Dear Editor:

If we are going to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan, we must address the drug problem in the west which is supplying the financial support for these Taliban fighters.

As long as there is big money in drugs (opium) and the people in the west are buying these drugs, the war will continue.

The same is true for the Iraq war. Oil money, from the pumps in Canada and the US, is supporting the insurgents and suicide bombers.

The problem is an economic one, with the west's demand for oil and drugs financially supporting the Taliban and suicide bombers.

It seems with our dollars, we in the west are supporting both sides: oil and drug money for the suicide bombers; and tax dollars for our military.

No wonder that the war will continue forever.

Bernadette Achtem

Summerland

[end]