Drug Cartel, Who's Behind? By Erick San Juan

Drug Cartel, Who's Behind? By Erick San Juan

"Transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including transnational drug cartels, have spread throughout the nation, threatening the safety of the United States and its citizens.... These groups are drivers of crime, corruption, violence, and misery.... In particular, the trafficking by cartels of controlled substances has triggered a resurgence in deadly drug abuse and a corresponding rise in violent crime related to drugs.... A comprehensive and decisive approach is required to dismantle these organized crime syndicates and restore safety for the American people."     

This is US President Donald Trump's executive order of February 9 which is powerful and clear on his war on drugs.

Trump noted that he had brought a number of law enforcement officials to the White House, and asked them:

"what impact do drugs have in terms of a percentage on crime? They said, 75 to 80 percent. That's pretty sad. We're going to stop the drugs from pouring in. We're going to stop those drugs from poisoning our youth, from poisoning our people. We're going to be ruthless in that fight. We have no choice.... And we're going to take that fight to the drug cartels and work to liberate our communities from their terrible grip of violence."

The proliferation of illegal drugs obviously reached the mighty land of Uncle Sam and the newly elected US president Trump, like our own President Rody Duterte will make sure that their citizens are protected against the poisonous impact of drugs.

In the article of Mike Billington of the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) – ‘Trump Launches War on Drugs, But Must Target Drug Banks’ clearly states that the international banking system has tolerated the transnational shipment of illegal drugs across continents.

“The one problem with the Trump War on Drugs — and a potential Achilles Heel if not corrected — is the failure to identify and target the actual core of the international drug cartel — the banks which facilitate this business. The publication by EIR in 1978 of the first edition of Dope, Inc., and the subsequent editions of that blockbuster expose, documented in great detail how the illicit drug business — the biggest business in the world — is reportedly controlled entirely by the west and Wall Street banks, since the time of the British Opium Wars against China, and continuing through to today.       

The identification of the "too-big-to-fail" banks in London and New York as the headquarters of Dope Inc., will also provide yet another motivation for the immediate restoration of Glass Steagall, to stop the criminal money laundering and speculation which has brought the trans-Atlantic financial system to ruin.

In 2009, after the 2008 near-collapse of the western banking system, Antonio Maria Costa, then the head of the UN office on drugs and crime, identified the fact that the international banks had become "drug dependent." He said:

"In many instances, the money from drugs was the only liquid investment capital. In the second half of 2008, liquidity was the banking system's main problem and hence liquid capital became an important factor. Inter-bank loans were funded by money that originated from the drugs trade and other illegal activities... There were signs that some banks were rescued that way."

Viktor Ivanov, the Director of the Russian Federal Narcotics Service from 2008 until 2016, speaking in Washington in 2011, said: In order to shut this down, "Drug money and global drug trafficking are actually not just valuable elements of, but as donors of scarce liquidity, a vital and indispensable segment of the whole monetary system."

Russia and the United States must work in tandem, Ivanov said, to effect a "drastic transformation of the international financial system.... To a certain extent, we are observing a revival of the logic of the Glass-Steagall Act, adopted in the U.S. in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, which separated the deposit and investment functions of banks."

With the advancement of technology through the internet every transaction of drug money can be done fast and hard to trace.

Just the same in our case, the transhipment of drugs through our waterways because of our vast coastline, and the possibility of the presence of some Chinese in our Coast Guard, drugs come and go without any fuss.

I hope that the recent agreement between coast guards of China and the Philippines to stop sea bandits like Abu Sayyaf's will also be of help in stopping the transport of illegal drugs and its raw materials.

The perception is that even by air, sea, land and the virtual cyberworld, proliferation of drugs will continue because of the presence of corrupt people in the government. The worst, narco financiers and politicians now control many nations worldwide.

Just like in the movies, now its reality.

Tensions Will Continue in the Pacific Rim

Tensions Will Continue in the Pacific Rim
By Erick San Juan

War rhetoric between the U.S. and China is finally starting to cool down. The title of an article by James Holbrooks (TheAntiMedia.org) posted at True Activist (Feb. 7) but is it really cooling down?

Holbrooks based the said situation when Secretary of Defense James Mattis suggested the hotly disputed issue of the South China Sea should be handled diplomatically rather than through warfare. Yes, a very comforting statement in the midst of tensions in the East and South China Sea.

Calling the defense secretary’s words a “mind-soothing pill” that “dispersed the clouds of war that many feared were gathering over the South China Sea,” the China Daily hinted at a warning in U.S.-China relations.

“Mattis has inspired optimism here that things may not be as bad as previously portrayed,” the state-controlled newspaper wrote.

Although in reality things are not as mind-soothing as it seems. As the article continues: “In fact, even as James Mattis was suggesting over the weekend that between the U.S. and China, the diplomatic road was the one to take on the issue of territorial sovereignty, he was also accusing the Asian superpower of using coercion to force its will upon neighboring countries.

“We have watched in the South China Sea as China has shredded the trust of nations in the region,” Mattis said at the conference in Tokyo, “apparently trying to have veto authority over security and economic conditions of neighboring states.”

Providing further evidence that tensions are invariably rising between China and the United States — despite what government officials on both sides might happen to say at a given time — Fox News reported Monday that three Chinese warships have just sailed into the East China Sea.

It would be difficult to argue the timing is coincidental, as just two days before, the U.S. solidified its security commitments to ally Japan. And those commitments essentially back up the claim that Japan — not China — has a sovereign claim to the contested Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

In effect, it’s the same fundamental disagreement over two different bodies of water — both of which are in one region. And it’s a region neither the United States nor China appears willing to cede control over.”

That is the crucial point of finding ways to really avoid an impending war between the US and China – the control over contested territories in the region. In both cases - the East and South China Sea, the nations involved are both allies of the US, namely Japan and the Philippines.

The war rhetoric may cool down for a while but the tensions will continue. Even our own President Rodrigo Duterte said several times that the moment will come, in his term, that our country and China will sit down and will discuss the arbitration body’s ruling that favored our country. Whether China will like it or not, the said ruling from The Hague should be honored to give way to a lasting peace in the region and not just a piecemeal.

It is quite obvious that it is not only China’s needs that has to be addressed when it comes to natural resources which is in abundance in the contested area in the South China Sea by fortifying the reclaimed areas militarily by China. There is no way for our country to have the chance of extracting oil, gas and other minerals that will also supply our growing needs and be used for our development.

That is the gist of the article by Gregory Poling – Prepare for A Stormy 2017 in the South China Sea - The number of Chinese naval, coast guard, and paramilitary vessels in the area will continue to grow as facilities at the three large artificial islands allow Chinese assets to consistently patrol the southern reaches of the nine-dash line as never before. China also continues to construct sophisticated radar and signals intelligence capabilities, bolstering its ability to monitor and intercept vessels anywhere in the area, and advanced anti-aircraft and anti-missile point defenses to protect these new power projection capabilities.

The desire to see Chinese diplomatic softening as a sign of a new status quo is understandable, and it is important that the door be left open for Beijing to deescalate. But China’s recent behavior should be seen as the best indicator of its future intentions. Beijing has accomplished its short-term goal of avoiding widespread censure after the July ruling. But it made no effort to clarify its claims or slowdown military construction, which would have suggested a more long-term commitment to peacefully resolve disputes. It is therefore only reasonable to assume that China continues to seek dominance throughout the nine-dash line, by coercion when necessary. Unlike the Philippines and Malaysia, other countries with a stake in the South China Sea recognize this and are preparing for heightened tensions as China makes use of its new facilities. The incoming U.S. administration will need to do the same, because the next crisis is likely just a matter of time.”

We should be wary of the pressure for President Rody Duterte to implement a revolutionary government as per instigation of a self proclaimed local CIA laying the predicate. He thought he may get what he wish for at our expense.
 

Imminent War in the Offing by Erick San Juan

Imminent War in the Offing by Erick San Juan

Is war between the US and China imminent as what Steve Bannon, who is President Donald Trump’s chief political strategist said last March?

According to Steve Bannon the United States will go to war with China in “five to 10 years” over the South China Sea dispute.

The said comments resurfaced at a time when Washington and Beijing’s relations have soured after Trump questioned the "One China" policy and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said China should be barred from islands in the contested region.

“We’re going to war in the South China Sea in five to 10 years, aren’t we? There’s no doubt about that. They’re taking their sandbars and making basically stationary aircraft carriers and putting missiles on those. They come here to the United States in front of our face — and you understand how important face is — and say it’s an ancient territorial sea,” Bannon said on a radio show hosted for Breitbart in March 2016. (Source: Vishakha Sonawane at IBT online)

US President Donald Trump even before his inauguration released some pronouncements that are not pleasant to China’s ears. One of these very hot issues is the One China Policy – “A state-run Chinese newspaper warned Sunday that Beijing will take “revenge” if the United States abandons the “one China” policy under Donald Trump’s administration. The comments came after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen made a stopover in Houston.

“Trump is yet to be inaugurated, and there is no need for Beijing to sacrifice bilateral ties for the sake of Taiwan. But in case he tears up the one-China policy after taking office, the mainland is fully prepared,” the Global Times said in an editorial. “Beijing would rather break ties with the US if necessary. We would like to see whether US voters will support their president to ruin Sino-US relations and destabilize the entire Asia-Pacific region.”

“If Trump reneges on the one-China policy after taking office, the Chinese people will demand the government to take revenge. There is no room for bargaining,” the newspaper warned.

"Under the 'one China' policy, there is only a single state called 'China' despite there being two governments. People’s Republic of China, popularly known as the mainland China, considers Taiwan (officially known as Republic of China) a renegade province. However, Taiwan considers itself an independent country. Both PRC and Taiwan claim to be the lawful government of one China, but in reality, Taiwan has control only over a few small islands."

“Sticking to [the one China] principle is not a capricious request by China upon US presidents, but an obligation of US presidents to maintain China-US relations and respect the existing order of the Asia-Pacific,” the Global Times said.

In its editorial, the Global Times also said that China “will impose further military pressure” on Taiwan and “Tsai needs to face the consequences for every provocative step she takes.”  (Vishakha Sonawane for IBT)

Like a programmed scenario, delays can happen but it will happen and the US-Sino relations is not getting any better.

In his article China Jockeying for Position in South China Sea, Larry Edelson writes, "Hullabaloo over President Trump’s policies, his nationalist stance and fears over potential trade conflicts may have turned some investors’ focus away from numerous geopolitical hotspots.

But not mine.

In fact, these hotspots are going to get worse before they get better … and they play right into my larger War Cycle research."

Take for example the latest – and frankly stealthy developments – growing from the budding romance between China and the Philippines.

No question this duo has experienced their share of conflict – but that’s changing. Especially as China contemplates its military ambitions and the Philippines’ strategic location in the South China Sea. Plus, it’s no secret that the Philippines’ populist President Rodrigo Duterte is open to a new relationship with China.

Let’s Make a Deal

In late January, China made good on an initial $3.7 billion investment (part of a $24 billion deal) to aid the Philippines in numerous infrastructure projects. The investment represents a massive 75% of total foreign investment into the Philippines throughout 2015 ($4.9 billion).

And you can be certain this investment is not a philanthropic exercise to help their neighbor.

From my lens, China’s maneuvering is to gain naval access beyond the first island chain and ultimately station military assets at a strategic location in the Pacific.

Complications

The U.S. has a defense treaty with the Philippines, allowing U.S. warships to move freely from the Pacific to Middle East war zones in return for U.S. defense.

But that’s in jeopardy after the U.S. didn’t adequately come to the Philippines’ defense when China took control of Scarborough Shoal and other islands. And that’s territory that China is now building runways and stationing missile batteries on.

Meanwhile, China’s late 2016 seizure of an American underwater surveillance drone in the region underscores the tense and volatile relationship.

The conflict is further aggravated by comments from newly appointed U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson regarding tensions in the South China Sea: “We’re going to send China a clear signal that … island-building stops and access to those islands is not going to be allowed.”

Wow. Talk about a South Pacific powder keg.”

Indeed a powder keg waiting for an event that can ignite it to a real shooting war. Which reminds us all to be ever vigilant and supportive of our president’s correct policies to avoid another war not of our liking and definitely not to be used again as cannon fodder in the process.

The war cycle is on. Most nations in the know are all preparing for it especially big powers with overheating economy involved in the military industrial complex. Let's all be vigilant!