THIS IS YOUR WAR -- AND THIS IS YOUR WAR ON DRUGS

On New Year's Eve, the Taliban scored a major tactical military as
well as political victory through killing members of the security
force of Abdul Salam, the commander of Musa Qala, a city in southern
Afghanistan long contested by insurgent and NATO forces. The daring
raid has captured attention and headlines.

A killing squad of approximately 30 fighters attacked Mullah Salam's
house. They lost two men, and the Taliban claims as many as 32 members
of the security force were killed. The government states the total
lost is 20. The killers missed Salam, who was away working at his office.

Just more than a year ago, Salam defected from the Taliban to support
the national government. Kabul and Washington officials made the most
of this major prize. He was quickly installed in the current position
and was given prominent media visibility.

The resurgence of the Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan is important
news. A very dramatic massive prison break on June 13 in Kandahar, a
southern Afghanistan province previously considered secure, freed
approximately 1,000 people, among them an estimated 400 hard-core
insurgents. The prison gates were blown open by a suicide bomber in a
large, well-coordinated operation.

Partially in response, that same month the Group of Eight foreign
ministers meeting in Japan made a strategic move of great
significance. The G-8, which includes the world's most advanced
industrial economies, decided to devote massive financial resources to
combating the narcotics traffic and poverty in Afghanistan, focused on
areas where "narcotics trafficking and extremism are endemic."

A new G-8 coordinating body will oversee approximately $4 billion in
aid, concentrated in tribal areas bordering Pakistan, where Al-Qaida
and the Taliban are particularly strong. Assistance will include
police and military training as well as expanded antidrug efforts. The
thrust, however, is economic, not military.

In seeking effective policies, history as usual is instructive. In
particular, useful lessons are provided by that durable duo of
international relations, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. During the
Nixon administration, Turkey was a principal source of world heroin
production. President Nixon creatively used product licensing to
encourage Turkish farmers to sell crops to pharmaceutical companies
for legal medicinal purposes. Drug lords moved some production to
other locations, including Afghanistan, but the mammoth established
drug route from Turkey to Marseilles, France, and then the United
States -- dramatized in the film "The French Connection" -- was
disrupted, and our important ally Turkey was strengthened. Why not
apply this practical approach to Afghanistan?

Iran is committed to assisting Afghanistan, a reflection of Tehran's
hostility to drug trafficking. Afghan President Hamid Karzai
emphasizes that Tehran connection. Why not try openly to coordinate
G-8 and Iran assistance efforts, in so doing perhaps easing the
nuclear tensions with the fundamentalist Islamic state? Currently, the
nuclear standoff threatens very tenuous antidrug cooperation.

One course absolutely to be avoided is simply introducing more troops
and firepower in an effort to "pacify" Afghanistan. That will only
further strengthen the insurgency. The Soviets learned that lesson in
very hard terms during a decade of occupation of Afghanistan in the
1980s. The British likewise had costly experiences in Afghanistan
throughout the 19th century, including obliteration of one entire army.

Eventually, London achieved reasonable cooperation with Afghan
warlords, but only after a very long-term effort that involved astute
diplomacy and economic incentives along with military moves.

Washington should try to emulate that combination of carrots, sticks
- -- and patience. The incoming Obama administration has UN and G-8 as
well as NATO support in Afghanistan, and should make the most of these
collective resources.

Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College
in Wisconsin. He wrote this article for Scripps Howard News Service.