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How the US military's opium war in Afghanistan was lost
Source: BBC
How the US military's opium war in Afghanistan was lost
By Justin Rowlatt
BBC News
25 April 2019
-snip-
The objective was to take out the heroin laboratories at the heart of the Taliban's $200m-a-year opium trade, and it was to involve some 200 similar strikes.
But, according to new research from the London School of Economics, Operation Iron Tempest was not what it seemed.
The study found that, despite excellent intelligence, the multi-million-dollar campaign was having a negligible effect on either the Taliban or the drug trafficking networks in Afghanistan.
-snip-
It would take months of careful detective work using the kind of expertise usually employed by the military - advanced mapping technologies, geospatial analysis of satellite images, as well as dogged investigation on the ground - before Dr Mansfield felt he understood what was happening.
His conclusion is surprising. Despite the incredible resources the American military were pouring in, Dr Mansfield and his team are now convinced that the US Air Force was using 21st century fighter jets to bomb little more than mud huts.
-snip-
By Justin Rowlatt
BBC News
25 April 2019
-snip-
The objective was to take out the heroin laboratories at the heart of the Taliban's $200m-a-year opium trade, and it was to involve some 200 similar strikes.
But, according to new research from the London School of Economics, Operation Iron Tempest was not what it seemed.
The study found that, despite excellent intelligence, the multi-million-dollar campaign was having a negligible effect on either the Taliban or the drug trafficking networks in Afghanistan.
-snip-
It would take months of careful detective work using the kind of expertise usually employed by the military - advanced mapping technologies, geospatial analysis of satellite images, as well as dogged investigation on the ground - before Dr Mansfield felt he understood what was happening.
His conclusion is surprising. Despite the incredible resources the American military were pouring in, Dr Mansfield and his team are now convinced that the US Air Force was using 21st century fighter jets to bomb little more than mud huts.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47861444
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Related: Denying Revenue or Wasting Money? (London School of Economics)