
The Narco-terror Trap - danso
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-dea-narco-terror-trap
======
dkroy
I highly suggest that if you have the time to read about Portugual, and their
results 14 years later after decriminalizing all drugs. It is what I would
call a great success story, and it is a case study that I rarely see get
brought up. There are two things that really get my blood boiling, the first
one sadly works as intended, and the second one usually doesn't. The first one
is fear mongering, and which usually perpetuates the second one is
prohibition.

------
eric_h
"If I don’t ﬁnd a job, maybe I’m going to have to join al-Qaida for real."

The author of the article seems to imply that this is a tongue in cheek
comment on the part of Mr. Touré, but it seems to me that this type of
meddling via "sting operations" could easily create more converts to
terrorism, even if only out of pure utilitarianism on the part of the
converts.

Fortunately it's unlikely to be as effective (in terms of sheer numbers) at
creating new converts as UAVs dropping bombs on weddings and hospitals is.

~~~
brbsix
Oh it absolutely will create more "converts to terrorism". Just look at the
results of the mass incarcerations post invasion of Iraq. You put thousands of
people in detention centers and prison camps and you give them an
unprecedented opportunity to recruit and plan. These camps were the birthplace
of the Islamic State. Arrests for anything related to terrorism ruin the life
of the accused and put them in close proximity to other "terrorists". Of
course all this activity makes Jihad appear all the more justified. Imagine
being innocent or guilty of a victimless crime and getting this sort of royal
treatment. You can really see how an otherwise mild-mannered person might have
a change of heart.

Unfortunately LE agencies across the U.S. are engaged in a perpetual struggle
to justify their existence, particularly anything to do with narcotics or
terrorism. We've seen plenty of cases where informants fund, encourage, and
supply vulnerable people (often of questionable mental states) with anything
from drugs, weapons, to explosives. I don't really see what can be done to
remedy this when agencies have a magic word to become unbound by the
Constitution and get access to seemingly unlimited quantities of fiat money.

~~~
refurb
_These camps were the birthplace of the Islamic State._

Huh? ISIS came from Jordan into Iraq. These guys were already active before
the 2nd Iraq war.

~~~
brbsix
All of the mainstream media I've read on the subject identify the Iraqi camps
(Camp Bucca in particular) as the modern origins of ISIS and attribute the
camps to facilitating networking and radicalization, without which ISIS would
not have been able to spread the way it did. [1] [2] [3] [4] I'm not an expert
on the subject, that is just what I've gathered from mainstream sources.

I was able to find a profile on the Islamic State by the Brookings Institute
[5] that corroborates the earlier roots:

 _Although currently centered within Syria and Iraq, IS’s roots lie in Jordan
and Afghanistan and date back to at least 1999. However, IS has evolved
considerably since then, transforming from a small and loosely structured body
with broad international ambitions to a vast organization focused on governing
as an Islamic state across nation state boundaries.

Throughout this 15-year period, IS and its various predecessors have undergone
a significant process of operational and organizational learning. While a
first attempt at Islamic state building in 2006-2008 proved overzealous and
alienating, a second attempt from 2013 onwards has proven more sustainable,
although concerted international intervention begun in 2014 will pose a
serious challenge to its success. Nevertheless, through its impressive
advances across large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2013 and 2014, IS has
arguably proven a more successful organization than al-Qaeda._

[1]: [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-
in...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story)

[2]: [http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-origins-of-isis-finding-
the-...](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-origins-of-isis-finding-the-
birthplace-of-jihad/)

[3]: [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/camp-
buc...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/camp-bucca-the-us-
prison-that-became-the-birthplace-of-isis-9838905.html)

[4]: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3104859/US-Prison-
ca...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3104859/US-Prison-camp-Iraq-
accidentally-formed-ISIS-housing-radial-jihadists-allowing-organize-terror-
group.html)

[5]:
[http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2014...](http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2014/11/profiling-
islamic-state-lister/en_web_lister.pdf?la=en)

