Digital Ink Los Angeles

The 2009 World Drug Report says that Afghanistan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s poppy for heroin production, had a decrease in opiate production of 19% in 2008.

The U.S. Marines have attempted to commandeer the Helmand province in order to stifle the increasing insurgency and violence in this area, funded completely by the sale of this beautiful poppy.

Estimates as high as 35,000, including British Special Forces, are rumored to be accurate in terms of the number of high-impact, heavily armed troops that are currently roaming these Taliban strongholds. Not to mention the DEA, who are supervising the efforts in the poppy trenches.

The upcoming August 20th elections — with newcomer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah leading a charge against incumbent Karzai and James Carville-backed challenger Ashraf Ghani — will be a tipping point in this region.

Digital Ink Los Angeles picks Abdullah-Abdullah, who was a commander of forces led by Afghan warlord and national hero, Martyr Ahmad “The Lion” Shah Massoud, against the Soviet occupation in the 80s.

Massoud (seen at left) is legendary for his heroics leading fierce, horse-mounted warriors against the Taliban, but was assassinated only days before the events of 9/11 by Al-Qaeda henchmen led by Osama bin Laden.

“Know your enemy” is an oft-used warning to troops in combat situations. In Iraq, U.S. Armed Forces occupied oil reserves and refineries. In Afghanistan, Marines are in poppy fields.

Abdullah-Abdullah might be a political solution to a difficult U.S. drug problem.

The first known use of the word freedom in a political context dates back to the 24th century BC, in a text describing the restoration of social and economic liberty in Lagash, a Sumerian city-state.

Urukagina, the king of Lagash, established the first known legal code to protect citizens from the rich and powerful. Known as a great reformer, Urukagina established laws that forbade compelling the sale of property and required the charges against the accused to be stated before any man accused of a crime could be punished. This is the first known example of any form of due process in the history of humanity.

Sumer is also known as the “Cradle of Civilization,” or Mesopotamia. The Tigris and Euphrates are the fertile, nutrient-rich rivers that flow southward into modern-day Persian Gulf, which geographically separates Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula.

The Iraqi government has been awarded autonomy and sovereignty of its laws and lands by the U.S. government, effective as of July 1, 2009. The tank-mounted machine-gun in this picture would have been an alarming image until “Operation Iraqi Freedom” liberated the country from its previous government.

The notion we have to celebrate July 4th, because of our adoption of the Declaration of Independence on this date in 1776, is ironic because it takes several long years before the loose confederation of colonies becomes a real nation.

Indeed, the Unites States’ Constitution Day is observed on September 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787. That’s eleven years of struggle and perseverance. Baghdad (New Sumeria) has their work cut out for them.

Happy JULY 4th Holidays! Live freely.

What’s up with that title?

Firstly, let me say I don’t think we need to continue the 21st Century as “American Imperialists,” as our greatest warfare can still be “winning the hearts and minds” of people by the way we treat our own people.  Remember Hurricane Katrina?

Horses and Satellites are the two essential elements to winning in Afghanistan.  Or, should I say, not losing.

We’re not there to take over their country, as the Russians would love to watch us attempt. We need to root out the al-Qaeda (“The Base”) — as they are the “Muslim Brotherhood” who are intent upon destroying the spread of Western culture.

The Afghans are the greatest horsemen in the world — they have a game called Buzkashi that’s similar to playing polo with a goat. And they’re so adept at riding in mountain terrain, Humvees and helicopters are unable to penetrate the canyons and caves of the Pamir Mountains.

Satellites and drones — these are the key to assisting with this operation, as Obama is committing to this whole-heartedly.  Rightfully so, as this is an eternal war, or Jihad, we are facing.

Consider this March 7th, 2002, article from The Economist:

SOME of the heaviest fighting of the war is now raging in eastern Afghanistan. American ground troops, supplemented by detachments from Australia, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway, are trying to destroy the remnants of al-Qaeda that are still holding out in Paktia province.

South of Gardez, they have met sustained and determined resistance. Since the attack began, on March 3rd, nine Americans have died, seven of them from rifle fire as helicopters tried to supply the men on the ground

The travails of Operation Anaconda, as this assault is known, raise obvious doubts about America’s much-vaunted success in this war. Although the campaign from the air removed the Taliban from Kabul in a mere two months, America now seems engaged in an older and much more risky kind of war, involving the ground troops and body bags that it has always sought to avoid. Nor is the job finished.

The al-Qaeda network is still in existence, though severely mauled; the fate of most of its leaders, including Osama bin Laden, is unknown. In the end, there may be no technology that will completely neutralize people as desperate and determined as the hijackers who struck on September 11th …