Oil and Drug

                       "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls
                        around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
                                                                                                       - 1 Peter 5:8 NIV

In my previous post, I have talked about Sarah Palin's stance on energy independence as it relates to our national security, the economy and our environment. Central to her plans is to utilize the domestic resources available to us. That  includes opening up a tiny slice of ANWR that's already been designated by Congress in 1980 for oil exploration but has remained untouched due to misleading campaigns of some powerful special interest groups.

With our economy in the tank and an average family spends $4 for every $10 they earn, it is conceivable that oil drilling would one of the top, if not the top, of the first issues that Sarah Palin would tackle if given the chance to be at the Oval Office.

It is my hope, though, that the day the new president opens up ANWR should also mark the beginning of an all-out war on drugs as well. It is a well-known fact that financial contributions (thru charities, NGOs, education, mosques, to cite a few) of wealthy individuals and groups from rich oil-producing countries, especially in the Gulf, advertently or not, find their way to terrorist groups. Should the new US president pursue domestic oil independence, which Sarah Palin definitely would, the imminent shrinking of oil money would make these terrorist groups turn to drugs in a more accelerated and impassioned way. It is no secret that illicit drug trade funds the terrorist groups to pay for their weapons, training and operations. Drugs will be the easiest route to meet that need, as the Talibans are already doing. There is a lot of money to be made in drug trade and Afghanistan and Mexico will have no qualms in taking the lead in filling the void.

There are people out there who would want to do America harm - in whatever way and capacity that they can. America has to be alert and  forward-thinking and pro-active. That is why, the new president must confront this drug issue with more intensity and focus beginning on day one.