“Drug trafficking, a long-standing feature of Afghanistan’s post-Taliban political economy, is linked to corruption and insecurity, and provides a source of illicit finance for non-state armed groups,” says a new report from the Congressional Research Service.
“Based on recent production and trafficking trends, the drug problem in Afghanistan appears to be worsening,” the CRS report found. See Afghanistan: Drug Trafficking and the 2014 Transition, May 9, 2014.
Other new CRS reports that Congress has withheld from online public distribution include the following.
Navy LX(R) Amphibious Ship Program: Background and Issues for Congress, May 12, 2014
How Social Security Benefits Are Computed: In Brief, May 12, 2014
Airport Privatization: Issues and Options for Congress, May 12, 2014
Body Armor for Law Enforcement Officers: In Brief, May 13, 2014
The report states: “According to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), such insurgency involvement is “extensive and expanding”
Depending on DoD is a classic case of the fox minding the chickens. Elements of U.S. military has been hand in glove with the CIA’s ‘operational sector’ (“Dirty Tricks Division” in the words of former Pentagon liaison to CIA L F Prouty) in the international narcotics trade for decades:
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2013/05/08/heroin-bags-of-cash-the-cia/
As unflattering a portrait the report makes, the reality is by far worse (and you can read up on my 40+ years past eyewitness account at the above link)