So, what else is going on in India?

[TayTay]

Ther eis a conference on drug control in SE Asia. That's interesting:

Delhi hosts third Pentalateral Group on Drug Control
Hindustan Times 01-11-2006

China, which borders the "Golden Triangle" opium-producing region where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet, has about a million registered addicts and many more who are not registered.

The PGDC had its first meeting in Thailand's Chiang Rai in July 2003 when the five nations realised the need for immediate attention in the sub-region and that no single country can solve its drug problem in isolation.

An exclusive bilateral meet between India and China is also expected to take place soon to co-ordinate action against regional drug trafficking.

Indian officials have been saying that the country is being used as transit routes for heroin from Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan's opium trade has boomed and is estimated to have earned 2.8 billion dollars last year, up 500 million dollars from 2003.

Published by HT Media Ltd. with permission from Asian News International.

And there is this:

AP Interview: Karzai invites Taliban's Mullah Omar to 'get in touch' to talk peace
AP WorldStream English (all) 01-09-2006
By By DANIEL COONEY

Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of illegal narcotics, yielding enough opium to make about 450 tons of heroin last year _ sparking warnings the country is fast becoming a "narco-state."

The problem has criminalized the economy, tainted the country's image, hindered the development of strong government institutions and undermined young people's lives, Karzai said. He claimed criminal gangs, including some from Europe, threaten to kill farmers if they don't cultivate poppies.

"We have reports of the mafia, from the rest of the world, coming and actively encouraging drugs in Afghanistan," Karzai said. "They are not only from Russia, they are in Europe, they are in Afghanistan, they are in the neighbors of Afghanistan, they are everywhere."

He said some senior Afghan officials were involved in the illegal trade, but he rejected criticism that he has not been tough enough in dealing with them. "We have not been given any evidence so far against anyone," Karzai said.

What the hell is going on in Afghanistan? Why is the US allowing the narco-state of Afghanistan to export so much heroin? Where is the money going? How do we know it's not funding the terrorist and extremist groups? This is really interesting. Who is turning a blind eye to this in DC?

[sandnsea]

1. Crazy isn't it

Can't help but think of another civil war and drug running operation. What or who could be being funded with this drug money??

[TayTay]

2. That is the real question isn't it.

The Russian are angry because a lot of the heroin goes to them. I just read a Russian news service item that said Russia had 150,000 addicts in 2003, 160,000 in 2004. (In Moscow, and that they admit to. Drugs are a huge problem in Russia.) They are pissed that no one is doing anything in Afghanistan to control the problem. Afghanistan generates $7 billion dollars a year in drug money. Where is it going? Who is protecting the fields? Who in the US is letting this happen?

btw, Godspeed Senator. Afghanistan is no day at the beach.

[ProSense]

3. These are very interesting questions.

Why on earth didn't the Bush administration finish the job in Afghanistan? After launching that war, they had a perfect opportunity to seal up a lot in that country, a lot that would have far benefitted the region. From that point on, the drug trade there crept back to become a major international problem. Look at the story about the soldiers caught trying to smuggle millions of dollars in drugs out of the country.

I certainly want to know the anwsers.

[karynnj]

4. They are interesting questions

I don't understand this at all. Bush had international support in Afghanistan. The world as a whole had an incentive to prevent the very predictable increase in heroin production. Probably the only good thing the Taliban did was to stifle heroin production. With Karzai really in control of just Kabul, there was nothing to stop the warlords from producing heroin.

One big concern is that although foreign drug trafficers may make most of the money, the amount of money going to warlords in areas growing it likely makes them far richer than the government.

What I really don't get is that I know Bush doesn't wake for each morning trying to figure out what else he can do to destroy the war. Unless keeping the government so shakey they need us is the goal, this seems to be incredible incompetence.

It will be interesting to hear Kerry's comments on all of this when he is back safely next week.

[TayTay]

5. It's very interesting indeed. Afghanistan is a mess

The Bush Administration touts Afghanistan as a big success, but it's not. There are big problems. Under the Taliban the heroin trade was controlled. That new book I mentioned that I was reading talked about the vaunted raid on Tora Bora to get Bin Laden back in Dec of 2001 and talks about how it failed. (We know this and JK was right. They outsourced it to the locals who were paid more by Al Qaeda to drop the ball and let bin Laden go to Pakistan, where he probably still is.)

The warlord who was contracted to go get bin Laden is heavily into the drug trade and is quite powerful locally. (Why wasn't he punished by the US?) There is, apparently, a delicate balance in Afghanistan where the US troops and Karzai are tolerated as long as the people get their money from the poppy fields. There have been attempts to spray the fields and destroy the crop, but the US feels this would destablize the area. There was an intiative to the do that that went all the way up to GW Bush, but Rumsfeld quashed it. Apparently, the US just looks the other way. (There is some question about this and there is some unproven dispute if everyone is looking the other way or helping. Again, unproven.)

This upsets all the allies of the US. They were helping in Afghanistan and paying some of the bills. The British wanted those poppy fields destroyed, but the US decided that they couldn't do it becuase it would risk an uprising and we don't have the troops or the control in the area to tolerate that.

What a monumental screw-up. (I have heard this stuff before, btw. There are large numbers of US troops who have drug problems when they come back from Afghanistan. We have no programs to really handle this.)