A Relevant War for Georgia

The U.S.-led coalition’s Operation Mountain Thrust in Afghanistan killed over 600 Taliban militants in 45 days during the months of June and July, making it the largest anti-Taliban operation since 2001. But suicide bombings and insecurity continue apace, and many Americans are confused about what it will take to fulfill our mission and get our troops back home. Military success, while critical, will never yield sufficient stability to fulfill our obligation unless the Afghans also establish a viable economy and good governance.

Confronting the narcotics problem in Afghanistan is critical to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives in the country. Afghanistan is responsible for nearly 90 percent of the world’s opium production. In 2006, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime estimates that over 407,000 acres of poppy were cultivated there. This translates into a final market value of nearly $3 billion, accounting for one-third of Afghanistan’s total economy. Thirteen out of every 100 Afghans are directly involved in poppy cultivation, a figure which does not include those involved in processing and trafficking. This pervasive problem is smothering the licit economy while fueling vast political corruption and a violent insurgency. Afghan stability and subsequent American troop withdrawal will not be possible until the illegal Afghan opium industry is brought under control.

The licit Afghan economy is saturated with money generated in the opium economy, which permeates everyday life. Opium gum is often used as currency or as a "savings account" since it can be stored for up to three years. Opium gum and refined heroin is even traded with neighboring countries for goods like fresh produce and electronics. Foreign-funded infrastructure development is often used by drug traffickers rather than licit farmers. UK estimates indicate that over 50% of the crop is cultivated in areas where alternative livelihoods are available. Most of the opium poppy is grown on large plantations owned by those who are not at risk of hunger and have enough capital to benefit the licit economy, making the nation’s economic engines counterproductive. Much of the credit available in Afghanistan is from drug lords who trap small farmers in debt and obligate them to grow poppy.

The influence of opium on the economy is subversive, but it also reaches into the political realm. Drug-related corruption saturates the Afghan government. The arrangement is mutually advantageous: opium revenue fuels corrupt officials who then influence public policy that benefits the trafficker and harms the majority of Afghans who are honest and hard working. One public official who was discovered with 20 thousand pounds of opium in his office has become emblematic of Afghanistan’s political situation. That official is now an Afghan senator. Sadly, drug-related corruption became rampant when it became part of the political culture during the period of chaos and warlords after the former Soviet Union withdrew from the country in 1989. Afghan political will to prosecute its own corrupt officials will be a vital factor in establishing stability.

Even more disconcerting is the growing nexus between the Taliban and drug lords. Both have an interest in war and instability: the Taliban has an ideological interest and drug lords have an economic one. Although the extent of their collaboration is unclear, if the Taliban continues to gain influence in the $3 billion Afghan opium industry it will vastly expand its resources which may result in more attacks on US soil.

Drug revenue and terrorism have been bedfellows for a long time, but unlike Colombia’s narco-terrorists such as the FARC, the Taliban has not yet fully integrated with the narcotics trade. We must seize this critical moment and destroy this burgeoning relationship

This year the U.S. Department of State has a budget of approximately $300 million for a comprehensive effort to fight the drug problem which includes eradicating poppy, interdicting traffickers with helicopters, providing farmers with alternative means for income, and rebuilding the criminal justice sector including special drug courts.

According to U.S. drug control officials, Afghan opium rarely makes it to the U.S., let alone Georgia, because Colombia and Mexico provide a sufficient supply for the American addict population. Nevertheless, the fight against narcotics in Afghanistan directly affects the well-being of our soldiers abroad and our security at home. For those of us with loved ones in uniform there can be no doubt that Afghan counter-narcotics is a relevant war.

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R. Gainer Lamar, of Hawkinsville, Ga., is an advisor to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. For more information about U.S. policies and programs to combat drugs in Afghanistan, go to http://www.state.gov/p/inl and click on "Afghanistan Progress Report: Counternarcotics Efforts."