AMERICANS SUPPORTING TERRORISM: AN UPDATE

What do pumping gas and smoking marijuana have in common? According to the
viewpoint of certain TV commercial sponsors, the answer is terrorism.

Political TV commercials aired over the past year have linked the purchasing
of a dime-bag, as well as filling up your SUV gas tank, with the support and
finance of international terrorism. Even though the commercials are
sponsored by separate organizations with different political agendas, both
commercials attempt to capitalize on the emotions and public sentiment
produced after the events of Sept. 11. Consequently, these assertive ads
essentially act as propaganda messages that use fear, fabrication and weak
logic to persuade public opinion. The only important distinction between the
two commercials, however, is that one commercial is financed by voluntary
donations and the other is paid for unwittingly by YOU, the taxpayer.

Debuting during last year's Super Bowl, the federal Office of National Drug
Control Policy aired multiple commercials suggesting that ordinary Americans
who buy marijuana were in fact contributing to drug profits for
Middle-Eastern terrorists.

Following the same premise as the government's ONDCP commercials, The
Detroit Project by Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars recently ran an ad
campaign that labeled the owners of gas-hungry SUVs supporters of terrorism
as well.

Although the author and columnist Arianna Huffington, the creator of the
commercial, considers her ad a parody of the government's terrorism
commercial, she and other environmentalists are sincerely committed to
changing the driving habits of Americans. They contend that SUVs destroy the
environment more than ordinary automobiles do, perpetuate dependency on
foreign oil and hinder progression toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.

While the contention that Americans who own SUVs support terrorism is quite
a stretch, this idea definitely seems more reasonable than the assertion by
the federal government that individuals who buy marijuana support terrorist
activity. Not only is the government exploiting terrorism and the Sept. 11
attacks to continue the "War On (certain) Drugs," but it finances propaganda
campaigns using hard-earned, American taxpayer money.

Now I have no problem when a group of concerned citizens wants to waste its
own money on propaganda commercials; however, I must draw the line when my
own government engages in this despicable activity on my dime.

Perhaps the $18 billion in taxpayer money allotted to the ONDCP would be
more wisely spent on commercials linking the products of poppy plants,
heroin and opium to terrorism. Afghanistan, the home of those who
constructed and financed the Sept. 11 attacks, has only one exportable
commodity to offer the world market: opium.

Only months prior to Sept. 11, the United States government awarded $43
million to the Taliban for banning the cultivation of poppy plants. Before
the ban was instituted by the Taliban, Afghanistan was the world's number
one producer of opium. The ban worked to some extent. Nonetheless, it only
resulted in Afghanistan slipping to the No. 2 spot in world production.

Since the Taliban have been ousted by the U.S and coalition forces, opium
production in Afghanistan has actually soared to record levels and put the
country back in the No. 1 position. How could this be, you ask? Wouldn't the
U.S. military feel obliged to destroy the poppy fields so their products do
not reach the streets of America?

The answer lies in questionable politics. Because the Americans need
cooperation from local war lords for allegiance to the new interim
government, coalition forces did not destroy the poppy fields, the war
lords' only source of income.

Where are our priorities?

Just say NO to international politics!