Opium den

Afghanistan's opium economy has been called the most serious problem facing the country today. President Hamid Karzai has long warned that either "we destroy the problem or it will destroy us," going as far to declare jihad against poppy cultivation in 2004. But almost a half-decade after his declaration of war against the poppy, Afghanistan's illicit drug trade continues to plague security, stability and state-building initiatives in the country. Of late, drug activity has particularly contributed to the violence generated in southern Afghanistan. In 2008, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) tallied 78 fatalities caused by mine explosions, gun attacks or suicide bombings against eradication teams and counternarcotics personnel, compared to just 19 such deaths in 2007. The trend of insurgents and criminals supporting or facilitating attacks against eradication personnel and government targets has continued in 2009. By mid-June, four suicide attacks targeting counternarcotics personnel and their headquarters in Helmand and Nimroz provinces had left 16 people dead and 55 wounded. Scores of other eradication personnel died in a series of roadside bomb attacks in Kandahar and Helmand.

Economic and social issues such as poverty and food insecurity, weak governance, corruption and protracted instability have long created the perfect environment in which the Afghan narcotics industry can flourish. Yet many are now suggesting that the second half of 2009 will be pivotal. With international attention focused on the rising tide of violence, this year's deployment of 17,000 additional American soldiers to southern Afghanistan is tasked with a dual responsibility: tackling the insurgency, and disrupting its financial connection with the illegal-drugs industry. Unfortunately, an overemphasis on combat operations and forced eradication measures remains at the forefront of this strategy, at the expense of meaningful alternative livelihood programmes. Implementing wide-scale eradication in the current unstable security climate could create an even more hostile and dangerous environment. The economic void created by the singularly focused eradication process has been shown to be severely damaging to rural livelihoods – increasing the poverty rate and sowing further anti-government sentiment. By creating an appealing environment for insurgents and criminals to thrive and multiply, such groups could, in turn, co-opt thousands of angry farmers and unemployed youth into their ranks.