Shlok Vaidya

Senlis On Afghanistan

Bloomberg – The core of the problem – 

While the “core” Taliban insurgency is linked to global jihad and al-Qaeda terrorism, a parallel “grassroots” insurgency is being fueled primarily by poverty, said Senlis, an international policy research group with offices in Kabul, London, Paris and Brussels.

A soldier in the Afghan military earns $2 a day, while the Taliban can offer $12, she said.

The southern Helmand province is the center of the country’s opium production, which increased 60 percent last year and played a major role in funding the insurgency. Senlis favors a licensing system that would divert opium production to medicines such as morphine and codeine, rather than eradication.

-Shlok
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15. February 2007 by Shlok Vaidya
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