DRUGS FINANCE TERRORISTS

I have yet to read a news report that fully investigates the link
between terrorism and drug trafficking.

It has been widely reported that terrorist organizations such as
al-Qaida and the Taliban finance their operations through the illicit
drug trade. A recent article in The Journal reported that opium
production in Afghanistan increased by 49 per cent in 2006.

If our soldiers are fighting to eliminate the Taliban, then it only
makes sense to eliminate the poppy fields in Afghanistan that are
funding terrorist operations.

For this generation of Canadian soldiers, the poppy represents
something entirely different than those that grew in Flanders Field.

Funding for terrorism must, indirectly, be coming from the very
countries that are fighting it. Drug trafficking and money laundering
within our own borders are supporting the terrorist cause. Police
crackdowns on organized crime are essential in the war on terrorism.

Neil Edwards,

Edmonton