I agree with you Carl. Drug money is not used extensively to directly fund terrorist activities, it is because individual terroristic undertakings, like bombings, require a relatively small amount of input to effect. However, drug money appears to somehow pay for logistics and overhead maintenance for operations and serve as a commodity to barter for smuggled goods(ever wonder how our enterprising Muslim brothers have access to hot goods despite very low capital present, but this is of course not limited or exclusive to them).

I do not hear the MILF or Abu Sayaff have the tradition nor the habit of widespread extortion.

Whether this warrants the CIA boss’ attention, I don’t know. I believe what is more concerning to the CIA is the Philippines serving as a good transit point for terrorists to enter mainland US.

@J_ag

I’m sorry if my statement sounds as if the US is getting a chunk of their finances for external operations from dirty money. But i think the advantages and benefits in tapping these underground finances are really plenty both as an intelligence tool and as a ready, available & liquid source of currency for a small portion of their operations.

“It’s only logical, informal economies give generous returns. Returns which they can use for their operations.”

The above is one weird statement.

The U.S. treasury announced recently that the U.S. budget deficit hit $1 trillion as of end June. Their fiscal year ends in September. That would mean that they sold debt papers to their authorized dealers in debt paper an amount that would equal the entire annual output of ASEAN economies and they have not yet finished their fiscal year.

Please note that even the Iran Contra deal was done with budget items.

Being that the U.S. dollar is the unit of account for all commodities that would mean the U.S. is privileged in the world in getting things for free. That is the benefit of empire.

The issue is whether it’s being done extensively enough in the Philippines, so that it warrants a visit from the U.S. CIA director. I say it’s B.S. There could be instances, but it isn’t extensive enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if the MILF, for example, engaged in marijuana production in areas they control. But it wouldn’t be in alarmingly large volumes. I also know that the NPA encourages farmers to cultivate marijuana in some far-flung areas.

Even the US have long tapped underground economies as a source for liquid finances , through black-market financial instruments, to run ground operations. Money laundering alone affords them untracable liquidity that the US Congress can’t give as well as precious underground intelligence.

It’s only logical, informal economies give generous returns. Returns which they can use for their operations.

In the Philippines it’s local warlords and military officers who are in control of their areas. They may be a bunch of greedy, unscrupulous and ruthless bastards who don’t care who gets hurt, as long as they make a buck. But terrorism? Why bother? The closest to terrorists making money from drugs in the Philippines is the NPA’s involvement in marijuana production.

What may be more serious is Chinese involvement in the metamphetamine drug trade.