Article

2005-03-15 Arabia

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Posted by Dan Darling 2005-03-15 12:10:39 AM|| || Front Page|| [11138 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 allenist are starting to get hooked on those drugs in greater numbers. Expect as backlash of sorts to that. I just wonder when AQ hasn't been using Dhows to transport people and things. I bet this is a long term practice and nothing new.

Posted by Sock Puppet 0â Doom 2005-03-15 2:16:25 AM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-15 2:16:25 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 I don't think the drug addictions are new, SPoD. Isn't the opium poppy native to Turkey, along with the tulip, and so many other lovely blooms? Homo sapiens will alter their consciousness -- it seems to be an intrinsic need -- and where one altering substance is forbidden, others will be used. The Yemenis have their Kat (ick, green drool), marijuana grows wild on the Indian subcontinent. And all those womenless young men need to do something with their time, those who don't want to do jihad.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-03-15 7:03:44 AM|| 2005-03-15 7:03:44 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 ...Am I the only one who noticed that the brave Jihadis in their dhows surrendered instead of taking the raisins?

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2005-03-15 7:13:57 AM|| 2005-03-15 7:13:57 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 TW- it is not need, it is desire to get away fromwhatever situation that they face instead of dealing with it. When you see pharmaceuticals in the poor it is escapism, while in the rich it is boredom (too much stuff they have already done).

Mike- Take the raisins? That's a new one.

Posted by Jame Retief 2005-03-15 7:25:35 AM|| 2005-03-15 7:25:35 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Drug addiction (apart from Qat) doesn't seem to be a major problem in Arab countries. However it is a major problem in Iran where there are perhaps a million heroin addicts.

Posted by phil_b 2005-03-15 8:12:54 AM|| 2005-03-15 8:12:54 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 I bet this is a long term practice and nothing new.

Long-term practice by many groups. Most is piggy- backing on the smuggling business The Iranians have long used dhows for intel-gathering, and used them for targeting ships during the Tanker War.

Posted by Pappy 2005-03-15 12:32:58 PM|| 2005-03-15 12:32:58 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 I forgot to mention the hashish-using Janissary assassins of old.

Jame, I was talking about how humans have been using mind-altering substances since forever. The behaviour seems to be species-wide, rather than cultural. And there certainly is a great deal to escape from in the Arab world these days.

Phil, I've seen articles (sorry, no references) about drug problems among the youth of Saudi Arabia. And the numbers of foreign drug dealers who've lost their heads over the years certainly indicates a long-term problem. .com, any comments based on your time over there?

Posted by trailing wife 2005-03-15 1:00:52 PM|| 2005-03-15 1:00:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 These moops confessed to being members of Al Qaeda? Who are they and where were they from? As Mike Kos said why didn't they take the raisins? Hopefully we didn't send them to Gitmo. Since nobody new these guys were arrested why the Hell did anyone say anything. Just eliminate them and tell me about 10 years from now.

Posted by Rightwing 2005-03-15 4:30:01 PM|| 2005-03-15 4:30:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 tw - As you point out, this is something you can lose your head over... so it may not surprise you that I never saw any evidence of drug use - other than the beer / sidiqqi alcohol mills run in the various compounds. No dope.

An infidel such as myself would never be approached or hear of the availability without doing lots of digging and advertising the desire, I'm certain - which probably is far more likely a ticket to the worst prison you can imagine, rather than one to nirvana. If you decided to try to seek it out here in the US by going to those places / parts of town. You'd stick out like a sore thumb and everyone would be wary of even talking to you. I figure the dealers would likely be about 100x that wary in Saudi.

Posted by .com 2005-03-15 4:39:36 PM|| 2005-03-15 4:39:36 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 TW, according to this report there are 400,000 drug addicts in the Arab world out of a worldwide total of 185 million. A rough calculation says an Arab is about 70 times less likely to be a drug addict than the global average (person).

Posted by phil_b 2005-03-15 4:48:42 PM|| 2005-03-15 4:48:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 I dunno - I live in China, home of horribly repressive drug laws, and I'm able to find hashish without too much trouble.

P.S. running drugs for money, and using drugs, are two entirely different creatures.

Posted by gromky 2005-03-15 8:28:31 PM|| 2005-03-15 8:28:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 *throws up hands* I guess I was wrong as to the facts. Unfortunately for my pride, not the first time. Thank you all for helping me learn. Especially Phil, for the link. ;-)

.com, I'v never been invited to that part of any town I've ever been to. Mr. Wife wouldn't even take me to Russia with him, for fear I wouldn't recognise the mean people, and get myself murdered, mugged, raped and kidnapped. (Yes, all of that. He's very protective, and I can be very oblivious, so it's probably just as well.)

Gromky, I'll keep you in mind should we ever get transferred to China, and I find reason to need hashish ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2005-03-15 9:56:58 PM|| 2005-03-15 9:56:58 PM|| Front Page Top

10:08 Hawk Eye
10:08 Hawk Eye
23:57 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:49 Sobiesky
23:48 3dc
23:44 Laurence of the Rats
23:44 Aris Katsaris
23:43 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
23:39 AzCat
23:16 dcreeper
22:57 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:49 mojo
22:48 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
22:43 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:43 trailing wife
22:40 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:38 Sobiesky
22:33 Bobby
22:30 trailing wife
22:30 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
22:29 SteveS
22:29 AzCat
22:28 anymouse
22:27 Bobby