CONVERGENCE?

The war on drugs and the war on terror--one and the same?

A boat containing drugs possibly linked to al-Qaeda has been seized in the Gulf, the US military says. US Central Command reports that the wooden dhow was intercepted near the Strait of Hormuz by the destroyer USS Decatur.

Twelve people on board were detained after it was found to be carrying almost two tons of hashish valued at up to $10m, a Centcom statement said.

There were "clear ties" between the shipment and al-Qaeda, it added.

BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says the finding is potentially significant - the clear implication is that this was a smuggling operation designed to help finance the al-Qaeda network.

The US military says that smuggling routes in this region are known to be used by al-Qaeda.

Probably not "one and the same"--most of the crack and cocaine that is consumed in the US, for instance, doesn't come from any known al Qaeda strongholds or the Middle East in general, but from Colombia. But in stopping al Qaeda's funding sources, we may end up fighting a version of the war on drugs in the Middle East.