Time to Target the Taliban Drug Cartel

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The truth in such matters is drugs feed the economy, drugs pay debts, buy vacations yachts & planes, estates and nothing is going to change. The narco industry has only multiplied and will continue to do so. The military will only get involved to a small extent, once drug cartels start complaining and threatening politicians everyone backs off and that's that's how it's been. Drug monies run everything, there are way too many people involved it would take years to undo and as everyone seems to agree not worth their families lives so everyone continues to staty out of by not interfering. Everyone is connected some way or other and the chain only grows from the simple policeman to the state politician to the big white house. Bottom line is drugs are a big part of the US economy and as long as crooked folks continue to fear the cartels they will continue to support them and keep in peace with all countries involved.

D of NY 6:21PM September 23, 2008

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tkvd rtpnow of AL 4:25PM August 31, 2008

Sam,
I appreciated the kind words about my article on Afghan opium, but what was more important was your succinct and clear presentation of the problem and possible solutions.
From Darfur to the political campaigns to Afghanistan, you seem to hit the issues right on the mark. We need more journalists like you-- clear analysis free of any preconceptions or political ideology.
Tom Schweich

tom schweich of MO 4:27PM August 30, 2008

To a great extent we produced the present situation,in at least Helmand province where some 60% of the poppies grow, through mismanagement, inaction, bad timing and bureaucratic bungling.After the fall of the Taliban we an much of Europe promised a major reconstruction effort for the country. In 02 we started in Helmand with a project desilting the drains of the largest irrigation system in the country that we helped design and build between 1946-79.Most of the work was done with hand labor with some 3000 men at $2 a day...small change for development agencies. With the fall of the Taliban, poppy had returned as a major crop so the project combined local government/farmer dialogue on not planting poppy,complete cooperation, eradication at planting time,and work for pay on their own irrigation system.Poppy was reduced in Nad-i-Ali district by 85%in one crop season. By the following planting season, funding had been cut, farmers warned that they would return to poppy if the project was not restarted. It took a year to get the project restarted. They returned to poppy.This set the stage for the blunders that followed...along with the return of the Taliban.Presently we are going to resurface the local airport for $18 million and the Brits are going to put in a replacement radio station at $17 million (among other things)in the name of development work to get the farmers to stop cultivating poppy? Not time to target the Taliban or the local government officials. Time to target the bureaucracy that produced the situation. Schweich was a late comer to the scene.

Richard B. Scott of CO 10:19PM August 29, 2008

This is an odd story. When the Taliban were in power they all but eradicated opium production. Like alcohol, illegal drug use is forbidden in Islam. People were afraid of the Taliban.
When we invaded we allied ourselves with heroin traffickers as a matter of expediency. Most are still powerful warlords today - Dostum being the most notorious, but also many of the people associated with the Karzai government.
I have also been to Afghanistan, in 2003, and what I learned was that practically all of the opium poppies were grown in areas with artificial irrigation. Afghanistan is not a good country for agrigulture of any kind. It was no secret where the poppies were grown - just go to the irrigation projects. A friend told me of a famous photo of some place that the Soviets were touting as a great agricultural project in the 80s. A recent photo shows the same project, but its all poppies.
So I am a little skeptical of all this. I don't think there will be any serious drug eradication campaign in Afghanistan in the near future because the priority is on stabilizing the country. And what you call Taliban - you are referring to an ethnic Pashtun insurgency that's not necessarily trying to impose the Shariat. You will also find the the trafficking routes head north into the 'stans. It would be nice if the bad guys were the drug traffickers and we were on the opposite side, but unfortunately its not that simple.

Paul Wolf of DC 8:16PM August 29, 2008

Drug are not funding the insurgency. Drug
prohibition is funding the terrorists.
How much caffeine related crime do we have?
None. Criminalize the drug caffeine and the situation would soon change.
Millions of Americans use products containing
caffeine, yet we have no "caffeine-related crime."
Please stop writing about "drug-related crime" and start writing about drug prohibition caused crime and corruption.

Kirk Muse of AZ 4:17PM August 29, 2008

It's not to hard to understand why no one is wanting to fly little (non-military) crop-spraying planes over Taliban thugs with all kinds of guns. There is no eradication of either without the military.

of 3:19PM August 29, 2008

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Time to Target the Taliban Drug Cartel

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Sam Dealey

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