Kabul gets aid, despite drug record

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Monday that Afghanistan "failed demonstrably" in 2001 to cooperate in antinarcotics efforts but that the country nonetheless is entitled to receive U.S. assistance because of vital American interests.

Bush made the announcement in a brief statement in which he evaluated the performance of 23 countries involved in drug trafficking as producers, transit points or both.

For years, Afghanistan had been disqualified from U.S. assistance because it did not fully comply with international drug control standards.

The period under review ended about the time the Taliban militia was forced from office and replaced by a pro-Western interim government.

But even now, curbing drug production in Afghanistan could be difficult. An official in Helmand province, the biggest opium-growing region in the world, said Monday this year's crop will be allowed to bloom and be harvested because the new government in Kabul is too weak to stop it.

Countries that fail to cooperate in the antidrug effort can be the target of U.S. economic sanctions.

But well before Monday's announcement, the administration had been providing the interim government in Kabul with assistance. Bush did not make clear in his brief statement what the legal justification was for providing the assistance since the government took office two months ago.

Of the 23 nations reviewed, all were found to be meeting international antinarcotics standards except Afghanistan, Myanmar and Haiti.

Bush ruled that Haiti is entitled to a national-interest waiver, meaning it is eligible for U.S. assistance.

There was no national-interest waiver for Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The 23 countries reviewed: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Haiti, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Paraguay, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Laos, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

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