Wednesday Hearings Will Examine Major Problems
in U.S.- Afghanistan Counterdrug and Terrorism Policies 

            (Washington, D.C.) – Five years after the 9/11 attacks, Afghanistan’s significant political achievements are imperiled.  Opium production in Afghanistan is soaring, fueling increased violence and corruption around the world and threatening the nascent democracy in that long-troubled nation. The creation of a democratically-elected government in Afghanistan was a major victory for the world, but recent failures in the fight against narco-terrorism threaten to undermine that success. To succeed in Afghanistan, we need a comprehensive approach that will improve security and accelerate reconstruction on the ground. Our focus must shift from an eradication program, which the Afghan government has proven it will not or cannot carry out, and instead focus on the drug kingpins, their warlord allies, and the heroin production labs and trade routes.   

            On Wednesday, September 20, 2006, U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, will hold a two-part hearing to review the current transition in Afghanistan and U.S. counterdrug and antiterrorism policies there. Earlier this month, Hyde wrote to President Bush, warning of a possible “failed narcotics state” in Afghanistan if major changes in these policies are not expeditiously pursued. The Committee will explore these proposed changes as possible solutions to the current crisis, including recommendations by Colombian National Police anti-drug experts who recently visited Afghanistan at Hyde’s request. 

WHAT:                              Full Committee hearing,
                                           “Afghanistan:  Five Years After 9/11, Parts I and II”
                                           U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), Chairman

WHEN:                             Wednesday, September 20, 2006
                                           Part I begins at 10:30 a.m.;
                                           Part II begins at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE:                           2172 Rayburn House Office Building

WITNESSES:                   Part I:
               
                                          Antonio Maria Costa, Ph.D.,
                                          Executive Director,
                                          United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime;

                                          The Honorable Jorge Castro Castro (Invited),
                                          Director General, Colombian National Police; and

                                          Barnett R. Rubin, Ph.D.,
                                          Director of Studies and Senior Fellow,
                                          Center on International Cooperation,
                                          New York University;
       
                                          Part II:

                                          The Honorable Ronald E. Neumann (Invited),
                                          American Ambassador to Afghanistan.