Could Afghanistan's opium boom be over? Perhaps. According to the latest report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, opium cultivation has crashed in just one year, with prices at their lowest level since the late 1990s. "The bottom is starting to fall out of the Afghan opium market," says Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the agency, which released its annual opium survey on Sept. 2.
| Keeping a stable of jihadis on salary is expensive, it seems. But although oil prices are up since hitting bottom, they are still half or so of the peak last summer, so the Saudis, et al haven't nearly as much to donate. Things could get very interesting in Pashtunistan and the surrounding countries. |
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