Sunday, May 22, 2005

 

US accuses Britain over Afghanistan's heroin crops

American officials have accused Britain of being "substantially responsible" for the failure to make more progress in eradicating heroin production in Afghanistan, said a classified document published yesterday.

The three-page cable sent by the US embassy in Kabul to the State Department said the British-led campaign against the drug trade was selecting the wrong targets. It also accused British officials of refusing to alter their plans when asked to do so.

The document accused President Hamid Karzai of a failure of leadership, by offering only ineffective backing to the campaign.

"You can't catch me sleepin'. . . Don't you ever believe that. I'm not that dumb. The day you try to put anything over on me will be a costly one for both of you . . . Any more lip out of ya and I'll pull off and let ya have it. If ya know what's good for ya, ya won't monkey around with Fred C. Dobbs!"

posted by Michael 8:00 PM