Taliban: Taliban and Heroin supply Essay

Submitted By mackboy
Words: 399
Pages: 2
Open Document
During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. supplied the Mujahedeen with Soviet weapons. It was a covert war. The United States used Soviet weapons and Afghan fighters to avoid obvious claims by the Soviet Union that we were directly engaging them. After the war, the Mujahedeen took over and morphed into the Taliban. The weapons that we once gave them are now used to fight against us. After the Soviet Union collapsed, many Soviet weapons were sold off on the black market and have circulated ever since, available to anyone with the money and the connections to make the purchase. Afghanistan has the greatest illicit opium producer in the world. They are accounted for 75% of the world's heroin supply. Opium is likely the biggest source of cash for their operations. The Taliban buys massive quantities of poppies from Afghan farmers, converts it into opium and heroin and sells it to the West. Another factor with the opium is that by purchasing it from the local farmers, the Taliban supports them. It is difficult to end opium production in Afghanistan because it is legal there. Burning down their crops would convince the farmers to go to the Taliban. With the money they get from selling the drugs, they are able to buy and smuggle weapons from other countries with similar interests like Iran, to fight the American troops. Money funnels into terrorist organizations through illegal charities around the world who support terrorism.
Ever since the Taliban were removed from power, they moved to
Show More

Related Documents: Taliban: Taliban and Heroin supply Essay

Essay On Afghanistan War

War Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection , 2010 The war in Afghanistan is among President Barack Obama’s (1961—) most important foreign policy challenges. Begun in 2001 to drive out al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban from power, the war initially had a high rate of public support. But as Taliban forces regrouped and casualties escalated, attitudes toward the war in Afghanistan shifted. Drawing parallels to the Vietnam War, many analysts and voters argue that the war is unwinnable, and that US forces…

Words 1943 - Pages 8

Essay on U.S. as a State Sponsor of Terrorism- Mujahedeen

The Soviet War in Afghanistan was a fight between Soviet-led Afghan forces and multi-national rebel groups called the Mujihadeen that lasted from 1979-1989. “In April 1978, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in Afghanistan in reaction to a crackdown against the party by that country's repressive government” (Dixon 2002). Favoring the peasants, trade union rights, expansion of education and social services, equality for women, and separation from church and state, the…

Words 1393 - Pages 6

Gregory Barajas Sociology 9 Essay

the Colombian Cali Cartel’s cocaine to regions throughout Mexico and the United States. Soon after the enormous success of the Guadalajara Cartel, rival cartels in Mexico were formed for a growing demand of cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana, and heroin among many cities around the United States to satisfy the increasing amount of newly-formed addicts. This report is about the corruption and the globalization of Mexican drug cartels or drug trafficking organizations. Drug trafficking organizations…

Words 4330 - Pages 18