[Japakefrope]

(CNN) -- Six police officers were shot and one was killed while serving a search warrant in Ogden, Utah, police said.

All six were rushed to hospitals after the shooting, said Ogden Assistant Police Chief Marcy Korgenski. The suspect in the case also was wounded and taken to a hospital.

Ogden city officer Jared Francom died from his wounds, Ogden police said early Thursday.

"Agent Francom has served the citizens of Ogden city with honor for seven years," authorities said in a statement Thursday. "He is survived by his wife and two young children."

The remaining five officers remained hospitalized with injuries ranging from serious to critical, police said. The suspect sustained injuries not considered life-threatening.

The officers, who were part of a narcotics task force, were attempting to serve a search warrant at an Ogden address Wednesday night, according to the statement.

Ogden is about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City in northern Utah.

Clayton Payne, a resident of the neighborhood where the shootings took place, told CNN affiliate KSL, "I was sitting in the front room watching TV, heard three pops. My fiance asked if they were fireworks. I said, 'No, those are gunshots.'"

He said he ran outside after hearing what sounded like an AK-47.

"I ran out here to see what was going on and I was escorted back to my house by the cops," he said. "They said, 'Get in your house. Get down.'"

The shootings follow a year in which U.S. cities saw an increase in officers killed. The number of officers who died in the line of duty in 2011 increased 16% nationwide from last year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Last year, 177 officers were killed, compared to 153 in 2010, the organization said.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/05/justic...RSS:%20U.S.%29

[artofeyyy]

"it sounded like an ak-47"

it's always an ak-47.

[xanaxist]

"it sounded like an ak-47"

it's always an ak-47.

They throw that in there so that the article comes up in search results to prove that AK-47 assault rifles are responsible for the majority of deaths of our heroic protective forces.

I LOL'd at that as well.

[espabamar]

AKs don't really go "pop" they do the classic rifle "bang-whiz". Handguns tend to go "pop".

To the untrained ear and especially under certain conditions various handgun fire can sound like fireworks. It is highly unlikely to mistake longarm rifle fire for fireworks, however.

[bp9QxekG]

The drug war is almost the stupidest thing imaginable.

[dasneycomrov]

The funny thing about trouble is that if one goes looking for it, one - or six - may find it.

I bet no one made any one of these six control freaks sign up to be drug warriors - they must have volunteered. In all wars, so much cannon fodder.

[codecouponqw]

[herawaq]

Thanks for clarifying!

[Catieliecutty]

The drug war is almost the stupidest thing imaginable.

hey now, not so fast!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

10 Ways the War on Drugs is a Wild Success



Eric Blair
Activist Post

For all the evidence of how the War on Drugs has failed society, there's equally as much evidence of how it is a great success to those who continue to support it. The drug war has many advantages if you wish to control society and expand your empire. It also enriches several industries that would otherwise have a very difficult time staying solvent without it.

Here are ten ways the War on Drugs is a wild success:

Military-Industrial Profits: As the Vietnam War came to an end, it struck fear into the military-industrial machine that enjoyed great profits from that conflict. In a world where contrived enemies were needed to keep a constant funding of weapons, Richard Nixon declared drugs "Public Enemy Number 1". Thus, domestic armies were erected to combat the illegal drug trade, delivering consistent cash flow to weapons manufacturers. These companies make money, not just from the needs of the DEA, border patrol, and local police forces, but also from drug traffickers. Win-win and profits all around.

Huge Boon to Private Prisons: The private prison industry thrives off long sentences for drug offenders. At least 25% of their profits come from these nonviolent criminals. A great number more are held on "drug related" charges that may have resulted in drug violence. However, the current trend shows that three-quarters of new inmates admitted to state prisons are nonviolent offenders. Private prisons clearly depend on arresting pot smokers and addicts of more severe drugs.


Prevents Higher Unemployment Rates: Imagine if the millions of American currently jailed on drug charges were released into a job market already suffering from real unemployment numbers over 20%. Additionally, if it wasn't for drugs being illegal, countless people like DEA agents, court staff, prison guards, parole officers, drug dealers, etc would otherwise be unemployed. Thank goodness for the war on drugs, or the U.S. economy would look even worse.

Suppresses Minority Populations: It's often said that the drug war is a war on minorities: "According to the ACLU, African Americans make up an estimated 15% of drug users, but they account for 37% of those arrested on drug charges, 59% of those convicted and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison. Or consider this: The U.S. has 260,000 people in state prisons on nonviolent drug charges; 183,200 (more than 70%) of them are black or Latino." So it is a huge success for those who wish to suppress minority populations.

Drives Up Prices: Making any substance illegal will result in much higher prices than a free market would dictate. Especially when there's a high demand for that substance. In the case of the cannabis plant, which grows like a weed and requires very little value added, the dried flower would virtually be free if it wasn't for the harsh restrictions and dangers involved in producing and distributing it. These high prices are terrific for drug dealers and even medical marijuana growers opposed legalization in California because it threatened their profits.

Drug Violence Justifies Tough Gun Laws: The violence generated from the prohibition of drugs is reminiscent of the extreme mob violence during the prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition of anything will always create black markets which require firearms to protect banned products. Recently, the U.S. government itself was caught red-handed supplying guns to Mexican drug cartels in their "Fast and Furious" scandal. It's now proven that the ATF plotted to use Fast and Furious to push for new gun control regulations. Indeed, most street violence is due to turf wars over the drug trade, and tougher gun laws are proposed as the war escalates. It's wonderful for those who blame violence on guns and wish to restrict them from law-abiding citizens.

Protects Big Pharma Monopolies: No one is happier about the war on drugs than Big Pharma. Their control over the FDA and monopoly of "controlled substances" would be threatened if all drugs were legalized. They want you addicted to their FDA-approved versions of heroin and cocaine, not something you can get on the black market. In turn, they also benefit greatly when the prices of street drugs increase, as they can then inflate the cost of their products. They love the drug war so much they've lobbied to extend it to vitamins and supplements.

Allows Proxy Armies: If you want to create an empire by force, but it's politically disadvantageous to base your army in certain countries, then the global war on drugs is your ticket to supplying troops or creating proxy armies. One of the most recent examples is Costa Rica, a peaceful country in Central America without an army, where the U.S. bribed the government to allow the Navy and Marines to be stationed off the Caribbean coast to fight the war on drugs. In other nations where even this won't be allowed, the CIA funds and arms one of the drug cartels who then act as their hired enforcers, or they're used as an excuse for governments to accept U.S. help to combat the enemy they created. In either case, the U.S. sells more arms and trains soldiers to be used upon command.

Keeps Big Banks Flush with Cash: It has long been known that big banks happily launder money for the big drug cartels. According to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), "Up to 1.5 trillion dollars in drug money are laundered through legal enterprises, accounting for 5% of global GDP." Take just this year and one bank, Wachovia; who had to pay a slap-on-the-wrist fine for laundering more than $420 billion for Mexican drug cartels. Imagine where the big banks would be without this money, given that they also needed a bailout of over $23 trillion for lack of sufficient deposits to pay for their gambling habits.

Funds CIA Black Ops: Do you ever wonder where the U.S. government gets all that money for their secret "Black Ops" like underground bases, secret wars, corporate takeovers and seed money, etc? It's been proven over and over that the CIA (and Pentagon) controls a large majority of the illicit drug trade either directly or indirectly through proxies mentioned above. They've been caught in the act of shipping in massive amounts of cocaine, while the CIA now openly admits to protecting and facilitating the opium trade in Afghanistan. If it wasn't for this tremendous profit, the CIA would not be able to build their secret shadow government.

So, as you can see, there are great benefits to the War on Drugs depending what side of the coin you're on. If you're a poor pot smoker, well, you're out of luck. But if you're the biggest heroin and cocaine dealer in the world and desire a monopoly . . . well, you've got the world right where you want it.

[RonPeeredob]

I wonder what percentage of violent crime in the US is a direct spin off from the "War" on drugs? Indirectly too: There was an article in the local paper recently about a caught multi-murderer. There was a long paragraph about his arrest record over the past 10-12 years; my mouth was hanging open in amazement that this guy could have still been out after 10's of burglaries, armed robberies, thefts, assaults and other crap including several violent confrontations. They have the damn jails so full of non-violent drug users that there is no room left to contain the predators that it is the legitimate and supposedly primary purpose of the legal system to contain. Millions of deaths worldwide and a significant portion of the globe corrupted because of the "war" on drugs.

[tooratrack]

147 cops killed by civilians?.........how many civilians killed by cops or really, really injured?.......how many false arrest?.... how many harrasments?........how many loose teeth with a baton?.........................I am not sorry for those cops.

[P1international]

The drug war is almost the stupidest thing imaginable.

I wont celebrate the death of a man who had a wife and two kids, but I sure hope that this will help open the eyes of those affected by it to see that the violence and death that comes out of the drug war is a mistake.

I've been reading up on prohibition era America, and it was the same back then, violence and booze related deaths skyrocketed during prohibition. I wish the lesson would be learned, but like PatColo aptly showed, there is too much power/profit involved in the upper levels of gov't for them to give it up.

[bQXHsKzS]

Did anyone who read this story not think to themselves that there is nothing in the story describing EXACTLY how the shooting went down?

It's just a bunch of events loosly strung events together so that there is no way you can tell who might be at fault and why these officers were shot at. That aside, the drug war is a farce anyways and any officer with a smidgen of intelligence on this issue would elect to NOT be a part of it, there are plently of other legitimate duties a police officer can be apart of.

[UKkoXJvF]

That's the game. Yes, and everyone knows that 'playing games' is the righteous way of doing things. /sarc

[TeLMgNva]

but it is necessary. Indeed, and the argument can be made that the TSA is 'necessary' as well. lol

[posimoka]

Two different things. That's a nice way to sidestep an argument.

You're the one trying to justify the insanity of the so-called 'war on drugs'. lol

[b3JOkwXL]

Sorry, but I just had to.