Things should seem fine: the goal is accomplished, the bad guys have been defeated, and American warriors can pack up their belongings and say goodbye to their Afghan friends. No way. There is nothing of the kind happening. Sure, the numbers of the expeditionary force are growing smaller, expenses for its upkeep are being cut down, and these are quite reasonable steps to be taking, with consideration of America’s unstable financial condition. However, this does not mean that the Americans are going to leave Afghanistan. Well, it may happen some day, but they are not going away in the short term.
Why is Washington not eager to take American troops away from Afghanistan? To answer this question, one should ask another one – what is the actual reason for the American invasion of this country?
Let us study some figures. According to data provided by Aydar Makhmadiev, a former officer of Tajikistan’s Drug Control Agency, in 1999, Afghanistan produced 4,565 tons of raw opium, in 2000 (in July 2000 the Taliban prohibited people from growing poppy) the total production dropped to 3,276 tons; in 2001 (when the prohibition was in full effect) – 185 tons, in 2002 (after the U.S. attacked Afghanistan and the Taliban regime was defeated) – 2,700 tons. In 2003, the figure increased to 3,400 tons, in 2004 – to 4,200 tons, in 2005 – to 4,100 tons, in 2007 – to 8,200 tons, and so on.
The most prominent date in this line is 2001, when opium production in Afghanistan was almost fully eradicated by decision of the Taliban leaders. What happened after that?
All of us know the story about the skyscrapers destroyed on September 11, 2001 and heard about different versions of who was the mastermind behind these attacks. George Bush Jr. asserted the attack was organized by Mr. Osama and the Al Qaeda (with the latter now fighting for democracy in Syria) and demanded that the Taliban turn them over; we do not know exactly whether the Taliban refused to satisfy Bush’s demand, or they simply did not know where those people were located. Anyway, on October 7, 2001, cruise missiles, strategic bombers and super-heavy Daisy Cutter bombs were put to work. All that equipment exploded, roared, rattled and howled, along with other impressive sound effects. The Afghan peasants were shaken with the American might and power.
Certainly, the Taliban cavalry could not oppose the overwhelming striking power of the U.S. Army. They say the Taliban also had an air force, antiaircraft defences and tanks against the background of which they liked to have their pictures taken. In one way or another, one of the largest operations in U.S. history, organized to write off obsolete weapons and test new ones was completed successfully.
The Taliban regime was crushed, there were shouts of hooray, hooray! Afghan workers, inspired by new democracy, increased their rate of raw opium output, and of course, the use of heroin in Afghanistan increased as well. Gayane Chichyakyan, a journalist of Russia Today, claims that 300,000 Afghan children are taking drugs now.
The major share of Afghan heroin (over 70%) is smuggled to Europe through Kosovo, or, more exactly, through mafia-type criminal groups composed of Kosovo Albanians. In accordance with the statement of Viktor Ivanov, director of Federal Drug Control Service (FDCS) of Russia, there are about 15 large drug cartels operating in the territory of Kosovo. They organize transit of Afghan heroin and Latin American cocaine to Europe. In drug traffic to Europe, special significance is attached to the Balkan route from Afghanistan for which Kosovo is a key element. There, heroin undergoes pre-sale preparation and repackaging before it is shipped to European countries. In Kosovo, 1 kg of heroin was sold for about 10,000 euro in 2011, while in Western Europe it was traded at 150,000 euro (compare this with the price of $1,000-2,000 per kilogram at the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border). The Kosovo mafia does not make huge amounts of money (relatively speaking) from drug trafficking, with their income estimated at $3 billion per year; and they have to serve their masters with true passion, and not repeat the mistakes of the Medellin cartel. However, who are the real masters of these Albanian pistolleros?
Let us have a look at some facts.
In 2008, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed unilaterally (certainly, with support from the U.S.A and the EU) the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. Thus, Serbian police were denied access to this region to perform their operative work. Yet, even this is not the point. The newly organized drug-dealing area does not have any military power or political influence. Its so-called sovereignty is based on direct military support of the United States.
This may look like Washington-style humour, but the first country to recognize the independence of Kosovo was Afghanistan – it did so even earlier than Cost Rica, with consideration of the difference between their time zones. Obviously, donkeys loaded with packs of heroin had waited too long, so it was high time to unload the poor animals.
In Kosovo, the United States is keeping two military bases, the first being Camp Bondsteel, one of the largest bases in Europe located near the city of Ferizaji (Uroševac). Its construction began back in 1999. Now it includes the headquarters of the Multinational Task Group East under the U.S. command. The second base is Camp Monteith.
In his 2008 interview, Dmitry Rogozin, who was then confirmed as the Russian ambassador to NATO, answered the question of a Russian newspaper “why Kosovo turned out to be the most important region for the Americans” in a sincere and emotional way by saying: “I cannot understand it myself. Why not Basques, not Corsica, not Kurds, not a Caucasus republic, not Northern Ireland, not Tibet… why Kosovo Albanians?!”
This is all so simple, my friends. No matter what the conversation is about, it is always about the money.
Think of this for just one minute: does the White House have a plan, or does it operate as if it had an outlook of a microbe? It is like this, the Kosovo Project is a plan to create and organize Europe’s largest drug dispensary (not a treatment facility for drug addicts!). Kosovo means hundreds of billion dollars generated by the drug trade – and no tax declarations to fill out. What is so complicated there?
The Albanians are a poor nation, and they do not refuse to do some needed dirty work. Their criminal clans owe everything they have to Washington – the power, the money and the authority among the other scum of Europe, together with the terror they bring to its citizens. The most important thing is that they are forced into obedience by the fear of revenge. Should Washington abandon the military and political support it is giving to the Albanians of Kosovo, how would the Serbs react?
Let us make some conclusions. According to Professor Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat, CIA efforts in promoting Afghanistan to the leading positions in the world’s heroin traffic repeated the story that had once happened in Burma, Laos, and Thailand in the period from the 1940s to the 1970s. These countries had also become the largest drug traffickers thanks to the CIA support.
“The main source of global drug problems is not in Kabul but in Washington,” Peter Dale Scott argues.
So, let us ask ourselves again: What is the role of the United States in organizing global drug trafficking?
Konstantin Penzev, historical writer, observer for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.