Failure™ Magazine

Seeds of Terror

How heroin is bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under History

Cover image of “Seeds of Terror.” Soldier by AFP stringer, poppy fields and mountains by Paula Bronstein.

“Eight years after 9/11, the single greatest failure in the war on terror is not that Osama bin Laden continues to elude capture, or that the Taliban has staged a comeback, or even that al Qaeda is regrouping in Pakistan’s tribal areas and probably planning fresh attacks on the West. Rather, it’s the spectacular incapacity of western law enforcement to disrupt the flow of money that is keeping their networks afloat.” So observes Gretchen Peters in “Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda” (Thomas Dunne Books), in which she argues that the best—and perhaps only—way to defeat the insurgents is to cut them off from their drug earnings.

In the following far-ranging interview with Failure, Peters discusses the Obama Administration’s approach to Afghanistan, the evolution of the Taliban, the role corruption plays in perpetuating the drug trade, and her own personal experiences reporting from one of the most dangerous regions in the world.

The war in Afghanistan has received increased media attention recently. Why?
In part, because it is going badly. By some estimates the Taliban now controls or dominates as much as sixty percent of Afghan territory, and casualty rates are higher than ever. Also, President Obama said that Afghanistan would be one of his central foreign policy efforts. He said he would refocus attention on the war in Afghanistan and finish it the way it should have been finished from the start.

How does the Obama Administration’s approach to Afghanistan differ from that of the Bush Administration?
I, among others, am confused about what the Obama Administration intends to do. At this point, there seems to be growing divide between the White House and the Pentagon over the best option. Lt. General Stanley McChrystal has asked for a troop increase to launch a counter-insurgency campaign. However, senior White House officials appear to be pushing for a scaled-back option. Although the official numbers aren’t out, it’s estimated that General McChrystal is going to ask for between ten and forty thousand more American troops. The idea is that many will focus on training local forces and getting the local army and police up to speed, so they can take care of Afghanistan and U.S. troops can come home. But there is growing skepticism in the White House that the American public will be willing to send more troops and foot the bill for such an enormous counter-insurgency operation.

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