Is Our Society Helping Terrorism?

First, click on the hyperlink below to watch an interview with Arthur Kent. You will first see a short clip advertising a Canadian program called The Hour. Hang tight. It will come.

http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1525

Arthur has been covering Afghanistan for decades. He is also a very good journalist.

In his interview with George Stroumboulopoulos (10 points if you can pronounce this on the first try), he says some things that I didn’t know. He says that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda receive major funding from the trafficking of heroin.

Also, the leaders in Afghanistan who were placed there by us are corrupt. It’s like pouring bacteria on a wound.

This leads me to this question. Where are they selling this heroin? Who are the people who are buying it? If we could get rid of the people who buy it rather than the people who grow it, wouldn’t that stop the terrorists from funding their projects?

We all know that we are fighting a losing war against drugs in the Western World. However, if puts a different spin on it when it seems as if homeland security is being compromised by those in our society who choose heroin as their drug of choice.

Next time you hear colleagues or friends talking about heroin, do me a favour. Ask them if they know that their money might be going to the same group that caused 9/11. Yes, I feel our society would be better without drugs like heroin, but when the irresponsible actions of others potentially jeopardize our lives, I am even more concerned.

I have heard the argument about how wars in the Middle East are all about oil. Again, I ask the question, who is using most of this oil? If you want to seriously stop a war that is based on oil, wouldn’t it seem practical to reduce or eliminate the need for oil? Would it not make sense to invest the money spent on armies and weapons on funding for technology that would help us use less of the product.

When it comes right down to it, who do we blame? Who do we fight? Whose world and society do we try to change? Certainly not ours. No, that hits too close to home. It’s a lot easier to blame others. Just in case you are wondering, I point the finger at myself in this, too. Anyway, we are right, aren’t we? Why should we change our lifestyle?

You’re right if you think that the solution isn’t this simple. However, I’m afraid that in this war we haven’t identified all of our enemies, because one of the enemies might be ourselves.