#Afghanistan & Opium- We supply 80% of world's opium. It makes up 15% of our economy. The Afghan mafia makes the Mexican cartel look like a bunch of nursery children. They are brutal & deadly. I was part of a unit trained by the British to deal with them & intelligence gathering 
Opium trade is a lucrative business. The farmers see no other alternative but to grow opium as they can make huge sums of money very quickly compared to growing potatoes or some other silly fruits. #Taliban and the Mafia have a working relationship.
#Taliban offer protection to the farmers, farmer's grow opium, the Mafia transfers the opium outside the borders towards Europe, the money returning is shared between the farmer, Mafia and Taliban. Taliban used this money to pay foot soldiers and buy weapons.
Taliban needed the opium money to finance their insurgency. Now that they have won the war, I presume they will cut this source of this funding. They consider it un-islamic. According to #Taliban philosophy, opium is OK during war and not OK during peace.
In the spring of 2020 when #Taliban launched their spring offensive, this war on opium was largely abandoned. The pressure on the fronts was too much and the army was struggling. Our unit and myself joined the fight. Yes, the real war started in 2020 not in the last 3 month's.
We were discouraged by the Army not to push back during spring and summer of 2020. This was not to jeopardize the peace negotiations in Qatar. Taliban pushed steadily in the countryside. This give them the platform to launch their final offensive in the summer of 2021. Disaster!
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