News Analysis
War on Drugs, War on "Terror"?

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently came out with an accusation linking illegal drugs trade in the country to “terrorist organizations” – presumably referring to the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It is interesting to note that the U.S. is now aiming to merge its “war on terror” – which the Philippine president continues to support - with its “war on narco-terrorism.”

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com

Those who are at a loss on what to make of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's sudden zeal in fighting the illegal drug trade may find light in a statement delivered by Stephen W. Casteel, Assistant Administrator for Intelligence of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (USDEA), before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary last May 20.

Definitely it has to do with much more than earning pogi points for the next elections, in which Macapagal-Arroyo apparently shall be running. It appears that the president's war on drugs, which according to her has killed more people than terrorism, is only the first act in a U.S.-led international war on drugs integrated with Bush's global war on "terror."

"Narco-terrorism"

The testimony (http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/cngrtest/ct052003.html), entitled "Narco-Terrorism: International Drug Trafficking and Terrorism - a Dangerous Mix," states that though the USDEA "does not specifically target terrorist organizations and its mission is to prosecute drug traffickers and drug trafficking organizations, some of the individuals and/or organizations targeted by the DEA may be involved in terrorist activities."

The document states the USDEA's definition of a narco-terrorist organization: "an organized group that is complicit in the activities of drug trafficking in order to further, or fund, premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets with the intention to influence (that is, influence a government or group of people)."

There is a suggestion here that the U.S. is embarking on an "anti-drug" campaign similar in scope and magnitude to its global war on "terror."

The statement goes on to list down supposedly "narco-terrorist" organizations in South America, Central America, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia.

In Colombia it points to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, and the National Liberation Army. In Peru it mentions the Sendero Luminoso. In the tri-border area of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil, mention is made of Hizballah and HAMAS.

In Southwest Asia, it is the Taliban, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who are labeled narco-terrorist groups.

In Southeast Asia the statement names the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the United Wa State Army, and - in the particular case of the Philippines - the New People's Army, the Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and the Abu Sayyaf.

No conclusive evidence

A careful reading of the statement will tell the reader that in most cases the USDEA offers no conclusive evidence to substantiate charges against the so-called "narco-terrorist" groups. (The U.S. itself has a history of clandestine operations in Latin America and other regions in using the drug trade to support rightist and anti-communist groups.) Thus, there is ample reason to doubt the veracity of much of the "information" contained in it.

A stronger reason for doubting this statement emerges when we recall that even the anti-Taliban sections of the international press have charged the U.S.-sponsored Northern Alliance with not being able to deal with the Afghan drug problem in the manner that the Taliban did - without of course justifying the cruelty of the erstwhile Afghan rulers. In the Nov. 13, 2002 issue of The Christian Century, for example, George Hunsinger wrote: "The "regime change" engineered in Afghanistan...is already coming back to haunt us. As former Canadian diplomat Peter Dale Scott has pointed out, Afghan drugs, virtually eliminated under the Taliban, are not only back, but will be used to fund worldwide terrorism."

The subtle linking of revolutionary organizations with bandit and terrorist groups is noticeable. In doing this Casteel only goes the way of the U.S. Department of State, which only last year released a list of "foreign terrorist organizations," in which groups internationally recognized as legitimate revolutionary organizations were lumped together with true-blue terrorist and bandit groups. He is not telling us anything the State Department has not yet told us. Is Castreel acting in coordination with the U.S. State Department?

The statement goes on to mention investigations and operations that have been conducted against "narco-terrorism," and begins the conclusion thus: "The events of September 11th have brought new focus to an old problem, narco-terrorism. These events have forever changed the world and demonstrate even the most powerful nation is vulnerable to acts of terrorism. In attempting to combat this threat, the link between drugs and terrorism came to the fore. Whether it is a state, such as formerly Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, or a narco-terrorist organization, such as the FARC, the nexus between drugs and terrorism is perilously evident."

This paragraph, more than expressing similarity, already reveals a linkage between the U.S. "anti-drug" campaign and the war on "terror." This linkage is confirmed by the following lines: "Nations throughout the world are aligning to combat this scourge on international society. The War on Terror and the War on Drugs are linked, with agencies throughout the United States and internationally working together as a force-multiplier in an effort to dismantle narco-terrorist organizations."

The Philippine case

The U.S. is embarking on a global "anti-drug" battle and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has apparently decided to make the Philippines the stage for the first act. This probably explains the Macapagal-Arroyo government's sudden zeal for fighting illegal drugs.

We must remember that President Macapagal-Arroyo was one of the first leaders (in fact the first and only one in Asia) to express support for the U.S. war on Iraq. The President is just keeping with her earlier actuations here.

Those who are supportive of the way the anti-drug campaign in the Philippines is being carried out may argue that those whose hands are clean need not fear.

However, things are not that simple.

We must remember that the NPA, which has repeatedly come out with statements renouncing terrorism, continues to be classified by both the U.S. and Philippine governments as a "foreign terrorist organization," together with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) - even as the administration expresses "interest" in pursuing the stalled peace negotiations.

Last July 2, President Macapagal-Arroyo issued a statement "revealing" a "growing conspiracy between terrorists and drug syndicates." We may safely predict, then, that the administration's spokespersons will soon issue statements linking the CPP-NPA-NDF with the 200 or so drug syndicates in the Philippines even as it has denied involvement in the drug trade. It would therefore not be too realistic to expect that the peace talks would make substantial advancements under the present circumstances.

In turn, legal progressive organizations such as the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), and other affiliated groups-including the party-list group Bayan Muna - have been accused of organizational linkage with the underground insurgent movement. Bayan, KMU, the League of Filipino Students, the human rights group Karapatan, and even the independent think tank Ibon Foundation have been labeled "communist fronts."

Too, Bayan Muna has frequently been charged with recruiting for the NPA. Even Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., a staunch nationalist who has allied himself with the legal progressive organizations on a number of issues, has been charged by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo with having "the communists" for his constituents.

Because of these, the fact that the government's anti-drug forces have been pressing for such drastic measures as random drug testing and even wiretapping should disturb the cause-oriented movement and its allies and supporters.

Prominent personalities from their ranks may one day find themselves in a list of "narco-terrorists." Worse, the government's anti-drug campaign may end up having them as the main targets, together with the CPP-NPA-NDF and the MILF which are recognized in the international community as legitimate revolutionary organizations.

More than drugs

The drug problem is an international plague that has destroyed multitudes of lives. It should therefore be bitterly fought.

But this does not mean that support should immediately be given to government measures undertaken supposedly to curb, if not eradicate the drug menace. The signs show that crackdowns on movements which have been taking up legitimate people's causes are about to be made in the guise of campaigns against "narco-terrorism."

The U.S. recognizes the widespread fear and anger that has arisen from the proliferation of illegal drugs and their effects on society, most particularly on the young. It has thus clothed its anti-"terror" war with the guise of an "anti-drug" campaign in an attempt to recover the considerably wide support it received in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The U.S. needs to resort to this guise if it is to pursue the war on "terror" - a war that was drained of international support in the waging of the unjustified war on the Iraqi people. Bulatlat.com

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