Afghanistan: Serious accusations against US general must be investigated

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) called on the US Defence Minister, Robert Gates, on Thursday to investigate the serious accusations made against the NATO commander-in-chief in Afghanistan, John Craddock. If the US general has in fact ordered western troops to kill drug-dealers without proof of their supporting the Taliban, then Craddock must be relieved of his post. Spiegel online reported on Wednesday evening that the German NATO general Egon Ramms pointed to international law and refused to implement Craddock’s instruction.

"The drug-trade in Afghanistan is not going to be solved with Rambo methods”, said the GfbV Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius in Göttingen. The international peace-force (ISAF) was stationed in Afghanistan in the year 2002 to support democracy and the rule of law. If it tramples over humanitarian international law it loses all credibility.

After the scandal over the most severe mishandlings in US secret prisons on the Hindukush in the year 2005 the international community cannot afford any further breach of international law in Afghanistan. For if the foreign soldiers are only perceived as an occupation force which can break international law at will, not only their mission, but also their safety is at stake.

The NATO defence ministers decided in October 2008 to act against the drug-trade to withdraw from the Taliban their lucrative source of funds. There is no concerted idea behind the NATO partners as to how the drug-trade is best to be combated. The US government was not able to push its demand of destroying the poppy-fields in a large-scale spraying operation with chemicals against the will of its partners. The latter fear further loss of trust on the part of the impoverished farmers if thousands of hectares of their land are contaminated.

"Not even the destruction of drug laboratories proposed by the American general, which has aroused great attention, will effectively dry out the drug-trade”, said Delius. For it is not only the Taliban who profit from the drug-trade, but also high-ranking representatives of the Afghan administration and government. These influential people would render useless any energetic strategy against the drug-trade. Even the United Nations accused the Afghan government of being deeply involved in the drug-trade. "Most of these laboratories belong to Afghans... with excellent links to the most influential people in this country”, said the head of the Office for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Christina Oguz, in March 2008. Even the brother of the President of Afghanistan, Ahmed Wali Karsai, has frequently been accused of being involved in drug-dealing.