Today is Sunday, August 1st, 2010 and it is now 529PM here in the South Bronx, New York City, USA.
Recap: I had been talking about the history of drugs in the Philippines.
This entry: I arrived back in the US late last night/early this morning after a direct flight, Manila to JFK, the largest Metro New York City airport. I had to come back for a quick hop to take care of some things having to do with 1 of my 2 American sons. The flight, directly, is about 22 hours on the clock because you have to cross the Date Line which means you cannot really go by anything other than Greenwich Mean Time or a stop watch.
The flight actually wasn't that bad and I am getting spoiled, this is my 2nd time back here without getting the full on digital search (hand up the Hershey Hiway). I am a convicted drug felon with a record in 2 nations soooooo...
I never got to that part of my life in my "My Life" entries so I suppose I could take some time and talk about it;
My 1st conviction was in Israel, in IDF Court (Military Court). I was assigned as a Liason to the Phalangist Office during my 1st (almost) 7 years in Southern Lebanon, when I was a teen. I had entered Active Duty just as I turned 16 and was deployed to a re-formulated Infantry Brigade, NACHAL, usually known as "Nahal" when talking to English speakers. The word Nachal is akin to the Arabic word, "Wadi," which really doesn't translate well into English. Basically, it is a dry creek bed in the desert that, during the very short tainy season is filled and even overflows with rushing water. The word for my Birgade however is an acronym for words meaning, "Young Fighting Pioneers."
It was one of the original Infantry Brigades in the nascent Haganah, the original Israeli Army but was deactivated in the late 1950s.
In June of 1982 Israel launched a massive invasion of Lebanon with the stated Objective of eliminating the PLO from lands bordering Israel since the PLO, of course, was using those lands to launch murderous attacks against Israeli civlians. Ideally we could have relied on Lebanon, the worst nation in this respect, to handle its own borders and reign in these terrorists.
Sadly, in 1969 Lebanon gave into the PLO and granted the organisation total control of its "Palestinian" Camps and a huge swath of land, in Southern Lebanon, called "PLOlandia." This abandonment of responsibility was formalised in the 1969 Ta'if Accords, signed in Saudi Arabia. Ta'if didn't sit well with every Lebanese faction and the Christians, of whom the Maronites were the most powerful, decided to do something about it.
This led to the First Lebanese Civil War in 1975 and Israeli involvement in 1977.
By 1982 we had come to a secret accord with the Maronites and the 1982 invasion was as much about this agreement as it was about neutralising the PLO's base of power in Lebanon. The 1982 invasion, "Operation Peace for Galilee" was so successful, for Israel, that within days our men were playing football (soccer) above the Presidential Palace in the hills above Beirut, having outrun their own supply lines, despite our government publicly committing itself to an incursion of less than 40km from our northern border.
The heady success of those first few days turned to abject horror when the Shi'a (Shite Muslims) who had thrown roses at us as we moved north began launching Suicide Bombings under Iranian tutelage. By the time my 16th birthday drew near, just after New Year's 1982 the honeymoon was over. On a per capita basis, in statistics relative to the US, we had more than 200,000 soldiers from Israel Killed in Action (remember our population was less than 3 milion at the time so that 1,000 Israelis in per capita terms equivocates to 200,000 US servicemen)!
This then is exactly why my brigade had been re-activated.
Imagine 200,000 American soldiers dying in 12 months? This is the war I entered officially in June of 1983, the war most Israelis see as our nation's equivalent to the American experience in Viet Nam.
Because of my speaking Arabic as a 1st Language, and my then having a promising Security Rating, I was kicked over to AMAN, Military Intel, and assigned as noted to the Phalangist (Maronite Army) Administration Building for Central Sector.
One of the fringe benefits of this deployment was that I was able to hitch rides back into Israel every other weekend for 2 days of rest and relaxation.
The Lebanon of the early 1980s was one that was a major heroin producer (Heroin #2) along with the top flight hashish that the country had been known for since the mid-1960s. Then, like now drugs in Lebanon were centered in the Beka'a Valley. Beka'a is a totally flat valley in the eastern part of the nation, near the Syrian Border. Syria itself had been a player in the heroin trade, as a processor of Turkish opium into Heroin #1, for the Corsican and Southern Italian and Sicilian producers operating in Italy and France. By the mid-1970s the Corsicans were shoved aside, along with Turkey, the major starting point for the Corsican trade.
Seeing a vaccum, some of the hashish producing clans of Beka'a turned their attention to poppy, or as in the case of some very smart producers, grew poppies for 140 days and then got in a crop of cannabis.
Israel up until that point was pretty much a nation without a real drug problem. Traditionally Jews have been users of both opium and hashish but it was seen as a vice of elderly men, or at worst something inbibed in 3 times a year (Jewish male adults are commanded to get high 3 times a year on certain holidays).
1983 changed Israel forever. Along with the equivalent of 200,000 soldiers dying, men were coming home severely addicted to cheap and incredibly potent heroin. In fact, "Rapid Detox" was invented by an IDF physician to treat seriously addicted Infantrymen.
Others, like myself, became addicted through morphine after being wounded in action but the end result was the same and finally the IDF found itself having to launch a major crackdown.
When it came time for my 3rd trip back into Israel for R and R one of my mates offered me a nice paycheck if I would ferry home 4 kilos of Lebanese Red Hashish. Seeing hashish as an innocent thing in comparison to the heroin, morphine and opium everybody was into I readily agreed.
He showed me how to secrete the nearly 10 pounds of hash inside a burlap rice sack packed with coffee beans, underneath a removable armour panel on an MkI tank. The panels were bolted on, remove the bolts of a particular panel and you had a readymade compartment for getting a small load across.
If the tank I was riding on was stopped I just needed to show my AMAN ID and Orders (a written letter stating that I shouldn't be uneccessarily detained at the Border). Sounded simple enough, famous last words.
So, on the day in question I was very confident...until we entered the Inspection Lane and I saw, for the 1st time, MPs with German Shepard dogs inspecting under every vehicle, even tanks.
About an hour and half later we pulled up and as we idled one MP inspected our papers, IDs and belongings in what was a new crackdown on contraband being shipped south (mostly souveneirs like weapons but also artifacts, bulk purchases in black market trade, etc).
As the dog bounced up and down by the armoured panel I felt naseous but it was if it were taking place in slow motion...
I will finish in my next entry...
Recap: I had been talking about the history of drugs in the Philippines.
This entry: I arrived back in the US late last night/early this morning after a direct flight, Manila to JFK, the largest Metro New York City airport. I had to come back for a quick hop to take care of some things having to do with 1 of my 2 American sons. The flight, directly, is about 22 hours on the clock because you have to cross the Date Line which means you cannot really go by anything other than Greenwich Mean Time or a stop watch.
The flight actually wasn't that bad and I am getting spoiled, this is my 2nd time back here without getting the full on digital search (hand up the Hershey Hiway). I am a convicted drug felon with a record in 2 nations soooooo...
I never got to that part of my life in my "My Life" entries so I suppose I could take some time and talk about it;
My 1st conviction was in Israel, in IDF Court (Military Court). I was assigned as a Liason to the Phalangist Office during my 1st (almost) 7 years in Southern Lebanon, when I was a teen. I had entered Active Duty just as I turned 16 and was deployed to a re-formulated Infantry Brigade, NACHAL, usually known as "Nahal" when talking to English speakers. The word Nachal is akin to the Arabic word, "Wadi," which really doesn't translate well into English. Basically, it is a dry creek bed in the desert that, during the very short tainy season is filled and even overflows with rushing water. The word for my Birgade however is an acronym for words meaning, "Young Fighting Pioneers."
It was one of the original Infantry Brigades in the nascent Haganah, the original Israeli Army but was deactivated in the late 1950s.
In June of 1982 Israel launched a massive invasion of Lebanon with the stated Objective of eliminating the PLO from lands bordering Israel since the PLO, of course, was using those lands to launch murderous attacks against Israeli civlians. Ideally we could have relied on Lebanon, the worst nation in this respect, to handle its own borders and reign in these terrorists.
Sadly, in 1969 Lebanon gave into the PLO and granted the organisation total control of its "Palestinian" Camps and a huge swath of land, in Southern Lebanon, called "PLOlandia." This abandonment of responsibility was formalised in the 1969 Ta'if Accords, signed in Saudi Arabia. Ta'if didn't sit well with every Lebanese faction and the Christians, of whom the Maronites were the most powerful, decided to do something about it.
This led to the First Lebanese Civil War in 1975 and Israeli involvement in 1977.
By 1982 we had come to a secret accord with the Maronites and the 1982 invasion was as much about this agreement as it was about neutralising the PLO's base of power in Lebanon. The 1982 invasion, "Operation Peace for Galilee" was so successful, for Israel, that within days our men were playing football (soccer) above the Presidential Palace in the hills above Beirut, having outrun their own supply lines, despite our government publicly committing itself to an incursion of less than 40km from our northern border.
The heady success of those first few days turned to abject horror when the Shi'a (Shite Muslims) who had thrown roses at us as we moved north began launching Suicide Bombings under Iranian tutelage. By the time my 16th birthday drew near, just after New Year's 1982 the honeymoon was over. On a per capita basis, in statistics relative to the US, we had more than 200,000 soldiers from Israel Killed in Action (remember our population was less than 3 milion at the time so that 1,000 Israelis in per capita terms equivocates to 200,000 US servicemen)!
This then is exactly why my brigade had been re-activated.
Imagine 200,000 American soldiers dying in 12 months? This is the war I entered officially in June of 1983, the war most Israelis see as our nation's equivalent to the American experience in Viet Nam.
Because of my speaking Arabic as a 1st Language, and my then having a promising Security Rating, I was kicked over to AMAN, Military Intel, and assigned as noted to the Phalangist (Maronite Army) Administration Building for Central Sector.
One of the fringe benefits of this deployment was that I was able to hitch rides back into Israel every other weekend for 2 days of rest and relaxation.
The Lebanon of the early 1980s was one that was a major heroin producer (Heroin #2) along with the top flight hashish that the country had been known for since the mid-1960s. Then, like now drugs in Lebanon were centered in the Beka'a Valley. Beka'a is a totally flat valley in the eastern part of the nation, near the Syrian Border. Syria itself had been a player in the heroin trade, as a processor of Turkish opium into Heroin #1, for the Corsican and Southern Italian and Sicilian producers operating in Italy and France. By the mid-1970s the Corsicans were shoved aside, along with Turkey, the major starting point for the Corsican trade.
Seeing a vaccum, some of the hashish producing clans of Beka'a turned their attention to poppy, or as in the case of some very smart producers, grew poppies for 140 days and then got in a crop of cannabis.
Israel up until that point was pretty much a nation without a real drug problem. Traditionally Jews have been users of both opium and hashish but it was seen as a vice of elderly men, or at worst something inbibed in 3 times a year (Jewish male adults are commanded to get high 3 times a year on certain holidays).
1983 changed Israel forever. Along with the equivalent of 200,000 soldiers dying, men were coming home severely addicted to cheap and incredibly potent heroin. In fact, "Rapid Detox" was invented by an IDF physician to treat seriously addicted Infantrymen.
Others, like myself, became addicted through morphine after being wounded in action but the end result was the same and finally the IDF found itself having to launch a major crackdown.
When it came time for my 3rd trip back into Israel for R and R one of my mates offered me a nice paycheck if I would ferry home 4 kilos of Lebanese Red Hashish. Seeing hashish as an innocent thing in comparison to the heroin, morphine and opium everybody was into I readily agreed.
He showed me how to secrete the nearly 10 pounds of hash inside a burlap rice sack packed with coffee beans, underneath a removable armour panel on an MkI tank. The panels were bolted on, remove the bolts of a particular panel and you had a readymade compartment for getting a small load across.
If the tank I was riding on was stopped I just needed to show my AMAN ID and Orders (a written letter stating that I shouldn't be uneccessarily detained at the Border). Sounded simple enough, famous last words.
So, on the day in question I was very confident...until we entered the Inspection Lane and I saw, for the 1st time, MPs with German Shepard dogs inspecting under every vehicle, even tanks.
About an hour and half later we pulled up and as we idled one MP inspected our papers, IDs and belongings in what was a new crackdown on contraband being shipped south (mostly souveneirs like weapons but also artifacts, bulk purchases in black market trade, etc).
As the dog bounced up and down by the armoured panel I felt naseous but it was if it were taking place in slow motion...
I will finish in my next entry...
