Speaker 1: Murder in Miami is a production of Iheartram. In this
Speaker 1: week's bonus episode, Leslie Bickerton lays out a case for
Speaker 1: the complicated connections between the drug trade and the balance
Speaker 1: of world power and unrest.
Speaker 2: I'm recognizing more and more, Lauren, is this connection, this
Speaker 2: web of connection, and it's intimately connected from what happened
Speaker 2: forty two years ago, which involved directly not only the
Speaker 2: drug smuggling and the CIA and the subcontractors, but also
Speaker 2: Central America and South America, which also has a connection
Speaker 2: at the same time with Afghanistan, so tracing it back
Speaker 2: even with Vietnam. It's an ongoing scenario in one sense,
Speaker 2: a greater insight into the Cold War that it has
Speaker 2: never ended, it continues to this day. And so part
Speaker 2: of this has to do with these alliances from the
Speaker 2: Iran contract. Just that alone has been documented that the
Speaker 2: CIA's direct involvement with an alliance with drug lords and
Speaker 2: with ruthless dictators such as Samosa right from Nicaragua, which
Speaker 2: we had been talking about, but the secret funding these
Speaker 2: covert warfare, which then also the alliance with the Colombian cartels,
Speaker 2: also the drug lords of Afghanistan, and the existence from
Speaker 2: the Vietnam War is the heroin trade, right, the poppy trade,
Speaker 2: the heroin trade, the catapulted to all of this from
Speaker 2: Vietnam and Laos and the covert funding that was happening
Speaker 2: back then. But that ties in both of the Columbian
Speaker 2: cartels and to the heroin cartels that the CIA was
Speaker 2: involved in with Afghanistan in fighting Russia. Of this is
Speaker 2: documented starting back in nineteen seventy nine the National Security
Speaker 2: Advisor to Carter. And again I say this as a disclaim.
Speaker 2: I'm not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat because I
Speaker 2: know that somebody can say, well, you're this side of
Speaker 2: that side. No, I'm telling you all of it. So
Speaker 2: back in nineteen seventy nine, it was about getting back
Speaker 2: at Russia. Revenge for the Russians involvement in the Vietnam
Speaker 2: War was a motivating factor. And there's a quote from Brazinski,
Speaker 2: who was the National Advisor quote, destabilizing Central Asia would
Speaker 2: then bring Russia into Afghanistan. So then with that, how
Speaker 2: do you fund any kind of a covert war? Right? Well,
Speaker 2: you need arms. So how do you get arms, Well,
Speaker 2: you have to pay for illegal arms shipments in the
Speaker 2: way that you do that to the drug trade is
Speaker 2: beyond a business. This is a commodity, just like oil is.
Speaker 2: The war on druggs. And what has transpired is that
Speaker 2: initially the first money came out of the Iran Contra,
Speaker 2: the contras in Nicaragua. Five hundred million dollars was brought
Speaker 2: into Afghanistan to start funding the so called Northern Alliance,
Speaker 2: which has different elements to it. And I really want
Speaker 2: to make this clear. It's really important because we always
Speaker 2: hear about Musha Haddeen.
Speaker 1: A quick aside, Musha Hadeen refers to members of various
Speaker 1: gorilla groups operating in Afghanistan during the Afghan War, which
Speaker 1: took place in nineteen seventy eight to nineteen ninety two
Speaker 1: that opposed the invading Soviet forces and eventually toppled the
Speaker 1: Afghan Communist government. Rival factions thereafter fell out amongst themselves,
Speaker 1: precipitating the rise of the Taliban and their countering faction,
Speaker 1: an Alliance.
Speaker 2: But what they don't tell you is that the funding
Speaker 2: came through go arm's length and this is how they
Speaker 2: get around. Our country gets around no accountability or no
Speaker 2: transparency and really complete impunity. Is that you fund, so
Speaker 2: directly funding you fund through another country, and we were
Speaker 2: funding even back then through Pakistan and Pakistan's military intelligence
Speaker 2: who were also Islamic fundamentalists, and that money was going
Speaker 2: to one of the most two of the most ruthless
Speaker 2: drug lords in Afghanistan, the Hakani network and then Googluden Heckmeyer.
Speaker 2: That goes back to nineteen seventy nine. How all of
Speaker 2: this got started in this whole Cold War that's been ongoing.
Speaker 2: And this brings us then to funding elements such as
Speaker 2: these terrorist groups, the Taliban and the Kaida became exponentially
Speaker 2: with all the billions of dollars that are government in
Speaker 2: a CIA and the Department Offense, all the White House
Speaker 2: had a direct involvement in funding some of the worst
Speaker 2: people in the world and these terrorist groups that have
Speaker 2: now become so powerful because they've got the arms. And
Speaker 2: this has been in the works for over twenty years.
Speaker 2: And this is something that I know that the American
Speaker 2: public doesn't know about because it hasn't been told to
Speaker 2: any of us. And as a result of this, this
Speaker 2: is the blowback. Okay, what goes around comes around. It's
Speaker 2: an anguish because Afghanistan was used as a pawn.
Speaker 1: And Leslie links today's current crisis in Afghanistan to another
Speaker 1: region covered in the podcast.
Speaker 2: Back in Nicaraguan, Central America. Thea Saudis were involved with
Speaker 2: illegal funding these wars in Central America and destabilizing countries
Speaker 2: and full knowledge of Saudi's funding our war against Russia
Speaker 2: in Afghanistan and destabilizing that entire area. Arabs were also
Speaker 2: fighting back then in Afghanistan and what transpired out of
Speaker 2: that is the horrific events that happen in our country
Speaker 2: called nine to eleven. Those Arabs, the extreme groups never
Speaker 2: went away. They never went away. They're there, They've always
Speaker 2: been there. And the United Nations just came out with
Speaker 2: a report November twenty twenty two resolution United Nations quote,
Speaker 2: according to the latest statistics, the Taliban hosts more than
Speaker 2: ten thousand foreign fighters including Arabs, Cheans, ISIS and al Qaeda,
Speaker 2: which is increasing day by day. And based on the
Speaker 2: United Nations reporting to twenty twenty one, the income from
Speaker 2: drugs in the hands of the Taliban reach more than
Speaker 2: two billion dollars and they say it's ninety seven percent
Speaker 2: of the people in Afghanis Center now below the poverty rate,
Speaker 2: and that doesn't even account for all the disappearances and
Speaker 2: the genocide we've been told. I mean, I was raised
Speaker 2: this way too, right, you know, we're the good guys, right,
Speaker 2: we're saving the world from evil. In what has transpired
Speaker 2: such a long period of time as sort of this
Speaker 2: deadly combination of power and ego and greed and political
Speaker 2: ambitions and economic ambitions on such a global scale, with
Speaker 2: complete impunity and catastrophic results that are still ongoing.
Speaker 1: And that's something that brings Leslie back forty two years.
Speaker 2: The shadow wars, the subcontrast. So like people like Lamar
Speaker 2: caught up in all of this. This has become such
Speaker 2: a huge business. And you think of a black is
Speaker 2: it Blackwater? And the in dyne core. And now there's
Speaker 2: now this legal loophole that's been created called one two
Speaker 2: seven E. Please look it up.
Speaker 1: Among other things, United States Code one seven E permits
Speaker 1: the Secretary of Defense to spend up to one hundred
Speaker 1: million dollars per fiscal year in support of special operations
Speaker 1: to combat terrorism.
Speaker 2: What our country has been doing, besides covert activities, is funding, arming,
Speaker 2: and training mercenaries. All of I call it mercenaries.
Speaker 1: Which to Leslie presents the possibility of those efforts backfiring,
Speaker 1: just as they did during her lone Star era.
Speaker 2: It's really the tip of the iceberg. There's so many
Speaker 2: elements with just the stories about drugs and guns and
Speaker 2: foreign places right exotic islands, and spies, corrupt officials, this
Speaker 2: whole web of deception and lies. But there's a lot
Speaker 2: more to it, and it affects all of us. So
Speaker 2: what has happened so many years ago, it's been ongoing
Speaker 2: to the point where we really are on the brink
Speaker 2: beyond what we can even imagine. Murder in Miami is
Speaker 2: giving us a glimpse. But if you listen to it
Speaker 2: much more carefully and follow through with Joseph Trento and
Speaker 2: what Happy was saying about the drugs, et cetera, I
Speaker 2: really think that this is it could be a wake
Speaker 2: up call for all of us. There is this dark
Speaker 2: side to human nature, unfortunately and to mankind. And then
Speaker 2: the question becomes like a David and Goliath. It's all
Speaker 2: connected at nine to eleven, the war and drugs, the
Speaker 2: war and terrorist the Cold War. What do we do
Speaker 2: about this? Telling the truth, getting trying to get the
Speaker 2: truth out there? The American public has the right to know.
Speaker 2: We have the right to know, and no matter how
Speaker 2: comfortable it is and how much it hurts. We talked
Speaker 2: about collateral damage, that there is this element out there,
Speaker 2: even within our own government that's not easy for me
Speaker 2: to say this, that we are Iris collateral damage from
Speaker 2: Mars collateral damage, Afghanistana's collateral damage, Nicaragraa, and just Americans
Speaker 2: as a whole, we're collateral damage. There's boback for all
Speaker 2: of this, and awareness and education. The more that we
Speaker 2: can be aware of it, and the more we can
Speaker 2: educate ourselves about it, I think it's really important because
Speaker 2: what kind of a legacy do we want to leave
Speaker 2: in this world.
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