson:cartelbillionaireJoaqunGuzmnLoera,betterknownnowtotheworldoveras"El
    Chapo".
    Nearlysevenweeksago,ofcourse,ElChapowascapturedbyUSandMexicanauthoritiesafter13
    yearsonthelam.HavingachievedaculturalstatureakintothatofaBondvillain,hiscapturenaturally
    gotallthelimelightwhilehisUSbackerswentmoreorlessunmentioned.
    Butnearlysevenweeksbeforeanovernightcaptureatabeachresort,theMexicannewspaperEl
    UniversalreportedhowUSagencieshadarmedandfinancedElChapo'sSinaloacriminalempireforat
    least12years.ThatlinkhasbeensubstantiatedbyDEAandJusticeDepartmentcourttestimonies,and
    evenUSagentsconfirmedthefinancinghadbeenapprovedbyhighrankingofficialsandfederal
    prosecutors.ButtheAmericanmediabarelyreportedhowentrenchedtheAmericangovernmenthas
    becomeintheMexicandrugtrade.
    Instead,wegotphotosofagentsleadingashackledGuzman,hisheadbowedbyoneofthemarines'
    glovedhandsgrippinghisneck,towardaUSBlackhawkhelicopterthatwouldshuttlehimofftoa
    highsecurityprison.
    "Thechoiceofnewsorganizationstonotmaketheconnectionreflectsachoice[of]whatmediawould
    likeforustorememberandwouldlikeforustoforget,"saidCrystalVanceGuerra,aLatinAmerican
    studiesscholarattheNationalAutonomousUniversityofMexico.Sheasked:Whydon'tweholdthese
    agentsandagenciestothesamejudgmentasorganizedcrime?
    Aswewaitforthebiggestgangstertrialinyears,why,indeed,aren'tweputtingAmericanintelligence
    anddrugagenciesontrialforfinancingadrugwar?
    Thelatestinstalmentofthe"warondrugs"haskilled100,000peoplesinceitsofficialdeclarationby
    MexicanPresidentFilipeCalderonandUSPresidentGeorgeWBushin2006.Duringthisperiod,the
    USElChapopartnershipwasreportedlynevercloser:underthedeal,WashingtonallowedElChapo's
    SinaloacarteltocarryonbusinessasusualwhiletopSinaolamembers,fortheirpart,provided
    informationontheirrivals.DEAagentsmetwiththeirinformantsmorethan50times,ElUniversal
    reported,astheagentsofferedtheirwhisperersimmunity.
    AmericanpatronagegoeswellbeyondstokingthelargestandmostpowerfuloftheMexicancartels
    (Sinaloa),aswellasthemostheinous(GolfoandLosZetas).TheUSalsoopenlyarmedandfinanced
    evenbiggerplayersinthisgameMexico'sstateandsecurityforces.JustastheUSElChapo
    relationshipwasatitsclosest,theBushadministrationsignedintolawtheMeridaInitiative,ahuge
    militarizationpackagetoMexicounderthe"warondrugs"Between2008and2012,PresidentObama

    increasedsecurityaidundertheplanforhelicopters,armoredvehicles,surveillanceequipmentand
    policetrainingprogramstotalling$1.9bn.
    AsUSauthoritiessurelyknewbythistime,appearancesweredeceivingonMexico'scounternarcotics
    battlefield,awashwithstockpilesofAmericangunsandmoney.Drugarrestsofcartelassociates
    amountedtolessthan2%ofover50,000arrestsmadeinthefirstfouryearsoftheBushCalderon
    partnership.AsunflaggingMexicanjournalistAnabelHernandezshowedinher2013book,
    Narcoland,Mexico'sgovernmentwasn'tfightingtostopadrugtradeindustryitwerefightingfor
    whattheindustryhadtooffer.Shatteringpopularmisconceptionsaboutthedrugwars,Hernandez
    concluded:
    [T]hebiggestdangerisnotinfactthedrugcartels,butratherthegovernmentandbusinessofficialsthat
    workforthemandfearexposure.
    TheUSplayedaleadingroleincreatingthecartelundergroundinthefirstplace.JointUSMexican
    militaryforcescarriedoutbrutalscorchedearthincursionsinMexicoasearlyas1976,ostensibly
    targetingsmall,ruralpoppyandmarijuanafarmersbutactuallydestroyingmostlypoorcommunities
    caughtinthemiddle.Thisenforcementbasedapproachhardenedfarmersintoreactionaryelements
    thatrelocatedtomajorcitiesandeventuallyformedthefederatedSinaloaledcartels.
    TheAmericanmademonstermodeleditselfoffitscreator.Today,moreandmoredrugcarteltycoons
    areinvestingin"legitimate"businessenterprisesexpandedbyUSbasedfreetrade.InMexicoalone,
    freetradeagreementsmandatedafloodofUSagribusinessimportsthatdisplaced2.3mjobsinthe
    agriculturalsector;theaveragewagedroppedseverelywhilethecommercialsectorandtheinformal
    economygrewexponentially.
    Whileactorsbothsmalltime(cartel)andbigtime(governmentandcorporate)claimto"makethe
    most"oftheAmericandream,thosewhoendupsufferingthemostarethepoor,womenand
    undocumentedmigrantsinMexico,CentralAmericaandtheUS.Theamalgamationofthecriminal
    ringthatenrichedElChapowithUSbusinessintereststhereforeshowscapitalismatitsworst:arace
    forwealthfreeofmoralorethicalconsiderations.
    Officially,ElChapo'sjudgmentsarecurrentlyunderwayinChicago,becausetheauthoritiesthere
    believetheyhavethestrongestcasetoextraditetheformerpublicenemyfortrial.Thegovernmentof
    Mexico,however,willnotconsiderextraditiontotheUSwithoutfirsttryingElChapoinMexican
    courts.
    Butwhenthetimecomes,shouldn'tElChapo'sUSbackersthehighrankingUSofficialsresponsible
    forincitinganddirectingcartelviolencefaceprosecution,too?
    Wehavelongglamorizedthelivesofhighprofilecriminals,ineverythingfromcivilralliestopopular
    TVshowstoentiremusicalgenres.Cartelsarethepublicdemonsomanyofuslovetohate.Buta
    publicfocusonthemessentiallydeflectsattentionfromthewayinwhichotherplayersliketheUS
    governmentarenotonlycomplicit,butevenruntheshow.
    AsthefilmmakerGuillermoDelToroGmezonceobserved,"Youcanhaveamaincharacterbethe
    hero,butalmostinvariablythestarisgoingtobethevillain."Hecouldeasilyhavebeentalkingabout
    thelargerthanlifemediadepictionsofAlCaponeinthe1930s.OrthemediafrenzyaroundElChapo
    Guzman.
    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/10/usagenciesfinancingelchapodrugwar#

    UScomplicitinSouthAmericadrugtrade

    ByDr.DylanMurphy
    ThisfailureonthebehalfoftheUSgovernmenttoreallycrackdownonthefinancesofthedrugcartels
    extendstoBritishbanksaswell.InJuly2012theUSSenateCommitteeonHomelandSecurityand
    GovernmentalAffairsissueda339pagereportdetailinganamazingcatalogueof''criminal''behavior
    byLondonbasedHSBC.
    Mexicoisinthegripofamurderousdrugwarthathaskilledover150,000peoplesince2006.Itisone
    ofthemostviolentcountriesonearth.Thisdrugwarisaproductofthetransnationaldrugtradewhich
    isworthuptoUSD400billionayearandaccountsforabout8%ofallinternationaltrade.
    TheAmericangovernmentmaintainsthatthereisnoalternativebuttovigorouslyprosecutetheirzero
    tolerancepolicyofarrestingdrugusersandtheirdealers.Thishasledtotheincarcerationofover
    500,000Americans.MeanwhilethefloodofillegaldrugsintoAmericacontinuesunabated.
    OnethingtheAmericangovernmenthasnotdoneistoprosecutethelargestbanksintheworldfor
    supportingthedrugcartelsbywashingbillionsofdollarsoftheirbloodstainedmoney.AsNarco
    spherejournalistBillConroyhasobservedbanksare''wherethemoneyis''intheglobaldrugwar.
    HSBC,WesternUnion,BankofAmerica,JPMorganChase&Co,Citigroup,Wachoviaamongstmany
    othershaveallegedlyfailedtocomplywithAmericanantimoneylaundering(AML)laws.
    TheMexicandrugcartelshavecaughttheheadlinesagainandagainduetotheirmurderousactivities.
    Thewarbetweenthedifferentdrugcartelsandthewarbetweenthecartelsandgovernmentsecurity
    forceshasspilledthebloodoftensofthousandsofinnocentpeople.Thedrugcartelswouldfindit
    muchhardertoprofitfromtheirmurderousactivityiftheydidn'thavetoobigtofailbankswillingto
    washtheirdirtymoney.
    InMarch2010WachoviacutadealwiththeUSgovernmentwhichinvolvedthebankbeinggiven
    finesofUSD160millionundera''deferredprosecution''agreement.ThiswasduetoWachovia'sheavy
    involvementinmoneylaunderingmovinguptoUSD378.4billionoverseveralyears.Notonebanker
    wasprosecutedforillegalinvolvementinthedrugstrade.Meanwhilesmalltimedrugdealersandusers
    gotoprison.
    Ifanymemberofthepubliciscaughtinpossessionofafewgramsofcokeorheroinyoucanbetyour
    bottomdollartheywillbegoingdowntoservesomehardtime.However,ifyouareabankstercaught
    launderingbillionsofdollarsforsomeofthemostmurderouspeopleontheplanetyougetoffwitha
    slaponthewristintheformofsomepunyfineandadeferredprosecutiondeal.
    CharlesA.Intriago,presidentoftheMiamibasedAssociationofCertifiedFinancialCrimeSpecialists
    hasobserved,Ifyoureanindividual,andgetcaught,yougethammered.
    Butifyoureabigbank,andyourecaughtmovingmoneyforaterroristordrugdealer,youdont
    havetoworry.Youjustforkoveramonetarypenalty,andthenraiseyourfeestomakeupforit.
    Untilweseebankerswalkingoffinhandcuffstofacechargesinthesecases,nothingisgoingto
    change,Intriagoadds.Thesemonetarypenaltiesarejustacostofdoingbusinesstothem,likepaying
    foranewcorporatejet.
    ThisfailureonthebehalfoftheUSgovernmenttoreallycrackdownonthefinancesofthedrugcartels
    extendstoBritishbanksaswell.InJuly2012theUSSenateCommitteeonHomelandSecurityand
    GovernmentalAffairsissueda339pagereportdetailinganamazingcatalogueof''criminal''behavior
    byLondonbasedHSBC.

    ThisincludeswashingoverUSD881fortheMexicanSinaloaCartelandfortheNortedelValleCartel
    inColombia.Besidesthis,HSBCaffiliatedbankssuchasHBUSrepeatedlybrokeAmericanAML
    lawsbytheirlongstandingandsevereAMLdeficiencieswhichallowedSaudibankssuchasAlRajhi
    tofinanceterroristgroupsthatincludedAlQaeda.HBUStheAmericanaffiliateofHSBCsuppliedAl
    RajhibankwithnearlyUSD1billion.
    JackBlumanattorneyandformerSenateinvestigatorhascommented,Theyviolatedeverygoddamn
    lawinthebook.Theytookeveryimaginableformofillegalandillicitbusiness.
    HSBCaffiliateHBUSwasrepeatedlyinstructedtoimproveitsantimoneylaunderingprogram.In
    2003theFederalReserveBankofNewYorktookenforcementactionthatcalleduponHBUSto
    improveitsantimoneylaunderingprogram.
    InSeptember2010theOfficeofComptrolleroftheCurrency(OCC)senta''blisteringsupervisory
    letter''toHBUSlistingnumerousAMLproblemsatthebank.InOctober2010thiswasfollowedup
    withtheOCCissuingaceaseanddesistorderrequiringHBUStoimproveitsAMLprogramasecond
    time.
    SenatorCarlLevinchairmanoftheSenateinvestigationintoHSBChascommentedthat''HSBCs
    ChiefComplianceOfficerandotherseniorexecutivesinLondonknewwhatwasgoingon,butallowed
    thedeceptiveconducttocontinue.''
    LetuslookatjustacoupleofthedevastatingfindingsintheSenatereport.Themainfocusofthe
    reportisthemultiplefailuresofHSBCtocomplywithAMLlawsandregulations:
    ''Theidentifiedproblemsincludedaoncemassivebacklogofover17,000alertsidentifyingpossible
    suspiciousactivitythathadyettobereviewed;ineffectivemethodsforidentifyingsuspiciousactivity;
    afailuretofiletimelySuspiciousActivityReportswithUSlawenforcement;...a3yearfailureby
    HBUS[aHSBCaffiliate],frommid2006tomid2009,toconductanyAMLmonitoringofUSD15
    billioninbulkcashtransactions...afailuretomonitorUSD60trillioninannualwiretransferactivity
    bycustomers...inadequateandunqualifiedAMLstaffing;inadequateAMLresources;andAML
    leadershipproblems.
    ThereportcataloguesingreatdetailthefailingsofHSBCaffiliatesHBUSinAmericaandHMEXin
    Mexico:
    ''From2007through2008,HBMXwasthesinglelargestexporterofUSdollarstoHBUS,shipping
    USD7billionincashtoHBUSovertwoyears,outstrippinglargerMexicanbanksandotherHSBC
    affiliates.MexicanandUSauthoritiesexpressedrepeatedconcernthatHBMXsbulkcashshipments
    couldreachthatvolumeonlyiftheyincludedillegaldrugproceeds.Theconcernwasthatdrug
    traffickersunabletodepositlargeamountsofcashinUSbanksduetoAMLcontrolsweretransporting
    USdollarstoMexico,arrangingforbulkdepositsthere,andthenusingMexicanfinancialinstitutions
    toinsertthecashbackintotheUSfinancialsystem....highprofileclientsinvolvedindrugtrafficking;
    millionsofdollarsinsuspiciousbulktravelerschequetransactions;inadequatestaffingandresources;
    andahugebacklogofaccountsmarkedforclosureduetosuspiciousactivity,butwhoseclosureswere
    delayed.''
    IntheSenatehearingonJuly17,2012CarlLevinChairmanoftheCommitteeonHomelandSecurity
    andGovernmentalAffairsexplainedhowHMEXhelpedtheMexicandrugcartels:
    ''BecauseourtoughAMLlawsintheUnitedStateshavemadeithardfordrugcartelstofindaUSbank
    willingtoaccepthugeunexplaineddepositsofcash,theynowsmuggleUSdollarsacrosstheborder
    intoMexicoandlookforaMexicanbankorcasadecambiowillingtotakethecash.Someofthose
    casasdecambioshadaccountsatHBMX.HBMX,inturn,tookallthephysicaldollarsitgotand
    transportedthembyarmoredcaroraircraftbackacrossthebordertoHBUSfordepositintoitsUS
    banknotesaccount,completingthelaunderingcycle.''

    SenatorLevinwentontonotehow:''Overtwoyears,from2007to2008,HBMXshipped7billionin
    physicalUSdollarstoHBUS.Thatwasmorethananyother
    Mexicanbank,evenonetwiceHBMXssize.WhenlawenforcementandbankregulatorsinMexico
    andtheUnitedStatesgotwindofthebanknotestransactions,theywarnedHBMXandHBUSthatsuch
    largedollarvolumeswereredflagsfordrugproceedsmovingthroughtheHSBCnetwork.''
    InDecember2012theDepartmentofJusticecutadealwithHSBCwhichimposedarecordUSD1.9
    billiondollarfine.Itmaysoundalottoordinaryfolksbutitisatinyfractionofitsannualprofitswhich
    in2011totaledUSD22billion.AssistantAttorneyGeneralLannyBauerannouncedthesettlementata
    pressconferenceon11December2012.
    HiscommentsrevealwhytheUSgovernmentdecidedtogosoftonsuchcriminalbehaviorandshow
    quiteclearlyhowthereisonelawfortherichest1%andonelawfortherestofus.LennyBauersaid:
    ''HadtheUSauthoritiesdecidedtopresscriminalcharges,HSBCwouldalmostcertainlyhavelostits
    bankinglicenseintheUS,thefutureoftheinstitutionwouldhavebeenunderthreatandtheentire
    bankingsystemwouldhavebeendestabilized.''
    Thinkaboutthatstatementforamoment.Abankthathasquiteclearlybeencaughtouthelping
    murderousdrugcriminals,terroristgroups,thirdworlddictatorshipsandallsortsofcriminalcharacters
    istobeletoffwithaslaponthewrist.
    Nocriminalprosecutionsorevenamentionofcriminalbehaviorduetothefearsthattodosowould
    puttheworldeconomyinjeopardy.Sothereyouhaveit.Banksterswhoengageinsuchbehaviorthat
    isregardedascriminalbythevastmajorityofpeopleontheplanetarenotonlytoobigtofailtheyare
    alsotoobigtojail.
    AftertheDepartmentofJusticeannouncementofthedeferredprosecutionHSBCChiefExecutive
    StuartGulliversaid,"Weacceptresponsibilityforourpastmistakes.Wehavesaidweareprofoundly
    sorryforthem,andwedosoagain.''
    Suchstatementswillprovidelittlesolacetothefamiliesofthe150,000peopleestimatedbyUS
    SecretaryofDefenseLeonPanettatohavebeenkilledinMexico'sdrugwar.Norwillithelpthe
    hundredsofthousandsofMexicancitizenswhohavebeenforcedtofleetheirhomesandescapethe
    violencebygoingtotheUnitedSatesormovingtootherpartsofMexico.
    SenatorElizabethWarrenappearingatameetingoftheSenateBankingCommitteeinFebruary
    expressedfrustrationwithofficialsfromtheUSTreasuryDepartmentandUSFederalReserveoverthe
    issueofwhycriminalchargeswerenotpressedonHSBCoranyofitsofficials.Theofficialswere
    evasivewhenshetriedtodrawthemontheissueofwhatittakesforabanktohaveitslicense
    withdrawn:
    ''HSBCpaidafine,butnooneindividualwenttotrial,noindividualwasbannedfrombanking,and
    therewasnohearingtoconsidershuttingdownHSBCsactivitieshereintheUnitedStates.So,what
    Idlikeis,youretheexpertsonmoneylaundering.Idlikeanopinion:Whatdoesittakehowmany
    billionsdoyouhavetolaunderfordruglordsandhowmanyeconomicsanctionsdoyouhaveto
    violatebeforesomeonewillconsidershuttingdownafinancialinstitutionlikethis?''
    SenatorWarrenfinishedthesessionbycommentingontheglaringdoublestandardswithintheUS
    justicesystem:
    Youknow,ifyourecaughtwithanounceofcocaine,thechancesaregoodyouregoingtogotojail.
    Ifithappensrepeatedly,youmaygotojailfortherestofyourlife.Butevidently,ifyoulaundernearly
    abilliondollarsfordrugcartelsandviolateourinternationalsanctions,yourcompanypaysafineand
    yougohomeandsleepinyourownbedatnight,everysingleindividualassociatedwiththis.Ithink
    thatsfundamentallywrong.
    On4March2013HSBCannouncedprofitsofUSD20.6billionin2012whileitpaidoutaUSD3

    millionbonustoitsCEO.ThisoutrageousstateofaffairsbeggarsbeliefafterHSBChasbeenclearly
    caughtoutengaginginactivityonbehalfofmurderousdruglords,terroristfinancingbanksandbrutal
    thirdworlddictatorships.
    WhereistheBritishGovernment'scondemnationofHSBC?Youmaybewaitingalongtimeforthat
    consideringthefactthatChancellorGeorgeOsborneandhisfellowministersareintimatelyconnected
    totheBritishbankingelite.
    Thisgovernmentoftherichrulingonbehalfoftherichwillnevertakeactionofanykindagainstthe
    criminalactivityofBritishbanksters.Norwillthecravenmainstreammediaexposetheblatant
    hypocrisyofagovernmentwhichwageswaragainstthepoorestsectionsofsocietywhilecompletely
    ignoringcriminalactivitybyBritishbanksterswhetheritbeLiborfraudorlaunderingmoneyforsome
    ofthemostmurderouspeopleontheplanet.
    LongtimeobserveroftheMexicandrugwarBillConroycommentsthatthedealcutwithHSBCby
    theDepartmentofJustice,''shouldilluminateforallthegreatpretenseofthedrugwarnomatterhow
    hardUSprosecutors,viathemainstreammedia,attempttoconvinceusotherwise....Anditshouldlead
    ustoconclude,ifwearehonestwithourselves,thatthesocalleddrugwarislittlemorethanone
    immense"drugdeal.''
    http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/12/308588/uscomplicitinsamericadrugtrade/

    WesterncomplicityinAfghanistanherointradeisoldnews
    Coolio
    14092010,23:19
    U.K.militarypoliceareinvestigatingclaimsthatBritishandCanadiantroopshavebeensmuggling
    heroinoutofKandaharaccordingtotheBBConSunday.Well,it'sabouttimebecauseoneoftheworst
    keptsecretsinAfghanhistoryisthatWesternershavetheirhandintheCentralAsiandrugtrade,most
    notablytheUnitedStatesviatheC.I.A.
    Today,Afghanistanisthesourceof90%oftheworld'sopium,amultibilliondollarindustrywhich
    fuelstheinsurgencyandisdestabilizingtheregion.Thedrugtradeallowsmilitantstopurchase
    weaponswithwhichtheythenattacktheAfghangovernmentandinternationalforces.Whichmakes
    Westernculpabilityevenmoremaddening.
    YettheC.I.A.hasbeenaccusedofenablingtheexplosionofthedrugtradeintheAfPakregion,
    stretchingbacktothe1980swhentheyfundedtheAfghanmujahideenviaPakistan'sspyagencyto
    wageaholywaragainstRussia.
    Before1979Pakistanwasnotamajorexporterofheroin.In198480%ofallheroinconsumedin
    Britainand30%ofU.S.importscamefromPakistanthankstothecollaborationbetweentheC.I.A.
    andPakistaniintelligence.AccordingtoAlfredW.McCoyinThePoliticsofHeroin:CIAComplicity
    intheGlobalDrugTrade:
    "CIAassetsagaincontrolledthisherointrade.AstheMujahideenguerrillasseizedterritoryinside
    Afghanistan,theyorderedpeasantstoplantopiumasarevolutionarytax.Acrosstheborderin
    Pakistan,AfghanleadersandlocalsyndicatesundertheprotectionofPakistanIntelligenceoperated
    hundredsofheroinlaboratories.Duringthisdecadeofwideopendrugdealing,theU.S.Drug
    EnforcementAgencyinIslamabadfailedtoinstigatemajorseizuresorarrests."
    AccordingtoElizabethGouldandPaulFitzgeraldinInvisibleHistory:AfghanistansUntoldStory,the
    drugtradewasfinancedthroughtheBankofCreditandCommerceInternational(BCCI)whichacted
    asagobetweenforD.C.,HongKong,PeshawarandSwitzerlandlaunderingdrugmoneyand

    facilitatingarmssalestoNicaraguanContrasandAfghanmujahideen.
    JackBlum,formerspecialcounseltothe1987KerrySenateForeignRelationsSubcommitteeon
    Terrorism,NarcoticsandInternationalRelations,claimedthattheC.I.A.,Mossad,Arabintelligence,
    theRussiansandtheBritishalsousedBCCItofinancearmsdealsanddrugsmugglingoperations.
    Blumsaid:
    Theamountsofheroinwerestaggering,theamountsofmoneyinvolvedwerestaggering.Therewasa
    seizureofashipoffthecoastofTurkeythathadcomefromtheMakrancoastofPakistanthathad
    twelvetonsmetrictonsofheroinandheroinderivativesonit.Thatissuchastartlinglylarge
    number,itssortofliketheworldssupplyforayear.
    Duringthe1980stheCIApartneredwiththeSafariClub,whichwasanetworkofforeignintelligence
    agenciesformedtohelptheCIAfundoperationsnotauthorizedbyCongress,totransformCentralAsia
    fromaselfcontainedopiumzoneintoamajorsupplierofheroinfortheworldmarket.Congressknew
    aboutmujahideendrugdealingasearlyas1984butturnedablindeyebecausetheopiumprofitswere
    financingtheaforementionedU.S.jihadagainsttheSovietUnion.
    By2003,AfghanistansheroinproblemhadgrowntwentytimesworsethanitwasunderTalibanrule
    accordingtoareportbyHyRothstein,aSpecialForcesveteranandteacherattheNavalPostgraduate
    SchoolinMonterreyCalifornia,whohadbeencommissionedbytheofficeofSpecialOperationsand
    LowIntensityConflicttoconductamilitarystudyofwhytheU.S.wasnotmakingprogressin
    Afghanistan.AsofyesterdaysBBCreport,sincetheU.S.invasiononOct.7,2001,Afghanistan's
    opiumoutputhasincreased33fold.
    Ina2007DailyMailpiece,BritainsformerambassadortoUzbekistan,CraigMurray,reportedthat
    WesternintelligenceagenicesdirectandindirectlyhelpedAfghanistangofromsimplyfarmingpoppies
    toconvertingopiumintoheroinonanindustrialscale.Murraywrote:
    Howcanthishavehappened,andonthisscale?Theanswerissimple.Thefourlargestplayersinthe
    heroinbusinessareallseniormembersoftheAfghangovernment.Thegovernmentthatoursoldiers
    arefightinganddyingtoprotect.
    MurrayalsoassertedthatvastamountsofheroincamefromthefiefdomofGeneralAbdulRashid
    Dostum,theheadofAfghan'sarmedforces,innorthandeastAfghanistan:
    DostumisanUzbek,andtheheroinpassesovertheFriendshipBridgefromAfghanistanto
    Uzbekistan,whereitistakenoverbyPresidentIslamKarimov'speople.Itisthenshippedupthe
    railwayline,inbalesofcotton,toStPetersburgandRiga.
    MurraysappealshavefallenondeafearsbecauseGeneralDostumisvitaltoAfghanPresidentHamid
    Karzai'scoalitionandtoWesternpretenseofastable,democraticgovernment.
    TheC.I.A.hasprotectedanumberofKarzaicroniesandrelativesinvolvedwiththedrugtrade,
    includingSherMohammedAkhunzada,Karzai'sformergovernorinHelmandProvincewhowas
    caughtwith9tonsofopiumandheroininhisbasementin2005.Karzaiactuallytriedtoreinstate
    Akhunzadain2008tonoavail.ThePresidentsbrother,AhmedWaliKarzai,hasbeenaccusedof
    beingoneofthebiggestdruglordsinAfghanistan,buthetooisontheC.I.A.spayroll.
    FormerRussianmilitaryCommander,MahmutGareev,claimedtheU.S.wasnotgoingtostopthe
    productionofdrugsinAfghanistanbecauseitcoveredthecostsoftheirmilitarypresencethere.
    "Actually,they(theUSandNATOtroops)themselvesadmitthatifdrugsweresmuggledpastthem,
    theywouldn'tinterfere.Why?.Americansthemselvesadmitthatdrugsareoftentransportedoutof
    AfghanistanonAmericanplanes.DrugtraffickinginAfghanistanbringsthemabout50billiondollars
    ayearwhichfullycoverstheexpensestiedtokeepingtheirtroopsthere."

    JeffSteinreportedinTheWashingtonPostjustafewweeksagothatbagsofcashbelievedtobedrug
    proceedsanddivertedforeignaidareleavingAfghanistanviatheKandaharairportwhichiscontrolled
    byAhmedWaliKarzai.AccordingtoaformerC.I.A.official:
    ThedirectArianaflightfromKandahartoDubaiinitscargoholdcarriesmanybalesofU.S.dollars
    wrappedinburlap.Nohandcarry.ThisisAWKspreferredroute.
    AfghanintelligenceagentshavecorroboratedthestoryandhaveprovidedtheexC.I.A.employeethe
    locationsofwhereAhmedWalimeetsC.I.A.operatives,whathismonthlysalaryis,howitisdelivered
    andthenamesofthetwoC.I.A.womenwhodotheactualcashtransfer.
    Thesearestartlingreportsindeed,mademoredistressingbythefactthatnolawenforcementofficialof
    fitmindwoulddareinvestigatetheC.I.A.anditsbeneficiary'sdrugtraffickingracket.
    KeeplaughingatpeoplewhomakeclaimsthattheCIAisthebiggestillicitdrugsmugglingoperatorin
    theworld...
    http://bluelight.org/vb/archive/index.php/t524351.html

    Excerpted from Drug Fallout by Alfred McCoy


    Throughout the forty years of the Cold War, the CIA joined with urban gangsters
    and rural warlords, many of them major drug dealers, to mount covert operations
    against communists around the globe. In one of history's accidents, the Iron
    Curtain fell along the border of the Asian opium zone, which stretches across
    5,000 miles of mountains from Turkey to Thailand. In Burma during the 1950s, in
    Laos during the 1970s, and in Afghanistan during the 1980s, the CIA allied with
    highland warlords to mobilize tribal armies against the Soviet Union and China.
    In each of these covert wars, Agency assets-local informants-used their alliance
    with the CIA to become major drug lords, expanding local opium production and
    shipping heroin to international markets, the United States included. Instead of
    stopping this drug dealing, the Agency tolerated it and, when necessary, blocked
    investigations. Since ruthless drug lords made effective anti-communist allies and
    opium amplified their power, CIA agents mounting delicate operations on their
    own, half a world from home, had no reason to complain. For the drug lords, it
    was an ideal arrangement. The CIA's major covert operations-often lasting a
    decade-provided them with de facto immunity within enforcement-free zones.
    In Laos in the 1960s, the CIA battled local communists with a secret army of
    30,000 Hmong-a tough highland tribe whose only cash crop was opium. A handful
    of CIA agents relied on tribal leaders to provide troops and Lao generals to protect
    their cover. When Hmong officers loaded opium on the ClA's proprietary carrier
    Air America, the Agency did nothing. And when the Lao army's commander,
    General Ouane Rattikone, opened what was probably the world's largest heroin
    laboratory, the Agency again failed to act.
    "The past involvement of many of these officers in drugs is well known," the ClA's
    Inspector General said in a still-classified 1972 report, "yet their goodwill . . .
    considerably facilitates the military activities of Agency-supported irregulars."
    Indeed, the CIA had a detailed know ledge of drug trafficking in the Golden
    Triangle-that remote, rugged corner of Southeast Asia where Burma, Thailand,
    and Laos converge. In June 1971, The New York Times published extracts from an
    other CIA report identifying twenty-one opium refineries in the Golden Triangle
    and stating that the "most important are located in the areas around Tachilek,
    Burma; Ban Houei Sai and Nam Keung in Laos; and Mae Salong in Thailand."
    Three of these areas were controlled by CIA allies: Nam Keung by the chief of CIA
    mercenaries for northwestern Laos; Ban Houei Sai by the commander of the Royal
    Lao Army; and Mae Salong by the Nationalist Chinese forces who had fought for
    the Agency in Burma. The CIA stated that the Ban Houei Sai laboratory, which was
    owned by General Ouane, was ' believed capable of processing 100 kilos of raw
    opium per day," or 3.6 tons of heroin a year-a vast output considering the total
    yearly U.S. consumption of heroin was then less than ten tons.
    By 1971, 34 percent of all U.S. soldiers in South Vietnam were heroin addicts,
    according to a White House survey. There were more American heroin addicts in
    South Vietnam than in the entire United States-largely supplied from heroin
    laboratories operated by CIA allies, though the White House failed to acknowledge
    that unpleasant fact. Since there was no indigenous local market, Asian drug lords
    started shipping Golden Triangle heroin not consumed by the GIs to the United
    States, where it soon won a significant share of the illicit market.
    *****

    Within a few years, the currents of global geopolitics then shifted in ways that
    pushed the CIA into new alliances with drug traffickers. In 1979, the Soviets
    invaded Afghanistan and the Sandinista revolution seized Nicaragua, prompting
    two CIA covert operations with some revealing similarities. During the 1980s,
    while the Soviets occupied Afghanistan, the CIA, working through Pakistan's InterService Intelligence, spent some $2 billion to support the Afghan resistance.
    When the operation started in 1979, this region grew opium only for regional
    markets and produced no heroin. Within two years, however, the PakistanAfghanistan borderlands became the world's top heroin producer, supplying 60
    percent of U.S. demand. In Pakistan, the heroin-addict population went from near
    zero in 1979 to 5,000 in 1981 and to 1.2 million by 1985-a much steeper rise than
    in any other nation.
    CIA assets again controlled this heroin trade. As the Mujaheddin guerrillas seized
    territory inside Afghanistan, they ordered peasants to plant opium as a
    revolutionary tax. Across the border in Pakistan, Afghan leaders and local
    syndicates under the protection of Pakistan Intelligence operated hundreds of
    heroin laboratories. During this decade of wide-open drug-dealing, the U.S. Drug
    Enforcement Agency in Islamabad failed to instigate major seizures or arrests.
    In May 1990, as the CIA operation was winding down, The Washington Post
    published a front-page expose charging that Gulbudin Hekmatar, the ClA's
    favored Afghan leader, was a major heroin manufacturer. The Post argued, in a
    manner similar to the San Jose Mercury News's later report about the contras,
    that U.S. officials had refused to investigate charges of heroin dealing by its
    Afghan allies "because U.S. narcotics policy in Afghanistan has been subordinated
    to the war against Soviet influence there."
    In 1995, the former CIA director of the Afghan operation, Charles Cogan, admitted
    the CIA had indeed sacrificed the drug war to fight the Cold War. "Our main
    mission was to do as much damage as possible to the Soviets. We didn't really
    have the resources or the time to devote to an investigation of the drug trade,"
    he told an Australian television reporter. "I don't think that we need to apologize
    for this. Every situation has its fallout.... There was fallout in terms of drugs, yes.
    But the main objective was accomplished. The Soviets left Afghanistan."
    Again, distance and complexity insulated the CIA from any political fallout. Once
    the heroin left Pakistan's laboratories, the Sicilian mafia managed its export to
    the United States, and a chain of syndicate-controlled pizza parlors distributed the
    drugs to street gangs in American cities, according to reports by the Drug
    Enforcement Agency. Most ordinary Americans did not see the links between the
    ClA's alliance with Afghan drug lords, the pizza parlors, and the heroin on U.S.
    streets.
    In Central America, proximity simplified the political equation. According to
    sections of the San Jose Mercury News story that the mainstream press have not
    contested, this "dark alliance" began in the early 1980s when the contra revolt
    against Nicaragua's leftist Sandinista government was failing for want of funds. In
    1981, the CIA hired ex-Nicaraguan army Colonel Enrique Bermudez to organize
    what became the main contra guerrilla army, the Nicaraguan Democratic Front.
    Bermudez then accepted funds from two Nicaraguan exiles active in the crack
    trade to supplement meager Agency funding.

    In California, Danilo Blandon, the former director of Nicaragua's farm-marketing


    program, used his business skills to open a new drug-distribution network.
    Blandon allied with the rising young black drug dealer "Freeway Rick" Ross to
    convert tons of cocaine into low-cost crack for a growing market among the city's
    poor African Americans. With supplies of cheap cocaine from Central America,
    Ross undercut rival dealers and built a booming drug business that spread up the
    California coast and across the Midwest. Ross and Blandon avoided arrest for
    years. But in the late 1990s, the operation lost its contra connection. Both dealers
    were soon arrested on drug charges. Freeway Rick started serving a ten-year
    sentence, while the Justice Department intervened to free the contra-connected
    Blandon and send him home as a well paid Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
    informant.
    Other responsible sources have made similar allegations about contra
    involvement in cocaine smuggling to the United States In December 1985, the
    Associated Press issued a story about the contra alliance with cocaine smugglers.
    "Nicaraguan rebels operating in northern Costa Rica have engaged in cocaine
    trafficking," wrote AP reporters Robert Parry and Brian Barger, "in part to help
    finance their war against Nicaragua's leftist government, according to U.S.
    investigators and American volunteers who work with the rebels." As evidence,
    the reporters cited a CIA intelligence report noting "the contras in Nicaragua had
    bought aircraft with drug profits."
    After lengthy investigations, a U.S. Senate subcommittee chaired by John Kerry,
    the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts, issued a report in 1988 concluding
    that "individuals associated with the contra movement" were traffickers; cocaine
    smugglers had participated in "contra supply operations; and the U.S. State
    Department had made "payments to drug traffickers . . . for humanitarian
    assistance to the contras. in some cases after the traffickers had been
    indicted . . . on drug charges."
    During this decade of contra operations from bases in southern Honduras, the
    region was effectively closed to narcotics investigations. In 1983, at the height of
    the contra war, the DEA suddenly shut down its Honduran office even though the
    agent there, Tomas Zepeda, had, in his words, "generated a substantial amount of
    useful intelligence" about Honduran military involvement in the cocaine traffic to
    the United States. "The Pentagon made it clear that we were in the way," an
    anonymous DEA agent explained. "They had more important business." As host to
    the main contra bases and the ClA's supply operation, the Honduran military, like
    the commander of the Royal Laotian Army and Pakistani Intelligence, were spared
    investigation of their involvement in drug trafficking.
    Alfred W. McCoy, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, is the author
    of "The Politics of Heroin: The CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade."
    http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/CIAdrug_fallout.html

    OpiumThroughoutHistory
    c.3400B.C.TheopiumpoppyiscultivatedinlowerMesopotamia.TheSumeriansrefertoitasHul
    Gil,the'joyplant.'TheSumerianswouldsoonpassalongtheplantanditseuphoriceffectstothe
    Assyrians.TheartofpoppycullingwouldcontinuefromtheAssyrianstotheBabylonianswhointurn
    wouldpasstheirknowledgeontotheEgyptians.
    c.1300B.C.InthecapitalcityofThebes,Egyptiansbegincultivationofopiumthebaicum,grownin
    theirfamouspoppyfields.TheopiumtradeflourishesduringthereignofThutmoseIV,Akhenatonand

    KingTutankhamen.ThetraderouteincludedthePhoeniciansandMinoanswhomovetheprofitable
    itemacrosstheMediterraneanSeaintoGreece,Carthage,andEurope.
    c.1100B.C.OntheislandofCyprus,the"PeoplesoftheSea"craftsurgicalqualitycullingknivesto
    harvestopium,whichtheywouldcultivate,tradeandsmokebeforethefallofTroy.
    c.460B.C.Hippocrates,"thefatherofmedicine",dismissesthemagicalattributesofopiumbut
    acknowledgesitsusefulnessasanarcoticandstypticintreatinginternaldiseases,diseasesofwomen
    andepidemics.
    330B.C.AlexandertheGreatintroducesopiumtothepeopleofPersiaandIndia.
    A.D.400Opiumthebaicum,fromtheEgytpianfieldsatThebes,isfirstintroducedtoChinabyArab
    traders.
    1300's OpiumdisappearsfortwohundredyearsfromEuropeanhistoricalrecord.Opiumhadbecome
    ataboosubjectforthoseincirclesoflearningduringtheHolyInquisition.Intheeyesofthe
    Inquisition,anythingfromtheEastwaslinkedtotheDevil.
    1500ThePortugese,whiletradingalongtheEastChinaSea,initiatethesmokingofopium.The
    effectswereinstantaneousastheydiscoveredbutitwasapracticetheChineseconsideredbarbaricand
    subversive.
    1527DuringtheheightoftheReformation,opiumisreintroducedintoEuropeanmedicalliteratureby
    Paracelsusaslaudanum.Theseblackpillsor"StonesofImmortality"weremadeofopiumthebaicum,
    citrusjuiceandquintessenceofgoldandprescribedaspainkillers.
    1600's ResidentsofPersiaandIndiabegineatinganddrinkingopiummixturesforrecreationaluse.
    PortugesemerchantscarryingcargoesofIndianopiumthroughMacaodirectitstradeflowintoChina.
    1606ShipscharteredbyElizabethIareinstructedtopurchasethefinestIndianopiumandtransportit
    backtoEngland.
    1680Englishapothecary,ThomasSydenham,introducesSydenham'sLaudanum,acompoundof
    opium,sherrywineandherbs.Hispillsalongwithothersofthetimebecomepopularremediesfor
    numerousailments.
    1700TheDutchexportshipmentsofIndianopiumtoChinaandtheislandsofSoutheastAsia;the
    DutchintroducethepracticeofsmokingopiuminatobaccopipetotheChinese.
    1729Chineseemperor,YungCheng,issuesanedictprohibitingthesmokingofopiumandits
    domesticsale,exceptunderlicenseforuseasmedicine.
    1750TheBritishEastIndiaCompanyassumescontrolofBengalandBihar,opiumgrowingdistricts
    ofIndia.BritishshippingdominatestheopiumtradeoutofCalcuttatoChina.
    1753Linnaeus,thefatherofbotany,firstclassifiesthepoppy,Papaversomniferum'sleepinducing',
    inhisbookGeneraPlantarum.
    1767TheBritishEastIndiaCompany'simportofopiumtoChinareachesastaggeringtwothousand
    chestsofopiumperyear.
    1793TheBritishEastIndiaCompanyestablishesamonopolyontheopiumtrade.Allpoppygrowers
    inIndiawereforbiddentosellopiumtocompetitortradingcompanies.

    1799China'semperor,KiaKing,bansopiumcompletely,makingtradeandpoppycultivationillegal.
    1800TheBritishLevantCompanypurchasesnearlyhalfofalloftheopiumcomingoutofSmyrna,
    TurkeystrictlyforimportationtoEuropeandtheUnitedStates.
    1803FriedrichSertuernerofPaderborn,Germanydiscoverstheactiveingredientofopiumby
    dissolvingitinacidthenneutralizingitwithammonia.Theresult:alkaloidsPrincipiumsomniferum
    ormorphine.
    Physiciansbelievethatopiumhadfinallybeenperfectedandtamed.Morphineislaudedas"God'sown
    medicine"foritsreliablity,longlastingeffectsandsafety.
    1805AsmugglerfromBoston,Massachusetts,CharlesCabot,attemptstopurchaseopiumfromthe
    British,thensmuggleitintoChinaundertheauspicesofBritishsmugglers.
    1812AmericanJohnCushing,undertheemployofhisuncles'business,JamesandThomasH.
    PerkinsCompanyofBoston,acquireshiswealthfromsmugglingTurkishopiumtoCanton.
    1816JohnJacobAstorofNewYorkCityjoinstheopiumsmugglingtrade.HisAmericanFur
    CompanypurchasestentonsofTurkishopiumthenshipsthecontrabanditemtoCantononthe
    Macedonian.AstorwouldlaterleavetheChinaopiumtradeandsellsolelytoEngland.
    1819WriterJohnKeatsandotherEnglishliterarypersonalitiesexperimentwithopiumintendedfor
    strictrecreationalusesimplyforthehighandtakenatextended,nonaddictiveintervals
    1821ThomasDeQuinceypublisheshisautobiographicalaccountofopiumaddiction,'Confessionsof
    anEnglishOpiumeater.'
    1827E.Merck&CompanyofDarmstadt,Germany,beginscommercialmanufacturingofmorphine.
    1830TheBritishdependenceonopiumformedicinalandrecreationalusereachesanalltimehighas
    22,000poundsofopiumisimportedfromTurkeyandIndia.
    JardineMatheson&CompanyofLondoninheritIndiaanditsopiumfromtheBritishEastIndia
    CompanyoncethemandatetoruleanddictatethetradepoliciesofBritishIndiaarenolongerineffect.
    1837 ElizabethBarrettBrowningfallsunderthespellofmorphine.This,however,doesnotimpede
    herabilitytowrite"poeticalparagraphs."
    March18,1839LinTseHsu,imperialChinesecommissionerinchargeofsuppressingtheopium
    traffic,ordersallforeigntraderstosurrendertheiropium.Inresponse,theBritishsendexpenditionary
    warshipstothecoastofChina,beginningTheFirstOpiumWar.
    1840 NewEnglandersbring24,000poundsofopiumintotheUnitedStates.Thiscatchesthe
    attentionofU.S.Customswhichpromptlyputsadutyfeeontheimport.
    1841 TheChinesearedefeatedbytheBritishintheFirstOpiumWar.Alongwithpayingalarge
    indemnity,HongKongiscededtotheBritish.
    1843 Dr.AlexanderWoodofEdinburghdiscoversanewtechniqueofadministeringmorphine,
    injectionwithasyringe.Hefindstheeffectsofmorphineonhispatientsinstantaneousandthreetimes
    morepotent.
    1852TheBritisharriveinlowerBurma,importinglargequantitiesofopiumfromIndiaandsellingit
    throughagovernmentcontrolledopiummonopoly.

    1856 TheBritishandFrenchrenewtheirhostilitiesagainstChinaintheSecondOpiumWar.Inthe
    aftermathofthestruggle,Chinaisforcedtopayanotherindemnity.Theimportationofopiumis
    legalized.
    OpiumproductionincreasesalongthehighlandsofSoutheastAsia.
    1874Englishresearcher,C.R.Wrightfirstsynthesizesheroin,ordiacetylmorphine,byboiling
    morphineoverastove.
    InSanFrancisco,smokingopiuminthecitylimitsisbannedandisconfinedtoneighboring
    Chinatownsandtheiropiumdens.
    1878 BritainpassestheOpiumActwithhopesofreducingopiumconsumption.Underthenew
    regulation,thesellingofopiumisrestrictedtoregisteredChineseopiumsmokersandIndianopium
    eaterswhiletheBurmesearestrictlyprohibitedfromsmokingopium.

    1886 TheBritishacquireBurma'snortheastregion,theShanstate.Productionandsmugglingof
    opiumalongthelowerregionofBurmathrivesdespiteBritisheffortstomaintainastrictmonopolyon
    theopiumtrade.
    1890 U.S.Congress,initsearliestlawenforcementlegislationonnarcotics,imposesataxonopium
    andmorphine.
    TabloidsownedbyWilliamRandolphHearstpublishstoriesofwhitewomenbeingseducedby
    Chinesemenandtheiropiumtoinvokefearofthe'YellowPeril',disguisedasan"antidrug"campaign.
    1895 HeinrichDreserworkingforTheBayerCompanyofElberfeld,Germany,findsthatdiluting
    morphinewithacetylsproducesadrugwithoutthecommonmorphinesideeffects.Bayerbegins
    productionofdiacetylmorphineandcoinsthename"heroin."Heroinwouldnotbeintroduced
    commerciallyforanotherthreeyears.
    Early1900'sThephilanthropicSaintJamesSocietyintheU.S.mountsacampaigntosupplyfree
    samplesofherointhroughthemailtomorphineaddictswhoaretryinggiveuptheirhabits.
    EffortsbytheBritishandFrenchtocontrolopiumproductioninSoutheastAsiaaresuccessful.
    Nevertheless,thisSoutheastregion,referredtoasthe'GoldenTriangle',eventuallybecomesamajor
    playerintheprofitableopiumtradeduringthe1940's.
    1902 Invariousmedicaljournals,physiciansdiscussthesideeffectsofusingheroinasamorphine
    stepdowncure.Severalphysicianswouldarguethattheirpatientssufferedfromheroinwithdrawal
    symptomsequaltomorphineaddiction.
    1903 Heroinaddictionrisestoalarmingrates.
    1905 U.S.Congressbansopium.
    1906 ChinaandEnglandfinallyenactatreatyrestrictingtheSinoIndianopiumtrade.
    Severalphysiciansexperimentwithtreatmentsforheroinaddiction.Dr.AlexanderLambertand
    CharlesB.Townstouttheirpopularcureasthemost"advanced,effectiveandcompassionatecure"for

    heroinaddiction.Thecureconsistedofa7dayregimen,whichincludedafivedaypurgeofheroin
    fromtheaddict'ssystemwithdosesofbelladonnadelirium.
    U.S.CongresspassesthePureFoodandDrugActrequiringcontentslabelingonpatentmedicinesby
    pharmaceuticalcompanies.Asaresult,theavailabiltyofopiatesandopiateconsumerssignificantly
    declines.
    1909 ThefirstfederaldrugprohibitionpassesintheU.S.outlawingtheimporationofopium.Itwas
    passedinpreparationfortheShanghaiConference,atwhichtheUSpressesforlegislationaimedat
    suppressingthesaleofopiumtoChina.
    February1,1909TheInternationalOpiumCommissionconvenesinShanghai.HeadingtheU.S.
    delegationareDr.HamiltonWrightandEpiscopalBishopHenryBrent.Bothwouldtrytoconvincethe
    internationaldelegationoftheimmoralandevileffectsofopium.
    1910 After150yearsoffailedattemptstoridthecountryofopium,theChinesearefinally
    successfulinconvincingtheBritishtodismantletheIndiaChinaopiumtrade.
    Dec.17,1914 ThepassageofHarrisonNarcoticsActwhichaimstocurbdrug(especiallycocaine
    butalsoheroin)abuseandaddiction.Itrequiresdoctors,pharmacistsandotherswhoprescribed
    narcoticstoregisterandpayatax.
    1923 TheU.S.TreasuryDepartment'sNarcoticsDivision(thefirstfederaldrugagency)bansall
    legalnarcoticssales.Withtheprohibitionoflegalvenuestopurchaseheroin,addictsareforcedtobuy
    fromillegalstreetdealers.
    1925 Inthewakeofthefirstfederalbanonopium,athrivingblackmarketopensupinNewYork's
    Chinatown.
    1930's ThemajorityofillegalheroinsmuggledintotheU.S.comesfromChinaandisrefinedin
    ShanghaiandTietsin.
    Early1940'sDuringWorldWarII,opiumtraderoutesareblockedandtheflowofopiumfromIndia
    andPersiaiscutoff.Fearfuloflosingtheiropiummonopoly,theFrenchencourageHmongfarmersto
    expandtheiropiumproduction.
    19451947BurmagainsitsindependencefromBritainattheendofWorldWarII.Opiumcultivation
    andtradeflourishesintheShanstates.
    19481972CorsicangangstersdominatetheU.S.heroinmarketthroughtheirconnectionwithMafia
    drugdistributors.AfterrefiningtherawTurkishopiuminMarseillelaboratories,theheroinismade
    easilyavailableforpurchasebyjunkiesonNewYorkCitystreets.
    1950's U.S.effortstocontainthespreadofCommunisminAsiainvolvesforgingallianceswithtribes
    andwarlordsinhabitingtheareasoftheGoldenTriangle,(anexpansecoveringLaos,Thailandand
    Burma),thusprovidingaccessibilityandprotectionalongthesoutheastborderofChina.Inorderto
    maintaintheirrelationshipwiththewarlordswhilecontinuingtofundthestruggleagainstcommunism,
    theU.S.andFrancesupplythedrugwarlordsandtheirarmieswithammunition,armsandairtransport
    fortheproductionandsaleofopium.Theresult:anexplosionintheavailabilityandillegalflowof
    heroinintotheUnitedStatesandintothehandsofdrugdealersandaddicts.
    1962 Burmaoutlawsopium.
    19651970
    U.S.involvementinVietnamisblamedforthesurgeinillegalheroinbeing
    smuggledintotheStates.ToaidU.S.allies,theCentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA)setsupacharter

    airline,AirAmerica,totransportrawopiumfromBurmaandLaos.Aswell,someoftheopiumwould
    betransportedtoMarseillebyCorsicangangsterstoberefinedintoheroinandshippedtotheU.Svia
    theFrenchconnection.ThenumberofheroinaddictsintheU.S.reachesanestimated750,000.
    October1970 Legendarysinger,JanisJoplin,isfounddeadatHollywood'sLandmarkHotel,a
    victimofan"accidentalheroinoverdose."
    1972 HeroinexportationfromSoutheastAsia'sGoldenTriangle,controlledbyShanwarlord,Khun
    Sa,becomesamajorsourceforrawopiumintheprofitabledrugtrade.
    July1,1973
    PresidentNixoncreatestheDEA(DrugEnforcementAdministration)underthe
    JusticeDept.toconsolidatevirtuallyallfederalpowersofdrugenforcementinasingleagency.
    Mid1970's
    Saigonfalls.Theheroinepidemicsubsides.Thesearchforanewsourceofraw
    opiumyieldsMexico'sSierraMadre."MexicanMud"wouldtemporarilyreplace"ChinaWhite"heroin
    until1978.
    1978 TheU.S.andMexicangovernmentsfindameanstoeliminatethesourceofrawopiumby
    sprayingpoppyfieldswithAgentOrange.Theeradicationplanistermedasuccessastheamountof
    "MexicanMud"intheU.S.drugmarketdeclines.Inresponsetothedecreaseinavailabilityof
    "MexicanMud",anothersourceofheroinisfoundintheGoldenCrescentareaIran,Afghanistanand
    Pakistan,creatingadramaticupsurgeintheproductionandtradeofillegalheroin.
    1982 ComedianJohnBelushiofAnimalHousefame,diesofaheroincocaine"speedball"
    overdose.
    U.S.StateDepartmentofficialsconclude,aftermorethanadecadeofcropsubstitutionprogramsfor
    ThirdWorldgrowersofmarijuana,cocaoropiumpoppies,thatthetacticcannotworkwithout
    eradicationoftheplantsandcriminalenforcement.Poorresultsarereportedfromeradicationprograms
    inBurma,Pakistan,MexicoandPeru.
    1988 OpiumproductioninBurmaincreasesundertheruleoftheStateLawandOrderRestoration
    Council(SLORC),theBurmesejuntaregime.
    ThesinglelargestheroinseizureismadeinBangkok.TheU.S.suspectsthatthe2,400poundshipment
    ofheroin,enroutetoNewYorkCity,originatedfromtheGoldenTriangleregion,controlledbydrug
    warlord,KhunSa.
    1990 AU.S.CourtindictsKhunSa,leaderoftheShanUnitedArmyandreputeddrugwarlord,on
    herointraffickingcharges.TheU.S.AttorneyGeneral'sofficechargesKhunSawithimporting3,500
    poundsofheroinintoNewYorkCityoverthecourseofeighteenmonths,aswellasholdinghim
    responsibleforthesourceoftheheroinseizedinBangkok.
    1992 Colombia'sdruglordsaresaidtobeintroducingahighgradeformofheroinintotheUnited
    States.
    1993TheThaiarmywithsupportfromtheU.S.DrugEnforcementAgency(DEA)launchesits
    operationtodestroythousandsofacresofopiumpoppiesfromthefieldsoftheGoldenTriangleregion.
    October31,1993Herointakesanotherwellknownvictim.TwentythreeyearoldactorRiver
    Phoenixdiesofaheroincocaineoverdose,thesame"speedball"combinationthatkilledcomedian
    JohnBelushi.
    January1994 Effortstoeradicateopiumatitssourceremainsunsuccessful.TheClinton
    Administrationordersashiftinpolicyawayfromtheantidrugcampaignsofpreviousadministrations.

    Insteadthefocusincludes"institutionbuilding"withthehopethatby"strengtheningdemocratic
    governmentsabroad,[it]willfosterlawabidingbehaviorandpromotelegitimateeconomic
    opportunity."
    April1994KurtCobain,leadsingeroftheSeattlebasedalternativerockband,Nirvana,diesof
    heroinrelatedsuicide.
    1995 TheGoldenTriangleregionofSoutheastAsiaisnowtheleaderinopiumproduction,yielding
    2,500tonsannually.AccordingtoU.S.drugexperts,therearenewdrugtraffickingroutesfromBurma
    throughLaos,tosouthernChina,CambodiaandVietnam.
    January1996KhunSa,oneofShanstate'smostpowerfuldrugwarlords,"surrenders"toSLORC.The
    U.S.issuspiciousandfearsthatthisagreementbetweentherulingjuntaregimeandKhunSaincludes
    adealallowing"theopiumking"toretaincontrolofhisopiumtradebutinexchangeendhis30year
    oldrevolutionarywaragainstthegovernment.
    November1996Internationaldrugtraffickingorganizations,includingChina,Nigeria,Colombiaand
    Mexicoaresaidtobe"aggressivelymarketingheroinintheUnitedStatesandEurope."

    References
    Booth,Martin.Opium:AHistory.London:Simon&Schuster,Ltd.,1996.
    Latimer,Dean,andJeffGoldbergwithanIntroductionbyWilliamBurroughs.FlowersintheBlood:
    TheStoryofOpium.NewYork:FranklinWatts,1981
    McCoy,AlfredW.ThePoliticsofHeroin:CIAComplicityintheGlobalDrugTrade.NewYork:
    LawrenceHillBooks,1991.
    Musto,DavidF.TheAmericanDisease:OriginsofNarcoticControl.NewYork:OxfordUniversity
    Press,1987.
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/etc/history.html

    Pharmaceuticals
    Monsanto: The Enemy Of Family Farmers
    Elizabeth Kucinich
    Policy Director, Center for Food Safety
    Posted: 04/02/2014
    AfteryearsofworkbyscientificpublicinterestorganizationssuchasCenterforFoodSafetyand
    governmentalbodiessuchastheUnitedNations,consumersaroundtheworldarebecomingawareof
    thedangersofindustrial,chemicalbasedagriculture.Themostlegitimatescienceandresearchbodies
    recommendturningtowardorganicandsustainableagriculture,shunninggeneticallyengineered(GE
    orGMO)productsandthechemicalstheyaredesignedtopromote.YetdespitetheU.N.'sassessment
    thatsustainableagricultureisthewaytofeedtheworld'sgrowingpopulation,U.S.government
    agenciescontinuetosupportthebiotechnologyindustryanditspesticidepromotingcropsasthepath
    forward.ButthemessageisfailingevenwiththebackingoftheU.S.governmentandabarrageof
    advertisingfromcompanieslikeMonsanto.
    Withthegrowthandpowerofthefoodmovement,corporategiantsarebeginningtotakeaction.
    Accordingtonewsreportslastyear,Monsanto"[shook]upitsseniorpublicrelationsstaff,uppedits
    relationshipwithoneofthenation'slargestpublicrelationsfirms andhelpedlauncha[new]
    website..."Afterdecadesofemployinga"blockusandwe'llsueyou"approach,Monsantorecently
    begananintensemakeoverPRcampaign:popularitybyassociation.
    Monsantoiscozyinguptothereputation,authenticityandwholesomenessoffamilyfarmersand
    hopingtheallAmericannostalgiamanyassociatewiththesmallscalefarmerrubsoffonthem.
    DuringtheSuperBowl,keymediamarkets sawMonsanto's"ItBeginswithaFarmer"commercials,
    whichwereintendedtodemonstratethatthecompanysharesthesamevaluesasfamilyfarmersandthe
    consumerstheyfeedandclothe.
    Considerthecold,hardfacts:

    Monsanto's seeds squeeze out family farms.


    Inreality,Monsantoisnofriendtothefamilyfarmerorthecommunitiestheyliveinand
    support.Infact,Monsanto(andotherchemicalcompanieslikeDowChemical,Syngenta,
    BASF,Pioneer/Dupont,andBayer)haveforcedsmallfarmersintoadyingbreed.Thecostof
    industrialagricultureforcesfarmerstogetbigorgetout.ThisisparticularlytrueofGE
    herbicideresistantseeds,whichUSDAeconomiststellushavecontributedtoincreased
    consolidationoffarmlandinfewerhands.
    Forthosefarmerswhosurvive,profitmarginsaresmallerduetothehighcostofinputs.
    Geneticallyengineered(GEorGMO)seedshavedramaticallydrivenupperacreseedprices
    eversincetheywereintroducedin1996(seechartbelow).

    Addtothistherisingcostsofchemicalfertilizersandpesticides(includingherbicides)inthis
    "onesizefitsall"agriculturalmodelwherechemicalcompaniesmakeoutlikebanditsonthe
    saleofseedsandchemicalinputs.Intheend,familyfarmersgetsqueezedoutbythe
    mammothfarmsenabledbybiotechnology.

    Monsanto prohibits seed saving.


    Monsantoimposescontractsandwieldspatentsthatforbidfarmersfromsavingseedsyearto
    year,apracticethathasbeenpartofagricultureforcenturies.Theydemandfarmersbuynew,
    expensiveseedseachyear.AndifafarmerstopsusingMonsanto'spatentedseeds,theyareat
    riskofbreachingtheircontract.Sproutsfrompatentedseedsplantedinapreviousgrowing
    seasoncan"volunteer,"orgrowspontaneouslythefollowingyear,eveninanewcropvariety.
    Ifdiscovered,thefarmercouldfacepenaltiesforpatentinfringement.Monsantofostersstrife
    inruralcommunitiesbyrunninga"hotline"thatencouragesfarmertocallthecompanyand
    informontheirneighbors,andhasevenhiredretiredfarmerstoentrapfarmersintobuying
    seedillegally,activitiesonejudgereferredtoasMonsanto's"scorchedearthpolicies."

    Monsanto sues farmers.


    MonsantohasundertakenanunprecedentedlitigationcampaignagainstAmericanfarmersto
    endthepracticeofseedsavingandsomaximizeitsprofits.Theydevote$10millionofits
    annualbudgettoinvestigateapproximately500farmerseachyearwhoaresuspectedofpatent
    infringement.AsofNovember2012,410farmersand56smallbusinessesandfarming

    operationshavebeeninvolvedincourtcasesinvolvingallegedpatentinfringement,andhave
    paidthecompanynearly$24millionindamages,asumthatdoesnotincludeadditional
    litigationcostslikeattorneyorwitnessfees.WhileMonsantohastakenactionagainst
    thousandsoffarmers,onlythevastmajorityreachpretrialsettlementstoavoidfacingthe
    multinationalgiantincourt.Whenthesepretrialsettlementsareincluded,farmershavepaid
    Monsantoanestimated$85to160million.Monsantowouldliketodismissthesignificanceof
    thesesuitsanddirectattentiontotheirnewwebsitefullofsmiling,meticulouslyselected
    farmers.Thisissimplyadistractionfromthehundreds,ifnotthousands,offarmerswhohave
    losttheirlivelihoodstothecorporatemachine.

    Monsanto poisons farmers and their communities.


    Monsantotoutsthesafetyoftheirproductsandclaimstosupportworkersafety,despite
    establishedlinksbetweenpesticideexposureanddeclininghealth.FarmersintheU.S.who
    considertheirhealthdamagedbyMonsanto'sproductshavehadahardtimefindinglegal
    recourse.Farmersoverseashavehadbetterluck.In2012,aFrenchcourtruledthat
    Monsanto'sLassoweedkillerwasresponsibleforpoisoningaFrenchfarmer,whosuffered
    frommemoryloss,stammering,andheadaches.BecauseMonsantohadnotproperlylabeled
    thepesticide,thefarmerdidnotknowhowtoxicthechemicaltrulywas.Foryears,
    Argentinianfarmershaveexperiencedincreasedcasesofcancerandbirthdefects,eversince
    Monsantoproductswereintroducedtotheirfields.Thisyear,thecommunitysuccessfully
    filedasuittoblockMonsanto'sconstructionofatransgenicseedplant,fearingtheirhealth
    wouldcontinuetoworsen.

    Don'tbefooledbyMonsanto'sPRspinmachine.
    Monsantodoesnotshareourvaluesandtheyaren'tinterestedinchangingtheirways.Tolearnmore
    aboutissuesrelatedtogeneticengineering(orGMOs),visitwww.CenterForFoodSafety.org.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabethkucinich/theenemyoffamilyfarmers_b_4064134.html

    Scandal of experts who rule on NHS statins but get paid by drugs firms
    MOST of the experts who are set to recommend the widespread use of
    statins next month are in the pay of the drug companies that
    manufacture them.
    By: Lucy Johnston
    Published: Sun, March 9, 2014
    DrAnthonyWierzbicki:ChairmanofstatinpanelhaslinkstodrugfirmsincludingPfizer
    Anysuggestionthatmedicsorofficialsstandtopersonallyprofitfromdecisionsaboutourcarewill
    rightlyworrypatientsAndrewGwynne,ShadowHealthMinister
    ThespecialistssitontheGovernmenthealthwatchdog,theNationalInstituteforHealthandCare
    Excellence(Nice).
    Niceisexpectedtoissuenewnationaladvicesayingstatins,nowprescribedtoaboutsevenmillion
    peopleayear,shouldbeofferedtoatleastoneinfouradults.
    Themovehasbeencriticisedbymanydoctorswhosaythatformanylowriskpatientsthebenefitsof
    statinsdonotoutweighpossiblesideeffectsincludingdiabetes,impotence,cataracts,musclepains,
    mentalimpairment,fatigueandliverdysfunction.

    ASundayExpressinvestigationhasdiscoveredeightoutof12membersoftheNicepanelwhichdrew
    uptheguidancehavefinancialtiestocompaniesthatmakestatinsornextgenerationcholesterol
    loweringdrugs.
    ThefinancialtiesaredeclaredinanappendixtothenewdraftNicestatinguidanceandinclude
    paymentsforspeeches,lecturesortoattendconferenceswhichcanreapthousandsofpoundsperhour.
    Italsoincludessalariesforinvolvementinclinicaltrialsofnewstatinstyledrugs,whichcanamountto
    tensofthousandsofpoundsayear,paymentfordrugcompanyadvisoryroles,andinonecasea
    sponsorshipofaworkpost.
    ToryMPDrSarahWollastonhasvowedtocallontheCommonsHealthSelectCommitteeto
    investigatetherevelation.
    GPDrWollaston,aformermemberofthecommittee,said:Thisshouldleadtoanexaminationby
    Nice.Itisaconcernasthispanelsdecisionhassuchwidespreadimplicationsforprescribingandcost
    totheNHS.
    ShadowHealthMinisterAndrewGwynnesaid:Patientsacrossthecountrywillbeconcernedbythese
    findings.Anysuggestionthatmedicsorofficialsstandtopersonallyprofitfromdecisionsaboutour
    carewillrightlyworrypatients.Ministersmustaskthewatchdogtoinvestigatewithoutdelay.
    AseemMalhotra,aLondonbasedheartdoctor,said:Iamastoundedthateightoutof12membersof
    thestatinpanelhavedirectfinancialtiestothedrugsindustry.
    IalwaysbelievedNicewascompletelyindependentofthedrugsindustry.Weneedresearchersand
    scientiststoconcentrateonwhatisbestforpatientsandnotindividualcareersandprofitsofdrug
    companies.
    OneoftheeightNicememberswithfinanciallinksisDrAnthonyWierzbicki,chairmanofthestatin
    panelandaheartdiseasespecialistatGuysandStThomasshospitalinLondon,whoisbeingpaidby
    sixdruggiants,includingPfizer,SanofiandAventis,tohelpresearchnewgenerationcholesterol
    loweringdrugs.DrRajaiAhmad,aheartspecialistatWestMidlandsHospital,hasreceivedspeaker
    feesfrommultinationaldrugcompaniesinvestinginheartdrugs.
    DrMichaelKhan,aheartspecialistatUniversityHospitalsofCoventryandWarwickshire,hasbeen
    paidbydrugcompaniesinvestinginheartdrugsforlecturesandtositonfourdrugcompanyadvisory
    boardsandisbeingpaidbydrugcompanyAmgentorunaclinicaltrial.
    SpecialistheartnurseSisterEmmaMcGowan,whoworksatthesametrust,admittedherjobhasbeen
    sponsoredbystatinmanufacturersAstraZenecaforayear.Shealsoreceivedadrugcompanypayment
    forspeakingandanotherforattendingaconference.Shedeclared:Thepaymentsweremadetome
    personallyasIhavebeeninformedtheyareunabletopayintoadepartmentalfund.
    DrRobertDermotNeely,heartspecialistattheUniversityofNewcastle,declareddrugcompanycash
    forsittingontheiradvisoryboards,workingontrialsintonewheartdrugsandforattendinga
    conference.TheSundayExpressrevealedlastweekthatleadingspecialistsaredemandinganendto
    thewidespreaduseofthecontroversialheartdrugs.
    DrKailashChand,deputychairmanoftheBritishMedicalAssociation,suffereddebilitatingside
    effectsafterhewasprescribedstatinsfiveyearsago.
    DrChand,60,aGPinTameside,GreaterManchester,said:Thewholethingiscorrupting.Members
    ofthepanelshouldbewhiterthanwhiteandnotinthepayofdrugcompanies.

    DrMalcolmKendrick,whohasstudiedhearthealth,added:Niceisthejudiciaryfordrugs.Noone
    whohasafinancialconflictofinterestshouldbeinvolved.Itmustbestopped.
    AspokesmanforNicesaid:Theconflictsofinterestdeclaredbycommitteemembersinvolvedin
    producingthisguidelinehavebeenmanagedappropriately.Theyhavenotinfluencedinanywaythe
    draftrecommendationsontheuseofstatins.
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/463873/Expertsrecommendingstatinsarepaidbydrugsfirms

    WhattheTamiflusagatellsusaboutdrugtrialsandbigpharma
    Wenowknowthegovernment'sTamiflustockpilewouldn'thavedoneusmuchgoodintheeventofa
    fluepidemic.Butthesecrecysurroundingclinicaltrialsmeansthere'salotwedon'tknowaboutother
    medicineswetake.
    o

    BenGoldacre

    TheGuardian,Thursday10April2014

    TodaywefoundoutthatTamifludoesn'tworksowellafterall.Roche,thedrugcompanybehindit,
    withheldvitalinformationonitsclinicaltrialsforhalfadecade,buttheCochraneCollaboration,a
    globalnotforprofitorganisationof14,000academics,finallyobtainedalltheinformation.Puttingthe
    evidencetogether,ithasfoundthatTamifluhaslittleornoimpactoncomplicationsoffluinfection,
    suchaspneumonia.
    ThatisascandalbecausetheUKgovernmentspent0.5bnstockpilingthisdruginthehopethatit
    wouldhelppreventserioussideeffectsfromfluinfection.ButthebiggerscandalisthatRochebroke
    nolawbywithholdingvitalinformationonhowwellitsdrugworks.Infact,themethodsandresultsof
    clinicaltrialsonthedrugsweusetodayarestillroutinelyandlegallybeingwithheldfromdoctors,
    researchersandpatients.ItissimplebadluckforRochethatTamiflubecame,arbitrarily,theposter
    childforthemissingdatastory.
    Anditisagreatposterchild.ThebattleoverTamifluperfectlyillustratestheneedforfulltransparency
    aroundclinicaltrials,theimportanceofaccesstoobscuredocumentation,andthefailureofthe
    regulatorysystem.Crucially,itisalsoanillustrationofhowscience,atitsbest,isbuiltontransparency
    andopennesstocriticism,becausethesagaoftheCochraneTamiflureviewbeganwithasimpleonline
    comment.
    In2009,therewaswidespreadconcernaboutanewflupandemic,andbillionswerebeingspent
    stockpilingTamifluaroundtheworld.Becauseofthis,theUKandAustraliangovernmentsspecifically
    askedtheCochraneCollaborationtoupdateitsearlierreviewsonthedrug.Cochranereviewsarethe
    goldstandardinmedicine:theysummariseallthedataonagiventreatment,andtheyareinaconstant
    reviewcycle,becauseevidencechangesovertimeasnewtrialsarepublished.Thisshouldhavebeena
    prettyeverydaypieceofwork:thepreviousreview,in2008,hadfoundsomeevidencethatTamiflu
    does,indeed,reducetherateofcomplicationssuchaspneumonia.ButthenaJapanesepaediatrician
    calledKeijiHayashileftacommentthatwouldtriggerarevolutioninourunderstandingofhow
    evidencebasedmedicineshouldwork.Thiswasn'tinapublication,orevenaletter:itwasasimple
    onlinecomment,postedinformallyunderneaththeTamiflureviewontheCochranewebsite,almost
    likeablogcomment.
    Cochranehadsummarisedthedatafromallthetrials,explainedHayashi,butitspositiveconclusion
    wasdrivenbydatafromjustoneofthepapersitcited:anindustryfundedsummaryof10previous
    trials,ledbyanauthorcalledKaiser.Fromthese10trials,onlytwohadeverbeenpublishedinthe

    scientificliterature.Fortheremainingeight,theonlyavailableinformationonthemethodsusedcame
    fromthebriefsummaryinthissecondarysource,createdbyindustry.That'snotreliableenough.
    Thisisscienceatitsbest.TheCochranereviewisreadilyaccessibleonline;itexplainstransparently
    themethodsbywhichitlookedfortrials,andthenanalysedthem,soanyinformedreadercanpullthe
    reviewapart,andunderstandwheretheconclusionscamefrom.Cochraneprovidesaneasywayfor
    readerstoraisecriticisms.And,crucially,thesecriticismsdidnotfallondeafears.DrTomJeffersonis
    theheadoftheCochranerespiratorygroup,andtheleadauthoronthe2008review.Herealised
    immediatelythathehadmadeamistakeinblindlytrustingtheKaiserdata.Hesaidso,without
    defensiveness,andthensetaboutgettingtheinformationneeded.
    First,theCochraneresearcherswrotetotheauthorsoftheKaiserpaper.Byreply,theyweretoldthat
    thisteamnolongerhadthefiles:theyshouldcontactRoche.Heretheproblemsbegan.Rochesaidit
    wouldhandoversomeinformation,buttheCochranereviewerswouldneedtosignaconfidentiality
    agreement.Thiswastricky:Cochranereviewsarebuiltaroundshowingtheirworking,butRoche's
    proposedcontractwouldrequirethemtokeeptheinformationbehindtheirreasoningsecretfrom
    readers.Morethanthis,thecontractsaidtheywerenotallowedtodiscussthetermsoftheirsecrecy
    agreement,orpubliclyacknowledgethatitevenexisted.Rochewasdemandingasecretcontract,with
    secretterms,requiringsecrecyaboutthemethodsandresultsoftrials,inadiscussionaboutthesafety
    andefficacyofadrugthathasbeentakenbyhundredsofthousandsofpeoplearoundtheworld,andon
    whichgovernmentshadspentbillions.Roche'sdemand,worryingly,isnotunusual.Atthispoint,many
    inmedicinewouldeitheracquiesce,orgiveup.JeffersonaskedRocheforclarificationaboutwhythe
    contractwasnecessary.Heneverreceivedareply.
    Then,inOctober2009,thecompanychangedtack.Itwouldliketohandoverthedata,itexplained,but
    anotheracademicreviewonTamifluwasbeingconductedelsewhere.Rochehadgiventhisothergroup
    thestudyreports,soCochranecouldn'thavethem.Thiswasanonsequitur:thereisnoreasonwhy
    manygroupsshouldnotallworkonthesamequestion.Infact,sincereplicationisthecornerstoneof
    goodscience,thiswouldbeactivelydesirable.
    Then,oneweeklater,unannounced,Rochesentsevendocuments,eacharoundadozenpageslong.
    ThesecontainedexcerptsofinternalcompanydocumentsoneachoftheclinicaltrialsintheKaiser
    metaanalysis.Itwasastart,butnothingliketheinformationCochraneneededtoassessthebenefits,or
    therateofadverseevents,orfullytounderstandthedesignofthetrials.
    Atthesametime,itwasrapidlybecomingclearthattherewereoddinconsistenciesintheinformation
    onthisdrug.Crucially,differentorganisationsaroundtheworldhaddrawnvastlydifferentconclusions
    aboutitseffectiveness.TheUSFoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)saiditgavenobenefitson
    complicationssuchaspneumonia,whiletheUSCentersforDiseaseControlandPreventionsaiditdid.
    TheJapaneseregulatormadenoclaimforcomplications,buttheEuropeanMedicinesAgency(EMA)
    saidtherewasabenefit.Thereareonlytwoexplanationsforthis,andbothcanonlyberesolvedbyfull
    transparency.Eithertheseorganisationssawdifferentdata,inwhichcaseweneedtobuildacollective
    list,addupallthetrials,andworkouttheeffectsofthedrugoverall.Orthisisaclosecall,andthereis
    reasonabledisagreementonhowtointerpretthetrials,inwhichcaseweneedfullaccesstotheir
    methodsandresults,foraninformedpublicdebateinthemedicalacademiccommunity.
    Thisisparticularlyimportant,sincetherecanoftenbeshortcomingsinthedesignofaclinicaltrial,
    whichmeanitisnolongerafairtestofwhichtreatmentisbest.Wenowknowthiswasthecasein
    manyoftheTamiflutrials,where,forexample,participantsweresometimesveryunrepresentativeof
    realworldpatients.Similarly,intrialsdescribedas"doubleblinded"whereneitherdoctornorpatient
    shouldbeabletotellwhetherthey'regettingaplaceboortherealdrugtheactiveandplacebopills
    weredifferentcolours.Evenmoreoddly,inalmostallTamiflutrials,itseemsadiagnosisof
    pneumoniawasmeasuredbypatients'selfreporting:manyresearcherswouldhaveexpectedaclear
    diagnosticalgorithm,perhapsachestxray,atleast.

    SincetheCochraneteamwerestillbeingdeniedtheinformationneededtospottheseflaws,they
    decidedtoexcludeallthisdatafromtheiranalysis,leavingthereviewinlimbo.Itwaspublishedin
    December2009,withanoteexplainingtheirreasoning,andasmallflurryofactivityfollowed.Roche
    postedtheirbriefexcerptsonline,andcommittedtomakefullstudyreportsavailable.Forfouryears,
    theythenfailedtodoso.
    Duringthisperiod,theglobalmedicalacademiccommunitybegantorealisethatthebrief,published
    academicpapersontrialswhichwehavereliedonformanyyearscanbeincomplete,andeven
    misleading.Muchmoredetailisavailableinaclinicalstudyreport(CSR),theintermediatedocument
    thatstandsbetweentherawdataandajournalarticle:thepreciseplanforanalysingthedata
    statistically,detaileddescriptionsofadverseevents,andsoon.
    By2009,RochehadsharedjustsmallportionsoftheCSRs,buteventhiswasenoughtoseetherewere
    problems.Forexample,lookingatthetwopapersoutof10intheKaiserreviewthatwerepublished,
    onesaid:"Therewerenodrugrelatedseriousadverseevents",andtheotherdoesn'tmentionadverse
    events.ButintheCSRdocumentssharedonthesesametwostudies,10seriousadverseeventswere
    listed,ofwhichthreeareclassifiedasbeingpossiblyrelatedtoTamiflu.
    Bysettingoutalltheknowntrialssidebyside,theresearcherswereabletoidentifypeculiar
    discrepancies:forexample,thelargest"phasethree"trialoneofthelargetrialsthataredonetogeta
    drugontothemarketwasneverpublished,andisrarelymentionedinregulatorydocuments.
    Thechasecontinued,anditexemplifiestheattitudeofindustrytowardstransparency.InJune2010,
    RochetoldCochraneitwassorry,butithadthoughttheyalreadyhadwhattheywanted.InJuly,it
    announcedthatitwasworriedaboutpatientconfidentiality.Bynow,Rochehadbeenrefusingto
    publishthestudyreportsforayear.Suddenly,itbegantoraiseoddpersonalconcerns.Itclaimedthat
    someCochraneresearchershadmadeuntruestatementsaboutthedrug,andaboutthecompany,but
    refusedtosaywho,orwhat,orwhere."CertainmembersofCochraneGroup,"itsaid,"areunlikelyto
    approachthereviewwiththeindependencethatisbothnecessaryandjustified."Thisishardtocredit,
    buteveniftrue,itshouldbeirrelevant:badscienceisoftenpublished,andisshotdowninpublic,in
    academicjournals,bypeoplewithgoodarguments.Thisishowscienceworks.Nocompanyor
    researchershouldbeallowedtochoosewhohasaccesstotrialdata.StillRocherefusedtohandover
    thestudyreports.
    ThenRochecomplainedthattheCochranereviewershadbeguntocopyinjournalists,includingme,
    ontheiremailswhenrespondingtoRochestaff.Atthesametime,thecompanywasraisingthebroken
    argumentsthatareeerilyfamiliartoanyonewhohasfollowedthecampaignforgreatertrials
    transparency.Keyamongthesewasonethatcutstothecoreoftheculturewarbetweenevidencebased
    medicine,andtheolder"eminencebasedmedicine"thatwearesupposedtohaveleftbehind.Itis
    simplynotthejobofacademicstomakethesedecisionsaboutbenefitandrisk,saidRoche,itisthe
    jobofregulators.
    Thisargumentfailsontwofronts.First,aswithmanyotherdrugs,itnowseemsthatnoteventhe
    regulatorshadseenalltheinformationonallthetrials.Butmorethanthat,regulatorsmissthings.
    Manyofthemostnotableproblemswithmedicinesoverthepastfewyearswiththearthritisdrug
    Vioxx;withthediabetesdrugrosiglitazone,marketedasAvandia;andwiththeevidencebasefor
    Tamifluweren'tspottedprimarilybyregulators,butratherbyindependentdoctorsandacademics.
    Regulatorsdon'tmissthingsbecausetheyarecorrupt,orincompetent.Theymissthingsbecause
    detectingsignalsofriskandbenefitinreviewsofclinicaltrialsisadifficultbusinessandso,likeall
    difficultquestionsinscience,itbenefitsfromhavingmanyeyesontheproblem.
    WhilethebattleforaccesstoTamiflutrialshasgoneon,theworldofmedicinehasbeguntoshift,
    albeitatapainfulpace,withtheEuropeanOmbudsmanandseveralBritishselectcommitteesjoining
    thepushfortransparency.TheAllTrialscampaign,whichIcofoundedlastyear,nowhasthesupport
    ofalmostallmedicalandacademicprofessionalbodiesintheUK,andmanymoreworldwide,aswell
    asmorethan100patientgroups,andthedrugcompanyGSK.Wehaveseennewcodesofconduct,and

    Europeanlegislation,proposingimprovementsinaccess:allriddledwithloopholes,butimprovements
    nonetheless.Crucially,withholdingdatahasbecomeaheadlineissue,andmuchlessdefensible.
    Lastyear,inthecontextofthiswidershift,underceaselessquestionsfromCochraneandtheBritish
    MedicalJournal,afterhalfadecade,RochefinallygaveCochranetheinformationitneeded.
    SodoesTamifluwork?FromtheCochraneanalysisfullypublicTamifludoesnotreducethe
    numberofhospitalisations.Therewasn'tenoughdatatoseeifitreducesthenumberofdeaths.Itdoes
    reducethenumberofselfreported,unverifiedcasesofpneumonia,butwhenyoulookatthefivetrials
    withadetaileddiagnosticformforpneumonia,thereisnosignificantbenefit.Itmighthelppreventflu
    symptoms,butnotasymptomaticspread,andtheevidencehereismixed.Itwilltakeafewhoursoff
    thedurationofyourflusymptoms.Butallthiscomesatasignificantcostofsideeffects.Since
    percentagesarehardtovisualise,wecanmakethosenumbersmoretangiblebytakingthefiguresfrom
    theCochranereview,andapplyingthem.Forexample,ifamillionpeopletakeTamifluinapandemic,
    45,000willexperiencevomiting,31,000willexperienceheadacheand11,000willhavepsychiatric
    sideeffects.Remember,though,thatthosefiguresallassumeweareonlygivingTamiflutoamillion
    people:ifthingskickoff,wehavestockpiledenoughfor80%ofthepopulation.That'squitealotof
    vomit.
    Rochehasissuedapressreleasesayingitconteststheseconclusions,butgivingnoreasons:sonowwe
    canfinallyletsciencebegin.ItcanshootdownthedetailsoftheCochranereviewIhopeitwilland
    wewilledgetowardsthetruth.Thisiswhatsciencelookslike.Rochealsodeniesbeingdraggedto
    transparency,andsaysitsimplydidn'tknowhowtorespondtoCochrane.This,again,speakstothe
    paceofchange.Ihavenoideawhyitwaswithholdinginformation:butIrathersuspectitwassimply
    becausethat'swhatpeoplehavealwaysdone,andsharingitwasahassle,requiringnewnormstobe
    developed.That'sreassuringanddepressingatthesametime.
    Shouldwehavespenthalfabilliononthisdrug?That'satrickyquestion.Ifyoupictureyourselfina
    bunker,watchingacatastrophicpandemicunfold,confrontingtheendofhumancivilisation,youcould
    probablypersuadeyourselfthatTamiflumightbeworthbuyinganyway,evenknowingtherisksand
    benefits.Butthatfinalclauseisthekey.Weoftenchoosetousetreatmentsinmedicine,knowingthat
    theyhavelimitedbenefit,andsignificantsideeffects:butwemakeaninformeddecision,balancingthe
    risksandbenefitsforourselves.
    Andinanycase,that500misthetipoftheiceberg.Tamifluisasideshow,theoneplacewherea
    singleteamofdoggedacademicssaid"enough"andthecompanycavedin.Buttheresultsofclinical
    trialsarestillbeingroutinelyandlegallywithheldonthemedicinesweusetodayandnothingabouta
    finalansweronTamifluwillhelpplugthisgapinghole.
    Moreimportantly,forallthatthereisprogress,sofarwehaveonlysentiment,andhalfmeasures.None
    ofthechangestoEuropeanlegislationorcodesofconductgetusaccesstotheinformationweneed,
    becausetheyallreferonlytonewtrials,sotheysharealoopholethatexcludesremarkablyallthe
    trialsonallthemedicinesweusetoday,andwillcontinuetousefordecades.Totakeoneconcreteand
    topicalexample:theywouldn'thavemadeablindbitofdifferenceonTamiflu.Wehaveseenvoluntary
    pledgesforgreatertransparencyfrommanyindividualcompaniesJohnson&Johnson,Roche,GSK,
    nowRoche,andmorewhicharewelcome,butsimilarpromiseshavebeengivenbefore,andthen
    reversedafewyearslater.
    Thisisapivotalmomentinthehistoryofmedicine.Trialstransparencyisfinallyontheagenda,and
    thismaybeouronlyopportunitytofixitinadecade.Wecannotmakeinformeddecisionsaboutwhich
    treatmentisbestwhileinformationaboutclinicaltrialsisroutinelyandlegallywithheldfromdoctors,
    researchers,andpatients.Anyonewhostandsinthewayoftransparencyisexposingpatientsto
    avoidableharm.Weneedregulators,legislators,andprofessionalbodiestodemandfulltransparency.
    Weneedclearauditonwhatinformationismissing,andwhoiswithholdingit.

    Finally,morethananythingbecausecultureshiftwillbeaspowerfulaslegislationweneedtodo
    somethingevenmoredifficult.Weneedtopraise,encourage,andsupportthecompaniesand
    individualswhoarebeginningtodotherightthing.ThisnowincludesRoche.Andso,paradoxically,
    aftereverythingyouhavereadabove,withtheoutragefreshinyourmind,onthedaywhenitfeels
    harderthananyother,Ihopeyouwilljoinmeinsaying:Bravo,Roche.Nowlet'sdobetter.
    BenGoldacreisadoctorandtheauthorofBadPharma.
    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/10/tamiflusagadrugtrialsbigpharma

    Drones
    Living with death by drone
    U.S. drones hover over villages in Pakistan, with the residents never
    knowing when they will strike.
    October 04, 2012 by Jennifer Gibson
    Lastweek,StanfordUniversityandNewYorkUniversityreleasedamajorstudyabouttheuseof
    dronesintheeverevolvingbutneverendingwaronterror.Unfortunately,manycommentatorsmissed
    thereport'skeymessage:Dronesareterrorizinganentirecivilianpopulation.
    Iwasoneoftheresearchersforthestudy,andspentweeksinPakistaninterviewingmorethan60
    peoplefromNorthWaziristan.Manyweresurvivorsofstrikes.Othershadlostlovedonesandfamily
    members.Allofthemliveundertheconstantthreatofannihilation.
    WhatmycolleaguesandIlearnedfromtheseunnamedandunknown victimsofAmerica'sdrone
    warfaregavethereportitstitle:"LivingUnderDrones."
    PeopleintheUnitedStatesimaginethatdronesflytoatarget,launchtheirdeadlymissileswith
    surgicalprecisionandreturntoaU.S.basehundredsorthousandsofmilesaway.Butdronesarea
    constantpresenceintheskiesabovetheNorthWaziristantribalareainPakistan,withasmanyassix
    hoveringovervillagesatanyonetime.Peoplehearthemdayandnight.Theyareaninescapable
    presence,theloomingspecterofdeathfromabove.
    AndthatpresenceissteadilydestroyingacommunitytwicethesizeofRhodeIsland.Parentsareafraid
    tosendtheirchildrentoschool.Womenareafraidtomeetinmarkets .Familiesareafraidtogatherat
    funeralsforpeoplewronglykilledinearlierstrikes.Driversareafraidtodeliverfoodfromotherparts
    ofthecountry.
    Theroutinesofdailylifehavebeenrippedtoshreds.Indisputablyinnocentpeoplecowerintheir
    homes,afraidtoassembleonthestreets."Doubletaps ,"orsecondarystrikesonthesametarget,have
    stoppedresidentsfromaidingthosewhohavebeeninjured.Aleadinghumanitarianagencynowdelays
    assistancebyanastonishingsixhours.
    Whatmakesthissituationevenworseisthatnoonecantellpeopleinthesecommunitieswhattheycan
    dotomakethemselvessafe.NooneknowswhoisontheAmericankilllist,nooneknowshowthey
    gotthereandnooneknowswhattheycandotogetthemselvesoff.It'sallterrifyinglyrandom.
    Suddenly,andwithoutwarning,amissilelaunchesandobliterateseveryonewithina16yardradius.
    Naturally,theObamaadministrationclaimsitstrikesonlymilitants.Butifwehavelearnedanything
    since9/11,itisthatwemustallreadthefineprint.Whatpeopledonotappreciateisthatthe
    administrationdefinesmilitantsasallmilitaryagemales,typicallythosebetween18and65.In
    addition,becausetheU.S.generallydoesnotreleasethenamesofpeoplewhohavebeenkilled,we
    cannotknowwhetherthevictimswereactuallymilitantsorweredeemedmilitantssimplybecause
    Washingtonsaystheywere.
    Indeed,theentireprocessisriddledwiththesamesortofflawsthatbesetthedetentionregimeatthe
    militaryprisoninGuantanamoBay,Cuba.InAfghanistan,theBushadministrationpaidenormous
    bountiesinanefforttogetinformationontheground.Inareasrifewithtribalandfamilialrivalries,the
    resultwaspredictable:HundredsofinnocentpeoplewerewronglyfingeredasTalibanorAlQaeda,
    manyofwhomspentyearsatGuantanamoorotherAmericanprisonsoverseas.
    NowtheUnitedStatesisofferingsimilarincentivestopeopleinNorthWaziristanwhopromiseto
    identifymilitants.Theallegedmilitants'homesaretaggedbyGPStrackersandlater,whenthe
    informantisatasafedistance,blowntosmithereens.Andbecausenooneknowswhotheinformants
    are,peoplearereluctanttoinviteneighborsintotheirhomes.Theentirecommunitywithdrawsfrom
    thepublicsquare,afraidtoventureoutbutequallyafraidtobringtheoutsidein.

    Thisiswhatitmeanstoliveunderdrones.IthasturnedNorthWaziristanintotheworld'slargest
    prison,amassiveoccupiedzone.AhumanitarianworkerwhowasinNewYorkon9/11andisnow
    workinginNorthWaziristantoldusthattheatmosphereinthetwoplacesfeelsverymuchthesame.
    Theconstantsenseofterrorisafeelingthatknowsnoboundaries.
    Ofcourse,weshouldaskwhetherdronesarelegalunderinternationallaw;myviewisthattheyare
    not.Ofcourse,weshouldaskwhetherdronesarecounterproductive;myviewisthattheyare.
    Butnodiscussionoftheissueisremotelycompleteunlesswecometogripswithwhatitmeanstobe
    livingunderdrones.
    JenniferGibsonisastaffattorneywithReprieve,aLondonbasedlegalcharitythatrepresentsdozens
    ofPakistanidronevictims.ShewaspartoftheStanfordresearchteamthatvisitedPakistanandisa
    coauthorof"LivingUnderDrones."
    http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/04/opinion/laoegibsondronescivilians20121004

    US drone strikes kill about 50 in south Yemen


    ThedeathtollfromthreedaysofairstrikescarriedoutbyUSdronesinsouthernYemenhas
    reachedalmost50,reportssay.
    OnMonday,atleastthreepeoplewerekilledafteraUSdronefiredamissileatavehiclecarryingthree
    meninthecountryssouthernprovinceofShabwa.
    Accordingtowitnesses,thevehiclewascompletelydestroyedandtheburntremainsofthebodies
    couldbeseen.
    OnSunday,atleast25peoplewerekilledinaseriesofdroneattacksontheseconddayofstrikesin
    AbyanProvince,whichisalsoinsouthernYemen.
    TwoairstrikeswerealsocarriedoutonSaturday,killingatleast18peopleinBaidaProvince.
    TheUSadministrationclaimsthatitsunmannedaircraftattackstargetalQaedamilitants,butlocal
    sourcessaycivilianshavebeenthemainvictimsofthenonUNsanctionedairstrikes.
    LastOctober,HumanRightsWatch(HRW)saidUSkillerdronestrikesinYemenhadledtothedeath
    ofmanyciviliansoverthepastyearsinablatantviolationofinternationallaw.
    InFebruary,therightsgroupcalledonWashingtontoinvestigateafataldronestrikeonawedding
    ceremonyinYemeninDecember.TheHRWsaidinareport,dubbedAWeddingThatBecamea
    Funeral:USDroneAttackonMarriageProcessioninYemen,thattheDecember12,2013attack
    killedadozenmenandwoundedatleast15others,includingthebride.
    http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/21/359446/about50killedinyemendronestrikes/

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