WAGING WAR ON AFGHAN CRIME

VIENNA - The latest news from Afghanistan is not what any of us
wanted to hear right now. The winter opium survey recently completed
by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime suggests this year's harvest will
be even higher than the record 6,100 tonnes that we reported last year.

That means another windfall for criminals and terrorists, continued
corruption and more heroin on global markets, spreading drug addiction and HIV.

Canada's announcement earlier this year of a generous aid package for
Afghanistan -- $200-million for reconstruction and development -- was
therefore particularly welcome. The package includes up to
$27-million for fighting drugs and crime. This money is badly needed.

Afghanistan's fate will not be decided by military victories alone.
It will depend on the ability of the state to control its borders,
establish the rule of law and develop its economy. This will not
happen under present conditions. The south of the country is ruled by
the bullet and much of the rest of the country is ruled by bribes.

As long as drugs, the chemicals used to make them, insurgents and
laundered money can move freely across Afghanistan's borders, there
will be no peace in the region. As long as violence and corruption
determine who wields power, there will be no justice.

How can $27-million make a difference? After all, it's the equivalent
of the cost of only one month of Canada's military operations in the
Afghan province of Kandahar, or a minute fraction of the street value
of all the heroin produced in Afghanistan.

The odds are certainly stacked high against us in the Afghan opium
war, but they are not unbeatable. Here are a few suggestions. -
First, isolate the worst opium provinces. At the moment, six of
Afghanistan's 34 provinces are opium-free. Some are among the poorest
in the country, while many of the richest and most fertile have the
highest rates of opium cultivation. Clearly, poverty is not the only
determining factor.

Opium-free provinces are led by honest governors, they are closer to
Kabul, more accessible to aid agencies and less vulnerable to insurgency.

Compare that to the lawless south, where drug lords either encourage
farmers to grow opium(including through cash advances) or force them
to do so, as well as guaranteeing to protect their land.

The international community should therefore focus its development
efforts on those provinces where it can make a difference in the
short term, rewarding good behaviour and providing an example for
others. It can improve roads, irrigation, education and healthcare
and provide micro-credits that will demonstrate to the people of
Afghanistan that there are viable alternatives to growing illicit crops.

The goal for 2007 should be to double the number of opium-free
provinces from six to 12, creating an opium-free belt across the
middle of the country. - Second, lift the veil on corruption. It is
no mystery to Afghans how civil servants who earn $200 a month can
drive new Mercedes and live in villas. Or why the fields of major
landowners are untouched by eradication efforts. Or why corrupt
officials and drug traffickers never come to trial. In Afghanistan,
justice is for those who can afford it.

Convicted felons rarely land up behind bars and when they do there is
no guarantee they will stay there. Three dangerous criminals recently
bribed their way out of the front door of a maximum-security prison
that had been renovated at the cost of millions of Western dollars.
This is a sad allegory of the sorry state of criminal justice in
Afghanistan. - Third, strengthen law enforcement and go after the
major traffickers. The UN Security Council has decided to put
traffickers involved in the Afghan drug trade on an international
most wanted list, freeze their assets, impose travel bans and, where
appropriate, extradite them to face justice. This is a welcome step.

But to make this possible, Afghanistan needs a more professional
police force, the capacity for intelligence-led investigations, a
functioning criminal justice system and greater control over its
borders. Here Canada's money will be well-spent.

For example, opium can only be made into heroin by adding chemicals
like acetic anhydride for which there is no licit requirement in
Afghanistan. Thousands of tons of these chemicals are being illegally
trucked into the country every year. If these shipments can be
stopped, Afghanistan's heroinproducing capacity will be severely
diminished. - Fourth, encourage closer regional co-operation to
improve border management. Afghanistan's friends and neighbours have
a vested interest and a shared responsibility to stem the flow of
illicit cross-border traffic.

Canada has been taking a hard look at its hard mission in
Afghanistan. There are clearly grounds for concern. An impending
spring offensive by the Taliban and another bumper opium harvest will
not make matters easier.

But the decision to tackle drugs and crime increases the chances of
Canada seeing a positive return on its significant investment of
blood and treasure in Afghanistan.

Antonio Maria Costa is executive director of the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime.