British troops wage war on Afghan drugs

[bemildred]

British troops in Afghanistan are to be used to destroy heroin laboratories, capture drugs shipments and gather intelligence on opium farming in a controversial move aimed at stemming the explosion in drugs production in the country.

The British government has led international efforts to restrict the growth of opium, the raw ingredient of heroin, in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001. However, this year's crop of over 4,000 tonnes is one of the largest ever and threatens to unleash a flood of cheap heroin into Europe.

---

The controversial shift, which has been resisted by some senior military figures who fear it will make it harder to win 'hearts and minds' and thus jeopardise the security of small groups of British soldiers dispersed in Afghanistan, comes amid a fierce debate over tactics used to eradicate opium crops. British special forces are believed to have been engaged in operations against drug dealers for some time alongside American counterparts.

---

However, the Americans have made it clear that they believe the UK's 'slowly but surely' approach to the drugs problem in Afghanistan is wrong. Earlier this year a senior US official accused Britain of being too soft. 'We believe that if there is a heroin poppy that needs to be eradicated, we shouldn't be picking and choosing, we shouldn't be waiting for an alternative revenue stream to become available,' Robert Charles, the Assistant Secretary of State for international narcotics, told a Congress committee recently.

Guardian UK

[lebkuchen]

1. Scotland is riding "high," I can tell you that

The UK has its work cut out for it. The country can anticipate severe social changes as a result of its incompetent PM.

[blue agave]

2. I thought this would be CIA jurisdiction.

After bush drove the Taliban out of power, the opium export trade set new records for the last two years. I am surprised the bush is allowing the eradication, since international drug trafficing has always been a popular CIA fundraiser.

[Javaman]

3. Afghanistan is now known as a Narco-State...

60% of of it's GNP comes from heroin.
We burned down the Taliban house only to have a drug Phoenix rise from it's flames.