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The U.S. inspector general for spending in Afghanistan (the what???) told the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control that Afghanistan’s opium “crisis” is a U.S. national security concern because it destabilizes the country’s economy and it nourishes insurgent groups like the Taliban.
Top officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), who also testified, echoed the inspector general’s comment.
“Even though little of this opium hits American shores we all know that the narcotics crisis in Afghanistan is a national security concern because it distorts the Afghan economy, poisons its banking sector, fuels a growing illicit economy, undermines the legitimacy of the Afghan government by stoking corruption, nourishing criminal networks, and providing approximately 30 percent of the financial support to the Taliban and other insurgent groups,” John Sopko, the U.S. government’s special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction told the panel during a hearing yesterday.
“It also puts at risk the fragile reconstruction gains we have made over the last 12 years whether in health, education, women’s issues, rule of law, or governance.”
“Yet despite the growing threat of the narco-terrorist, [and] criminal nexus, the United States and other Western donors have by and large made counter-narcotics a lower strategic priority,” he also said.
The inspector general told the lawmakers at the hearing that the opium problem in Afghanistan threatens the U.S. mission to prevent terrorist safe havens there.
“In conclusion, the Afghan drug problem is growing and threatens to undermine the overall U.S. mission to build a stable Afghanistan able to defend itself and prevent terrorist groups from establishing sanctuaries there,” said Sopko. “Absent effective counter-narcotics programs and an Afghan political will, everything we have been investing both in lives and treasure will be at risk.”
Erin Logan, the principal director for the office of the deputy assistant secretary of defense for counter-narcotics and global threats, indicated that victory in Afghanistan is contingent upon dealing with the drug trade.
“As we look at the future of Afghanistan, it is impossible to envision success without sustaining an Afghan capability to fight the violence and corruption created by the drug trade,” she said.
Furthermore, she added that the the heroin trade in Afghanistan is a threat to the U.S.
“In addition, we cannot ignore the growing threat to ourselves and our allies. Our Canadian partners estimate that 90 percent of the heroin on their streets comes from Afghanistan,” she told the senators. “They also believe they are seeing more heroin on their streets than their user population can absorb. We must all be sensitive to information like this when combined with the Governor of Vermont recently issuing a State of the State speech focused entirely on Vermont’s exploding heroin problem.”
“We must be vigilant about the possibility of Afghan-produced heroin becoming more available across the U.S.,” she also said, later adding, “our adversaries make good use of these [illicit narcotics] networks [in Afghanistan] to destabilize territories and hurt U.S. interests.”
Echoing most of the witnesses, James Capra, the DEA’s chief of operations, told the Senate panel that Afghanistan’s drug trade fuels instability and threatens security in Afghanistan by facilitating transnational organized crime and undermining the rule of law.
He went on to say that the Taliban receives millions annually from activity surrounding the narcotics trade in Afghanistan through taxation, protection, and extortion.
continued at...http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/...ium-Crisis-is-a-U-S-National-Security-Concern
Top officials from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), who also testified, echoed the inspector general’s comment.
“Even though little of this opium hits American shores we all know that the narcotics crisis in Afghanistan is a national security concern because it distorts the Afghan economy, poisons its banking sector, fuels a growing illicit economy, undermines the legitimacy of the Afghan government by stoking corruption, nourishing criminal networks, and providing approximately 30 percent of the financial support to the Taliban and other insurgent groups,” John Sopko, the U.S. government’s special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction told the panel during a hearing yesterday.
“It also puts at risk the fragile reconstruction gains we have made over the last 12 years whether in health, education, women’s issues, rule of law, or governance.”
“Yet despite the growing threat of the narco-terrorist, [and] criminal nexus, the United States and other Western donors have by and large made counter-narcotics a lower strategic priority,” he also said.
The inspector general told the lawmakers at the hearing that the opium problem in Afghanistan threatens the U.S. mission to prevent terrorist safe havens there.
“In conclusion, the Afghan drug problem is growing and threatens to undermine the overall U.S. mission to build a stable Afghanistan able to defend itself and prevent terrorist groups from establishing sanctuaries there,” said Sopko. “Absent effective counter-narcotics programs and an Afghan political will, everything we have been investing both in lives and treasure will be at risk.”
Erin Logan, the principal director for the office of the deputy assistant secretary of defense for counter-narcotics and global threats, indicated that victory in Afghanistan is contingent upon dealing with the drug trade.
“As we look at the future of Afghanistan, it is impossible to envision success without sustaining an Afghan capability to fight the violence and corruption created by the drug trade,” she said.
Furthermore, she added that the the heroin trade in Afghanistan is a threat to the U.S.
“In addition, we cannot ignore the growing threat to ourselves and our allies. Our Canadian partners estimate that 90 percent of the heroin on their streets comes from Afghanistan,” she told the senators. “They also believe they are seeing more heroin on their streets than their user population can absorb. We must all be sensitive to information like this when combined with the Governor of Vermont recently issuing a State of the State speech focused entirely on Vermont’s exploding heroin problem.”
“We must be vigilant about the possibility of Afghan-produced heroin becoming more available across the U.S.,” she also said, later adding, “our adversaries make good use of these [illicit narcotics] networks [in Afghanistan] to destabilize territories and hurt U.S. interests.”
Echoing most of the witnesses, James Capra, the DEA’s chief of operations, told the Senate panel that Afghanistan’s drug trade fuels instability and threatens security in Afghanistan by facilitating transnational organized crime and undermining the rule of law.
He went on to say that the Taliban receives millions annually from activity surrounding the narcotics trade in Afghanistan through taxation, protection, and extortion.
continued at...http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/...ium-Crisis-is-a-U-S-National-Security-Concern
