Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been implicated as a hindrance in the effort to control drug trafficking in the war-torn nation by his reluctance to permit the prosecution of alleged perpetrators, claims former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schweik, who identified a dilemma more complicated than it outwardly appears.
President Karzai appears to have been stepping out of line with recent pleas for U.S. and NATO forces to reduce the civilian casualties; which assertions have become a “sore point” between the Afghan government and foreign troops, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. led forces killed 4 woman and a child earlier this month, during an incident with alleged militants.
In a New York Times interview, Schweik, who relinquished his official government post in June, elaborated on several scenarios that  present an ambiguous slant to the supposed international effort to curtail opium production in Afghanistan, and the reduction of global hard drug distribution stemming from it.
First, former ambassador Schweik was cited as refusing to mix the war on drugs with the military offensives currently in progress. Oddly, the Defense Department, and some of its NATO allies, view the proliferation issues as “someone else’s business,” he said.
Although theoretically a separate venture, the U.S. government is pouring millions of dollars into the destruction of poppy fields in Afghanistan, as with coca fields in Colombia, and hiring private contractors (who, in turn, hire locals) to destroy thousands of acres of the opium poppies. Colombia has also seen a drastic increase in coca production, despite efforts that should indicate the contrary, which complicates the scenario further.
The third point is that an alternative plan for impoverished Afghan farmers to grow poppies for the production of morphine for medicinal use has “met a stone wall at the State Department,” according to CBS news.
On his part, President Karzai predictably declared that his country has worked very hard to assist efforts to control poppy production, and conveyed his idea of success in Afghanistan’s program:  “Nobody has done as well as us in the last seven years in the field of counter-narcotics,” he told reporters, citing that his government had eradicated or greatly reduced poppy production in more than half of Afghan provinces.
Schweik acknowledged the restriction mentioned by Karzai; however, he added that though the  sites of production have been reduced, growing of the “deadly beautiful” poppies has proliferated tremendously within the areas where it is still being grown.
Legal intervention efforts have largely failed, complained Schweik, because President Karzai refuses to prosecute numerous drug lords, fearing that he will lose their political support in his upcoming bid for re-election. In this apparent quagmire, the sudden divided loyalty of Karzai seems to be the bigger issue.

The Economist patronislingly comments "Kishore Mahbubani makes some sensible recommendations. Strangely, The Economist says this is a "an anti-Western polemic, designed to wake up Americans and Europeans by making them angry. In that goal, it will certainly be successful." Reportedly, The Economist further says that Kishore Mahbubani is an "Asian Toynbee preoccupied with the rise and fall of civilisations."

The Shanghai daily gushes "Singaporean author Kishore Mahbubani has been likened to an Asian Toynbee"; Deccan Herald joins the fray with "Kishore Mahbubani is the ultimate foreign policy guru" Niranjan Rajadhyaksa of the Mint (a HT-WSJ publication) intones," Asia has both suffered and learnt a lot from the West ... Mahbubani has been extremely fair.”

1. Free Markets

I was a non-believer in Western free markets. After reading Kishore Mahbubani's interview, I realized, I was reading too much propaganda about how Indian mangoes could not be exported to USA for the last 18 years - because of pesticide residues.

However, Indian farmers (with some devious trickery) ensured that pesticide residues vanished. A believer in free trade, USA allowed imports of mangoes into USA.

USA, in turn taught India a thing or two about free trade. An enlightened India agreed to allow imports of Harley Davidson motorcycles. Of course, India was wrong in disallowing allegedly, 'over priced, gas guzzling, polluting' Harleys.

For the last 300 years, the West did not allow imports of fabrics and garments. Dhaka's de-urbanization due to this in the 1800-1900 is written into history - wrongly. The last law was the MFA agreement which created a quota based regime for textiles in the West.

Agricultural subsidies of nearly 20 billion dollars by USA and EU each, to their farmers is also in the spirit of free trade. For the benefit of the starving Rest, the West is giving these subsidies to Western farmers to lower food prices. How does it mater that the agricultural economy of the the receipient nations gets destroyed.

Things like non-tariff barriers are hookum and over-worked Eastern imagination.The story of repeated and frequent rejection of mushroom exports from India is also in the spirit of free trade. Indian applications for 'equivalence' certificates have been pending with EU for the last 7-8 years - and not processed for the last 7-8 years due to lack of manpower. Interim annuals approvals are given instead - in the spirit of free trade, after some 'concessions'.

Of course, the Western zeal for free trade extends to enforcing opium trade (just ask the Chinese). Kishorebhai, I only wish, as an ignorant Easterner that we in India can enforce 'free trade' in opium today in USA and the Europe.

When the ignorant East, did not see the benefits of Western invention of free trade, the West was compelled to use use force (remember Commodore Perry? For more details, ask the Japanese).

St.Barnum's Says

Mahbubani's assertions are right. These 'facts' above are like a bikini. What they reveal is indicative. What they conceal is vital - in this case the Western spirit of free trade. How can Western wisdom (or ethics, integrity, motives) be questioned by the ignorant East. Of course, all these cases and incidents are a conspiracy to defame the West.

2. Science & Technology

Before Western invention of Science and Technology, what did the East know?

Zilch. Zero. Sifr. Shunya. That is all. This claim about India inventing the zero and infinity is probably right. Because they had infinite knowledge about Zero - and nothing else. All their books about geometry (Aryabhatta, Bhaskara) are just figments of Eastern imagination. Eastern knowledge about eclipse prediction has now been proved wrong by Kishore Mahbubani's expose. Indian shipbuilders and steel technology was just puffery - as demonstarted by Kishore Mahbubani.

Of course as Hegel said, there is no African history.

I realize after reading Kishore Mahbubani's interview that there is only Western Science and Technology. It must been some Westerners behind the 'achievements' of China, Africa and India.

How ignorant I was before being enlightened by Kishorebhai!

PT Barnum adds - Are you not forgetting the option of crediting aliens.

3. Meritocracy

The poor Blacks!

They were always mislead by their leaders. The only place in the world that they could find equity was in the West. If the West had not 'bought' these poor Blacks and allegedly 'enslaved' them, they would have still have been in Africa - and lost the benefits of the Western meritocracy. Some Black leaders are today claiming that they have even contributed to Western technology.

The sheer audacity!

Similarly, if the Gypsies had not left India, (supposedly) a thousand years ago, they would have lost all the benefits of Western civilization.

Early Punjabi settlers in USA did not properly understand their position in Western society. They were basically inferior people who demanded equality to their White masters. This misperception of course created misdirected protests. These ignorant immigrants from the East did not properly understand Western meritocracy.

The Wisdom Of St.Barnum - If Japanese and Chinese immigrants faced discrimination in the USA, it was their fault - why did they have to look different?

4. Pragmatism

I agree that the West is truly pragmatic!

Dr.RA Mashelkar, a senior scientist and administratr, writes "A recent study by an Indian expert group examined randomly selected 762 US patents, which were granted under A61K35/78 and other IPC classes, having a direct relationship with medicinal plants in terms of their full text. Out of these patents, 374 patents were found to be based on traditional knowledge ..."

St.Barnum sez - What could be more pragmatic? I agree with Kishore Mahbubani!

5. Culture Of Peace

The Red Indians were wiped out - nearly the entire race! Today they are a relic - a tourist attraction! Like rare animals in a zoo! Aborigines in Australia have similarly been annihilated. Two world wars in a space of 40 years. The entire Jewish population of the world has been reduced to 10 million - by the West.

But, Kishore Mahbubani says, the Western civilization is about peace! And he is right!

These wars were forced upon the West - and were fought to bring peace on Earth. Now since there are no Red Indians and Aborigines, how can there be a war with the Red Indians and Aborigines. Similarly, if there are no Jews, there cannot be a war with the Jews. The West is also trying to cleanse the Earth of all Muslims. Then there cannot be a war with Muslims also.

St.Barnum pays tribute to Kishore Mahbubani - Kishorebhai, you concept of culture of peace is stunning to say the least. Hats Off.

6.Rule of Law

Completely true and a matter of fact!

Consider the Western laws on slavery! And those related to minorities!

The disenfranchisement laws came into effect by the 1890's - that continue till today. This ensured that the disproportionate numbers of Blacks could not vote - and George Bush became the President of the USA for the 2nd time. After some 60,000 Black Voters were disenfranchised, George Bush technically, won by less than 1000 votes (most of the disenfranchised voters were expected to vote against George Bush).

Petty crime (where poor) Blacks were convicted in higher ratios were grounds for disenfranchisement. These laws ensured that 10 times higher number of Blacks were disqualified compared to Whites. If that is not bad enough, it continues till now. Such tactics continue to be used to limit Black participation in democracy.

Tomas Estrada Palma, ‘puppet’ Cuban President, signed the Platt Amendment of 1904 which allowed the USA to intervene at will - and finally modified only in 1934. The many laws which made Gypsy hunting legal - like laws which made hunting animals legal. The latest news in that Italians are going to crack down on Gypsies - as per a EU law.

St.Barnum confirms - Yes, Kishore Sir! The West believes in laws.

7.Education

I must admit, that Western education does achieve its goals!

West does produce leaders, generation after generation, who relentlessly execute the same agenda. The annihilation, the massacre, the pogroms - against natives in America and Australia, monorties like Gypsies, Jews and various Christian sects. The kidnapping of Aboriginee and Gypsy children. The massacres in Africa - from Roman times to 20th century. And now the spectre of Islamic Demonization.

St.Barnum adds - This degree of continuity and consistency is missing with others. There is something about Western education Mr.Mahbubani, I agree.

Country Model Of The West

The real country model that the West manages itself on is something else Mr.Mahbubani. Loot - of gold, resources, ideas. And slavery. Add significant amounts of fraud.

Nothing more and nothing less. And their strategy to 'white wash' this - propaganda. With Kishorebhai's plausible sincerety, I am not quite able to decide if Kishorebhai is an innocent and ignorant victim of Western propaganda or a part of the propaganda.

Either way, his book and his ideas are trash - and this post is a case of intellectual slumming.

It's a stark reminder among other things that low-level drug dealers, whether in inner city Baltimore or Eastern Afghanistan, don't make the coin, it's the higher ups that do.

A snippet:

The family's heartbreak began when Shah borrowed $2,000 from a local trafficker, promising to repay the loan with 24 kilos of opium at harvest time. Late last spring, just before harvest, a government crop-eradication team appeared at the family's little plot of land in Laghman province and destroyed Shah's entire two and a half acres of poppies. Unable to meet his debt, Shah fled with his family to Jalalabad, the capital of neighboring Nangarhar province. The trafficker found them anyway and demanded his opium. So Shah took his case before a tribal council in Laghman and begged for leniency. Instead, the elders unanimously ruled that Shah would have to reimburse the trafficker by giving Khalida to him in marriage. Now the family can only wait for the 45-year-old drugrunner to come back for his prize. Khalida wanted to be a teacher someday, but that has become impossible. "It's my fate," the child says.

The government crop eradication program in question has been pushed by the US against elements of the Afghan government (and even some NATO members).   One suggested way out of this is to buy up the opium (NATO) and find a use for it that does not involve turning into in heroin and ending up on the streets of Paris.  (Or alternatively and more controversially, control the drug trade).  But crop eradication is clearly not the answer.  This year will see record profits (for the warlords and Taliban and crooked government/police go betweens) but not for the farmers depicted in this story.  The eradication program only furthers enmity towards the NATO forces/mission.  You can't win hearts and minds by destroying a man's livelihood, so he is forced to sell his daughter to a trafficker--think about what that poor girl's life is going to become for a moment.  Death would likely be a sweet release compared to what she is likely to endure.

The following report, which accuses the United States of using military transport planes to ship narcotics out of Afghanistan confirms what is already known and documented regarding the Golden Crescent Drug Trade and its insiduous relationship to US intelligence.

Russia, facing a catastrophic rise in drug addiction, accuses the U.S. military of involvement in drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan produced 8,200 tonnes of opium last year, enough to make 93 per cent of the world's heroin supply.

Could it be that the American military in Afghanistan is involved in drug trafficking? Yes, it is quite possible, according to Russia's Ambassador to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov.

Commenting on reports that the United States military transport aviation is used for shipping narcotics out of Afghanistan, the Russian envoy said there was no smoke without fire.

"If such actions do take place they cannot be undertaken without contact with Afghans, and if one Afghan man knows this, at least a half of Afghanistan will know about this sooner or later," Kabulov told Vesti, Russia's 24-hour news channel. "That is why I think this is possible, but cannot prove it."

Afghan narcotics are an extremely painful issue for Russia. They first hit the Russian market during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s when Russian soldiers developed a taste for Afghan heroin and smuggled it back to Russia.

Read more

By Kevin Potvin

In 1999, Afghan poppy farmers accounted for 75% of global opium production, producing about 4,000 tons. In 2000, the Taliban government, four years consolidating their power after dispatching the last of the exhausted warlords in 1996, clamped down and reduced Afghan production to nearly nothing. They had eradicated poppy production completely in the nine-tenths of the country they effectively governed and vowed to never allow poppy growing again.

Read more

"We have rejected the spraying of poppy in Afghanistan for good reasons: the effect on the environment, other smaller crops and on human genetics," the acting minister for counter-narcotics, General Khodaidad (who uses only one name), told the Guardian. "It was a very friendly discussion, but it is difficult to change our mind," he added.

The US maintains that the herbicide is safe for the environment and the local population. It says the misgivings of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, are based on myth and Taliban disinformation.

Read more

Global Research, December 9, 2006
Online Journal - 2006-12-07The question is why. Under Taliban rule, which began in the late 1990s, Afghanistan just about kicked the growing habit by 2001. After five years the Taliban is slipping back in, but poppy production has grown by leaps and bounds.

According to the Washington Post, "Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.

"In addition to a 26 percent production increase over the past year -- for a total of 5,644 metric tons -- the amount of land under cultivation in opium poppies grew by 61 percent. Cultivation in the two main production provinces, Helmand in the southwest and Oruzgan in central Afghanistan, was up by 132 percent."

Read more

FROM MEDELLIN TO MOSCOW WITH BROWN & ROOT

Halliburton Corporation's Brown & Root is one of the major components of the Bush-Cheney Drug Empire. The success of Bush Vice-Presidential running mate Richard Cheney at leading Halliburton, Inc. to a five-year, US$3.8 billion "pig-out" on federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans is only a partial indicator of what may happen, now that the Bush ticket has won the US presidential election.

A closer look at available research, including an August 2, 2000 report by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) (www.public-i.org), suggests that drug money has played a role in the successes achieved by Halliburton under Cheney's tenure as CEO from 1995 to 2000. This is especially true for Halliburton's most famous subsidiary, heavy construction and oil giant Brown & Root. A deeper look into history reveals that Brown & Root's past - as well as the past of Dick Cheney himself - connects to the international drug trade on more than one occasion and in more than one way.

Last June, the lead Washington, DC, attorney for a major Russian oil company connected in law enforcement reports to heroin smuggling, and also a beneficiary of US-backed loans to pay for Brown & Root contracts in Russia, held a $2.2 million fundraiser to fill the already bulging coffers of presidential candidate George W. Bush. This is not the first time that Brown & Root has been connected to illegal drugs, and the fact is that this "poster child" of American industry may also be a key player in Wall Street's efforts to maintain domination of the half-trillion-dollar-a-year global drug trade and its profits. And Dick Cheney, who has also come closer to illegal drugs than most suspect and who is also Halliburton's largest individual shareholder ($45.5 million), has a vested interest in seeing to it that Brown & Root's successes continue.

Read more

Read more

Global Research, September 21, 2006

The United Nations has announced that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has soared and is expected to increase by 59% in 2006. The production of opium is estimated to have increased by 49% in relation to 2005.

The Western media in chorus blame the Taliban and the warlords. The Bush administration is said to be committed to curbing the Afghan drug trade: "The US is the main backer of a huge drive to rid Afghanistan of opium... "

Yet in a bitter irony, US military presence has served to restore rather than eradicate the drug trade.

What the reports fail to acknowledge is that the Taliban government was instrumental in implementing a successful drug eradication program, with the support and collaboration of the UN.

Implemented in 2000-2001, the Taliban's drug eradication program led to a 94 percent decline in opium cultivation. In 2001, according to UN figures, opium production had fallen to 185 tons. Immediately following the October 2001 US led invasion, production increased dramatically, regaining its historical levels.

The Vienna based UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that the 2006 harvest will be of the order of 6,100 tonnes, 33 times its production levels in 2001 under the Taliban government (3200 % increase in 5 years).

Cultivation in 2006 reached a record 165,000 hectares compared with 104,000 in 2005 and 7,606 in 2001 under the Taliban (See table below).

Multibillion dollar trade

According to the UN, Afghanistan supplies in 2006 some 92 percent of the world's supply of opium, which is used to make heroin.

The UN estimates that for 2006, the contribution of the drug trade to the Afghan economy is of the order of 2.7 billion. What it fails to mention is the fact that more than 95 percent of the revenues generated by this lucrative contraband accrues to business syndicates, organized crime and banking and financial institutions. A very small percentage accrues to farmers and traders in the producing country.

(See also UNODC, The Opium Economy in Afghanistan,
http://www.unodc.org/pdf/publications/afg_opium_economy_www.pdf , Vienna, 2003, p. 7-8)

"Afghan heroin sells on the international narcotics market for 100 times the price farmers get for their opium right out of the field".(US State Department quoted by the Voice of America (VOA), 27 February 2004).

Based on wholesale and retail prices in Western markets, the earnings generated by the Afghan drug trade are colossal. In July 2006, street prices in Britain for heroin were of the order of Pound Sterling 54, or $102 a gram.

Narcotics On the Streets of Western Europe

One kilo of opium produces approximately 100 grams of (pure) heroin. 6100 tons of opium allows the production of 1220 tons of heroin with a 50 percent purity ratio.

The average purity of retailed heroin can vary. It is on average 36%. In Britain, the purity is rarely in excess of 50 percent, while in the US it can be of the order of 50-60 percent.

Based on the structure of British retail prices for heroin, the total proceeds of the Afghan heroin trade would be of the order of 124.4 billion dollars, assuming a 50 percent purity ratio. Assuming an average purity ratio of 36 percent and the average British price, the cash value of Afghan heroin sales would be of the order of 194.4 billion dollars.

While these figures do not constitute precise estimates, they nonetheless convey the sheer magnitude of this multibillion dollar narcotics trade out of Afghanistan. Based on the first figure which provides a conservative estimate, the cash value of these sales, once they reach Western retail markets are in excess of 120 billion dollars a year.

(See also our detailed estimates for 2003 in The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade, by Michel Chossudovsky, The UNODC estimates the average retail price of heroin for 2004 to be of the order of $157 per gram, based on the average purity ratio).

Narcotics: Second to Oil and the Arms Trade

The foregoing estimates are consistent with the UN's assessment concerning the size and magnitude of the global drug trade.

The Afghan trade in opiates (92 percent of total World production of opiates) constitutes a large share of the worldwide annual turnover of narcotics, which was estimated by the United Nations to be of the order of $400-500 billion.

(Douglas Keh, Drug Money in a Changing World, Technical document No. 4, 1998, Vienna UNDCP, p. 4. See also United Nations Drug Control Program, Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 1999, E/INCB/1999/1 United Nations, Vienna 1999, p. 49-51, and Richard Lapper, UN Fears Growth of Heroin Trade, Financial Times, 24 February 2000).

Based on 2003 figures, drug trafficking constitutes "the third biggest global commodity in cash terms after oil and the arms trade." (The Independent, 29 February 2004).

Afghanistan and Colombia are the largest drug producing economies in the world, which feed a flourishing criminal economy. These countries are heavily militarized. The drug trade is protected. Amply documented the CIA has played a central role in the development of both the Latin American and Asian drug triangles.

The IMF estimated global money laundering to be between 590 billion and 1.5 trillion dollars a year, representing 2-5 percent of global GDP. (Asian Banker, 15 August 2003). A large share of global money laundering as estimated by the IMF is linked to the trade in narcotics.

Legal Business and Illicit Trade are Intertwined

There are powerful business and financial interests behind narcotics. From this standpoint, geopolitical and military control over the drug routes is as strategic as oil and oil pipelines.

Moreover, the above figures including those on money laundering, confirm that the bulk of the revenues associated with the global trade in narcotics are not appropriated by terrorist groups and warlords, as suggested by the UNODC report. In the case of Afghanistan, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that a mere 2.7 billion accrues as revenue within Afghanistan. According to the US State department "Afghanistan drug profits support the Taliban and their terrorism efforts against the United States, its allies and the Afghan government." (statement, the House Appropriations foreign operations, export financing and related programs subcommittee. September 12, 2006)

However, what distinguishes narcotics from legal commodity trade is that narcotics constitutes a major source of wealth formation not only for organized crime but also for the US intelligence apparatus, which increasingly constitutes a powerful actor in the spheres of finance and banking. This relationship has been documented by several studies including the writings of Alfred McCoy. (Drug Fallout: the CIA's Forty Year Complicity in the Narcotics Trade. The Progressive, 1 August 1997).

In other words, intelligence agencies, powerful business, drug traders and organized crime are competing for the strategic control over the heroin routes. A large share of this multi-billion dollar revenues of narcotics are deposited in the Western banking system. Most of the large international banks together with their affiliates in the offshore banking havens launder large amounts of narco-dollars.

This trade can only prosper if the main actors involved in narcotics have "political friends in high places." Legal and illegal undertakings are increasingly intertwined, the dividing line between "businesspeople" and criminals is blurred. In turn, the relationship among criminals, politicians and members of the intelligence establishment has tainted the structures of the state and the role of its institutions including the Military.

Related Article: The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade, by Michel Chossudovsky, July 2005

_______________________________________________________________

Table 1

Year--------------Cultivation in hectares---------Production (tons)

1994--------------------71,470----------------------3,400

1995--------------------53,759----------------------2,300

1996--------------------56,824----------------------2,200

1997--------------------58,416----------------------2,800

1998--------------------63,674----------------------2,700

1999--------------------90,983----------------------4,600

2000--------------------82,172----------------------3,300

2001---------------------7,606------------------------185

2002--------------------74,000----------------------3400

2003--------------------80,000----------------------3600

2004-------------------131,000----------------------4200

2005-------------------104,000----------------------3800

2006-------------------165,000**-------------------6100**

** estimates.
______________________________________________________________

Michel Chossudovsky is the author of the international best America’s "War on Terrorism" Global Research, 2005. He is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Center for Research on Globalization.

To order Chossudovsky's book America's "War on Terrorism", click here

Note: Readers are welcome to cross-post this article with a view to spreading the word and warning people of the dangers of a broader Middle East war. Please indicate the source and copyright note.

media inquiries crgeditor@yahoo.com

Michel Chossudovsky is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Michel Chossudovsky

© Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2006

This is the only progress Afghanistan has made under US invasion and occupation. Talibans were very strict on opium cultivation and had destoryed the drug business.

Way to go. Freedom on the march. Afghans are liberated.

A new UN report about the cultivation of drugs in Afghanistan finds a “staggering” increase of 60% compared to last year. The overall volume of production has risen from 4100 tons to 6100 tons, according to the report. The UN anti-drug chief rightly urged the Karzai government to crack down against the warlords and corrupt police and administrative officials warning that a continuity in the trend could threaten democracy in the country.

This increase in the cultivation is not a new phenomenon in Afghanistan. Since 2001–when the Taliban put a highly successful ban on cultivation–drug production has been steadily increasing. This increase is contrary to the efforts of President Karzai–who has declared a holy war against drugs–and his antinarcotics ministry.

Although the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime appears to be solely attributing the increase to corrupt officials and powerful warlords, there are other equally responsible factors at work as well. Currently, for example, almost half of the provinces in Afghanistan are in a critical condition due to a prevailing drought situation. Many overstretched farmers in the drought-stricken areas cannot earn a living because they cannot cultivate due to a lack of water for irrigation. And, according to a government report, a swarm of deadly insects has hit many of the southern and eastern parts of the country, depriving some farmers–who have managed somehow or the other to cultivate–of their due rewards.

This has resulted in more farmers becoming unemployed and has worsened the already pathetic unemployment rate–40%.

However, in this bleak situation, one thing comes to the rescue of the overstretched farmers: opium poppy. It is something that requires a comparatively lesser amount of water and fares very well in the weather conditions prevalent in the country. This causes many, many farmers to switch to this new and better alternative although their financial gains are not remarkably better. The current increase in the production of opium can primarily be attributed to these factors. Many more farmers may teem in if the condition is not improved.

Drug trade in Afghanistan currently accounts for 35% of the economy. It is the only source of income for thousands of farmers. And merely sending policemen with sticks in their hands to destroy opium fields won’t work in the least bit. In order to see a tangible difference, the government must design and efficiently execute projects which provide solid, practicable cultivation alternatives to opium poppy. A number of alternative cultivation projects have failed in past merely because of poor administration.

The alternative plantation choice can serve as an effective first step. It could be followed by a crackdown against the corrupt officials running the anti-narcotics ministry. And, through the DIAG–Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups–,the warlords patronizing the cultivation of opium poppy could be effectively tackled.

This entry was originally contributed to Publius Pundit.

The answer lies in an assessment of certain factors, the prime of which is the weakness of the country’s security institutions. Severe irregularities and malfeasance has made these institutions ineffective. The Afghan Army, the chief controller of security in the country, is plagued with ethnic favoritism, drawing eighty-five percent of its personnel from the Pashtoon ethnic group. In some parts of the country like the Balkh province, influential warlords have placed their own militiamen into the army and stationed them to the areas under their own influence. Underage recruitment in the army is another rampant phenomenon.

An unsuccessful government campaign to eradicate opium poppy cultivation further strengthens the Taliban, who still depend on drug money. They have a monopoly over drug trafficking and the Afghan black market. This means the Taliban continue to earn money, part of which is spent on their madrassahs, institutions teaching religious subjects. The weak economic condition of many families in Afghanistan forces them to send their children off to these institutions where they are fed and clothed.Subsequtntly, the Taliban get recruits to replenish their stock of warriors and launch new suicide attacks.

The above factors point to two very broad reasons for the resurrection of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan:

1. Lack of a well-drafted plan for the extirpation of the Taliban. In the beginnings of 2002, when the Taliban had just been toppled, the US spent almost one billion dollars each month in bombing the Tora Bora mountains in search of Osama Bin Laden while giving very little concentration over the complete extermination of the Taliban, causing them to survive at nooks and niches of the country. This negligence was again repeated when the sources providing sustenance to the Taliban weren’t effectively addressed. As a result, the Taliban have been able to re-emerge.
2. Lack of funds and more importantly, of technical expertise to the Afghan government so as to enable it to strengthen its hold over Afghanistan by boosting the efficacy of its security institutions. In their current standing, the country’s security institutions are too weak to effectively counter even some, if not all of the security concerns in the country.

Afghanistan could still very well use a well thought-out plan-of-action against the Taliban. Likweise, the Afghan government can still use monetary as well as technical support in its evolution towards achieving the status of sole authority in the country. If not met, these two demands can spell Afghanistan’s fall into the Taliban age. This time round, however, it could have a far-reaching consequence affecting the international community more profoundly.

Tags: Taliban, Terrorism, Afghanistan, Opium Trade

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