The revolution in Colombia

About 10 days ago the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a
Marxist insurgency, launched a major offensive. They attacked 26 rural
towns and attempted to stage a major assault on Bogota, the nation’s
capital city. But according to General Charles Wilhelm, commander in
chief of the U.S.
Southern Command, the Colombian government smashed the Communist
offensive, inflicting “triple digit” losses.

The Communist guerrilla leaders, to be sure, denied that their forces
had been defeated. Instead, they suggested the results of their
offensive were mixed. Perhaps they have a point, because a few days
after the fighting died down the Colombian government said it
desperately needed half a billion
dollars in order to modernize its military. Already Colombia is the
third largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid after Israel and Egypt. But
it’s not enough. Given the difficulties of fighting a guerrilla war in a
country of mountains and forests, and the fact that the guerrillas
control nearly half
the country, the situation is definitely not coming up roses.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are estimated to have
17,000 troops. And these are not the only Communist guerrillas in the
country. There is another Communist insurgency as well, smaller in size
— the ELN. These forces also have government troops pinned down across
a wide
area. The problem for the government is how to protect the small towns
and villages. The other problem, is how to cut off the guerrillas’ main
sources of supply.

And what is that source of supply?

Money from good old American drug users.

The two Communist guerrilla armies in Colombia — the FARC and ELN —
control most of the coca growing areas in the country, and nearly all
the new growth in coca cultivation. It turns out that fighting drugs and
fighting the Communists in Colombia amounts to the same thing. In fact,
Colombia is the largest cocaine producer on planet earth, and half of
the heroin picked up on U.S. streets is said to originate in Colombia.

“Colombia is in a near-crisis situation,” says General Barry
McCaffrey, the U.S. drug policy director. “We must support the Colombian
government as it attempts to reassert democratic control of its
drug-producing areas.”

The Communists in Colombia are definitely relying on narcotics
trafficking in order to support their war effort. The chances are, if
you are a casual American drug user, you might be unwittingly
contributing to terrorism and armed revolution in Latin America.

For those in sympathy with Communist ideas this might be a further
incentive to “get high.” For those of us concerned about the spread of
the Marxist infection, it is very alarming to realize that the moral
decay of our country and organized crime are intimately connected with
violent
revolutionary forces.

I recently interviewed Prof. Joseph D. Douglass Jr., a defense
researcher and author of “Red Cocaine: the drugging of America.” He gave
me an interesting statistic. He said that Russia and the nations of the
former Communist bloc, including Red China, now control 80 percent of
the
international drug trade.

If true, that is a staggering revelation. Douglass further revealed
that Communist bloc control of international narcotics trafficking is
not something haphazard or accidental, but has been part of a long-term
plan to penetrate and employ the world’s organized crime networks for
political subversion. In this matter the Russians (who Douglass says
control about half the world’s narcotics trafficking) and the Chinese
(who control about one third), are not merely taking hold of a momentary
opportunity to make money. This was a well thought out strategic
decision made in the
1950s. In other words, it was a move in the Cold War chess game. And it
appears from Douglass’ comments that the Communists may have won a
stunning victory against us through strategic dominance of the global
underworld.

As Douglass points out in his book, the Soviets realized in the 1950s
that dominance of organized crime would give them access to blackmail
information on Western politicians and government officials. This would
allow them to penetrate key institutions using organized crime
syndicates as
fronts.

From all appearances, said Douglass, Moscow and Beijing have
succeeded in conquering the lion’s share of the global underworld, and
through this process it is possible that they enjoy a degree of
penetration — even control — of American institutions that call into
question the very integrity of the United States government.

Over 50 years ago Chairman Mao said, “Opium should be regarded as a
powerful weapon. It has been employed by imperialists against us, and
now we should use it against them.”

A hundred years earlier, Karl Marx wrote that “religion is the opium
of the people.”

What do you suppose happens when the people get their hands on real
opium?