Polls Unlikely to Halt Afghan Drug Trade - Experts
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Afghanistan's opium trade has revived and  is thriving under the country's U.S.-backed leaders and experts  say that is not likely to change any time soon no matter who  wins next month's first direct presidential election.
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KABUL , Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's criminal underworld has compromised key government officials who protect drug traffickers, allowing a flourishing opium trade that will not be stamped out for a generation, a UN report released yesterday said.
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Facing opposition from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the United States has set aside plans to use spray planes to kill opium crops in Afghanistan, the world's largest drug producing country. Karzai's opposition to spraying has frustrated some US officials who doubt that the vast amount of opium produced in Afghanistan can be significantly reduced without spraying. Opium is the raw ...
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KABUL, Afghanistan - The Afghan government on Thursday blamed drug smugglers - not Taliban or al-Qaida fighters - for a bomb attack on interim leader Hamid Karzai's vice presidential running mate, saying the country's landmark el ections are a threat to their business.    The attack Wednesday in the mountainous northeastern poppy-growing region of Badakhshan killed one person and wounded at least five others - including the former governor...
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Republican leaders in the U.S. House  of Representatives will likely delay a vote on a free trade  pact with Peru until after the November 7 congressional  election, U.S. trade experts said on Wednesday.
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Amid record seizures of cocaine and massive spraying of coca plantations, a senior U.S. official says the "tipping point" in the war on drugs has finally been reached. But skeptics are unconvinced and say the war remains unwinnable.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- These have been fat years for Afghanistan's drug lords. Since the Taliban collapsed in November 2001, traffickers, some militia commanders, and provincial officials have reaped rich rewards from the opium and heroin industry, according to government and Western officials.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- The burgeoning illegal opium trade in Afghanistan has become the biggest single threat to democracy, surpassing Al Qaeda and the Taliban and prompting US officials to consider military intervention against the traffickers, US and Afghan officials say.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan leaders are considering offering amnesty to drug smugglers who get out of the country's booming narcotics industry and invest their profits in national reconstruction, senior officials said.
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The U.S.-backed strategy to fight Afghanistan's massive drug trade has been unsuccessful in stemming opium cultivation, which is expected to hit record levels this year, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
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How close are we to winning the war on drugs? It's hard to say, because the statistics on drug use are so murky. Now researchers are trying to fix that
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Thousands of kilometers away in Afghanistan itself, security experts, independent analysts and candidates are equally amazed that the polls will go ahead on October 9, in spite of insecurity and few guarantees that the vote will be free and fair.
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Afghanistan's world-leading opium cultivation rose a "staggering" 60 percent this year, the U.N. anti-drugs chief announced Saturday in urging the government to crack down on big traffickers and remove corrupt officials and police.
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Efforts to allow Americans access to cheaper prescription drugs from abroad should blossom once Democrats assume control in Congress, but it won't be a top priority, lawmakers and health care experts said.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called a two-day meeting of tribal elders and provincial officials to discuss strategies to combat the country&#39;s burgeoning drug trade.
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The Afghan leader Hamid Karzai has said the country&#39;s rampant drugs trade is a national disgrace. He said that if it was not brought under control, it could present a more serious threat than the Russian invasion of Afghanistan 25 years ago.
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International aid to Afghanistan should be made conditional on the country showing real results and progress in the fight against opium production, UN anti-drugs chief Antonio Maria Costa said in an interview with AFP.