Following the Money

Kabul, Afghanistan - Protection racketeering might be the most ironic way the Taliban gets their funding, since some of the money the terror organization uses to pay for explosives that kill American soldiers comes indirectly from U.S. taxpayers.  The U.S. Government is pouring billions into infrastructure like cell towers and bridges in Afghanistan, but without a strong central government that can provide a secure environment in which to build, the construction contractors must either pay protection to the enemy or see their projects destroyed.  So it’s clearly too soon to begin a ton of development unless we want to merely fund both sides of the conflict - forever.

But that’s not the only way the Taliban makes money.  A much larger chunk of revenue comes from the heroin trade.  Afghanistan produces nearly 90% of all the world’s opium, a fact that translates to hundreds of millions a year in the Taliban’s coffers.

A UN report released on Wednesday described a 22 percent decrease in the number of hectares of poppies cultivated here last year.  Farmers were able to increase their yields per acre, however, and so the total drop in production was just over 10%.  The decline is attributed to an oversupply of opium on the world market – some say stockpiles in Afghanistan are currently enough to supply the entire planet’s consumption for two full years. 

One thing the report didn’t mention, however, was the ramp up of drug interdiction efforts in Afghanistan.  Since 2005, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration has had teams on the ground here building a network of informants and other intelligence assets, and have recently begun targeting drug kingpins within Afghanistan.  The objective is simple, to hit the Taliban where it hurts the most – in the wallet.  By disrupting the opium distribution network, the DEA teams are costing the enemy millions of dollars a month – millions that can no longer be used to sustain the war against the U.S. military.

I’m spending the next few weeks traveling around Afghanistan with the DEA.  In the last several days we’ve observed some of the training they provide to a special unit of the Afghan police, and have been out in the teeming streets of Kabul to observe these incredibly brave agents as they make contact with their web of confidential informants. 

In the days ahead I’ll be describing some of the unclassified aspects of the work being done here.  Keep reading – you’re sure to learn things that you won’t see in the mainstream media.