Kabul Vice

A mini update to yesterday's post, I'll say this for Russia and NATO they sure like to hit the ground running. The US and Russia have been participating in joint heroin busts, you'll no doubt remember that part of the remit for Russian military advisers was to focus on Narcotic raids.

Further adding to the sense of deja vu is this choice quote "Mr Ivanov said the operation involved about 70 personnel from both countries - including four Russian counter-narcotics agents - backed up by attack helicopters." So Russian troops operating under cover of attack helicopters that shouldn't raise a single eyebrow in Afghanistan.

But what will really raise eyebrows particularly within the corridors of power such as they are is the targeting of the drugs trade. Many of the warlords that effectively put troops on the ground in nominal support for Karzai's administration and the Western occupation are linked quite heavily with the drugs trade, how else could one country grow 90% of the worlds opium poppies in the open, and how else could they have afforded all those weapons and smuggled them across the borders during that civil war that left halted all official trade and ripped apart the local infrastructure and economy.

If these joint narcotics raids continue, and they probably will given Russia and the Central Asian republics severe problems with Heroin addiction this will undoubtedly start stepping on several toes within the Afghan government and coalition which will have a knock on effect for the coalition by worsening relations and trust.


Here's several interviews about the state of high placed Afghan drug connections.