Rating: 1* of five

<b>The Publisher Says</b>: Drug policies adopted by governments, treatments offered for addiction, pain and mental problems by the medical world combine in a relationship that negatively affects the world’s most vulnerable people. <i>Villains and Victims: The Global Drug, Terrorism and Organised Crime Conundrum</i> exposes how this unchallenged negative symbiosis influences the human seemingly unrelated policies act symbiotically to increase addiction, organised crime, radicalisation, and ultimately terrorism. At first it was an unintended chain, but the evidence suggests much of it is now deliberate. The public needs to be made aware of the harm the policies are causing.

For over a hundred years, the knock-on effect of the world’s ineffective drug laws and drug substitution policies contributed to the deaths of millions of people. Unless the regimes that cause this are changed, governments will continue to misguide us, pharmaceutical firms make huge unethical profits, and doctors will not offer the best treatments for drug addiction and alcoholism. This means millions more men, women, and children will continue to suffer and die from their effects, as well as from terrorist attacks and organised crime.

For example, at the 2022 World Cup in Dubai, Morocco’s football team won the hearts of millions of underdog lovers, but there is other sides to Morocco that are far less loveable.

At the same time as a handful of Moroccan’s were taking pride of place in Dubai, in Brussels and Amsterdam, court cases were taking place that charged several of their countrymen with some the worst crimes of the 21st century. If, as expected, these men on trial are found guilty, they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Although each crime was despicable, because the Belgian and Dutch cases are for different crimes, the judges and juries will not be made aware of an important The acts they committeed of deadly terrorism in Brussels in 2016, and the organised crime murder in Amsterdam in 2021, are closely connected. Complex, well-hidden, interrelated reasons are behind them, so, the common factors that frequently lead Moroccans to commit such atocities are unlikely to be realised. As these include this century’s Barcelona, Brussels, Paris, London, Madrid, Marrakesh, Casablanca and 9/11 terrorist attacks, numerous murders by Moroccan mafias in Europe, and 1,659 Moroccans joining ISIS, it is essential to understand this and the reasons. Otherwise, policies will not be put in place to prevent more of the same.

But putting yesteryear’s culprits behind bars would only be a temporary fix. It would not prevent like-minded Moroccans or others with similar hatred committing such crimes in the years ahead.
For every drug addict in every country, it is the root cause that must be addressed before they will stop anti-social behaviour. So, it is the causes and solution that is the focus of Villains and Victims. A Moroccan Drug and Terrorism Conundrum.

<b>My Review</b>: Read that book description. That, with some padding, takes this to over 100pp of, politely, heartfelt but poorly sourced outraged shouting. The crisis he points to is real. I suspect he's onto something with the sources of the very real, and growing, problem. The synthesis of his argument does not hang together.

Not recommended.

I valuable book impecably timed to help prevent terrorist attacks. Based on experience it is well written and needs to be read by policy makers.