NP? The narco-politics of Afghanistan

[Doug Millison]

"[...] Coming back to the present, one can see that a wonderful opportunity
to destroy the illicit opium cultivation has been squandered by the U.S.
and its allies in Afghanistan. All of them make the right noises against
narcotics. All of them, except Turkey, are also donor countries and have a
huge domestic problem of narcotics abuse. Dropping bombs on civilians (in
Oruzgan about 4,000 ha is annually cultivated) appears to be easier than
directing enthusiasm towards destroying opium fields. In the article, "The
massacre at Kakarak", (Frontline, August 16) the author mentions that the
areas of Dehra Wud and Tirin Kot, which were also believed to be Al Qaeda
hideouts, had often been bombed by the U.S. Each of these two districts
cultivates more than a thousand hectares of opium every year. Destroying
their opium fields could have cut off their money supply, but that is
precisely what maybe some people do not want.

Eighty per cent of all opium fields were in Helmand, Kandahar and
Nangarhar. A little bit more effort and the opium problem would have been
over for at least one year. No need for surveys too. Instead, the West is
now pretending to be surprised with newspaper headlines stating that about
3,000 tonnes of opium may be produced in Afghanistan. This indifference has
ensured that narcotics will continue to play a dominant role in
Afghanistan's politics because of its money-earning potential. Perhaps
that, as is rumoured, was the reason behind the assassination of Afghan
Vice-President Abdul Qadir in July.

Somehow despite the verbiage, narcotics in Afghanistan do not seem to get
the attention it deserves, regardless of its undoubted connections with
terrorism. Especially by the U.S. In the 1980s, when the Mujahideen were
financed in their fight by drug money, the U.S. decided to cut its Drug
Enforcement Agency staff in Pakistan from 22 to four. This only helped
increase trafficking, the destination of which was mainly the U.S. This
attitude has helped the traffickers. This year the rains were good and a
healthy opium harvest was to be expected. But all eyes were looking for the
Al Qaeda fighters and fingers were pressing bomb buttons to bother about
opium and the terrorism that it helps maintain. "

http://www.flonnet.com/fl1919/19190660.htm
Volume 19 - Issue 19, September 14 - 27, 2002
India's National Magazine
from the publishers of THE HINDU