Opium trade impacts military

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- Congress wants the U.S. military to play a bigger role in combating the production of opium in Afghanistan.

The problem, according to a report Thursday in the Christian Science Monitor, is that eradicating the Afghans' livelihood won't help U.S. forces win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

At the same time, the opium trade is funding the Taliban and the other insurgents fighting coalition forces.

Despite the dilemma, the House included a major counter narcotics component in a reconstruction and aid bill for Afghanistan that passed last week.

The bill calls on the military to provide logistical support for as many as 150 employees of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

"It's the drug trade that allows our enemies in Afghanistan to purchase the weapons with which they kill our soldiers and corrupt the Afghan government," says U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., who co-sponsored the legislation.