Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Steven Edwards CANADA BACKS CALL TO STEP UP FIGHT AGAINST AFGHAN DRUGS UNITED NATIONS - Canada and other countries agreed yesterday to back stepped-up operations to counter drug production in Afghanistan -- a move that some say will lead to Canadian troops being drawn into controversial drug-eradication and interdiction activities. At a high-level meeting on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier put Canada's name to a communique that expresses "great concern" at the expansion of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. The production of heroin-producing opiates reached a "frighteningly new level" last year, according to a recent UN survey, and Canada is among countries that say profits from the illicit drug trade are funding the Taliban and other insurgent groups. But eradicating drugs is controversial because poor farmers also cultivate poppies, saying it's the only way they can make a living. "Breaking this linkage (between drugs production and insurgent financing) is vital to creating a stable, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan," the statement released after the closed gathering says. While Canada's 2,500 troops in Afghanistan are not involved in drug eradication, the statement says the "participants agreed to collectively support increased Afghan government efforts to fight the menace of poppy cultivation." The endorsement comes as drug-eradication efforts in Afghanistan will be challenged today, as two respected think-tanks issue in-depth reports. Dutch-based Transnational Institute will say the UN and western countries are "overreacting" to the increase in drug production in Afghanistan. The report warns that stepping up counter-narcotics operations may lead to violence. "The increased production is set to fall anyway because it represented an over-supply that world demand (for drugs) does not justify," Martin Jelsma, head of the institute's drugs and democracy program, said. "Stepping up eradication could further deteriorate the already highly delicate security situation," Mr. Jelsma said. An increase in anti-narcotics operations could require at least logistical support from international forces, Mr. Jelsma said. And he said a crackdown would increase corruption in the country, as tribal leaders with contacts in the Afghan government offer bribes to be spared. "International troops are bound to get mixed up in all those power plays, and they would be seen as less neutral," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart