This episode kicks off our series with Ben Howard on the post-Cold War global drug meta-group (GDMG). For a time, the GDMG was centered around the milieu at Far West, a private military/intelligence outfit that combined elements of classic deep state outfits like the World Commerce Corporation, Booz Allen, BCCI, etc.

The basis for this series is Peter Dale Scott's epic 2005 Lobster magazine article, “The Global Drug Meta-Group: Drugs, Managed Violence, and the Russian 9/11.” This article and its subject matter were a major part of Peter's poem “A Ballad of Drugs and 9/11” which we discussed in Part 20 of our Peter Dale Scott Oral History series.

Check out the CovertAction Magazine 9/11 trilogy by Good, Howard, Scott:

• The Twenty Year Shadow of 9/11: U.S. Complicity in the Terror Spectacle and the Urgent Need to End It

• The Twenty Year Shadow of 9/11: Why Did Key U.S. Officials Protect the Alleged 9/11 Plotters?

• The Twenty Year Shadow of 9/11: U.S. Complicity in the Terror Spectacle and the Urgent Need to End It

Note: This episode was recorded before I learned of the newly less-redacted James Angleton Church Committee testimony. That, to my mind, is very relevant to understanding Far West and the GDMG, as we will discuss in coming episodes.

Special thanks to Dana Chavarria for producing the episode!

Music: "Stuck In" by Mock Orange