What is going on in Afghanistan ? Ten French soldiers were killed this week in an ambush. Is that a sign the Taliban is gaining ? Probably not. The Taliban are religious school students from Pakistan. They may be able to hire experienced fighters in the tribal culture of Afghanistan but they, themselves, are not much good except as suicide bombers. Suicide bombers are always outsiders, not Afghans. Attacking NATO troops is a strategy to affect the European press , which will raise a howl about any casualties. The funding is largely from heroin sales as Afghanistan’s cash crop is poppies. Robert Kaplan, in his 2005 book, Imperial Grunts, quotes Special Forces officers on the foolishness of trying to eradicate poppies in Afghanistan. Better we should just buy the crop and either destroy it or use the morphine for legal medical uses. It would be cheaper and would probably be a bargain.
Tags: Afghanistan, drugs, Taliban, war