Drug wars

Nessie says turn off your computer and read some books on the war on drugs

By nessie

Do yourself a favor. Turn off your computer every now and then.

And read books.

Why? Because it is not yet possible to obtain an adequate understanding of what is going on in the world around you merely from surfing the Internet. There is no better example of this than the War On (Some) Drugs. Last year I wrote a fairly scathing attack here on the failed war and the grossly immoral policy of prohibition that lies at its heart. It was a pretty good article, even if I do say so myself. But did it scratch the surface? Not even. At most it was a glancing blow. If it's all you've ever read on the subject, you are so woefully ignorant of the subject as to be beyond understanding. Even if you chased down every lead embedded in the article, you would know scarcely more than where to look next. The truth itself would still elude you.

I am at most a persistent amateur with a (barely) paying hobby. There are some real pros out there. You should be reading them instead of, or at the very least in addition to, me. That way you'll have some chance of grasping the enormity of the situation. I'm going to tell you about two of them. The minute you finish reading what I have to say about them, please, please, go out and buy their books. Read them. Take notes. Learn what prohibition has done to our lives, our liberty, and to peace itself. Then put what you have learned into action.

The history of the WO(S)D is so long, so intricate, and so buried by lies, distortions, and propaganda, that no single book will suffice to fully inform you. If you want to acquire even a minimal grasp of the subject, you will need at least a small shelf (tk dig.html) of books. If you are a journalist, historian, criminologist, sociologist, psychologist, or political activist focusing on the field, you will need a small library.

But if there were a single book that covered the subject well enough to stand alone, it would definitely be Drug Wars by Dan Russell. If you are just starting out in your study of prohibition, Drug Wars is the book to start out with. If you are already well versed, it's the best single reference book on the market. Its most important feature is that it is well bound, and designed for years of use. It is sewn into signatures, like the finest quality hardcover books, not glued. The binding opens flat for easy reference, and will not crack or split. This matters greatly because the book is more than merely the fascinating story of one of history's most shameful episodes. It is first and foremost a reference book. You will not put it away on the shelf when you are done with it. In all likelihood, you will never be done with it. I, personally, expect to be looking stuff up in it for the rest of my life. If it were bound like a normal paperback, I'd have broken its spine already. It's that kind of book. It contains literally just about everything you'll ever need to know about the WO(S)D and pointers to everything else.

This book's breadth, scope, and depth is nothing short of awesome. Any competent historian does his homework, but Dan Russell has done ours too. How he possibly could have accumulated and cross-referenced such a motherload of pertinent data, and still found time to live his life, is nothing short of amazing. I eat, sleep, and breath secret history. Trust me, it's extremely time consuming. My books reach literally to the ceiling. My filing cabinets are so packed to overflowing with clippings that I've had to add an entire closet full of cardboard boxes. I am not easily impressed or often surprised. Yet Drug Wars had me flabbergasted. I could scarcely read for ten minutes in a row without learning something new. This guy has read everything, and I do mean everything, even remotely related to the subject. Even Mae Brussell would have been impressed.

The book begins on a seemingly unrelated tangent. Quickly though, Russell's thesis becomes blatantly apparent. While money may drive the drug trade, Prohibition is really about social control. He has correctly determined that it is, at it's core, a religious crusade whose purpose is cultural genocide. He traces its roots to the Inquisition and illustrates in detail how it has for centuries abetted imperialism and colonialism. Above all, he shows that the WO(S)D is not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a syndrome.

The seemingly unrelated tangent is a recurring theme in Russell's book. Every time you start to think that this guy has wandered away from his subject, he drops a few names and ties it all back together again. His section on the politics of assassination, for example, could easily stand on its own. This guy is an assassination maven. He has dug as deep as Torbitt, Dave Emory, John Judge, or even Mae Brussell herself.

That's all well and good, you may say, but what on earth does the politics of assassination have to do with the WO(S)D? Russell draws connections that others might miss. I'll share one minor, but representative, example with you. It's by no means a lynch pin to his theory, but it does show how some of the seemingly unconnected minutiae of history do in fact connect.

Perhaps you remember Joe Pesci's role in Oliver Stone's JFK. Personally, I thought he should have gotten an Oscar, but that's another story. Joe portrayed a real life character named David Ferrie. Ferrie was active for a while in the Civil Air Patrol. In David Ferrie's CAP unit was one young recruit whose name later became a household word. He was Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of JFK. Also in this same CAP unit was another young pilot who would also later go in to bigger things. This was the notorious cocaine smuggler, Barry Seal. For many years Seal routinely flew coke by the planeload into an obscure airport in a small town in Arkansas. The town's name Mena. He flew back with arms for the contras.

This is the level of detail at which Dan Russell draws connections. The man is totally amazing. His book is an absolute must for anyone who wants to understand how deeply the WO(S)D has come to influence world culture and political economics, and why. Buy it. Read it. Refer to it. Recommend it to others. It's a must. But don't take my word for it. Visit Dan's Web site and read some excerpts from the book.

I want to also recommend a work of fiction about the drug war, Unholy Alliance. Normally I don't read very much fiction. Compared to the realities I study, most fiction is dreadfully boring. To be honest, I never would have picked up Unholy Alliance if it hadn't been written by David Yallop. David Yallop is an investigative writer without equal. His classic In God's Name is the definitive work on the Vatican Bank scandal. He, too, is the kind of guy who does his homework. He is particularly well versed in the global economics of prohibition. He knows a lot more than he can tell and still be permitted to live. Sometimes, it is only through fiction that one can get close to the truth. George Seldes could tell the "truth and run," but those were simpler times. Today there is nowhere to run to.

That of course is what the story is about. I don't want to give away the plot, except to say it's about drug money and campaign financing. And it's about what happens to people who know too much. It's a riveting read. I couldn't put it down. I tried. Really, I did. Twice I put out the lights, pulled up the covers, and tried to fall asleep. I tried hard. I even counted sheep. It didn't work, not even a little.

Unholy Alliance, check it out. You'll learn a thing or two. You'll lose a little sleep. You'll have a good time. It would make one hell of a movie. It would blow Traffic right out of the water. Too bad it'll probably never get made. But that's OK. It's out as a book. That's enough. Books, you may have heard of them. Do yourself a favor. Shut off your computer and read one right now.

The nessie files runs alternate Mondays.

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