Report: U.S. Anti-Narcotic Effort In Afghanistan Is A Costly Failure

The Guardian: US anti-narcotic effort in Afghanistan is a costly failure, official report finds

* Opium production hits record high in 2017
* US has spent $8.6bn to curb production since 2001

Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan hit a record high last year, a US government watchdog has said, describing American-funded counternarcotics efforts in the war-torn country as a failure.

Since the American-led invasion in late 2001, the US has spent about $8.6bn on counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan, yet the country remains the world’s largest producer of opium.

According to a new study by the office of the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (Sigar), opium cultivation reached about 328,000 hectares (1,265 square miles) in 2017 – a 63% jump from the year before and the greatest amount tallied since 2002.

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WNU Editor: Here is a good analysis from earlier this year .... How the heroin trade explains the US-UK failure in Afghanistan (The Guardian).