The Limits of the Linkage

The post-9/11 war against terrorism has increased international attention to illicit drug business as a source of terrorist financing. For politicians and the media, the contentious term narcoterrorism has become fashionable. While the term implies a full merger between terrorism and drug business, the interrelationship between them is more accurately described in terms of linkages. As terrorism is rarely the only form of violence practiced by armed groups pursuing political, religious, and ideological goals, and illicit drug business is rarely their sole source of funding, the linkage, by and large, boils down to that between one of several tactics (terrorism) and one of a number of different financial resources (drug business).