Pubdate: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 Source: Herald-Dispatch, The (WV) Copyright: 2004 The Herald-Dispatch Contact: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/hdinfo/letters.html Website: http://www.hdonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1454 Author: Rudy Watson U.S. NEEDS WAR ON FREE TRADE, NOT DRUGS Who are our real enemies? Those who bring drugs into our communities, or the one who export our jobs? According to "Lou Dobbs' Money Line," more than 250 major corporations have left the United States, leaving many of our brothers and sisters to struggle to make ends meet. "Can We Maintain?," a study by Ronald R. Pollina, Ph.D.. published in Economic Development Journal, notes that U.S. manufacturing jobs have decreased by more than 2.6 million since mid 2000. A study done by Adam Jones in the Journal of Human Rights describes the "War on Drugs" as causing an influx in non-violent crimes and unnecessary incarceration. "Criminal activity is, after all, socially defined," says Jones. Which leads me to believe there is a positive connection between the "exporting of jobs" or loss of jobs, to the amount of unemployment in our large cities, with a positive connection to selling illegal drugs. Let's end the "War on Drugs" and begin a war against free trade and outsourcing, which foster such terrible economic conditions and cause us to believe in unnecessary punishment. Our real enemies are those who export jobs; it's time for a change. Rudy Watson Huntington - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom