From Yahoo News/AFP:BRUSSELS (AFP) – Past US efforts to combat the Afghan opium trade, a major source of funds for the insurgency, have been wasteful and Washington plans to revamp its strategy, a top regional envoy said Saturday.
"The United States alone is spending over 800 million dollars a year on counter-narcotics. We have gotten nothing out of it, nothing," Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said, at the Brussels Forum conference.
"It is the most wasteful and ineffective programme I have seen in 40 years in and out of the government," the new US representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan told an audience of senior world politicians and experts.
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More News On Afghanistan's Drug War
Envoy damns US Afghan drug effort -- BBC
Afghan officials in drug trade cut deals across enemy lines -- Globe And Mail
Nearly 2 tons of drugs destroyed in E Afghanistan -- China View
Report Says Drug Trade in Mexico, Afghanistan, Threatens US National Security -- Voice Of America
Afghanistan's Drug Culture, A Way Forward -- Global Politician
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran join in drug crackdown -- AP
NATO Counter-Narcotics Campaign in Afghanistan Captured 9 Tons of Opium -- Crienglish