Attacking Taliban funding

Officials say the agreement does not mean they will begin destroying fields of opium poppy in Afghanistan.


Attacking Taliban funding
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Oct 25, 2008 7:11:52 EDT

U.S. forces have been given permission to step up counternarcotics operations in Afghanistan, paving the way for strikes against drug lords operating in areas patrolled by Marines since early this year.

The agreement, announced Oct. 10 as NATO defense ministers met in Budapest, was praised by top U.S. military commanders. It gives the multinational International Security and Assistance Force permission to attack drug networks that funnel an estimated $100 million per year to Taliban insurgents and corrupt Afghan officials.

“We now have the ability to move forward in an area that affects the security and stability of Afghanistan,” said Army Gen. John Craddock, NATO’s top commander in Europe. “It will allow us to reduce the funding and income to the insurgents — which will enhance the force protection of all ISAF and Afghan National Security Force personnel.”

The agreement was struck with the stipulation that NATO troops must have the permission of their own governments before they participate in the attacks, allowing several European nations who balked at the idea to decline participation.

Officials at the Pentagon and in Afghanistan said the agreement did not mean U.S. forces would begin destroying fields of opium poppies, a hot-button issue that many experts believe would alienate working-class Afghans who grow the plants in the economically depressed area.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/10/marine_afghanpoppies_102508/%2e