UN Repor Misleading on Afghanistan's Drug Problem

Debranya Brower
11-6-09
4:45 pm

In this article several facts are brought about what the real problem may be that is going on with the Taliban and how dependent they actually are on narcotices such as the highly publicized on, opium. In a UN report it seems that they conveniently put full responsibility of the increase in drug production solely on the shoulders of the Taliban. Even though they are partly responsible for the increase in the drug production in Afghanistan, the UN left out the fact that both the U.S. and NATO have a part in all that. Opiates give Afghanistan $3.4 billion a year, of this the Taliban recieves 4%, while the Farmers recieve 21%. In the article it was stated that only 10-15% of the Taliban's income comes from drugs while the other 85% comes from other sources. It is said that groups that the NATO and the U.S. support or tolerate have a pretty big hand in what is going on with increase in drug production. The Taliban recieves aid from donors all over the world in the work that they do so it has come to light that the amount that they get from drugs doesn't even measure up to what they get from outside donors. The government was asked what they were doing to try and control the drug trade that was going and they simply stated that if they were to even try to stop the drug production it wouldn't really make a difference in what they were trying to do in Afghanistan. This article basically shed light on the situation in Afghanistan and gave a crystal clear look into what our own government seems to be condoning.
I have always felt that there has to be some things going on in Afghanistan that we as citizens have no clue about. It is so easy for them to give reports like what the UN had and tell us that the Taliban are doing so many horrible things but we never get any type of news of what we are actually doing. I feel that it is so easy for our government to continue what they are doing because unless we have more articles like this one that tell the truth of what is happening and place the blame where it should go this will continue to happen. I know that the Taliban is a very miliscious group but the US and NATO are just like them if we are basically contributing to what they are doing. No longer do we really have a purpose to be in Afghanistan but to simply throw our weight around and prove that we are better. The rise in the drugs could go down if we were more focused on the things that are important and try to end the war and stop the crime that is rising. There is no stopping the crime and drug production increase if our own government is supporting it.

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6553