The events of September 11th altered the equation as Nepal joined the war on terror and allowed B-52's to fly over the nation on their bombing runs into Afghanistan. The King declareed the Maoist movement terrorists and now receives unprecedented support from the US, UK, and India. American and British Special Forces train the Royal army. The King hired 400 private mercenaries, who now lead the Royal Army into battle. What has the Black King promised the Bush Administration for US support? The Nepalese Royal Family has a long history of involvement with the CIA. Through out the 1960s and 1970s the CIA maintained a secret base at Lo Mustang on the Tibetan plateau bordering China. This was the jumping off point for CIA-trained Tibetan Khampa guerillas fighting the Chinese. Today they are building a road from the Indian border to Lo Mothang and it's quite obvious that once again it will be used as a forward base. At this point the Maoist control 85 percent of the countryside and five districts outright in Western Nepal. Peasant women, tired of being sold to brothels in India, comprise 40 percent of the arms-carrying cadre. A free election would bring Socialism to Nepal and if the people could they would vote the King to be gone! The Maoist movement is a Nationalist movement of people who are awakening from 250 years of feudalism! The one road from the Indian Border town of Birgunj to Kathmandu is easily shut down by strikes called by Maoist's! The Royal Army is reduce to guarding Kathmandu and other major border towns and protecting the convoys of supplies that keep Kathmandu alive. On February the 1, 2005, the Black King dismissed the government and declares a state of emergency. He then suspended telephone, internet, and air links, effectively cutting off Nepal from the rest of the world. The Black King assumeed total power and suspended constitutional freedoms of press, speech, and expression, constitutional protection against news censorship and preventative detention! Hundreds were jailed, leaders of all major political parties were put under armed house arrest. Students protesting the King in Pokhara were fired upon from helicopters and 20 were wounded. The iron fist rule of his father has returned. Once Time magazine came out with a report critical of King Mahendra. When the magazine arrived at the news stand in Kathmandu that page had been completely blacked out. Hitler, Stalin, Saddam had absolute power and now the Black King, Every since the massacre at the palace they have been trying to clean Gyanendra's image internationally by blaming the heroin trade on his younger brother who was also killed at the palace. The facts are that Gyanendra and his Uncle, who owned the Annapurna hotel, have been heavily involved in the heroin trade going all the way back to the 1960s. Nepal today is 8 times poorer than in 1970. How can that be with all the foreign aid, the carpet industry, textile industry, tourist industry? Think Marcos, for years the Royal family has siphoned off from every dollar coming into Nepal. Nepal is a classic example of failed American foreign policy and how we create terrorism. Today we are supporting a heroin dealing despot king and again killing people who can't afford shoes in the mountains and jungles of Nepal. Joe Pietri author The King of Nepal. He can be reached at: jpietri@msn.com