Counternarcotics

Since the fall of the Taliban, USAID has spent and committed close to $1 billion on alternative livelihoods (AL) projects, trying to help farmers grow legal crops instead of opium poppy.  The British and German governments have also put lashings of money into the sector.  The results have been, at best, mixed. There are plenty [...]

The DEA is really pleased with itself: Opium seizures in Afghanistan soared 924 percent last year because of better cooperation between Afghan and international forces, the top U.S. drug enforcement official said Thursday. The Taliban largely funds its insurgency by profits from the opium trade, making it a growing target of U.S. and Afghan anti-insurgency [...]

David Axe reports: For all their variety, most shuras have one thing in common: a deep sense of mutual respect between the Afghans and the foreigners, usually soldiers. The Afghans respect the soldiers’ power and their access to resources. The soldiers respect the Afghans’ traditional leadership role and their deep understanding of their communities. He [...]

Two weeks ago, I wrote in the New York Times: Good government will matter little, though, if the local economy is in a shambles. Marja’s agricultural base relies primarily on opium, and any new counternarcotics policies will wreak havoc; arresting or killing the drug traffickers will ultimately be the same as attacking local farmers. The [...]