Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Afghanistan, Opium, and the Taliban

Recent developments in Afghanistan have led many to debate what America’s best course of action should entail. The amount that America has invested from a logistics, financial, and philosophical perspective proves that “quitting,” is not an option. The current dilemma facing America’s political brain trust is simple: How does America move forward in a strategic format that will allow it to achieve its desired results?

I am of the opinion that America’s resources are being mismanaged in Afghanistan. With the Obama administration split on how to manage the war and with the public becoming restless and the media more engaging, now might be a time to indiscriminately revisit our strategy.

The Taliban / Al Qaeda movement in Afghanistan appears to be well founded. Unlike the American war in Afghanistan, which is funded by American tax payers, the source of funds for the Taliban is quite different. Consider the following. Are the Taliban in Afghanistan funded by Afghani tax revenue? One can easily conclude this answer to be no. Are the Taliban in Afghanistan funded by foreign bank transfers? Absolutely not, as American intelligence is capable of tracing every source of international wire transfer. Are the Taliban selling goods and services in Afghanistan that are enabling them to fully fund themselves? Once again, revenue from domestic goods would hardly provide the adequate finances for such an expensive war.

It is evident that the Taliban is functionally operative, well equipped, organized, and appropriately funded. It is also clear that the sources of “funding,” must be coming from within Afghanistan. As such, it is important to consider the impact of Afghanistan’s opium production in relation to the Taliban’s self funding. It is easy to forget that Afghanistan has among the largest producing fields of opium in the world. This opium is directly financing the Taliban in Afghanistan.

My suggestion to the decision makers in Washington is plain. Instead of dropping bombs that kill militants and innocent civilians, why not place your resources on the core problem. If you eliminate the opportunity for the Taliban to constantly fund themselves, you will eliminate their ability to restock and reenergize. Additionally, you will build great goodwill amongst the Afghani civilians, many of which are parents, whom wish to keep their children away from these addictive drugs.

Again, ask yourself this question. How do you win the hearts and minds of a country that distrusts you? Do you erratically drop bombs on populated areas or do you focus on the youth of the country? When bombs are dropped on civilians and innocence is lost, revenge becomes the Afghans course of action.

All wars have a source of funding. The source of the Taliban’s funding is pretty clear, yet America’s response has been disillusioned and mismanaged. If America is committed to winning the war in Afghanistan, it is time they revise their course of action. Destroy all the opium fields and you will vastly reduce the Taliban’s abilities. Continuing to bomb the country and causing collateral damage will not win this war. It is time the American administration recognizes that if you control the source of the Taliban’s funding, you will control the war.

Sending another 40,000 troops to Afghanistan or possibly having Muslim nations become an international peacekeeping presence will only lead to more death, destruction, and failure.