Is Afghanistan A Narco-State?

A file photo of a farmer tending a poppy field in Afghanistan.(Reuters)

From MSNBC:

Former U.S. counter-narcotics official alleges Karzai ‘playing us like a fiddle’

KABUL, Afghanistan - A former top U.S. counter-narcotics official alleges that President Hamid Karzai is obstructing the fight against the country’s burgeoning narcotics trade.

Thomas Schweich, who until June was one of State Department’s top counter-narcotics officials, accused Karzai of protecting drug lords for political reasons.

Schweich wrote in an article for The New York Times that appeared online late Wednesday that “narco-corruption went to the top of the Afghan government.”

Reading more ....

More News On Afghanistan And The International Drug trade

Is Afghanistan a narco-state? -- International Herald Tribune
Ex-US official accuses Afghanistan's Karzai of obstructing war on drugs: report -- International Herald Tribune
Ex-US Official Charges Afghan Leader Protecting Drug Trade -- Voice Of America
Ex U.S. official says Karzai shields drug trade -- Reuters
Ex US official: Afghan leader shields drug trade -- Radio Australia
Afghanistan drug trade hits $4 billion a year -- The Age
Afghanistan drugs trade nets Taliban $US100m -- Radio Australia
U.N. Finds Afghan Opium Trade Rising -- Washington Post

My Comment: Yes. Afghanistan is a narco-state. What else would you call a country that supplies 90% of the world its opium.

Like Colombia, Afghanistan's insurgency problem will always continue unless the dynamics for the drug trade changes. FARC, the Taliban ..... if it was not for the money that they were making from drugs, these organizations would have been gone a long time ago.