Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 8/5/2007
Road to Ruin: Afghanistan's Booming Opium Industry
2004 October
Center on International Cooperation
Abstract
President George W. Bush declared recently that “the people of Afghanistan are now free.”1 While the president boasts, Afghanistan’s opium industry, which fosters terrorism, violence, debt bondage, and organized crime, has expanded to the point that it could undermine the entire U.S. and international effort. As President Bush’s own special envoy and ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, recently admitted, ''[r]ather than getting better, it's gotten worse. There is a potential for drugs overwhelming the institutions – a sort of a narco-state."2
The booming opium industry jeopardizes not only Afghanistan, but also the United States, Europe, and the entire volatile region of Central Asia. Al Qaeda and the Taliban use drug money to finance their operations. Afghan warlords and militias fattening off of the drug sector create insecurity and block efforts by the national government to extend its authority. As the chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), stated, "The drug lords are getting stronger faster than the Afghan authorities are being built up."3
