Ep. 5514 – Alfred McCoy: How Washington Lost the Ultimate Drug War – 5/7/21

Scott interviews Professor Alfred McCoy about the history of the drug trade during America's decades-long involvement in Afghanistan. Before the 1980s, McCoy explains, drugs were not a significant part of the Afghan economy—but that all changed when President Bush's CIA began arming a resistance against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. These Mujahideen fighters turned to opium for their funding, quickly growing Afghanistan's opium trade to thousands of tons a year, and accounting for 70% of the world's heroin trade. When the Taliban wiped out the drug trade in the late 90s, the resulting economic devastation was part of what allowed the U.S. to achieve such a swift military victory. And throughout the U.S. occupation, drugs have once again become by far the biggest part of Afghanistan's economy. Opium, McCoy concludes, has been an inextricable part of nearly every significant event in Afghan history for the last 40 years, and it is impossible to adequately understand the issues facing Afghanistan without understanding the drug trade. In general, McCoy fears that U.S. withdrawal—which is virtually inevitable at this point—will trigger serious chaos, and may present another "fall of Saigon" moment. If this should occur, it may give war hawks an argument against pulling out of any protracted conflict like Afghanistan in the future.

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