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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: opium

opium stories: 32 news summaries

1 - 20 of 32 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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 Karzai's Brother 
 on CIA Payroll: Insiders 

Ahmed Wali Karzai has been linked to Afghanistan drug trade

Oct 27, 09 8:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - The brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been on the CIA’s payroll for much of the past 8 years, a time during which he’s boosted his personal power in a large area of southern Afghanistan—and been linked to the opium trade. Ahmed Wali Karzai denies the... More »

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Afghanistan • CIA • Hamid Karzai • intelligence spending • opium • drug trade • Afghanistan war • Ahmed Wali Karzai

 Taliban Money Men Outwit US 

Diverse revenue streams defy crackdown efforts

Oct 19, 09 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Taliban is thriving financially, despite the US’ best efforts to clamp down on its cash flow, thanks to a sophisticated collection of revenue streams including foreign donations, criminal activities, and drug trade profits. “I don’t believe we can significantly alter their effectiveness by cutting off their money... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • opium • drug trade • Afghanistan war

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s booming opium industry has hooked entire families on drugs, forcing them to sell land, livestock, and daughters to pay for their addiction, the AP reports. Some 200,000 Afghans are strung out on heroin or opium—50,000 more than in the US—as addiction moves from granddads... More »

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Afghanistan • heroin • addiction • opium

(Newser) - Opium is taking a heavy toll on the women and children of Afghanistan, but it's addiction, not production, that's entering the spotlight. Opium is cheaper than a meal, staves off hunger, and brings the family some happiness, one addicted mother tells CBS News as she prepares opium tea for her... More »

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Afghanistan • drug addiction • children • addiction • opium • drug addicts

(Newser) - Eight British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last week within just 24 hours, the worst day of casualties the UK had seen in 30 years. After 15 fatalities in July alone, Gordon Brown is facing severe criticism for underfinancing the war effort, particularly for not providing enough helicopters to troops,... More »

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Afghanistan • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • coalition troops • opium • British military • fatalities • Helmand province • Afghanistan war

 US-Built Bridge 
 Supports Afghan Drug Trade 

$37M project facilitates opium smuggling into Tajikistan

Jun 28, 09 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - A US-built bridge linking Afghanistan and Tajikistan that cost taxpayers $37 million has greatly benefited exporters of Afghan opium, McClatchy reports. The bridge over the Panj river was supposed to facilitate commerce between the two nations, but the surging flow of opium across Afghanistan’s northern border threatens to turn... More »

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Afghanistan • War on Terror • terrorism • drugs • heroin • United States • corruption • bridge • opium • drug trade • Tajikistan

(Newser) - The US is changing tactics in its war against the Afghan opium trade, the AP reports. Rather than targeting crops for eradication, the US will focus on interdiction and alternative crop programs. A top administration official called eradication “a waste of money” that failed to divert “a single... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • drug trafficking • opium • drug trade • Richard Holbrooke • crop eradication

'High as a Kite' Wallabies Draw Circles in Poppy Fields

It raises concerns about crop safety in Tasmania

Jun 25, 09 1:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Crop circles popping up in Australia aren’t the work of extraterrestrial visitors, but of stoned wallabies, Livenews reports. Marsupials have been breaking into poppy fields—which supply 50% of the world’s opium to pharmaceuticals—and munching on the crops. Then, “high as a kite,” they spin... More »

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Australia • Tasmania • opium • wallaby • poppy field

Brits Grab $105M in Drugs From Afghan Taliban

Taliban drug factory found and destroyed in Helmand province

Jun 9, 09 3:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - British troops have seized a huge stash of Taliban drugs after fierce fighting in Afghanistan, the Telegraph reports. Soldiers from the elite Black Watch squad discovered opium, heroin, and cannabis with a street value of some $105 million after attacking a Taliban drug factory in Helmand province. A number of... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • drugs • opium • British military • Helmand province

(Newser) - US and Afghan forces seized a massive drug cache and and killed 60 militants in a four-day operation in Helmand province, Reuters reports. The troops scored more than 17 tons of morphine, opium, and heroin, along with 75 tons of poppy seeds, and caches of weapons and equipment, the military... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • opium • morphine • Helmand province

FIRST PERSON

Karzai's Brother Threatened Me: US Reporter

Questions on alleged involvement in Afghan drug trade enrage him

May 11, 09 1:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - It turns out Ahmed Wali Karzai is a bit touchy about his alleged ties to Afghanistan’s drug trade. When McClatchy reporter Tom Lasseter tried to interview the president’s brother about the allegations, he said they were part of a political plot against his brother. But when Lasseter began... More »

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Afghanistan • Hamid Karzai • drug trafficking • opium • Ahmed Wali Karzai

US Preps Plans to Take Out Taliban Poppy Crop 

Offensive aims to cut off Afghan insurgency's financial lifeline

Apr 29, 09 2:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - American commanders in Afghanistan are preparing a huge assault on the Taliban's opium-growing heartlands this summer, reports the New York Times. Taking out the opium crop is key to NATO strategy, and commanders expect casualties on both sides will be high as the militants stand their ground to defend the... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • Kandahar • opium • poppies • Helmand province • Afghanistan war • Zabul

 Pentagon to Send 
 30K New Troops 
 to Afghanistan 

Heartland strategy seeks to cut off Taliban's supply of fighters, drug money

Feb 4, 09 2:14 AM CST
(Newser) - US commanders are finalizing plans to beat back the resurgent Taliban with tens of thousands of extra American troops in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports. As part of Barack Obama's emerging strategy, reinforcements will be deployed in rural areas where Kabul's grip is weak, including along the border with... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • troop surge • deployment • US military • opium • Helmand province • Afghanistan war • Obama administration • President Obama

(Newser) - NATO's top commander has authorized coalition troops “to attack directly drug producers and facilities throughout Afghanistan,” saying they “are inextricably linked to the Opposing Military Forces,” Der Spiegel reports. The order from US General John Craddock is not going over well with commanders on the... More »

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Afghanistan • NATO • drugs • US military • enemy combatants • drug trafficking • opium • David McKiernan • targets • John Craddock

 Taliban Stockpiles
 Surplus Opium 

This year's crop was double global demand

Nov 28, 08 11:05 AM CST
(Newser) - The Taliban is stockpiling opium in Afghanistan, where high yields in recent years have led to a surplus, the UN drug office says. Poppy cultivation is less widespread than it once was, but the high yield offsets the contraction—and allowed the Taliban to make $300 million off opium last... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • surplus • opium • drug trade • poppies • supply and demand

Afghans Hard-Pressed to Hold Gains in War on Opium

Corruption, other obstacles make cultivation of legitimate crops tough to maintain

Nov 9, 08 8:58 AM CST
(Newser) - Afghanistan’s second-largest opium-producing province has eradicated the drug, a remarkable feat but one that farmers fear is short-lived, the Christian Science Monitor reports. NATO-backed efforts in the country that makes 90% of Earth's opium have reduced poppy harvests, violence, and corruption nationwide. But to grow anything else, the region... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • opium • poppies

$3.2B Opium Stash May Be Taliban's Secret Weapon

International agencies alarmed by 8,000 of tons of missing opium

Oct 30, 08 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - A huge pile of missing opium has international law enforcement agencies worried, Time reports. The UN estimates up to 8,000 tons of opium—enough to supply every addict in the world for two years—have disappeared between Afghanistan's poppy fields and the world market in recent years. Experts fear... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • drug trafficking • opium

 NATO Troops 
 Target  Afghan 
 Drug Lords 

Troops given green light to attack industry that funds Taliban insurgents

Oct 11, 08 7:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - NATO has given its troops permission to go after Afghanistan's drugs labs and opium kingpins, Agence France Presse reports. Some members of the alliance had been wary of targeting the industry, fearful of alienating farmers. But the Afghan government has given its blessing to attacks on the trade that puts... More »

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Afghanistan • Taliban • heroin • opium • International Security Assistance Force • drug traffickers

UN Crackdown on Heroin
Is Bleeding Taliban Dry

Hundreds of tons of chemicals seized

Oct 7, 08 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The UN has been quietly striking a major blow against the Taliban with a widely successful international attack on its heroin trade, Bloomberg reports. The campaign has seized several hundred tons of acetic anhydride bound for Afghanistan. Without the chemical, the Taliban can’t convert its poppy, which sells for... More »

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Afghanistan • United Nations • Taliban • drugs • heroin • drug trafficking • opium

OPINION

Petraeus' Iraq Strategy
Is Ill-Suited to Afghanistan

Counterinsurgency expert may need to learn a few new tricks to quell Taliban rebellion

Oct 6, 08 2:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Gen. David Petraeus faces an uphill battle in replicating the successes of the Iraq surge in Afghanistan, Michael Evans writes in the Times of London, “because the economic, social and political conditions are so different.” Afghanistan doesn’t have nearly the natural, fertile resources, and neither the US... More »

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Iraq • Afghanistan • War on Terror • Taliban • Middle East • David Petraeus • surge • opium • infrastructure

1 - 20 of 32 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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