Pubdate: Sun, 29 May 2005
Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK)
Copyright: 2005 The Scotsman Publications Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/405
Author: Marcello Mega
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

'SPINELESS' BLAIR FAILING IN HEROIN WAR

SENIOR Customs officials have condemned Tony Blair and his Cabinet 
colleagues for their "spineless leadership" of the anti-drugs battle in 
Afghanistan, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

An explosive e-mail exchange accuses Ministers of taking "useless but safe" 
action against heroin producers, resulting in a predicted flood of the 
Class A drug on to the streets of Britain.

The e-mails - which come from the very top of UK Customs - lampoon former 
defence secretary Geoff Hoon as "Buff Hoon" and describe ex-international 
development minister Clare Short as "a big mouth".

Afghanistan provides an estimated 90% of the 28 tonnes of heroin smuggled 
into Britain annually, despite claims there would be a post-Taleban 
crackdown on the trade.

Heroin is a factor in more than half of Scotland's 300 drug deaths a year.

A predicted bumper poppy harvest - grown under the noses of Coalition 
troops - seems certain to flood the UK with even greater quantities of heroin.

The Customs e-mails - which have been leaked to Scotland on Sunday - lay 
bare the frustration of law enforcement chiefs with the failure of 
government to eradicate Afghanistan's heroin industry.

Scotland on Sunday knows the identity of the officials but has agreed to 
maintain their anonymity.

One Customs chief wrote last Monday: "DfID [Department for International 
Development] under Claire [sic] Short point blank refused to give 
poppy-growing areas any priority in the UK's aid budget on the basis that 
at least the poppy farmers had an income and were not therefore the poorest 
and most needy.

"And DfID and the military would not go anywhere near areas of high poppy 
cultivation because they are frequently in fundamentalist areas and DfID 
and the military were not prepared to take any risks. Better to do 
something useless in safe areas than something meaningful in risky areas."

The official adds that some colleagues wondered whether it was worth doing 
anything at all as there was no point wasting money "if they could not or 
would not do anything useful".

"But Blair was on their backs and they wanted to fob him off by talking up 
a programme they knew was useless but safe. A concerted programme 
selectively targeting areas ... plus a persuadable local 'governor', plus 
sensible eradication by the Afghans with foreign muscle 'in support' had a 
realistic chance. But it still had risks, so nothing was done."

Another e-mail, from another top official, states: "I frequently heard 
similarly negative, defeatist excuses from FCO, DfID and MoD [Ministry of 
Defence] officials for doing nothing to support President [Hamid] Karzai in 
tackling the Afghan warlords who run the opium trade there and wield such 
political influence.

"He [Karzai] was willing to do so, recognising that with every passing 
month that these opponents of democracy re-grew their post-Taleban 
opium-based power, the prospects of rooting them out diminished.

"The West, supposedly led by the UK, ... has dallied nervously and the only 
UK determination that has been evident for the last three years came from 
Claire [sic] Big-Mouth Short and Buff Hoon who were long on promises and 
very short on delivery.

"I know. I saw them seek out every excuse to do nothing while setting grand 
targets for success some time in the distance when they would not be around 
to be held to account for dismal failure."

The same official then warns that the availability of "even cheaper heroin 
in the UK is about to explode".

He adds: "As a result of HMG's [Her Majesty's Government] spineless 
leadership, it may well be too late to help Karzai and Afghanistan to 
democracy and heroin consumer nations to meaningful reductions until 
another era presents a new opportunity.

"The answer lies in Afghan hands and Karzai, albeit not the strongest of 
deliverers, was a willing figurehead, but he needed UK/US, etc action to 
carry out his public commitments. But we simply were not there when it 
mattered."

The government's failure to stem the flow of drugs into Britain was 
underlined earlier this year by a report showing that prices on the streets 
had plummeted amid a boom in supply.

Latest figures from the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit revealed that the 
scale of the influx of cheap drugs on to the market was such that a line of 
cocaine now costs less than a cappuccino.

The price of ecstasy, heroin, crack, cocaine and cannabis has tumbled to a 
record low in the past year, as dealers pumped ever greater quantities onto 
the market, encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to become regular 
users.

Ecstasy now costs as little as UKP3.50-UKP2 a pill, a rock of crack around 
UKP10, and cocaine between UKP40-UKP50 a gram. The price of a gram of 
heroin has recently fallen from UKP65 to UKP55.

A spokeswoman for the FCO said: "The UK is the lead support nation on 
counter-narcotics in Afghanistan, working with the wider international 
community to co-ordinate, fund and encourage the delivery of key targets.

"We are spending UKP100m over the three years to 2006, building 
institutions, encouraging farmers to find alternative livelihoods by 
growing crops other than poppies and training the people on law enforcement 
and counter-narcotics.

"We are looking at a poppy eradication programme, but we have to consider 
other issues. We have to make sure the farmers have another crop that 
enables them to survive and support their families."

No one was available for comment from Customs.
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MAP posted-by: Beth