Pubdate: Wed, 03 Oct 2001
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 2001 World Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.tulsaworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463

DRUG RUNNERS

Taliban, Bin Laden Eschew Their Faith

Osama bin Laden is not the only source of income for Afghanistan's Taliban 
or for the terrorists hiding within the country. Poppies and the drug that 
is produced from it bring in a sizable income.

The United Nations says that Afghanistan supplies almost 80 percent of the 
world's opium used to make heroin. Last year, the Taliban -- which enforces 
an extremely oppressive form of Islam -- promised to crack down on poppy 
farmers in the country.

But, evidently, they weren't serious. "They warehoused enormous amounts of 
opium and drove the prices up," said Asa Hutchinson, the chief of the Drug 
Enforcement Administration. Now, since the Taliban needs money, the opium 
is being sold and farmers have been given the OK to resume growing poppies.

Evidently, hypocrisy is a growing tenet of the Taliban. Maybe they could 
justify their actions by claiming that they are only selling the drugs to 
infidels, but that would not explain their sales in fellow Muslim countries 
such as Pakistan and Iran. Devout Muslims abstain from drugs and alcohol.

But these self-proclaimed devout Muslims seem to have trouble with certain 
rules of their religion. Some of the hijackers of the planes involved in 
the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., had a wild night out on 
the town before their attacks. They visited strip clubs where they received 
lap dances and consumed alcoholic beverages. They also refused to pay their 
tab.

The poppy fields of Afghanistan can produce as much as 4,000 tons of opium 
a year. Any strike within Afghanistan must take into account the poppy 
fields. Putting such farmers out of business has proven difficult. Like the 
coca farmers of South America, growers can fairly easily begin a new crop 
in a new location almost as soon as the old one is destroyed.

Closing the borders to drug-runners is just as important as cutting off 
terrorists and financial transactions.

Drugs, guns and death are some of bin Laden's and the Taliban's biggest 
enterprises. They sound more and more like a band of criminals and thugs 
rather than holy warriors.
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