Ehrenfeld, Rachel. Narco-terrorism. New York: Basic Books, 1990. 225 pages.

Rachel Ehrenfeld is an Israeli who lives in New York. She has a Ph.D. in criminology, and was a research scholar at New York University's School of Law during the early 1990s. A conservative who frequents the anti- terrorism lecture circuit, Ehrenfeld is interested in the links between leftist and pro-Arab governments (Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia's M-19, Syria, Lebanon, etc.) and drug trafficking. If you don't mind the occasional unsubstantiated statement, Ehrenfeld does a passable job of presenting this half of the story.

The other half of the story doesn't show up on Ehrenfeld's radar. Apparently it's all Soviet disinformation, or otherwise unworthy of her scholarly efforts. The heroin and hashish trafficking of the Afghan resistance is never mentioned, nor is the contra-cocaine connection, the CIA in southeast Asia, or the CIA's Nugan Hand Bank that laundered drug money. Ehrenfeld probably hasn't heard about DEA agents who complain that the traffickers they arrest are protected by the CIA. And what about Michael Harari, the Mossad agent who served as a close advisor to Manuel Noriega? Or Israeli arms sales to numerous other sleazy governments that wouldn't hesitate to turn a profit on drugs? Ehrenfeld could have improved this book by spending less time with the suits in Washington, and more time doing field research.
ISBN 0-465-04801-3

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