S How Opium RK Profits the Taliban Gretchen Peters EW AC UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE PE The views expressed in this report are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily reflect views of the United States Institute of Peace. UNITED STATE S IN S TIT U TE OF PEACE 1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036-3011 Phone: 202.457.1700 Fax: 202.429.6063 E-mail:
[email protected] Web: www.usip.org Peaceworks No. 62. First published August 2009. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peters, Gretchen. How opium profits the Taliban / Gretchen Peters. p. cm. — (Peaceworks no. 62.) ISBN 978-1-60127-032-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Opium trade—Afghanistan. 2. Drug traffic—Afghanistan. 3. Taliban. 4. Afghanistan— Economic conditions. 5. Afghanistan—Politics and government—2001. 6. United States— Foreign relations—Afghanistan. 7. Afghanistan—Foreign relations—United States. I. Title. HV5840.A53P48 2009 363.4509581—dc22 2009027307 Contents Summary 1 1. Introduction 3 2. A Brief History 7 3. The Neo-Taliban 17 4. Key Challenges 23 5. Conclusion 33 About the Author 37 1 Summary In Afghanistan’s poppy-rich south and southwest, a raging insurgency intersects a thriving opium trade. This study examines how the Taliban profit from narcotics, probes how traffick- ers influence the strategic goals of the insurgency, and considers the extent to which narcotics are changing the nature of the insurgency itself. With thousands more U.S. troops deploying to Afghanistan, joined by hundreds of civilian partners as part of Washington’s reshaped strategy toward the region, understanding the nexus between traffickers and the Taliban could help build strategies to weaken the insurgents and to extend governance.