Audit of Counternarcotics Assistance to Afghanistan

The Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of State has recently released a report to the public (it was previously marked as FOUO) entitled "Audit of Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Counternarcotics Assistance to Afghanistan", AUD-MERO-15-02, November 2014. The report has three findings. 1) INL has not fully developed performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of its counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan. 2) INL has not developed required sustainment plans for its counternarcotics initiatives. 3)  Required documentation for direct assistance initiatives was missing. The report is available at the link below:

http://oig.state.gov/system/files/aud-mero-15-02.pdf

Election Had Effect on Opium Production

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan stated that the election period in 2014 had an adverse effect on drug eradication. The election pulled police and army units away from counter-drug activities. In addition, candidates running for office at the national and provincial levels sought money to run their campaigns from drug warlords. Read more in "Afghan Elections Cited as Factor in Record Levels of Opium Production", The New York Times, November 12, 2014.

Afghanistan: A Dire Outlook

There are conflicting reports on how well or poorly Afghanistan is doing. The latest DoD 1230 report says that the Afghan National Security Forces are "winning" and the future is promising. The latest report by SIGAR is far less optimistic. Read one outside assessment in "Afghanistan Going off the rails as U.S. Withdrawal Speeds Up", Foreign Policy, October 30, 2014.

Afghan Opium War a Failure

The United States and other nations as well have spent billions of dollars attempting to stem the export of opium from Afghanistan. The end result is an increase of the drug trade over the past 13 years. Learn more in "Down the Afghan opium rathole", Chicago Sun-Times, October 28, 2014.

Confronting the Afghan Narco State

A news report says that the new Afghan government will not be successful in curtailing the huge drug trafficking enterprise in Afghanistan. Read more in "Confronting the Afghan Narco-State: End the International Drug War", Forbes.com, October 30, 2014.

How Can Afghanistan Kick Its Drug Habit?

A writer, M. Ashraf Haidari, provides us an explanation of the poppy cultivation problem in Afghanistan and some recommendations on how to reduce Afghanistan's dependence on the drug trade. Read "How Afghanistan Can Kick Its Drug Habit", The South Asia Channel (Foreign Policy), October 24, 2014.

Afghanistan's Addiction to Opium

There is widespread agreement that the $7.6 billion effort to eradicate poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has failed. In fact, the problem is getting worse every year. The Afghan economy has a heavy criminal component, criminal patronage networks involve provincial governors, district sub-governors and high-ranking members of the Afghan National Police (ANP). The Taliban are funded to a large degree from the drug trade. In 2012 Afghanistan produced 95 percent of the world's opium - exporting it to Russia, Europe, and Iran. The increase in yield from 2012 to 2013 was 50%; from $2 billion to $3 billion. Read more in "Afghanistan's Unending Addiction", The New York Times, October 26, 2014.

SIGAR - Poppy Cultivation Rises in Afghanistan

A report issued in October 2104 states that after a decade of reconstruction and over $7 billion in counter narcotics efforts, poppy cultivation levels in Afghanistan are at an all-time high. Afghan farmers grew an unprecedented 209,000 hectares of opium poppy in 2013, surpassing the previous peak of 193,000 hectares in 2007. Further increases in poppy cultivation is expected in 2014. The value of opium and its derivative products produced in Afghanistan rose from 2012 to 2013 by 50 per cent; and increase from $2 billion to $3 billion. Nangarhar province, once designated "poppy free" in 2008 saw an increase in poppy cultivation between 2012 and 2013. The former governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, was not known for his anti-drug stance; in fact, he is well-known as a supporter and beneficiary of the drug trade. ISAF chose to ignore the criminal patronage network in the Nangarhar region as Sherzai was a political appointee of Hamid Karzai. See "Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan, 2012 and 2013", Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Report SIGAR-15-10-SP, October 2014.

Report - "Drugs or Hope", AREU (Sep 14)

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has published a new report on the opium poppy cultivation dynamics in Afghanistan. The AREU conducted field research in Badakhshan, Balkh, Helmand and Nangarhar provinces during three agricultural years from 2010 to 2012. The intent was to explore the dynamics of opium poppy cultivation, the history of government policies and programs, and the ways in which these policies and programs affected the ability of rural households to maintain their livelihoods. The paper is entitled "Despair or Hope: Rural Livelihoods and Opium Poppy Dynamics in Afghanistan", AREU, September 2014. You can view an abstract online here or read online and download here.

Drugs in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan

The country of Afghanistan is known for its export of narcotics but what is less well-known is the staggering number of drug-addicted person within the country. The easy accessibility of drugs and corrupt judiciary and police sectors contribute to the drug addition problem. Read about the drug problem in Nangarhar province (border Pakistan in the east) in Drug Use Rampant in East Afghan Province, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, September 25, 2014.

Afghanistan is Poppy Center of the World

Poppy Field in Zabul - Photo by SSG Brian Ferguson, DVIDS

A recent report states that there is more poppy cultivation in Afghanistan now than there was in 2002 just after the Taliban were removed from power. In the last few years poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has grown significantly. Afghanistan produced almost 90 percent of the world's opium in 2013. The United States has spent more than $10 billion since 2002 on counter-narcotics in Afghanistan. Prospects for getting the opium trade under control are dim. The U.S. military essentially walked away from opium eradication. Those programs that were funded and implemented by Afghan National Security Forces were ridden with corruption. There are some very well trained and capable counter-narcotic units in the ANSF but they are constrained by the corruption of the Karzai regime and provincial governors. Congress is in a dour mood when it comes to continued funding for anything with the name of Afghanistan attached to it. It might be time to concentrate on the demand side instead of the supply side of the heroin problem. Read more in "Afghanistan Continues to be Hub of Poppy Cultivation", Voice of America, February 8, 2014.

Defense Official Outlines U.S. Counternarcotic Achievements in Afghanistan

A defense official testified before Congress providing information on the counter-narcotics fight in Afghanistan. She outlined the achievements that have been made thus far, provided information on what two billion dollars has bought in terms of counter-drug effort and capability, and lent insight into the problems that lie ahead. Read more in "Afghanistan Counternarcotics Efforts Continue, Official Says", American Forces Press Service, February 6, 2014.

Irony of Heroin, Hoffman, and The War in Afghanistan

In the Sacramento Bee, Markos Kounalakis writes on the irony of the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, his role as a CIA officer in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War", and of the resurgence of the opium trade in Afghanistan. In his short piece published on February 6, 2014 he succinctly captures the story of the drug industry in Afghanistan and the unintended consequences (the military would say "second, third, and fourth order of effects") of the U.S. intervention in 2001 and fall of the Taliban regime. Read "Hoffman, heroin and the war in Afghanistan".

U.S. has failed in Afghan Counternarcotics Fight

A recent new report sheds light on the failure of the U.S. to counter the narcotics industry in Afghanistan. Read more in "U.S. has 'failed' narcotics fight in Afghanistan, says inspector general", CNN, February 3, 2014.

Growing Drug Trade in Afghanistan Threatens US Goals

Military leaders have cautioned that the drug trade in Afghanistan has grown in the past few years and threatens the stability and security of Afghanistan. As U.S. and NATO troops downsize it has become apparent that the drug trade is growing. Poppy cultivation brings in money for poor farmers in Afghanistan. The drug trade provides money for corrupt government officials, police and the Taliban. Security in some of the poppy growing areas has decreased making it even more difficult for those few Afghan police that are honest and try to keep the drug trade in check. Read more in "Resurgent Afghanistan drug trade threatening US goals, Pentagon warns", The Christian Science Monitor, January 20, 2014.

Drug Trade Could Cause Splinter of Afghanistan

The export of opium from Afghanistan to Central Asia, Europe and other locations has reached an all-time high in 2013. There is no reason to think that this rise in the Afghan drug trade will subside in 2014. Almost all areas of the Afghan society is involved in the illicit trade of drugs to include the police, government officials, and the Taliban. There is concern that as foreign aid dwindles that even more segments of Afghan society will turn to the drug trade for financial gain and that this uptick in the drug trade will create more competition and cause the formation of a fragmented criminal state. Learn more about the Afghan drug trade in "Drug trade could splinter Afghanistan into fragmented criminal state - UN", The Guardian, January 5, 2014.

Opium Poppy Cultivation Surges in Afghanistan

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has grown for the third straight year and Afghanistan is now the number one producer of opium crops in the world. Learn more in "Afghanistan's opium crop sets new records", Stars and Stripes, December 30, 2013.

The Hard Life of Female Addicts in Afghanistan

Afghanistan, a country that supplies over 90 percent of the world's opium, also has an internal drug use problem. Although most drug users in Afghanistan are men there are also female addicts as well. An Afghan woman's access to medical care to combat her drug addiction is limited. Read more in "Insight: Lifting the veil on Afghanistan's female addicts", Reuters.com, March 31, 2012.

Afghan Government Officials Hinder Afghan Air Force Drug Smuggling Investigation by U.S.

A recent news report says that Afghan defense officials are hindering an investigation that members of the Afghan Air Force are using pilots, crew, and aircraft to smuggling drugs across Afghanistan. The U.S. suspects that smuggling operations are happening in a section of the Kabul airport that only Afghan Air Force personnel have access to. Flight plans are not being filed for irregular flights, undocumented cargo is being unloaded, and many night-time flights are occurring with no apparent reason. In the last two years the United States has spent over $20 billion dollars to train and equip the Afghan security forces - to include its Air Force - but there is very little accountability on where this money has gone. Corruption in Afghanistan is rampant throughout the Afghan government and security forces. Many U.S. service personnel working in Afghanistan have come to the conclusion that the U.S. is being taken to the cleaners by the Afghans and we are letting it happen because we don't want to get Karzai mad at us. Maybe its time we dump Karzai. We probably need to send less combat troops and more contract accountants to follow the money. Read the news article here "Afghans Hinder Smuggling Inquiry", 2 U.S. Officials Say", The New York Times, March 9, 2012.