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The connection between the resurgence of the Taliban and the continuing escalation of poppy cultivation is much more than mere coincidence.  The Taliban has always been deeply connected to, and in all reality has controlled, the amounts of opium available in the world black markets.   The explosion in poppy cultivation is occurring in Taliban dominated provinces. If Western countries seriously want to eradicate this opium, they are going to have to allocate the troops and resources necessary to stabilize and secure these provinces. So it is easy to correlate the increasing amount of opium production in Afghanistan to the strengthening and reemergence of Taliban in the past few years not only in the violence in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan as well.  Afghanistan's 2008 opium crop is expected to produce similar yields as last year's record of 8,243 metric tons, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).  In 2007, five provinces which are under Taliban influence and control:  Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Nimroz and Farah were responsible for 77.7% of the country's opium cultivation. Helmand province alone produced 53% of the nation's total crop. Opium is fuelling the war in Afghanistan and without this crop it would be very difficult for the group to raise the capital needed to finance their war in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist attacks in Pakistan as well as the Kashmir region.  Opium is a big part of what is allowing the Taliban to become a formidable enemy once again after a lengthy rebuilding period following the U.S. and Coalition invasion following 911 that removed the Taliban from control over the country. "It is quite obvious the Taliban are involved in the drug trade, particularly in the southern provinces," said Dr Thomas Pietschmann, of the Research and Analysis Section of the UNODC in Vienna, Austria. "We also have information that the farmers were told by the Taliban to grow the opium." "There is obviously a link between instability and opium cultivation," said Jen-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC's chief of Europe, Central Asia, and West Asia. "The linkage between terrorism and opium cultivation is one of agricultural tax as well as protection money in those areas where the Taliban would be a dominating factor." NATO troops in Afghanistan, referred to as the International Security Assistance Force, generally avoid any involvement in eradicating opium. Fighting the Taliban is a full-time job and they are concerned that destroying poppy fields will alienate the population, making it more difficult to gain the cooperation necessary to root out insurgents. Below is information demonstrating the link between Opium production (right) in Afghanistan and violence resulting in U.S. and Coalition fatalities (left).  It only makes sense that a better funded force is better equipped and more formidable. Coalition Military Fatalities By Year Year US Other Total 2008 134 102 236 2007 117 115 232 2006 98 93 191 2005 99 31 130 2004 52 6 58 2003 48 9 57 2002 49 20 69 2001 12 0 12 Total 609 376 985 The graph was dated prior to the casualties after 9/11/08 passing the 2007 totals.  (reference AP article 9/11/2008 Opium Production In Afghanistan

In the past many have stated that the Taliban was anti-poppy production.  This is not actually accurate.  Even though the Taliban issued laws banning poppy cultivation in July of 2000.  That years crop was actually already harvested and ready for sale to the black markets that include smugglers, terrorist organizations, and other crime organizations that distribute the product through their channels.   During the ban, the Taliban were selling opium at newly inflated prices and allowed others to sell, process, and transport drugs, with the Taliban taking their cut of the profits through imposed taxes and protection money.  The Taliban taxes on cultivation and processing are based upon the Islamic charity taxes of "zakat" and "usher". Zakat, also referred to as alms or purification, is the third of the Five Pillars of Islam.  The Taliban cut the production because the market was flooded with the opium product and the price was falling.  The Taliban was using a simple economic rule known as supply vs. demand to drive up the price of the drug. 

After the 911 attacks the price of opium plummeted to approximately $100 per kg when wholesalers dumped their stock after the United States attacked the Taliban on October 7, 2001. Opium prices climbed significantly during 2003 and 2004, but have softened again due to bumper crops the last two years.   The current average price in Afghanistan for a kilo of dry opium is about $106. The Taliban make their money by levying taxes of 10% on opium cultivation and up to 15% to 20% on processing, trades, smuggling, and distribution. This is in addition to the money they are paid to provide protection for opium fields, heroin processing labs, drug shipments, and narcotics traffickers. In many cases, taxes and fees are paid to the Taliban in drugs, which they sell or store for future sales.

Pakistan is already evolving into the same drug-funded chaos, financing al Qaeda and bin Laden, which its neighbor Afghanistan has already become," asserts Robert Weiner, former drug policy spokesman for the
White House.  The Taliban is after all a Pakistan Intelligence( ISI) creation.  What we have been seeing in 2008 is the younger lion flexing it's power in pride.  The Taliban owes much to the sympathizers within the ISI that have supported them in their taking control of Afghanistan in the mid nineties until the end of  Taliban rule in 2001.  The Taliban has been gaining ground in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.  They are seeking to influence the entire region of the Pashtun people to join their ideology.  It is Opium that is funding the movement that it requires to accomplish such a task.

A Highly Recommended Strategy To Slow And Over Time Defeat The Taliban

Based on the correlation, especially in the past few years, between opium production and Taliban violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan it would be wise to eradicate this crop completely from the 5 remaining regions where it is produced at any costs.. Why this is not the main priority of U.S. led coalition forces is surprising. A major effort must be taken to destroy the capacity to grow this product in the region.  Every poppy plant destroyed saves American and coalition lives.  It would be wise to challenge the Taliban in areas where poppy cultivation is occurring.  Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Nimroz and Farah regions need to be the focus of not only routing out the Taliban in these areas but most importantly destroying the poppy fields prior to harvest.  A major eradication of this crop is essential to the success moving forward in not only Afghanistan but in the breeding grounds of terrorism in Pakistan as well.  We have heard earlier in the war about this being an objective, but it is fading off out of fear of hurting the regions economy.  The only economy that would be affected is that of the terrorists.  It is irresponsible not to notice this correlation and It is to the point that to choke out the Taliban you have to root out the cultivation of the opium producing poppy plants.

March 28, 2002  The Bush administration has decided not to destroy the opium crop in Afghanistan. President Bush, who previously linked the Afghan drug trade directly to terrorism, has now decided not to destroy the Afghan opium crop.  "The war in Afghanistan will be decided within the next six weeks based on whether or not the poppy crops go to market," stated a U.S. intelligence official who recently returned from Afghanistan.  The source, who requested that he not be identified, noted that the opium poppy fields are blooming and ready for harvest. U.S. forces could destroy the crops using aerial spraying techniques, but no such actions are planned.

"If the estimated 3,000 tons of opium reaches market, it will lead to a new upsurge in international terrorism and a great loss in international credibility for the Bush administration and the United States' ability to conduct war in the 21st century. America's enemies throughout the world from China to North Korea to Iran will be emboldened by this lack of strategic vision and political will," said the source.

September 12, 2006  U.N. anti-drug chief Antonio Maria Costa said opium production was being used to fund terrorist groups, and that eradicating it was crucial to establishing order in the south. "In the turbulent southern region, counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics efforts must reinforce each other so as to stop the vicious circle of drugs funding terrorists and terrorists protecting drug traffickers," Costa said.  "I call on NATO forces to destroy the heroin labs, disband the open opium bazaars, attack the opium convoys and bring to justice the big traders," he said.  NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said it was not planning to play a leading role in the fight against narcotics in Afghanistan

U.N anti-drug chief stated, "Its clear the mission of NATO in Afghanistan has evolved into a full-fledged attempt to eradicate Taliban," he said, adding that NATO would find it "very difficult" to defeat Taliban and insurgents in the south unless they cracked down on drug traffickers.

October 7, 2007   After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan's history, American officials have renewed efforts to persuade the government here to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies. Wow, it is about time.  Since early this year, Karzai has repeatedly declared his opposition to spraying the poppy fields, whether by crop-dusting airplanes or by eradication teams on the ground.  For all the controversy over herbicide use, there is no debate that Afghanistan's drug problem is out of control. The country now produces 93 percent of the world's opiates, according to United Nations estimates. Its traffickers are also processing more opium into heroin base there, a shift that has helped to increase Afghanistan's drug revenues exponentially since the American-led invasion in 2001.  A United Nations report in August documented a 17 percent rise in poppy cultivation from 2006 to 2007, and a 34 percent rise in opium production. Perhaps more important for the effort to stabilize Afghanistan, officials said, the Taliban has been reaping a windfall from taxes on the growers and traffickers.  It seems like there is a lot of talking and not enough action. 

March 26, 2008  Afghanistan's annual opium crop is expected to rival last year's record yield to exceed a staggering 8,000 metric tons, or more than 90 percent of global production, according to a U.N. survey released in February, with the bulk being grown in Taliban strongholds.  It takes about 10 kilograms of opium to make one kilogram of heroin. However, due to improved quality and higher morphine content, Afghan opium has been converted at a seven to one ratio the last three years. During 2007, 58.4 percent of Afghan opium (8,243 metric tons less 156 tons consumed locally and 105 tons seized) was refined to morphine or heroin, creating 666 tons for export.

Some Other Interesting Facts On The Taliban And The Drug Trade

Cannabis cultivation is expected to increase again this year in 2008, making Afghanistan one of the world's leading suppliers of hashish. Cannabis production in 2007 was 70,000 hectares, a 40 percent increase over the previous year.  Most of the Afghan cannabis is processed into hashish. "In some areas, growing cannabis is as lucrative as growing opium poppy," Pietschmann said, adding, "Cannabis yields about twice the quantity of drugs per hectare as growing opium."