WASHINGTON, April 19, 2007 â" The illicit, but lucrative, opium trade is helping to finance Taliban operations while placing a stranglehold on Afghanistanâs economy, the commander of U.S. Central Command testified during a Congressional hearing yesterday.
(Media-Newswire.com) - WASHINGTON, April 19, 2007 â The illicit, but lucrative, opium trade is helping to finance Taliban operations while placing a stranglehold on Afghanistanâs economy, the commander of U.S. Central Command testified during a Congressional hearing yesterday.
In fact, some military analysts credit the recent relative lull in Taliban activity to their participation in the annual opium harvest thatâs under way now in Afghanistan, Navy Adm. William J. Fallon told House Armed Services Committee members.
âThis is opium harvest season, Iâm told, and thatâs probably one of the reasons why the Taliban have been relatively quiet in the last couple of weeks because ( intelligence analysts ) tell me theyâre busy out in the fields harvesting their crops,â Fallon told committee members.
Opium is a powerful illegal narcotic thatâs derived from poppy plants cultivated by many Afghan farmers as a cash crop. Heroin is an opium derivative and most of Afghanistanâs opium is sold on the European drug market.
Fallon said it is unfortunate that some Afghans are dependent on opium-poppy farming for their livelihoods.
âItâs painful to watch this, because the impact of this criminal activity runs throughout the country and I suspect itâs one of the reasons life is challenging in Afghanistan, because it appears that at every level, from growers to farmers on up to higher levels, thereâs some degree of gain from this illicit trade,â Fallon said.
As desirable as it would be to remove opium as Afghanistanâs mainline cash crop, Fallon pointed out that a viable alternative agricultural crop would have to be identified to replace it.
âI think we have to come up with a realistic alternative,â Fallon told committee members. Some have proposed that orchard crops could one day replace opium growing in Afghanistan, he noted.
âWhat I donât know how viable this is as a realistic, major âmuscle moverâ in the ( Afghan ) economy,â Fallon said, noting that heâs been told it would be very challenging to get the orchard produce to market, given the rudimentary and poor state of Afghanistanâs roads.
In fact, thatâs why ongoing work to establish a ring of paved roads that connect Afghanistanâs major municipalities is such an important project, the admiral said.
âEverybody that Iâve talked to, from President ( Hamid ) Karzai on down, tells me ( the new road network ) is absolutely essential to the economic futureâ of Afghanistan, Fallon said.
Fallon took over as CENTCOMâs chief March 16. Since then, he has traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries that come under his commandâs purview. By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service
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