Dear Allen, I fear that I owe you apology. I have been reading a succession of stories about CIA involvement in the dope trade in South East Asia and I remember when you first suggested I look into this I thought you were full of beans. Indeed you were right and I acknowledge the fact plus sending my best personal wishes.

— C.L. Sulzberger, New York Times publisher,
in a letter to Allen Ginsberg, April 11, 1978

Monday, September 16, 2002

McCoy, Alfred: The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia

Three Boner image: The coveted three boner is awarded to works that set a new standard for journalistic integrity, laying bare just how badly our government is humping us.

McCoy, Alfred (1972) The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia. New York: Harper & Row, 464 pp.
politics of heroin in southeast asia  politics of heroin in southeast asia

This barn burner is the epitome of three-boner material and a must-read for anyone who still believes the US-led “War on Drugs” is the good fight. Indeed, the CIA fought the good fight just to prevent publication of this book, and a quick glance through its pages will convince you why they were so scared. McCoy blows the lid off the entire US intelligence agency complicity in the global heroin trade, concentrating in particular on the Vietnam War period. This one’s a total holy-rolling mind-f#*ker. A 1991 edition includes material on the rise of the Afghan/Pakistan heroin trade with the CIA-led support of the Afghan mujaheddin in the 1980s. As I told a friend shortly after 9/11, “now that the CIA is back in Afghanistan, look for a huge wave of Afghan heroin to hit the world.” Sure enough, production increased over 1000% after the US invasion. Am I psychic? No, I had simply read McCoy’s book.

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