Cutting Off the Cash

You don't hear much about U.S. Navy warships patrolling in the Arabian sea, partly because it's almost impossible to get an embed with them - I know, I'm on a six-month waiting list to do just that.

Nevertheless, the Navy is busy patrolling the waters of the gulf of Aden, doing antipiracy and counter-narcotics operations. And they're having great success. Since October, we've pulled over 100 million dollars worth of drugs off of smuggler's boats in the region. That's a good chunk of change - money that won't be going to support the taliban and other criminal elements who would use it to kill Americans.

This month, I'm headed to the Horn of Africa to do some reporting, and if it works out, will be doing a short embed with our troops there. Stay tuned.

Here's an excerpt from a recent press release from the Armed Forces Press Service:

MANAMA, Bahrain - Coalition warships operating in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of Combined Task Force 150 have seized more than 20 tons of narcotics since October, with an estimated value of more than $100 million, officials said.

CTF 150, also tasked with conducting counter-piracy operations, is part of a continual presence in the region committed to creating and maintaining a lawful maritime order.

 The task force has seized more than 53 tons of narcotics during 2008, officials said. The drugs, seized by U.S. and Royal Navy forces, otherwise could have been used to help fund the insurgency fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan and contributed to instability in the region, officials said.

Chuck Holton 
www.livefire.us