The great poppyseed caper
The US military proudly announced it had "busted" Afghanis in possession of 82.5 tons of bagel topping.
“The main goal is to counter the insurgency, which happens to be funded and fueled by the drug trade,” Julian said. “Where the insurgency and drug nexus exists — it is a legitimate military target.”
The troubled southern province of Helmand is Afghanistan’s prime example of the drug-insurgency nexus, serving as a center for Taliban as well as the undisputed world capital of poppy. Helmand alone produces 60 percent of the planet’s raw material for heroin, according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
But the Marja offensive was aimed directly at the narcotics trade, according to the U.S. official quoted above. “We were sending a message to drug traffickers, that they can no longer operate with no control,” he said.
No attempt was made to clear and hold the area, and the combined U.S.-Afghan force withdrew after four days.
The issue of troops employed in counter-narcotics operations is a controversial one, and has caused tensions between the United States and its allies in Afghanistan. Earlier this year, Gen. John Craddock, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, sparked a major row over his assertion that NATO should target drug traffickers in Afghanistan whether or not it could be demonstrated that they had links to the insurgency.
Some of the allies balked, with German Gen. Egon Ramms going so far as to question the legality of Craddock’s initiative.
But the U.S. military has fewer qualms, and fewer restrictions, about using its soldiers to punish drug traffickers.
The justification has always been that the drug trade fuels the insurgency. Figures are notoriously slippery, but experts gauge that between $100 million and $300 million of drug money per year ends up in Taliban coffers.
“I look at poppy fields and I see fields of Kalashnikovs,” said Gen. Dan McNeill, former commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The farmers of central Helmand (this includes Marja) have been asking for help to get out of poppy cultivation since at least 1997 with the support of their traditional cash crops of wheat, cotton, peanuts, melons, vegetables, and a credit program. All of which we have been unable to effectively respond to. Opium poppy took over, corruption took over and support for the "Taliban" grew. To some very great extent, the present situation with the opium trade in central Helmand, where some 60+% of the country's opium is cultivated in the largest irrigation system in the country mostly developed with US funding between 1946-79, is of our own making through our inability to listen to the farmers and act accordingly.And killing people and disrupting the economy which we have supported through our ineptitude will not change much. And it certainly will not win us any friends.
Recent on Afghanistan:
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Douglas A. Wissing - Afghanistan - November 20, 2009 14:30 ET
An elite Indiana National Guard unit is patrolling Khost Province, helping Afghan farmers to help themselves.
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Swine flu has sent one of the world's most unflappable populations into a panic.
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Finbarr O'Reilly - Afghanistan - November 12, 2009 16:45 ET
Troops' deaths shatter trust in Helmand
Jean MacKenzie and Aziz Ahmad Tassal - Afghanistan - November 8, 2009 15:13 ET
Afghans and Brits alike fear that the deaths of 5 British troops at the hands of a police colleague have tipped an already tense working relationship into outright distrust.
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Finbarr O'Reilly - Afghanistan - November 5, 2009 10:51 ET
Video: Embedded with Canadian troops, photographer Finbarr O'Reilly captures the confusion and chaos of a worsening conflict.
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Why Poland has soured on Afghanistan
Jan Cienski - Poland - November 4, 2009 06:46 ET
A recent poll found 77 percent of Poles want their troops withdrawn.
Greek aid worker held by Taliban
Iason Athanasiadis - Afghanistan - November 3, 2009 06:44 ET
A schoolteacher from Athens was the only Westerner living in the valleys on Pakistan’s mountainous frontier.
Why Stephen Harper prefers US news
Sandro Contenta - Canada - November 2, 2009 20:08 ET
Questions over Canada’s role in the Afghanistan war and unflattering polls have the prime minister eyeing the exits.
Karzai declared winner by default
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - November 2, 2009 12:26 ET
The Afghan president gains a second 5-year term but there are questions about the legitimacy of his win.
Abdullah withdraws from Afghan election
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Can runoff race be valid with only President Hamid Karzai?
Taliban attacks on both sides of the AfPak border
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 28, 2009 10:34 ET
In Kabul and Peshawar, nearly 100 dead, among them UN staffers.
Rumor sparks anti-American protests
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 25, 2009 10:14 ET
A Koran-burning incident in Afghanistan prompts demonstrations in Kabul.
Flanked by foreign dignitaries, Karzai announces a runoff
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 20, 2009 10:43 ET
Two months to the day after Afghanistan’s badly flawed presidential elections, the stalemate is over.
Major fraud finding adds to pressure on Karzai
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 20, 2009 06:04 ET
A UN-backed body found that fraud may have handed the Afghan president an illegal majority, but Karzai is resisting a runoff.
Interview: Ambassador Ryan Crocker
C.M. Sennott - Worldview - October 19, 2009 09:16 ET
The longtime diplomat says Obama needs to choose an AfPak strategy before the Taliban further consolidates its hold.
Did a US 'hit' create an Afghan hero?
Jean MacKenzie and Mustafa Saber - Afghanistan - October 15, 2009 12:48 ET
American forces have finally managed to kill Ghulam Yahya Akbari, the self-styled scourge of Herat, a city he had once served as mayor. But at what cost?
A dark anniversary
Jean MacKenzie - Worldview - October 10, 2009 09:48 ET
Taking stock of the eight years since the US invaded Afghanistan: The Taliban is back, America is bogged down and Afghans are tired of it all.
Are Pentagon contracts funding the Taliban?
Jean MacKenzie - Afghanistan - October 7, 2009 12:44 ET
A US military aid program is being used by the Taliban as an extortion racket.
Opinion: Isolating insurgents is nothing new
HDS Greenway - Worldview - October 6, 2009 05:42 ET
In the Vietnam era it was called pacification. Today it’s nation-building.
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