Elliot Dawes
Blog on Model UN
• Best aspect
The best aspect of the model UN simulation for me was the freedom to do whatever we wanted. We realized of immediately that what plan of action we took, there could be one hundred repercussions, both negative and positive. Normally students just look at certain situations and determine whether good or bad decisions were made, and analyze the situation. Rarely are students placed in a group and given the freedom to act as both foreign and interior policy makers and make actual decisions. An example is that my group was the Taliban, and beforehand we had ideas of bombings and attacks, and various mischievous activities. After the simulation started however, we really came together in understanding the repercussions of certain acts, and how particular acts of violence could benefit us more that others.
• Worst aspect
The worst aspect what the response time of the news room. As well as the slow response, many requests that we put in actually got accepted, but were never released. This caused a situation in which the first day was very idle. We realized that a lot might happen on the second day, but that we would not have time to react to it with any real policies or actions, which made us lose some participation vigor.
• Relevance to course materials
I felt the simulation had enormous relevance to the course. Particular key points were used by us, in particular realism, being the Taliban. More than that, the whole simulations is a mock demonstration of what international relations (perhaps international relations gone wrong) is like. It takes all the theories we learn about and gives us a first-hand look into why things and events play out the way they do, and how it is not always as simple as it seems in a classroom.
• Did preparation time give you what you needed to know?
Yes, I felt we had adequate preparation time. I myself was responsible for knowing about the drug trade of the Taliban, and feel I gained a moderately vast knowledge of how the drug trade works, and the monetary benefits that it brings the Taliban.
• Best idea YOU had?
The best idea I had was probably suggesting a meeting with a Russian arms dealer to acquire ground to air rockets that we needed to prevent helicopter attacks. We kept requesting meetings with countries, but no one would meet with us. I pointed out that the Taliban does much more business with the Russian mob than any state, and so we sent in a request to the news room for a meeting which we got, and acquired 20 ground to air rockets as well as a small arsenal of various other guns. The guns were used in the successful mission to steal the nuclear bomb.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Elliot Dawes
Intro to IR
4/8/10
The Taliban; Its Drug Trade and Counter Intelligence.
The Taliban is a rogue regime, ever pressed for cash and ever fighting to increase its power and influence. As with any rogue regime, the Taliban relies on whatever resources it has. In South America the cartels use cocaine, in Eastern Europe trafficking girls is a favorite of organized crime; the Taliban uses the poppy plant, and poppy derived drugs. The poppy plant is the first step in producing any opiate including heroine and opium. The difficult task is figuring out just how great a part the poppy plant plays for the Taliban, as records to drug trafficking are estimates, and most information is still unknown. What sources do know is that seventy two percent of the worlds poppy based drugs come from Afghanistan. Ninety six percent of the poppy grown is grown in areas controlled by the Taliban. While extremism and power are perhaps at the heart of the Taliban, it is clear poppies and the drug trade are the veins and arteries.
The Taliban remains in the dark about being directly linked to the drug trade. However, the group openly taxes the production, processing, shipment, and sales of opiates, and goes as far as to keep reciets of these revenues. From this information, it is estimated that the Taliban brought in roughly 50 million dollars in 2000 from opiates.1 However the CIA, DEA, and other foreign intelligence is aware that the Taliban is in-fact directly connected to the drug trade, which would mean their profits far exceed 40 million dollars into a multi-billion dollar industry. Most of the opiates are transported into Europe. Tony Blaire is quoted as saying “the arms the Taliban are buying are paid for with the lives of young British people buying their drugs on British streets.”1
The complexity comes with understanding the hierarchy of the drug trade. This hierarchy system is what makes reversing the drug trade almost impossible. At the lowest level are the farmers who grow the crop. These farmers make little more than they would growing other crops, but are assured help. People come to pick up the crop, and the farmers know they will at least make a living. Many know that if they stop growing the crop, they will be killed. These people are normally innocent and well intentioned, and going after this tier in the system would be ineffective as well as too expansive and far-fetched. Next is a series of tiers including the people who pick up the drugs, people who sell the drugs at open bazaars, and people who are dealing the mostly raw poppies to manufactures and other dealers. Then there are people who manufacture the drugs into different opiates, turning the harmless plant into a lethal drug. These people are closely monitored by people higher up, people in the Taliban. The drugs are then sold, shipped, or transported in some way with every step being taxed by the Taliban. Billions of dollars are being made. Complicating the process is the involvement of bigger players, such as Al Queada and Osama Bin Laden. Reports claim that Osama Bin Laden’s personal connections have opened up major drug routes for the Taliban. In turn the Taliban protects and supplies Osama Bin Laden with resources. Another major player in the drug trade, is the arms trade. Arms dealers from Russia constitute the major buys of drugs from Afghanistan. Russian arms dealers meet with Taliban drug lords at a bazaar deep in Tajikistan’s desert near the border region with Afghanistan. The bazaar is said to exist solely for the trade of Afghan drugs for Russian guns. Drugs are almost never traded for cash here because guns have a much higher value in Afghanistan. It is said a kilo of pure heroine can be expected to bring in thirty AK-47s. The guns are then broken down into parts and smuggled back into Afghanistan, where they are shipped to the front lines. Smugglers claim that the Taliban gets far more than 60 percent of their munitions from this type of drug trade.3
With profits so great, it is disheartening but true that protection comes from higher places. A former Afghan smuggler is quoted “’We are like a company, we have some big sponsors who support us in the government.’” This is one of the biggest factors which limits the ability to take down the drug trade. NATO has had difficulties getting President Karzai’s backing in going after drug traffickers, and the military follows mandate that does not cover the drug trade.
1. Perl, Raphael F. "Page Not Found." Foreign Press Centers. 5 Oct. 2001. Web. 08 Apr. 2010..
2. Perl, Raphael F. "CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Taliban and the Drug Trade." 5 Oct. 2001. Web.
3. Starkey, Jerome. "Drugs for Guns: How the Afghan Heroin Trade Is Fuelling the Taliban Insurgency - Asia, World - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. 29 Apr. 2008. Web. 08 Apr. 2010..
Intro to IR
4/8/10
The Taliban; Its Drug Trade and Counter Intelligence.
The Taliban is a rogue regime, ever pressed for cash and ever fighting to increase its power and influence. As with any rogue regime, the Taliban relies on whatever resources it has. In South America the cartels use cocaine, in Eastern Europe trafficking girls is a favorite of organized crime; the Taliban uses the poppy plant, and poppy derived drugs. The poppy plant is the first step in producing any opiate including heroine and opium. The difficult task is figuring out just how great a part the poppy plant plays for the Taliban, as records to drug trafficking are estimates, and most information is still unknown. What sources do know is that seventy two percent of the worlds poppy based drugs come from Afghanistan. Ninety six percent of the poppy grown is grown in areas controlled by the Taliban. While extremism and power are perhaps at the heart of the Taliban, it is clear poppies and the drug trade are the veins and arteries.
The Taliban remains in the dark about being directly linked to the drug trade. However, the group openly taxes the production, processing, shipment, and sales of opiates, and goes as far as to keep reciets of these revenues. From this information, it is estimated that the Taliban brought in roughly 50 million dollars in 2000 from opiates.1 However the CIA, DEA, and other foreign intelligence is aware that the Taliban is in-fact directly connected to the drug trade, which would mean their profits far exceed 40 million dollars into a multi-billion dollar industry. Most of the opiates are transported into Europe. Tony Blaire is quoted as saying “the arms the Taliban are buying are paid for with the lives of young British people buying their drugs on British streets.”1
The complexity comes with understanding the hierarchy of the drug trade. This hierarchy system is what makes reversing the drug trade almost impossible. At the lowest level are the farmers who grow the crop. These farmers make little more than they would growing other crops, but are assured help. People come to pick up the crop, and the farmers know they will at least make a living. Many know that if they stop growing the crop, they will be killed. These people are normally innocent and well intentioned, and going after this tier in the system would be ineffective as well as too expansive and far-fetched. Next is a series of tiers including the people who pick up the drugs, people who sell the drugs at open bazaars, and people who are dealing the mostly raw poppies to manufactures and other dealers. Then there are people who manufacture the drugs into different opiates, turning the harmless plant into a lethal drug. These people are closely monitored by people higher up, people in the Taliban. The drugs are then sold, shipped, or transported in some way with every step being taxed by the Taliban. Billions of dollars are being made. Complicating the process is the involvement of bigger players, such as Al Queada and Osama Bin Laden. Reports claim that Osama Bin Laden’s personal connections have opened up major drug routes for the Taliban. In turn the Taliban protects and supplies Osama Bin Laden with resources. Another major player in the drug trade, is the arms trade. Arms dealers from Russia constitute the major buys of drugs from Afghanistan. Russian arms dealers meet with Taliban drug lords at a bazaar deep in Tajikistan’s desert near the border region with Afghanistan. The bazaar is said to exist solely for the trade of Afghan drugs for Russian guns. Drugs are almost never traded for cash here because guns have a much higher value in Afghanistan. It is said a kilo of pure heroine can be expected to bring in thirty AK-47s. The guns are then broken down into parts and smuggled back into Afghanistan, where they are shipped to the front lines. Smugglers claim that the Taliban gets far more than 60 percent of their munitions from this type of drug trade.3
With profits so great, it is disheartening but true that protection comes from higher places. A former Afghan smuggler is quoted “’We are like a company, we have some big sponsors who support us in the government.’” This is one of the biggest factors which limits the ability to take down the drug trade. NATO has had difficulties getting President Karzai’s backing in going after drug traffickers, and the military follows mandate that does not cover the drug trade.
1. Perl, Raphael F. "Page Not Found." Foreign Press Centers. 5 Oct. 2001. Web. 08 Apr. 2010.
2. Perl, Raphael F. "CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Taliban and the Drug Trade." 5 Oct. 2001. Web.
3. Starkey, Jerome. "Drugs for Guns: How the Afghan Heroin Trade Is Fuelling the Taliban Insurgency - Asia, World - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. 29 Apr. 2008. Web. 08 Apr. 2010.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Elliot Dawes
Intro to IR
3/31/10
The Taliban
The Taliban, a Pashto word meaning “students”, is a Sunni Islamist political movement that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until they were overthrown in late 2001 during the United Nations Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2004 the Taliban regrouped and revived as a strong insurgency movement governing at the local level and fighting a guerrilla war against the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The movement is made up of members belonging to different ethnic Pashtun tribes, along with a number of volunteers from nearby Islamic countries such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Arabs, Punjabis and others. They operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly around the Durand Line regions. U.S. officials say their headquarters is in or around Quetta, Pakistan, and that Pakistan and Iran are supporting them, although both nations deny it.
The Taliban is headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar, who is still in hiding. Mullah Omar's original commanders were former small-unit military commanders and madrasah teachers, and the rank-and-file made up mostly of Afghan refugees who had studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan. The Taliban received valuable training, supplies and arms from the Pakistani government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and many recruits from madrasahs for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, primarily ones established by the JUI.
Although in control of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and much or most of the country for five years, the Taliban regime, which called itself the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has gained some amount of political control and acceptance in Pakistan's border region, but recently lost one of its key leaders, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike However Pakistan has launched offensive to force out the Taliban. The Taliban implemented one of the strictest interpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world, yet still occasionally updates its code of conduct.
Intro to IR
3/31/10
The Taliban
The Taliban, a Pashto word meaning “students”, is a Sunni Islamist political movement that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until they were overthrown in late 2001 during the United Nations Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2004 the Taliban regrouped and revived as a strong insurgency movement governing at the local level and fighting a guerrilla war against the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The movement is made up of members belonging to different ethnic Pashtun tribes, along with a number of volunteers from nearby Islamic countries such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Arabs, Punjabis and others. They operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly around the Durand Line regions. U.S. officials say their headquarters is in or around Quetta, Pakistan, and that Pakistan and Iran are supporting them, although both nations deny it.
The Taliban is headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar, who is still in hiding. Mullah Omar's original commanders were former small-unit military commanders and madrasah teachers, and the rank-and-file made up mostly of Afghan refugees who had studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan. The Taliban received valuable training, supplies and arms from the Pakistani government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and many recruits from madrasahs for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, primarily ones established by the JUI.
Although in control of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and much or most of the country for five years, the Taliban regime, which called itself the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has gained some amount of political control and acceptance in Pakistan's border region, but recently lost one of its key leaders, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike However Pakistan has launched offensive to force out the Taliban. The Taliban implemented one of the strictest interpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world, yet still occasionally updates its code of conduct.
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