We send our thoughts and prayers to the victims of the Manchester concert bombing, and rightly so.  Thousands have given direct material help, including a hegira of free cab rides and housing for displaced concert attendees.  Ariana Grande, who we’d mainly thought of as a typical self-absorbed pop star, had a big charity concert to benefit the victims and in consequence is now generally acknowledged to be “probably human“.

Manchester was one of the first of the big bangs preceding this year’s Ramadan attacks.  Thus far there have been a round dozen, depending on how one counts, and more are expected as we near the anniversary of the proclamation of ISIL on June 29.  The same happened in 2015, and it follows the pattern of Ramadan violence practiced by the ISIL precursor Al Qaeda In Iraq.  (Chatter is that there’s going to be assassination attempts on world leaders — which, while it makes sense, is at this point little more than gossip.  Airports, passenger jets, and the European rail system are likely targets as well.)

Unlike the 2015 attacks, there appears to be detailed planning behind the present events.  Those in Afghanistan and Iraq appear to have been timed for press and financial market impact; the attacks in Egypt and Europe were less orchestrated but had the benefit of planning and organization.  That level of support requires training, personal attention, and above all money.

Which is where heroin comes into it.  (You were wondering, weren’t you?)

Originally, ISIS was bankrolled with hard currency stolen from Saddam’s regime in Iraq; it was founded by several defecting Iraqi generals, some of whom have since moved on to Libya.  Their funding changed to oil sales routed through Turkey’s smuggling groups, already engaged in the opium trade.  They took advantage of their growing global popularity to create splinter groups in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and elsewhere throughout the less law-abiding portions of the world.  By the time their Syrian pipelines were finally severed, they had already gained partial control of an international drug-smuggling network on which they presently can draw for transportation, money, and logistical support.

You’ve been wondering why there’s an opioid epidemic?  It’s because heroin is so cheap all of a sudden, because the Mexican cartels have to compete with massive amounts being shipped by the Golden Triangle and Turkish growers, who are dominated by Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and now ISIL.  (We’ve been religiously bombing the Taliban into a fine mist for a decade, which left an opening in the supply side of the market — and ISIL stepped right in.)

That’s right:  Heroin is funding the damn terrorists now.  Getting bombed pays for getting people bombed.

Marijuana use (God only knows why) is still illegal in this country, and it doesn’t fund terrorists, only the Mexican Drug War and the Venezuelan kleptocracy.  Cocaine money likewise mainly benefits the Mexican cartels.  But heroin pays for bombs and bombers.

Now, it would be illegal, I’m sure, for me to ever recommend that someone do drugs.  I probably can’t even say, for example, that “Pot isn’t terrorism, unlike heroin.”  Because if I were to say something like that, I might be encouraging people to break the law, and I wouldn’t want to do that.  (Don’t break the law, people. Change it.)

Fortunately, I really don’t need to.  Anyone who’s made it this far is smart enough to connect the dots and can figure out the truth for themselves.

I encourage you to check my sources, both linked and below.  If you find a flaw, tell me.  (I know it’s an oversimplification.  There’s only so much one can fit in 600 words or less.)

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Additional sources:
http://theconversation.org/archive/alchemind.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13056/pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_production_in_Afghanistan