Tag Archives: Opium

With the United States and NATO making plans to draw down most of their troops over the next few years, Afghanistan faces a precarious future. While the military situation has improved, insurgency continues; the government’s authority extends little beyond the capital; foreign aid accounts for 80 percent of the national budget; and the country’s principal cash […]

Dexter Filkins reports in the New York Times that part of Obama’s new Afghanistan policy is an emphasis on curtailing Taliban profits from the opium trade. To do this, US commanders have authorization to attempt to take control of the opium-heavy growing regions of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul Provinces. I could not discern whether a […]