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May 8, 2009

Why one should think of Afghanistan, not as a "failed state," but as a heroin-ravaged state

One of the most frustrating features of observing American foreign policy is to see the gap between the encapsulated thinking of the national security bureaucracy and the sensible unfettered observations of the experts outside. In the case of Afghanistan, outside commentators have called for terminating current specific American policies and tactics – many reminiscent of the US in Vietnam.

Observers decry the use of air strikes to decapitate the Taliban and al Qaeda, usually resulting in the death of other civilians. They counsel against the insertion of more and more US and other foreign troops, in an effort to secure the safety and allegiance of the population. And they regret the on-going interference in the fragile Afghan political process, in order to secure outcomes desired in Washington.

One root source for this gap between official and outside opinion will not be addressed soon – the conduct of crucial decision-making in secrecy, not by those who know the area, but by those skilled enough in bureaucratic politics to have earned the highest security clearances. However it may be more productive to criticize the mindset shared by the decision-makers, and to point out elements of the false consciousness which frames it, and which should be corrigible by common sense...

...The truth is that since World War II the CIA, without establishment opposition, has become addicted to the use of assets who are drug-traffickers, and there is no reason to assume that they have begun to break this addiction. The devastating consequences of CIA use and protection of traffickers can be seen in the statistics of drug production, which increases where America intervenes, and also declines when American intervention ends...

Continued...
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Scott's official website;
http://peterdalescott.net /

See also;

Afghanistan, Opium, and the CIA

Deconstructing the War on Terror

So Much More Than Gates Lets On
(The first link at the preceding article is now dead. See the Internet Archive version here;
http://web.archive.org/web/20050808082514/... )

Charlie Wilson's War: "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies..."

Deconstructing "al Qaeda"

Afghan Opium and "International Terrorism"

The Continuity of Western-Al-Qaeda Relations in the Post-Cold War Period