I was reading through some articles about the increase of opium production in Afghanistan and came across the following graph from Wikipedia.

Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan (in Hectors)

This data was published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

It is interesting to note that during the period when Taliban was gaining power,  the opium production actually showed a downward trend to a point where in 2001 it was reduced to its a minimum record since 1994.

Many argue that this containment of opium production under the Taliban regime was not favorable to the American drug corporations, which consequently become one of the big factors in the invasion of Afghanistan and the decision to  overthrow the Taliban regime.

After which, the production of opium surely picked up again and kept rising up beyond previous records.

The fact that Pharmaceutical business is the second most profit making industry after oil is no secret and the American government benefited largely from this increased opium production.

Following is a list of Medical drugs produced from Opium:

When considering the number of people around the world that use Acetaminophen daily, a pain killer that has Codeine as its main ingredient, the amount cash that is generated from having cheap opium at hand is astronomical.

Opium (cheap opium) creates huge profit margins for pharmaceutical companies.

By controlling the region and increasing the production of this plant, similar to oil, the American government kept its price reduced and well favorable, with no regards to regional and global effects of such massive opium surplus.

Sure the American companies have made billions of dollars, but at the cost of many Afghani, Iranian, Pakistani young men and women killed if not others around the world, many falling into the traps of addiction.

An addiction which devastates not only a single person, but many families, their offspring and eventually destroys the foundation for a functional society.

1- Iran has signed the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty)

The NPT clearly states that all parties have “an inalienable right to nuclear enrichment”. Iran has been progressing towards nuclear power for over 40 years, which started and supported by the western powers during the days of pro-western dictatorship of Shah.

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Iran vs Israel

Individual Comparisons:

Iran:

1- Is a member of the IAEA

2- Iran has signed the Non-proliferation Treat (NPT)

3- The UN and IAEA inspectors have not found any evidence to prove Iran is moving towards building an atomic weapon.

4- Iran has so far abided the UN and its regulations,  cooperated with the IAEA within the guidelines of  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

5- Has had the most number of  recorded UN inspectors on its sites than any other country  in the world

6- Is not currently a processor or nuclear fuel and does not hold any nuclear weapons

7- Has not initially attacked (been the aggressor towards) any country over the past 250 years

8- Iranian leaders publicly and repeatedly have emphasized their opposition to nuclear weapons

9- Iranian leaders have denounces war and shows their willingness to cooperate with the international regulating bodies to move towards world wide nuclear disarmament.

10- Iran accuses Israel of producing second and third generations nuclear war heads and not cooperating with the “international community”

Israel:

1- Is a member of the IAEA

2- Israel has NOT signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

3- Has broken more UN resolutions than any other country in the world

4- Possesses over two hundred ready nuclear war heads.

5- Has move or is moving towards 2nd and 3rd generation nuclear war head technology

6- Is the sole process of nuclear arms in the Middle East

7- Has had history of preemptive attacks against its enemies

8- Israel has previously and currently occupies its neighboring lands.

9- Israel  accuses the Iran of having ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons

10- Israeli leaders have publicly shown their readiness to attack Iran

Further Points:

• Israel is encourage
• Iran is feared
  *
• Israel is held as a friend and an ally
• Iran is an enemy and part of the “Axis of Evil”
  *
• Israel accuses Iran of violating human rights within its own country
• Iran accuses Israel of violating human rights outside its boarders (in Palestine)

The hypocrisy and the double standards in this world are extraordinary. In these hostile times between the two countries and turmoil around the world, we should remind ourselves that if there is no justice in the world, humanity shall never find peace.

Justice will come soon and so will peace between all.

Lets hope!

Who is Dr. John Dugard?

John Dugard is a Professor of International Law at the Center for human rights at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He has served as a judge on the International Court of Justice and as a Special Rapporteur for both the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission. He’s also granted as a distinguish professor of law at Duke University.

In the following lecture Dr. Dugard talks about the occupation and apartheid under international law as it’s happening in Palestine. He discusses and proves the three similarities of the dominant feature of the apartheid regime in South Africa with that of the Israeli and Palestinian.

These include:

1- Grand apartheid that was a territorial separation

2- Racial discrimination

3- Security rules

In the following videos John Dugard discusses the extent of these factors in the Palestinian occupied territories.

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I believe that this article is an act of free speech. The Swedish people, their media and/or their government have done nothing wrong. If the story is fake then the Israeli government should have not reacted as they did. There must be at least an ounce of truth somewhere in this article to spark the issue to such high level.

Source: gnnckx cc0

Nonetheless, if these allegations are true it should make every decent human being sick to the inner most of their stomach. It is almost inevitable that we will be waiting for a long time before the Israelis allow any kind international investigation into the matter, just as they would not and still do not allow any unbiased media to report what really did happen in Gaza or the West Bank.

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