The Manuscript

Foreward

The goal of any good fiction is to blend fact and fantasy with such dexterity that it’s difficult to tell where the invention ends and the truth begins. The best lies are always based in fact, and writers are liars — they make things up for a living, or sometimes just for fun. They fabricate; they twist events to suit their whims; they tell fish stories, spin yarns, erect tall tales. They’re like politicians in that regard, although I believe that most writers are basically honest.

It’s almost impossible to verify with one hundred percent certainty what is fact and what is fiction when examining the world of covert operations and intelligence agencies. Those interested in learning more about the allegations used as the basis of this fictional story are invited to do an internet search on The Pegasus File, or to explore the allegations of sustained criminality in the market system made by any number of websites, or to read the essays of brilliant social commentators like Noam Chomsky.

The underlying sentiment that the criminalization of drugs in the U.S. has resulted in a centi-billion dollar expense to the nation for a completely failed ‘War On Drugs’ that began in the 1970s under then-president, Richard Nixon, is rooted in fact. As is the observation that the U.S. is the largest consumer of drugs in the world — after over forty-something years of this war — ensuring that those who profit from the continued battle, either financially or through consolidation of their power, will have a continued windfall for as long as the battle wages. The U.S. currently spends $500 dollars a second waging the War On Drugs and has the highest incarceration rate of any nation on the planet.

Some cynics believe that in our modern geo-political world, large-scale wars like those common throughout human history are no longer viable; so the ideal strategy for a military/industrial/financial complex run amok to maximize its earnings is to formulate limited-scope wars without end — conflicts with no defined goal, and thus no definition of what constitutes a win. The War On Drugs certainly falls into that category, and it is without question that the bloated profits associated with the traffic, as well as with battling the traffic, are maintained by the illegality of it. That might be morally uncomfortable for some readers, however, it is also undeniable.

There are no easy solutions to this quandary; and so the status quo result is obvious: more of the same.