THE WAR ON DRUGS GOES TOO FAR

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THE WAR ON DRUGS GOES TOO FAR


For some reason, talk about liberty and democracy rings a little hollow when those speaking the words give their implicit assent to brutality and tyranny. The War on Drugs is largely an American export to all corners of the globe, and the crimes it perpetuates are far more heinous than the potential harms associated with drug abuse.


This fact seems to be lost on most world leaders.


For several years now, citizens of the Philippines, an alleged democracy, have been subject to gross injustice inflicted by government-backed death squads. In order to make communities safer from the drug menace, the employment of motorcycle-riding plain-clothes gunmen has been unofficially recognized by at least two Filipino mayors, with expressed approval from their president, to be the best route.


Yes, letting a pack of murderers loose on the town is much safer than allowing individuals to choose their own path in life.


The implication is that these extrajudicial executions are pardonable, as they are cleaning the scum off the streets.


While pushing drugs on little children may be inexcusable, such a phenomenon is a direct result of drug prohibition. Rather than rethink their strategy, however, the government decided to just use more brute force, which is bound to work in the long run, right?


At least the Filipino government has the tact to officially deny any connection to these death squads, unlike the Thai government which has embarked on a similar killing spree, resulting in over a thousand deaths of drug dealers and users alike.


To add insult to injury, the American government is colluding with the Philippine DEA and military in a counter-narcotics training exercise.


While there is no evidence to suggest that our own military are directly involved with these killings, it certainly seems that we are helping to train the killers. In a time where "terror" is public enemy number one, you would think the administration would be trying to sever ties to such groups rather than aid them. That is, unless you realize that some forms of terrorism are OK, as long as they're directed against the right kinds of people.


The outright hypocrisy in supporting such a rogue government is, unfortunately, becoming the rule rather than the exception.


Over the last half of the 20th century, our government has given support in a myriad of forms to scores of regimes that place a well-oiled marketplace above human rights. We invade Iraq and Afghanistan while turning a blind eye to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, spouting gibberish about liberation and freedom the whole time.


The motives behind this rhetoric are completely transparent, should one choose to turn off their cultural blinders.


The same can be said about the War on Drugs. An honest look at the issue will show that drugs are not the problem; people with corrupt morals, whether they are a junkie or an ardent prohibitionist, are the problem.


Rather than help those with addiction problems, well-meaning people infused with propaganda find it reasonable to imprison or kill their fellow humans, yet I can only wonder how they would feel if they were to witness firsthand the tragedies wrought by prohibition. Alas, without a free press, most never will know.