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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow Opium is Keeping US in Afghanistan: CIA’s Shady History of Drug Trafficking
Even though present-day Afghanistan flies under the news radar, it remains to be the longest military quagmire in US history. Aside from troops still occupying the country, thousands of private contractors are on the ground that the Pentagon cant even account for. Considering how Obamas foreign policy strategy has been to replace ground troops with drone strikes, the administrations logic behind continuing the occupation remains unclear.
War has always been about resources and control. Alongside the supposed surprise discovery of Afghanistans $1 trillion wealth of untapped minerals, the Taliban had successfully eradicated the opium crop in the Golden Crescent before the US invasion. Now, more than 90% of the worlds heroin comes from the war torn country.
As reported by Global Research:
Immediately following the October 2001 invasion, opium markets were restored By early 2002, the opium price (in dollars/kg) was almost 10 times higher than in 2000. In 2001, under the Taliban opiate production stood at 185 tons, increasing to 3400 tons in 2002 under the US sponsored puppet regime of President Hamid Karzai.
After more than twelve years of military occupation, Afghanistans opium trade isnt just sustaining, its thriving more than ever before. According to a recent report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013 saw opium production surge to record highs:
The harvest this May resulted in 5,500 metric tons of opium, 49 percent higher than last year and more than the combined output of the rest of the world.
more
http://www.mediaroots.org/opium-what-afghanistan-is-really-about/
kentuck
(111,098 posts)Do you think the CIA was involved back then also?
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)It didn't get involved in the Afghan drug trade until the 1980s, when it helped our allies in the war against the Russkies.
I don't think the CIA is actively involved in the business there now; it just turns a blind eye to it when it involves our allies.
Or, who knows, maybe they're using to fund some black budget operation over there.
That the CIA is has no scruples when it comes to the drug trade is hardly controversial.
blm
(113,063 posts).
elzenmahn
(904 posts)He first came to the public's attention in the mid-90s, when he confronted John Deusch in Los Angeles about this very issue, and stated that the CIA has been involved in drug dealing for a long time.
This is nothing new, unfortunately. This has been going on for decades. More examples of our tax dollars at work.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)jazzimov
(1,456 posts)"Poppies"
Long long ago in China
I'm told
To England was traded
Some tea
And so sealed the fate
In pieces of eight
All England and all of the world
Yeah...poppies
When soon his majesty
Sent soldiers and thieves
To India searching for gold
Instead from the ground
Some magic they found
Something far better I'm told
Yeah...poppies
Yeah...poppies
And now this story told
From days of our own
When gossamer doggies
Ran ran
They'd patiently wait
With pieces of eight
So everybody could smile
Yeah...poppies
Yeah...poppies