OPIUM TRADE HITS RECORD LEVELS

Drug Industry Supports The Insurgency, NATO General Warns

Afghanistan's opium industry is thriving despite efforts to eradicate
the crop and the expansion of poppy cultivation is concerning both
NATO officials and critics of the mission who say it is necessary to
end dependence on the drug crop to spur the country's redevelopment.

A UN report states poppy cultivation will soar to record levels in
Afghanistan this year, yielding 92% of the world's supply of opium.
Cultivation has increased by 59% this year, reaching an output of 6,700 tonnes.

General James Jones, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, on
Tuesday expressed renewed alarm about the Afghan drug trade.

"We're not making progress. We're losing ground. And that has to be
reversed because it affects the entire fabric, social structure [and]
economic structure and it supports the insurgency," he said.

Canada officially supports programs to tear out poppy fields and
eradicate the opium trade, but troops trying to bring peace must
proceed while trying to win the favour of local farmers, who are
often dependent on the crop for their livelihood.

Their position underlines the dilemma facing NATO allies and the
Afghan government.

President Hamid Karzai has pledged to eradicate opium-poppy
cultivation, but Kabul's strategy calls for the Afghan government to
lead anti-narcotics operations with NATO becoming involved only when requested.

Last week, Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime, urged NATO to become more active in eradicating the opium
trade and attacking those involved. But while the military agrees
with the need to wean farmers on to alternative crops, it is
reluctant to be seen as attacking what for many is their main source of income.

The Senlis Council, an international security and policy advisory
group, believes the eradication efforts are contributing not only to
an emerging poverty crisis and but also to rising levels of insurgency.

Disgruntled farmers join the insurgency out of anger at having their
crops ploughed under. Others take up arms after losing their
poppy-based livelihoods and becoming enslaved to the Taliban, who
frequently pay farmers in advance for their poppy harvest.

There is an overall economic dependence on poppy cultivation, with
about three million people involved in growing the plants, said
Senlis Council spokesman Jorrit Kamminga.