John Kiriakou

May I tell you a story?

I hope you will.

When I was the senior investigator on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2009 to 2011, end of 2011, I told the then chairman, John Kerry, I wanted to go to Afghanistan to do a formal Senate study on the heroin poppy crop.

Right?

Afghanistan at the time was producing 93% of the world's heroin.

And so I flew to Afghanistan, went to Bagram Air Base.

I told them I needed to fly to Kandahar and then to Lashkar Gah, which is the capital of Helmand Province.

And I was doing this study.

Now, as a senior congressional staff member, I had the rank of brigadier general.

This is the only time in my life I ever pulled rank on somebody.

And I said, they wouldn't take me down there.

And I said, I'm not asking you.

I'm telling you, you are going to fly me to Kandahar and then we will fly to Lashkar Gah and then we'll fly back to Bagram.

So they relented.

We went to Kandahar, did some meetings.

When we got to Lashkar Gah, as you're landing, for as far as the eye could see, all you see is heroin poppy.

And so I said, I want to go into the poppy fields and I want to find a farmer and I want to talk to him.

So I had security.

I had a translator, Pashto translator.

We just drive out into the fields.