Taking the Fight to the Narco-Terrorists in Afghanistan
Counterterrorism Blog contributor Michael Braun recently published an interesting report on the ongoing efforts in Afghanistan to stem the flow the drug profits which continue to fill the Taliban’s coffers. Braun reports:
“NBC Nightly News reported yesterday evening (May 4, 2009) on a successful counter narco-terrorism operation involving U.S. Army Special Forces working shoulder-to-shoulder with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Team (FAST), Afghan Army Commandos and Counter-Narcotics Police/Afghanistan (CNPA) officers. Notice that I used the term ‘counter narco-terrorism operation’ rather than ‘counter-narcotics operation’, because in Afghan virtually every aspect of the drug trade is unequivocally linked to the Taliban and the insurgency…”
How much money are we talking?
“The estimates of just how much contraband revenue the Taliban generates from their involvement in the Afghan based opium and heroin trade varies widely, but falls somewhere between $100 million to $500 million dollars annually. The reality of the situation is that figure could be even greater. The bottom line: we are not getting out of Afghanistan until we defeat the Taliban or bring them to a negotiated peace; and we will not defeat the Taliban or bring them to the peace table until we get the narcotics trade in check in Afghanistan.”
The truth is that since 9/11 the international community has done a pretty decent job of shutting down the flow of money to terrorists through “charitable” contributions and the like. But the money in the global drug trade continues to flow. I spoke about this in detail recently as a live guest on Daniel Williams’ The Opium Den.
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About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American college educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up and receive notifications of new content. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.