U.S. MILITARY TO AID DEA'S AFGHAN EFFORT

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon, which has resisted appeals from federal
drug agents to play a bigger role in the campaign to curb
Afghanistan's flourishing opium trade, has pledged more support for
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's counternarcotics efforts.

While the $2.3 billion profit from opium trafficking has helped arm
the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has
long maintained that drug interdiction is primarily a law-enforcement
responsibility, one that belongs to Afghan authorities and the British
troops in the NATO operation.

But Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House International
Relations Committee, and other critics have urged the Pentagon to do
more, including transporting and protecting the DEA agents in
Afghanistan.

In a letter Hyde received Wednesday, Undersecretary of Defense for
Policy Eric Edelman wrote, "We have taken your concerns seriously and
will work more closely with DEA to make use of this important
capability."

Edelman's letter arrived a day after the Los Angeles Times reported
that U.S. military units in Afghanistan largely overlook drug bazaars,
rebuff some requests to take U.S. drug agents on raids and do little
to counter the organized crime syndicates.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Duncan Hunter
(R-Calif.), asked for a classified briefing on the military's
counternarcotics efforts. It is planned for Friday.