Victory over the Mafia as well as Terrorists
According to "Italian Mafia" written by Silvio Piersanti and translated and published in Japan this March, the Italian mafia purchases ingredients of morphine from producers in Afghanistan at US$2,000 per kilogram.
A factory in Sicily produces one kilogram of heroin from one kilogram of morphine illegally brought in from Afghanistan.
Then they sell heroin to the American mafia at US$250,000 per kilogram.
In a word, the Italian mafia spends 2,000 dollars to earn 250,000 dollars over drug business.
In Afghanistan, seven million people are engaged in growing a special type of poppies, seeds of which can be changed to opium that in turn provides ingredients of morphine.
* * *
According to another source on the Internet, the American mafia sells heroin at one million dollars per kilogram.
In a word, the American mafia spends 250,000 dollars to earn 1,000,000 dollars over drug business.
Today, more than half of heroin illegally brought into the U.S. are made in Sicily. The total amount is believed to be two tons to four tons. The mafia is believed to earn 1.3 billion dollars per year through the heroin transaction.
* * *
The War on Terror should be probably more comprehensive.
The U.S. might have to send its troops to Sicily as well as major cities in the U.S. to combat the organized crime.
Otherwise, the mafia might take any risks to secure the source of big profits, even helping the Taliban who is helping Al Qaeda.
Terrorists-free Afghanistan should be also mafia-free.
Or do American citizens believe that even if Afghanistan is left with mafia connections, there will be no connections between desperately poor Afghan people and terrorists?
* * *
God might want the U.S. to pursue more glorious victory: a victory over the mafia as well as terrorists in Afghanistan and other parts of the world.
Anyway, God is stronger than the mafia and terrorists.
I really want to see God's glory in this context.
= Appendix =
Report by United Nations, at p.32 of www.unesco.org/most/globalisation/drugs_vol2.pdf:
"Drug trade in India was facilitated by its geographical proximity to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka and the political disturbances that occurred in the region. As a result India evolved as an important transit route for drug trade. For example, Afghanistan became an important producer of opium with a cadre of expert drug dealers on account of the cold war politics and the consequent internal turmoil. People in Afghanistan live in an extreme climate and with hardly any means to a comfortable life. Under such circumstances some of them have decided that opium growing is a better option for them than the cultivation of other crops.
This decision has been strengthened by the fact that cultivation of opium gives far higher returns than cultivation of any other crop in a given plot of land. Besides, unlike other crops, opium needs less care and irrigation. It has also been alleged that both United States and Pakistan have encouraged opium cultivation as a way of financing weapon purchase by Afghans when they fought against the former USSR(Sarwar, 1992). Recently, the Taliban has imposed a ban on poppy cultivation with their usual style of threats. The UNDCP has launched a major crop substitution programme there. However, there are hardly any example of crop substitution succeeding anywhere in the numerous highland development projects. At best, cultivation shifts to different areas."
"AND NOW GOD'S ANGER HAS AT LAST COME DOWN ON THEM!"