AFGHANISTAN'S OPIUM WAR

Farmers will be weaned off opium over the long term only if they have
sustainable livelihoods. At the moment, Afghanistan's drug lords are
prospering, and rural communities are suffering. That situation needs
to be reversed. We must punish the traffickers and reward the farmers

When NATO leaders meet for their summit in Riga at the end of this
month, there will be a ghost at the feast: Afghanistan's opium.
Afghanistan is in danger of falling back into the hands of terrorists,
insurgents, and criminals, and the multi-billion-dollar opium trade is
at the heart of the country's malaise. Indeed, NATO's top general,
James Jones, has called drugs the 'Achilles heel' of
Afghanistan.

This year's record harvest of 6,100 tons of opium will generate more
than US$3 billion in illicit revenue - equivalent to almost half of
Afghanistan's GDP. Profits for drug traffickers downstream will be
almost 20 times that amount.

Opium money is corrupting Afghan society from top to bottom.
High-level collusion enables thousands of tons of chemical precursors,
needed to produce heroin, to be trucked into the country. Armed
convoys transport raw opium around the country unhindered. Sometimes
even army and police vehicles are involved. Guns and bribes ensure
that the trucks are waved through checkpoints. Opiates flow freely
across borders into Iran, Pakistan, and other Central Asian countries.

The opium fields of wealthy landowners are untouched, because local
officials are paid off. Major traffickers never come to trial because
judges are bribed or intimidated. Senior government officials take
their cut of opium revenues or bribes in return for keeping quiet.
Perversely, some provincial governors and government officials
themselves are major players in the drug trade.

As a result, the Afghan state is at risk of takeover by a malign
coalition of extremists, criminals, and opportunists. Opium is choking
Afghan society.

Within Afghanistan, drug addiction is rising. Neighbours that used to
be transit states for drugs are now major consumers, owing to similar
dramatic increases in opium and heroin addiction. Intravenous drug use
is spreading HIV/AIDS in Iran, Central Asia, and the former Soviet
Union. In traditional Western European markets, health officials
should brace for a rise in the number of deaths from drug overdoses,
as this year's bumper opium crop will lead to higher-purity doses of
heroin.

What can be done? First, the veil of corruption in Afghanistan must be
lifted. Afghans are fed up with arrogant and well-armed tycoons who
live in mansions and drive top-of-the range Mercedes limousines - this
in a country where barely 13 percent of the population has electricity
and most people must survive on less than US$200 a year.

It is time for the Afghan government to name, shame, and sack corrupt
officials, arrest major drug traffickers and opium landlords, and
seize their assets. Donors have trained police and prosecutors and
built courts and detention centres. Now it is up to the government to
use the judicial system to impose the rule of law. It will be
difficult, but not impossible, to re-establish confidence in the
central government. Putting major drug traffickers behind bars at the
new maximum-security prison at Pul-i-Charki, near Kabul, would be a
good start.

Of course, Afghanistan does not bear sole responsibility for its
plight. The heroin trade would not be booming if Western governments
were serious about combating drug consumption. It is a bitter irony
that the countries whose soldiers' lives are on the line in
Afghanistan are also the biggest markets for Afghan heroin.
Furthermore, Afghanistan's neighbours must do more to stop insurgents,
weapons, money, and chemical precursors from flowing across their
borders into the country.

Coalition forces should take a more robust approach to the drug
problem. Counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics are two sides of the
same coin. Improving security and the rule of law must include
destroying the opium trade. Allowing opium traffickers to operate with
impunity gives them a free hand to raise money to pay for the arms and
fighters battling the Afghan army and NATO forces.

The United Nations Security Council has authorised the International
Security Assistance Force to take all necessary measures to fulfil its
mandate. NATO troops should be given the green light to help the
Afghan army fight opium - destroy the heroin labs, disband the opium
bazaars, attack the opium convoys, and bring the big traders to
justice. And they should be given the tools and manpower to do the
job. There is no point in trying to win the hearts and minds of major
drug traffickers.

Farmers are a different story. Forced eradication risks pushing
farmers into the hands of extremists, and thus will not lead to the
sustainable reduction of opium fields. Indeed, as we have seen in some
Andean countries, it can be counter-productive. Therefore, security
and development must go hand in hand.

To achieve this, Afghanistan needs more development assistance.
International support so far has been generous, but it is still well
below per capita equivalents for other post-conflict situations - and
the need is much greater. Farmers will be weaned off opium over the
long term only if they have sustainable livelihoods. At the moment,
Afghanistan's drug lords are prospering, and rural communities are
suffering. That situation needs to be reversed. We must punish the
traffickers and reward the farmers.

We cannot afford to fail in Afghanistan. Recent history has given us
graphic evidence of what would happen if we do. But any solution in
Afghanistan depends on eliminating its opium.