Cruel Harvest: Us Intervention in the Afghan Drug Trade

Mainstream commentators claim that the Taliban are the main culprits behind Afghanistan's skyrocketing drug trade and that the US military is waging a war on drugs in Afghanistan to weaken the insurgency and keep our streets free of heroin.

Cruel Harvest lifts the lid on the reality behind the mainstream narrative, showing that the United States in fact shares a large part of the responsibility by supporting drug lords, refusing to adopt effective drug control policies and failing to crack down on drug money laundered through Western banks.

Julien Mercille argues that the United States is not concerned about waging a real war on drugs, and that alleged concerns about narco-terrorism mostly act as pretexts to justify occupation. In a powerful conclusion Mercille contends that US intervention in Afghanistan is motivated by power imperatives, not benign intentions.

 

Mainstream commentators claim that the Taliban are the main culprits behind Afghanistan's skyrocketing drug trade and that the US military is waging a war on drugs in Afghanistan to weaken the insurgency and keep our streets free of heroin.

Cruel Harvest lifts the lid on the reality behind the mainstream narrative, showing that the United States in fact shares a large part of the responsibility by supporting drug lords, refusing to adopt effective drug control policies and failing to crack down on drug money laundered through Western banks.

Julien Mercille argues that the United States is not concerned about waging a real war on drugs, and that alleged concerns about narco-terrorism mostly act as pretexts to justify occupation. In a powerful conclusion Mercille contends that US intervention in Afghanistan is motivated by power imperatives, not benign intentions.

 

Rankin offers a critique of neo-liberal ideology, showing how global capital impacts on local culture, economies and social structures.

Cruel Harvest lifts the lid on the reality of Afghanistans skyrocketing drug trade and the role played by the US military. Conventional accounts blame the Taliban for the expansion of drug production.

However, in Cruel Harvest Julien Mercille shows that the US in fact shares responsibility by supporting drug lords, refusing to adopt effective drug control policies and failing to crack down on drug money laundered through Western banks.

Mercille argues that the best way to address drug problems is by reducing demand in consumer countries, not by conducting counternarcotics missions in Afghanistan.

Julien Mercille is a lecturer in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin, Ireland. He has had articles published in Third World Quarterly, Geopolitics and Political Geography, amongst others.

Abbreviations

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

2. Perspectives

3. Rise to Prominence

4. From Forgotten State to Rogue State

5. To Afghanistan

6. Washington and the Afghan Drug Trade since 2001

7. Solutions

8. Conclusion: American Power, Drugs, and Drug Wars

Notes

Index