Afghanistan and Opium - Can the US Military Do More

摘要

It is all too clear that there is a linkage between Afghanistan's drug lords and the Taliban and other anti-government extremists. Public statements indicate that this has been recognized strategic levels, but the linkage has not truly been acknowledged at the operational and tactical level. As a result, US military forces have provided relatively limited support to counter-narcotics efforts. There are frequent misconceptions about the ability of US forces to execute counter-narcotics operations. Department of Defense policy allows US forces to participate to a great extent and what is now needed is a refocusing of US military operations in Afghanistan to prosecute counter- narcotics efforts to the maximum degree allowed. US forces can and must do more to stop Afghanistan from falling into a narcotics abyss.