U.N. Official: Opium Cuts May Hit Afghan Capability — “Until last year, Afghanistan was the world’s largest producer of heroin… Smuggling the drug to western markets was seen as a major source of funding for the Taliban… Afghanistan began cutting back opium production in the summer of 2000, following a Taliban view that it was unIslamic. But it also cut off a crucial source of funding that has undermined its military capabilities.” Reuters