The Washington Times (among others) has run a story regarding the recent assertions by US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, that the Taliban in Afghanistan may be profitting from the trade in illegal drugs.
According to Rumsfeld, this may be part of what is fueling the resurgance in Taliban fortunes in the country that has seen major setbacks for the onset of democracy due to Taliban resistance and incursions.
“I do worry that the funds that come from the sale of those products could conceivably end up adversely affecting the democratic process in the country,” said Rumsfeld.
The scary thing about this story is the headline that the media are running this under. Where have these people been if they think that Taliban taking a profit from the drug trade is something new?
Every terrorist organisation from the Palestinian Liberation Front to the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philipines is widely suspected of involvement in the drug trade. It is really no secret that many movements fund their operations in this fashion.
Unfortunately, it seems a few journalists may have come down in the last rainfall in order to attribute some “revelation” to Donald Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld was simply voicing an theory that many have shared for a long time.