Taliban's Cash Flow Grows From Heroin Trade, Crime, NPR, 20 December 2010

EXCERPT: "The latest review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan notes that coalition troops are making gains against the Taliban on the battlefield. But that hasn't stemmed the flow of money into Taliban coffers. U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal growing U.S. frustration with Arab allies and their failure to deal with charities and private donors who send money to the Taliban and other extremist groups. But analysts and officials say that donations to the Taliban could become a moot point given the group's growing ability to generate cash on its own. U.N. investigators are fanning out across Afghanistan this month to assess and forecast the country's opium crop in the coming year. They haven't yet filed their report. But already, their boss says he is worried. 'The prices have been skyrocketing over the last months and that is bad news,' says Jean-Luc Lemahieu, who heads the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan. Drug money isn't the only source of income filling Taliban accounts. Experts say extortion, smuggling, kidnapping and payments from Western contractors trying to keep their projects safe also provide a hefty sum. But just how much the militants bring in is unclear. Estimates range from tens of millions of dollars to half a billion dollars each year."

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