International
bank system needs Afghan drugs to live
16
November, 2011
The
situation with the production of drugs in Afghanistan has reached a
critical level. The States, having spent huge amounts to combat drug
trafficking in Afghanistan, contributed to the opposite effect (many
believe that Washington wanted exactly that). The Russian Federation
suffered most from it.
The
latest UN report says that the production of opium in Afghanistan has
increased by almost 50 percent over the last year. According to the
report, released Wednesday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), the total square of agricultural land that is used in
Afghanistan for poppy cultivation, increased by 36 percent in 2012
compared to 2007. The total production of opiates reached 5,500 tons,
which was almost 50 percent more than last year (3,700 tons).
Afghanistan
has long become a leading producer of opium in the world (75 percent
of global production last year, according to UNODC). The Taliban
became the biggest beneficiary, senior Afghan government officials,
corrupt commanders of the army and officers of law enforcement
agencies are no less involved in the business.
Since
the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the U.S. has spent nearly $7
billion to combat the production of opiates through the eradication
of poppy fields, allocation of subsidies for alternative crops and
incentive payments to the population of opium-free regions. However,
the recent UNODC report shows that the opium trade has gone deeper in
the real sector of the Afghan economy, becoming the leading sector of
production.
UNODC
Executive Director Yury Fedotov described the results as "sobering."
In the foreword to the report, written in collaboration with the head
of the branch of Afghanistan, he wrote that the persistent opium
"virus" threatened to further destabilize the country after
the withdrawal of ISAF international forces. In an interview with
Reuters, Fedotov said that Afghanistan could soon become a
"full-fledged narco-state" unless the international
community gave the country appropriate support. "An integrated,
comprehensive response to the drug problem is required," said
Fedorov.
Who
will propose a specific plan and who will implement it? The
Americans, in an anticipation of the withdrawal, wrap up all
operations. What kind of operations were they? There were so-called
"response teams" organized to burn poppy fields. But,
according to UNODS, eradication efforts reduced this year by 24
percent, after attacks on those teams became more frequent: 143
deaths vs. 102 in 2012. The Afghan army refused to escort the teams.
The Americans preferred to raid villages in search of Taliban
fighters rather than expose themselves to dangers in combat actions
on the border with Pakistan - the stronghold of the Taliban and the
main center of poppy cultivation. As for the promotion of alternative
crops, it was complicated with incomparable prices (much higher on
opium) and complete uncertainty of the future of Afghanistan. And
this uncertainty has been growing.
The
withdrawal of international forces, the core of which is U.S.
soldiers (about 10,000 people), is scheduled for the end of 2014. An
agreement is being developed between the U.S. and Afghanistan on how
bilateral relations should be built after the withdrawal. Experts
suggest that with the departure of Hamid Karzai, who has served his
two presidential terms, another person will come, who will most
likely become US-oriented in the next few years. Civil war scenarios
are also possible. The deteriorating level of security will affect
economy; GDP is to decline this year by ten percent, according to
World Bank forecasts. U.S. analysts say that agricultural
infrastructure was destroyed during the war against the Soviet Union.
They also indicate an increase in the use of drugs in Afghanistan
(the consumption of opiates between 2005 and 2009 doubled; the
consumption of heroin has increased 140 percent). Supposedly, this is
the reason why many farmers turned to growing poppy, Amar Toor wrote
in The Verge.
However,
according to the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control, under the
Taliban (before 2001), the opium poppy production was minimal. It
increased dramatically - nearly 40 times - with the deployment of
American troops in the country. Today, "four million farmers are
engaged in the cultivation of opium poppy. A third or a half of the
population of Afghanistan is involved in the production of drugs,"
Chairman of the State Anti-Drug Committee, the head of the Russian
Federal Drug Control Service, Viktor Ivanov, said on November 11 at a
press conference. According to Russian security services, there are
about two thousand heroin laboratories in Afghanistan, and more than
four million people are involved in the process.
Ivanov
sees completely different reasons for such a sad state of affairs.
"The drug industry is needed for many thousands of drug addicts.
The international bank system needs it as well, because it is the
bank system that eventually absorbs income from this industry,"
said Ivanov. According to him, more than $1 trillion was invested in
transnational crime of selling heroin. "Those wars that take
place in Afghanistan are the wars between drug cartels. The
international community needs to fully accept responsibility for the
situation in Afghanistan," said Ivanov.
"The
crowning effort in Afghanistan is to curb drug trafficking by
motivating specific countries, unions and companies," military
expert Boris Podoprigora, former deputy commander of the joint group
from the North Caucasus, told Pravda.Ru. In his opinion, it goes
about Russia, the countries of the SCO and the CSTO.
"We
need to work with the north of Afghanistan, where Uzbeks and Tajiks
live. We should boost their economy and give those people alternative
employment. This is the only way to protect Russia from heroin and
opium drug trafficking."
On
October 28, a two-day meeting of the heads of anti-drug agencies of
Central Asian anti-drug quartet finished in Islamabad. The group
includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Tajikistan. The meeting
considered the implementation of the "road map" (2012 -
2017) of the four states in the field of anti-drug cooperation. The
group of four is to have another member - Iran, that shares more than
two thousand kilometers of land border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to the UN, Iran takes the lead in the struggle against
drugs.
Lyuba
Lulko
Pravda.Ru
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