The deaths of four more British soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing the total number of British servicemen killed there to 106, vividly outlines the drastically deteriorating security situation in the country. These deaths are also further evidence that the West can no longer achieve success in Afghanistan by military means alone.

The lack of political unity among Nato member states has left the Nato-Isaf operation hamstrung, as some countries refuse to commit forces to conflict zones while others lack the resources to defeat the Taliban on their own. Research by ICOS has found that the Taliban now has a permanent presence in 54% of the country, a figure that includes much of Helmand province, the area manned by British forces.

Helmand province is also responsible for half of Afghanistan's poppy cultivation - a key source of support for the Taliban. Western anti-drug policies that pursue crop eradication are pushing Afghan farmers into the arms of the Taliban, and until this problem is addressed, attempts to bring security to Helmand will continue to fail.

ICOS advocates the Poppy for Medicine programme, whereby opium would be made into morphine locally and sold internationally. As the world's biggest opium producer, Afghanistan has great potential to contribute to the international pharmaceutical market. Moreover, development policy of this kind would help the Allies to win over the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, and help to undermine the Taliban insurgency which otherwise grows increasingly adept at taking the lives of British soldiers.


Paul Burton
Director of Policy Analysis,
ICOS, London WC1


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