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Afghanistan
Afghan foreign minister unhappy with Clinton
2009-01-19
U.S. Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton's use of the term "narco state" to describe Afghanistan in a recent Senate testimony has caught the attention of her Afghan counterpart.

Foreign Ministry Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Saturday that it is "absolutely wrong" to classify Afghanistan as such, though the minister readily admitted that Afghanistan is a major producer of drugs.

Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium, the main ingredient in heroin.

"Madame Clinton is a good friend of Afghanistan, a close friend of ours," Spanta told The Associated Press in an interview arranged to rebut Clinton's classification of Afghanistan.

"But if somebody believes that our government, the government of President (Hamid) Karzai is involved as a government entity in the production of drugs, this is absolutely wrong."
Posted by:Fred

#4  "But if somebody believes that our government, the government of President (Hamid) Karzai is involved as a government entity in the production of drugs, this is absolutely wrong."

I am quite certain there is no government department for the production of opium. In that strictly legalistic sense the Foreign Minister is correct. However, I am equally certain that members of the government and/or their close friends and relations are involved, and that members of the government, perhaps including President Karzai, are indeed involved. Is Afghanistan a narco-state? Perhaps not, but Pashtunistan most certainly is.
Posted by: trailing wife    2009-01-19 19:44  

#3  The Afghan FM would be advised to give generously to the Bill Clinton Presidential Library and Museum endowment fund if he wants to get favors from Hil.
Posted by: mhw8   2009-01-19 19:14  

#2  Well lets see, they produce 90% of the worlds opium, and its their only export of substance I know of. So yeah, sounds like a Narco-State to me too.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2009-01-19 09:57  

#1  It was a simple Freudian slip Foreign Minister Spanta. The "narco state" she was actually referring to was ARKANSAS!
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-01-19 07:39  

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