on the CIA. Have you heard of this freak? Read the bio, from wiki sorry I forgot the link:

Michael F. Scheuer is a former CIA employee. In his 22-year career, he served as the Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station (aka "Alec Station"), from 1996 to 1999, the Osama bin Laden tracking unit at the Counterterrorist Center. He then worked again as Special Advisor to the Chief of the bin Laden unit from September 2001 to November 2004.

Now watch him on Glenn Beck:

Wishing for a new 9/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auQJVhNH99c&feature=related

Creeps like this have the ear of those in power.

There are many reliable posters in this comment section, whose opinions, citations, and statements of fact I take at face value without hesitation. The main reason I even read this comment section (and it's a HUGE time sucker, as others will know) is for the chance to learn something new, the opportunity to read links that will lead me down little rabbit holes, which I love.

That said, I've been on the intertubes a long time; not as long as Jebbie, but a relatively long time, much much longer than 99% of 'netizens. Suffice it to say, between running several blogs for many years that had active comment sections, to partipating in newsgroups and compuserve forums and message boards inundated with various breeds of trolls, and with my Scorpio intuition, I have learned who to believe and who not to believe.

While some people here revere Ondolette as some kind of god, and swallow everything he writes, I don't. And that's all I'm going to say about him, because he knows what's he's doing, and I've been hip to it for some time. You go, Ondy!

I second that emotion

"While some people here revere Ondolette as some kind of god, and swallow everything he writes",

Are you sure that the word at the end beginning with the letter "w" is the word you intended, rather than another word that also begins with a "w" that you might have more accurately used?

Because I wasn't wrong, you were quoting from an event that was later shown to be about propaganda and pricing, and you remain stuck in time, quoting your one little event while 25 years of history shows the opposite. And when you're shown that the area is awash with heroin, you try to pull a CIA plot out of your hat.

There are some subjects on which people just will not look at the facts. For you, apparently, Afghanistan is one of them.

There would be no difficulty admitting I was wrong if I was, but I wasn't. The Taliban and their contacts in Pakistan and elsewhere did not cease to be in the heroin business during their ban. What I can admit to you is that I will not get in line with the official anti-war slogans that permeate this site just because those people have labeled themselves as the gold standard in criticism of U.S. militarism. On many factual points in areas in which slogans are more convenient and facts lead to too much complexity, they just adopt the slogans. I have multiple interests in South/Central/East Asia. On different places there, I've studied varying amounts, on some subjects I have 30 years of background. I see no reason to knuckle under when the anti-war leaders have their facts screwed up.

It's amazing how much crap bernbart takes when her facts are wrong, given how some of those criticizing her can go on for pages with a tenuous, at best, connection to the truth.

You and the others never remarked on the Taliban collateral damage I pointed out yesterday. Was that some CIA plot too?

Thanks for the Wiki-link about the “Opium Wars”. I didn’t know much about that before.

From the article:

Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which Britain annexed Bengal to its empire, the British East India Company pursued a monopoly on production and export of Indian opium. Monopoly began in earnest in 1773, as the British Governor-General of Bengal abolished the opium syndicate at Patna. For the next fifty years opium trade would be the key to the East India Company's hold on the subcontinent.

So the scheme seems to be:

Find something addictive to sell…or create an addictive need for some product [ie: cigarettes] and then monopolize the production/transport and sale of the product through any means necessary.

In my opinion, one example is the American highway system. The Government created and stoked fear of “the commies” in the populace and then used that fear to [among other things] create a huge need for petroleum. [US highway system and automobiles instead of mass transit] Then they could profit not only from the product itself, but from the wars required to obtain it and maintain top-dog status in the system.

The price was manipulated-starting out small to get the populace hooked, then slowly increasing the amount, when there was no longer a viable choice, since the mass-transit infrastructure had been starved to emaciation.

About the highway system [from Wikipedia]:

One of Eisenhower's enduring achievements was championing and signing the bill that authorized the Interstate Highway System in 1956. He justified the project through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 as essential to American security during the Cold Wa. It was believed that large cities would be targets in a possible future war, and the highways were designed to evacuate them and allow the military to move in. […] Noticing the improved ability to move logistics throughout the country, he thought an Interstate Highway System in the U.S. would not only be beneficial for military operations, but be the building block for continued economic growth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower

Eisenhower argued for the highways for the purpose of national defense. In the event of an invasion by a foreign power, the military would need good roads to be able to quickly transport troops around the country. […] Another result of the act was the direct subsidization of the suburban road infrastructure, making commutes between urban centers to suburbs much quicker, furthering the flight of citizens and businesses and divestment from inner cities, and compounding vehicle pollution and excessive petroleum use problems.[citation needed] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aid_Highway_Act_of_1956