NEWS

House Foreign Affairs Committee

U.S. House of Representatives

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Republican

CONTACT: Sam Stratman, (202) 226-7875, February 7, 2007

                     Lee Cohen, (202 226-1139

NOTE: A complete text of the letter is available at: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/minority/republicans.htm

For IMMEDIATE Release

Ros-Lehtinen, GOP Members Urge Action

on Afghanistan Heroin & Links to Terror Financing

(WASHINGTON) – Political stability and security in Afghanistan are threatened by the failure to develop a unified international strategy to combat opium production in the country, senior GOP members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee suggested in a letter sent today.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the committee and three GOP colleagues laid out a 16-point plan that they said should be considered for inclusion in the President’s Afghan reconstruction initiative now under development.  The letter was also signed by Mike Pence (R-IN), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).

An estimated 93 percent of the world’s opium is now produced in Afghanistan, amounting to approximately 600 tons annually. Much of the crop is refined into heroin and sent to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and is the major source of funding for the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other terrorists operating in Afghanistan, according to the letter. By some international estimates, the trade in opium and heroin nets as much as $2 billion annually to the Afghan economy.

The letter warns that the increasing level of violence and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is financed by the trade in illicit drugs Attacks on civilians and coalition forces have increased dramatically during the past year.  Suicide bombings have increased from 77 to 139; direct and indirect gunfire incidents directed at coalition forces have nearly tripled to over 6000; and improvised explosive devices planted by anti-government forces have more than doubled to 1677 from 783.  In addition, illicit drugs have allowed the Taliban to acquire large stocks of highly sophisticated weapons, ranging from the latest models of night vision goggles to ever more deadly landmines.

“As we will soon again face another massive opium harvest in Afghanistan, and a related spring offensive by anti-coalition militants, it is time for some new thinking to ensure that Afghanistan does not fall into a failed narco-state status and become, once again, a safe haven for al-Qaeda,” the letter warns.

“The President’s new strategy is vitally important, but the threat will not be alleviated solely by investing more resources. The strategy must also tackle the problem of drugs and terror simultaneously,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

The letter includes specific recommendations that the GOP members suggest should be incorporated into the President’s strategy for Afghanistan:

· Appointment of a high-level coordinator for Afghan narco-terrorism policy to develop a campaign against drugs and terror similar to successful efforts underway in Colombia.

· Aggressive implementation of a DEA “ride-along” policy with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. military forces where missions overlap with DEA’s operations against illicit drugs and major drug kingpins in unsecured areas.

· Extradition to the U.S. of major drug kingpins and drug warlords, using a new narco-terrorism provision in the USA PATRIOT Act that makes it a federal crime when illicit drugs are used to support acts of terrorism or foreign terrorist organizations.

· Development of trade promotion and capacity programs for Afghan products and industries to increase exports and create legitimate sources of income in place of illicit opium farming and production.

· Implementation of the Mi 17 helicopter program with defensive weapons for transport of joint Afghan-DEA teams targeting drug kingpins and heroin labs.

· Implementation of new vetting systems for recruitment of Afghan police and military to curb corruption.

· Expedite training by the Colombian National Police’s elite anti-narcotics unit of their Afghan counterparts.

· Encourage a substantive and action-oriented dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and coalition partners regarding denying the use of tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as sanctuaries by the Taliban. Pakistani efforts to bring these areas under greater central control have been unsuccessful, and The Taliban’s establishment of a “robust sanctuary” in Pakistan has been a critical factor in their resurgence. 

· Implementation of a fast-track research and development program regarding safe micro-herbicides for use on the massive opium crop in Afghanistan, as mandated in the recently enacted authorization bill for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

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