Links drawn between Afghan military, drug trade

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As drug dealers go, Mohammad Dost was a pretty low-level character. He was arrested here in Asadabad with 167 kilograms of raw opium — a relatively small load worth about $92,000 on the world market.

But Dost's case is worrisome nonetheless, in part because of his rank as a lieutenant in the Afghan military forces here. Dost is someone who should have been arresting drug traffickers, not, from all appearances, working for them. Now, Dost is likely to escape prosecution altogether because of a jurisdictional dispute between the local government and the regional military commander, Christian Science Monitor reported.

For senior Afghan officials, Dost's case is the first substantial evidence that many of the same Afghan commanders who helped remove the Taliban from power two years ago may be involved in a business that could destabilize Afghanistan and lead to the Taliban's return.

Opium and the money it generates form the engine for the Taliban's resurgence, as evidenced in the growing number of attacks across southern provinces of Afghanistan in recent months. And Afghan warlords who traffic drugs, even if they were useful to America in the past, now pose a dire threat to the future of Afghanistan.

http://www.nni-news.com/current/world/news-11.htm