Back to square one?
Nato happy to ignore explosion in Afghan opium output, says Russia
Richard Norton-Taylor and agencies
Monday February 9, 2004
The Guardian
Nato is turning a blind eye to the flourishing opium trade in Afghanistan to ensure the support of warlords in the struggle to maintain security in the country, Russia's defence minister has claimed.
Sergei Ivanov said Afghanistan was now producing nine times the quantity of drugs it did under the Taliban.
"It is understandable that by allowing drug peddling in Afghanistan, the [Nato] alliance ensures loyalty of warlords on the ground and of some Afghan leaders," he said.
"Nevertheless, the drug flow from Afghanistan is posing a serious threat to the national security of all of the central Asian CIS [confederation of independent states] and Russia. It results from the absence of a truly international approach toward stabilisation in Afghanistan."
Mr Ivanov was speaking at an international security conference in Munich where Nato countries, including Britain, debated whether to increase their military presence in Afghanistan.
His comments came as at least 20 people were reported killed and 40 wounded in north-eastern Afghanistan in clashes over the payment of taxes on the opium poppy crop.
The Munich meeting coincided with an international conference in Kabul, called to discuss ways to combat the trade.
The Afghan poppy crop is estimated to be the raw material for 90% of the heroin in Britain, but little ends up in the US.
The UN estimates that Afghan opium production last year amounted to a record 3,600 tonnes - an increase of 6% on the previous year - and said that surveys of farmers suggested that a further increase was likely this year.
[...]
guardian.co.uk
Sounds like the Russkies are not that pleased with the US-brokered carveup of Afghanistan --or is it just the carveup of the opium crop? Anyway, Putin has skillfully seized the opportunity to turn up the heat on Karzai... while the Pashtuns' chief patron Musharraf is himself taking the heat from the US's Judeocons over Pakistan's nuclear "misconduct".... Pakistan is doomed to get squeezed, isn't it? Either between Russia and India or... between Russia and the US! |
