ஒழுக்கம் பற்றி முழநீளம் பேசும் இஸ்லாமியர்கள் இந்த தாலிபானை கண்டிக்கமாட்டார்களாம்
போதைமருந்து விற்பனை மூலம் 100 மில்லியன் டாலர் பணம் பண்ணும் இஸ்லாமிய போராளிகள் தாலிபான் கும்பல்.
Taliban's yearly dope take is put at $100M
BY JAMES GORDON MEEK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Thursday, October 2nd 2008, 12:04 AM
Khan/AP
A Taliban spokesman with his bodyguard during a press conference in Khar, Pakistan in August.
WASHINGTON - The resurgent Taliban get a yearly injection of $100 million from drug trafficking, the top U.S. Army general in Afghanistan said Wednesday.
"That's a conservative estimate," added Gen. David McKiernan, who also commands NATO troops.
McKiernan also bluntly stated that America's focus on Iraq means victory in Afghanistan is too far off to predict.
"Obviously our national priority has been Iraq," McKiernan said. "The consequence of not placing more force capability in Afghanistan means it will take longer to win [and] at a higher price."
With so many military resources diverted to Iraq, McKiernan said, there are too few available helicopters to supply and transport troops in Afghanistan.
"We don't have enough of them," he admitted.
McKiernan has asked for three additional combat brigades - 6,000 to 10,000 troops - to battle an influx of Arab and other foreign fighters.
President Bush has announced that a Marine battalion that was slated to go to Iraq in November would go to Afghanistan instead, and an Army combat brigade wouldfollow.
The general, in a news conference before meeting with Bush, insisted a "surge" of forces isn't needed.
McKiernan questioned the commitment of a number of European allies. "Some come to conduct war, some come to summer camp," he said.
Turning the fight over to fledgling Afghan forces won't happen "anytime soon," he predicted.
Afghanistan's thriving Islamist insurgency has used its eye-popping opium profits to fuel its escalating war against the elected government in Kabul and to oppose U.S. and NATO allies.
jmeek@nydailynews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment