The Southern Front: The Vietnam War

The numbers speak loud and clear. This was part of the effects that where brought about by this epidemic, the growing use of the drug. Crack cocaine pierced through urban neighborhoods; its roots were tightly griped in Los Angeles California’s black neighborhoods (Webb “Dark Alliance; War…”). In effect, the growing use of cocaine in the US brought fort new types of profit and purpose for the drug trafficking industry; thus the emergence of crack cocaine on American soil, especially through the explosion in LA. This was due to a link between these areas drug dealers and the Fuerza Democratica Nicaraguense (FDA), know as the Contras here in the US (Webb “Dark Alliance; the Shadowy…”). The Contras imported the cocaine through one man, Oscar Danilo Blandon (Webb “Dark Alliance; the Shadowy…”). The Contras revolution against the socialist establishment in Nicaragua was being funded by the drug trafficking industry in other words (Webb “Dark Alliance; the Shadowy…”), and this ius when a chain effect begins. The chains of effects begin in Nicaragua, but ultimately it ends and harbors itself in the US within its urban neighborhoods. The CIA was involved with the Contras is one way or another, this is where the conspiracy theories begin (Webb “Dark Alliance; the Shadowy…”). Supposedly in the most extreme conclusion of them all is that the CIA was allowing the Contras to import and deliver all their cocaine, in order for them to find the monetary means for their

The CIA use to turn a blind eye to this stuff. Freeway Rick Ross, one of America’s biggest drug dealers unknowingly became a main player in the Central America Drug Trade. He helped fund the Contras who introduced crack-cocaine. That sent millions of American dollars to Nicaragua. The CIA’s plan was to promote and finance the Contra revolutionary group, which was trying to depose the Socialist Sandinista government in the Central American country. Then soon Congress cut off the Contras because of Russia’s communist ways were influencing Nicaragua (“CIA Funnels Drugs”). The drugs destroyed neighborhoods sending inner cities communities into a downward spiral and some communities are still trying to

He feels Yanagi’s pain through the connection but he does not draw attention to it. To be in the heat of a powerplay game such as the one boiling over in Konoha right now is a moment of extreme delicacy and ruthlessness; attachments are withheld, persons numbed down. The rampant mentality is this: eliminate those who are likely to get in one’s way, even if they are friends, or valuable allies. Nobody who lived through the Warring States Era would be unfamiliar with this tenet: do what must be done. And if Tobirama was forced to choose among the Yamanaka twins, he would keep Yanagi alive, simply because she is now the more valuable of the two, even though Yanagi herself and most definitely, not Osamu, would admit it. For to dabble in politics is to know who has value, worth and utility, and who do not.

“25 years ago, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North did something really, really bad. He sold weapons to Iran in an effort to help fund rebels fighting Nicaragua’s Socialist government. It was a war that was already being funded by the small country’s cocaine trade, a fact that prompted Congress to halt the flow of money from the U.S. to Nicaragua.” (http://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/)

The United States’ involvement with the Nicaraguan Contras was limited by the Boland Amendments, which explicitly stated that intelligence agencies were forbidden to provide support to the Contras (Gordon, 2987, para. 8). While the Reagan Administration wanted to deal arms with Iran, the Boland Amendments limited ways of negotiations. Reagan used Democratic Representative Edward Boland’s statement of, “only the CIA and Pentagon [are] intelligences (Gordon, 1987, para. 8)” to use the NSC to negotiate with Iran. As a result of Boland’s statements, the Reagan Administration used the National Security Council, specifically Lt. Col. Oliver North, to provide funds for the Contras (Winess, 1989, para. 3). North would use the money from the arms deal to fund the Contras. North was heavily involved in the release of the seven hostages from Lebanon, and was a key figure in the illegal activity preformed during Reagan’s presidency. Congress appropriated $27 million for the Contras in the 1986 fiscal year (Special, 1987, para. 4). Which means the US already gave funds for Reagan to distribute in Nicaragua without having to obtain more; however, Congress did allowed the Administration “to solicit Contra aid from other nations,” but forbid them from using any funds to purchase weapons (Special, 1987, para. 4). The Reagan

The U.S. involvement with these countries began in 1951. Jacobo Árbenz was a military officer who used his military forces to suppress laborers and take what he wanted. Hearing about this the current U.S. President Eisenhower sent weapons to guerrilla groups in order to help over throw Árbenz. Fast-forward a few years and the Cuban revolution happens and results in Cuba becoming a communist government. Around this time many of the guerrilla groups started disappearing but still remained intact. Most people who have an opinion on the matter agree that supplying arms and providing aid to these extremist groups was the starting point to forming the current gangs in Central America. “We made policy decisions that put short-term prioritization of winning battles against insurgents and people we considered communists over the long-term stability of those countries, they are now living the results.” (Katel p.7). This quote sums up the idea the U.S had with their

Additionally, he emphasized how the Sandinistas and its Marxist-Leninist regime represented destabilization to its neighbors. Even though his statements were powerful, they needed to be supported with actions. Therefore, strong financial and military support of the Contras against the communist Nicaraguan government, and the aid given to the government of El Salvador in their fight against the communist guerrillas were critical. In the case of Nicaragua's contra guerrillas, which were created to fight the revolutionary Sandinista government, Reagan referred to the Contras as "the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers" and the United States spent $1 billion on them; the fighting in Nicaragua killed as many as 50,000 people while Honduras served as a staging ground for US Nicaraguan

me may say the war in Vietnam was fought over the topic of pride; others say it was a useless war that served no purpose. Regardless of the meaning behind it, we cannot forget the soldiers that lived through it and the hardships they faced afterwards. A soldiers hardships are felt through their body, mind, and soul. The Vietnamese war has impacted all veterans with physical scars, emotional breakdowns, or spiritual growth; these are the three mementos that are usually brought back from war and have everlasting effects on their everyday lives.

So, they began feeding the public information about Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking in order to undermine him. Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking was soon placed in a number of news articles. Unfortunately, at that time, the general agreement was that the cost of military intervention would outweigh whatever benefits they could hope to gain. In addition, Noriega had considerable knowledge of U.S. military and intelligence (Robinson, 190). Because Washington had no wish to be defeated as they had in previous wars during the Cold War, and Noriega was not an imminent threat, they chose to restrain themselves from using military force.

Clearly the U.S. government prioritized national security goals over drug trafficking. Even the timing of Matta Ballesteros’s capture was suspect. Ioan Grillo, author of El Narco, noted how the U.S. government eventually used extreme and illegal means to capture Matta Ballesteros, but the raid didn’t take place until 12 days after the Contra/Sandinista ceasefire in 1998.

A global American ‘responsibility’ for maintaining order and justice, coupled with an idea of American superiority of it’s own values and personnel. President Reagan, like Kennedy was opposed to using the U.S. military to oust Nicaraguan leader Batista, on the President’s behest, the C.I.A began conducting operations in the country to usurp him. They favored one rebel group known as the ‘Contras’. They paid rebel leaders upwards of $7000 a month. However, also known to the C.I.A was that Contra rebels main proceeds came from cocaine trafficking, the majority of which ended up on U.S shores (particularly Florida), and has notorious cases of human rights abuses, such as the torture and rape of several villages in 1981. SO notorious, that U.S. congress specifically banned direct U.S government support of the rebels. The C.I.A countered this, using the proceeds of weapons trading with Iran (also prohibited by Congress), to supply them with arms and material. Not only did the C.I.A again engage in a war by proxy, but their ignoring of the Contras human rights record, trading with Iran and disobeying Congress demonstrated how highly it regarded it’s aforementioned global responsibility. It ignored the very fabric of justice and order (Congress) in the name of protecting those very values, and in

Fernando Arenas, a pilot for the Medellín cartel, later explained to PBS Frontline the circumstances behind the cartel’s brief presence in Nicaragua. Otherwise, the transit points for Colombian cartels were usually in countries with friendlier U.S. relations, such as Panama, Costa Rica, or the Bahamas. The Medellín cartel essentially declared war with the Colombian government in 1984 by assassinating the Colombian Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara Bonilla. Consequently, the leadership of the cartel fled their home country for a few months and bribed Tomas Borge for safe passage. Obviously, Barry Seal seized upon that opportunity and contacted the Bush administration with a plan for a sting operation in exchange for leniency after being arrested

During the early 1990’s Colombia being one of the biggest exporters of narcotics in history, led by Pablo Escobar, who had a wide range of organized crime affiliations throughout Latin America. Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and he smuggled narcotics all the way to South Florida as when authorities tried to capture him. One of Pablo Escobar’s most important alliances was that of the Mexican-based traffickers. Escobar knew that this was an important trade route because of its geography and how it would be easier to smuggle the narcotics into the United States. This allowed a smuggling partnership between both countries and Mexico was to eventually lead their own drug based trafficking system with the help of Pablo Escobar. From the distributed drugs, cartels would take a certain amount of profit, and would use that money to bribe Mexican officials. By bribing Mexican officials it was insured that if smugglers were to be arrested they would either be let go, the case would be dropped or taking action against a rival smuggling group by giving away information about the rival’s plan to carry

The major conflict in Colombia is the civil war with insurgent groups, as time went the conflict worsens and new issues were added a result to the civil war in Colombian such as drug traffic, paramilitaries, common crime, poverty, and unemployment. However, the civil war in Colombia affects directly the U.S government interest; as a consequence, that, the insurgent groups in Colombia have as a major financial resource the drug traffic. Therefore, the high position of Colombia in the global production of cocaine and heroin has long been a U.S major concern to its national interest, since U.S has been one of the most cocaine consumers, affecting most of youth population and enriching the Colombian’s illicit groups.

Central and South America both hold strategic importance to the United States. However, organized crime is rampant, corruption is prominent, and universal networks involved in illicit drug trafficking and human smuggling operate regularly with limited intervention. This activity transpires on a causeway that heads directly towards the United States. By that rational, in order to counter transnational organized crime (CTOC), instill regional stability, and to improve partner nation capacity, the United States Military should increase bilateral and multilateral military exercises near Nicaragua and Venezuela.