Update on Syria: Drug Production; U.S. and Israel Strikes against Terrorists

Drug Production: The United States recently sanctioned some Syrians for the production and trafficking of the drug captagon, an illicit amphetamine-like drug, most of the production of which is in Syria, mostly by the Syrian regime itself. Captagon abuse props up the regime of tyrant Bashar Assad with billions of dollars’ worth of drug sales and funds militants and terrorists. There is also some production in Lebanon, after it had moved to a Hezbollah stronghold there from Europe after it had been banned, after having been developed for health purposes. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization that has been defending the Assad regime in the Syrian Civil War, is complicit in the trafficking of the drug. Captagon is a threat to stability in neighboring Jordan, where it and other drugs are smuggled across the border from Syria. Jordan deploys a third of its army there in anti-smuggling operations. There was a Jordanian airstrikes on Syria several months ago, supported by American arms and training. Saudi Arabia and Iraq also have implemented policies against the drug. Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year and Jordan and other Arab States diplomatically recognized the Assad regime, in exchange for a promise to crack down on the drug, which Syria has broken. Western Europe is a major market for captagon. U.S. and Israeli Strikes on Terrorists: The United States struck Islamist terrorists in Syria again recently. It has continued to strike against the Islamic State, the offshoot of al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America, the deadliest in history, as well as against Iranian-backed terrorists. Meanwhile, Israel also continues to strike Iranian-backed terrorists based in Syria, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.