Pubdate: Sat, 25 Oct 2008 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Dave Pugliese, Canwest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/poppy (Poppy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/opium (Opium) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) CANADIAN TROOPS TO TARGET DRUG LABS Efforts To Cut Off Taliban Funding. Some NATO Countries Raise Concerns About Counter-Narcotics Operations Canadian troops in Afghanistan will soon target opium-processing laboratories and high-level drug barons in an effort to cut off funding for the Taliban, says Canada's top soldier. But Canadian Forces personnel will not conduct operations to eradicate poppy fields, says General Walter Natynczyk, chief of the Defence staff. This month, NATO defence ministers agreed to target Afghan drug networks in an attempt to reduce the amount of money the Taliban has to fund its insurgency. NATO officials estimate the Taliban receive between $80 million and $100 million a year from the drug trade, either by taxing the production and transportation of opium, or from payments from drug lords who want protection. The United States had been pushing for NATO to become more involved in targeting drug dealers, but it ran into opposition from nations such as Germany and Spain. Those countries have raised concerns that counter-narcotics operations are outside NATO's mandate in Afghanistan and could prompt a backlash from Afghan farmers who make their livings from growing poppies. In the past, the destruction of poppy fields has prompted attacks by Afghans on NATO troops and private security contractors. As part of a compromise, NATO troops will be able to target drug networks only if they receive authorization from their own governments. In addition, only drug dealers who are providing money to insurgents will be targeted. "NATO is asking us to play a role in that, so we're going to move down that road," Natynczyk said. The operations will be aimed at the drug-processing laboratories, or "interdicting" the drug network power brokers, he added. Afghanistan is now the world's largest opium producer. Ninety per cent of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan's opium production. NATO defence ministers are expected to meet early next year in Poland to review the progress of the counter-narcotics campaign. Natynczyk was at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt to greet crews from HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Calgary, returning from a six-month mission in the Middle East. The two ships had joined with HMCS Iroquois to form a Canadian task group involved initially in counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean. Later in the Middle East, where the ships led the multinational Combined Task Force 150, they were involved in patrolling the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The task force included warships from France, Germany, Pakistan, the Netherlands, the Britain and the U.S. The task force conducted anti-piracy missions and worked to track extremists in the region. Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson, who is chief of the navy, said the area patrolled by the ships was the global crossroads of terrorism, smuggling and piracy. "We were right in the middle of that hot spot," Robertson added. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom