Bush is spreading democracy (and likely narco-terrorism) around the world…U.N.: Afghanistan Becoming ‘Narco-State’. Are we really helping the fledgling government there? Doesn’t sound like it. (AP):

“It would be an historical error to abandon Afghanistan to opium, right after we reclaimed it from the Taliban and al-Qaida,” said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

The illegal trade is booming despite political progress in the country, including the first presidential election, and local drug control efforts directed by British military advisers.

Calling the problem too big for the weak Afghan government to tackle alone, Costa said U.S.- and NATO-led forces should participate in military operations against drug labs and convoys of traffickers.

NATO has said it recognizes the seriousness of the problem but had no immediate comment.

“The fear that Afghanistan might degenerate into a narco-state is slowly becoming a reality,” he said in the report. “Opium cultivation, which has spread like wildfire throughout the country, could ultimately incinerate everything: democracy, reconstruction and stability.”