Asia Times: Opium gold unites US friends and foes

[unhappycamper]

Opium gold unites US friends and foes
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Drug smugglers call it the golden route: from Afghanistan into Pakistan and then into eastern Iran, it's the trail that takes Afghanistan's abundant opium, and its derivative, heroin, to Western markets.

And all along the way there is strong political compromise in which officials turn a blind eye to the players visibly plying the notorious route, and at each stage the commissions get bigger.

The route provides a funding lifeline for the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan, and also enriches not only the United States-friendly Afghan warlords but also elements of the Northern Alliance, the US's key ally in the country.

Afghanistan is estimated to produce 87% of the world's supply of opium (4,519 tons this season, down 2% from 2004 ), with nearly half of the country's US$4.5 billion economy coming from opium cultivation and trafficking.

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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/GI03Ag01.html