NARCOTICS & ARMS TRAFFICKING IN AFGHANISTAN T

NARCOTICS AND ARMS TRAFFICKING IN AFGHANISTAN

This research paper describes and analyzes drug and arms trafficking in Afghanistan since 1973, places them in historical context, examines their effects outside of Afghanistan and discusses possible remedial solutions to the problems they have created.

Over the past thirty years, Afghanistan has sustained itself largely from the proceeds of a clandestine or black market economy based on the production, processing and export of opium, heroin and other narcotic drugs and the smuggling of arms and other goods. These activities have developed out of the devastation, political fragmentation and economic dislocation produced by nearly thirty years of civil unrest and the Soviet invasion and ten year occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989), and their tumultuous and violent aftermath. The drug and arms trade and associated political extremism have had seriously deleterious effects on the nations thereby impacted by them, especially those which border Afghanistan. As the events of September 11, 2001 demonstrate, the close nexus between illicit narcotics and arms sales and terrorism suggest that they are an inseparable part of an immediate and serious threat to political stability in the region and elsewhere. Past efforts to curb such operations have been undertaken on a piecemeal basis. Effective solutions require a much higher degree of internal unity within Afghanistan and international cooperation than it has been possible to attain

Related Essays

Narcotics & Arms Trafficking in Afghanistan T .... describes and analyzes drug and arms trafficking in Afghanistan .... The drug and arms trade and associated political .... close nexus between illicit narcotics and arms .... (5503 22 )

The Sale of Assault Rifles .... an analogous function to that of narcotics agents who .... many times in tandem with, drug trafficking. .... Freed from government restraints, arms merchants in Russia .... (1767 7 )

War on Drugs .... their operations with drug trafficking, acquiring the .... involving large scale modern arms shipments to .... $122 million) Expansion of counter-narcotics operations in .... (2695 11 )

The US War on Drugs in Colombia and Peru .... their operations with drug trafficking, acquiring the .... involving large scale modern arms shipments to .... $122 million) Expansion of counter-narcotics operations in .... (2704 11 )

Individual Rights vs. Public Order .... industry and second only to the arms trade (State .... be a war on drug-trafficking, because more .... US Department of State: "International Narcotics Control Strategy .... (2100 8 )

Poppy crop limitations in Kandahar province were promulgated. This was mostly pretense, since a 20 percent zakat or tax on wealth imposed on the drug trade has been the Taliban's principal source of revenue and practically its only source of foreign exchange. Newsweek (1999) said the Taliban's drug-eradication efforts "lack credibility" (p. 40). Ganguly (1999, March 22) said "a bumper crop and thriving [opium] traffic belie the Taliban's claims to be fighting drugs" (p. 22). Rashid (1997, May 1) said the Taliban had made some effort to discourage domestic consumption on religious grounds, but has had no hesitation in 'drugging the infidels' (Drug, p. 25). The Northern Alliance, which has been battling the Taliban regime since 1995, also deals in illicit drugs and produces three percent of the opium cultivated in Afghanistan (Rubin, 2000, p. 1793). Impact Abroad of Afghani Drug and Arms Exports and Terrorism General. The growth in illicit trade in drugs, arms and other smuggled goods from Afghanistan and associated facilities in Pakistan has assumed very substantial proportions. The drug trade is increasingly very well financed and sophisticated in its operations. Total revenues from drug exports are estimated to be in the bil

Category: Foreign - N