Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda - Tapa dura

"A stunning, deeply disturbing book . . . A must-read for all Western policymakers and President Obama before they implement any new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan."
- Ahmed Rashid, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Taliban" and "Descent into Chaos"
"A vitally important book. Until the United States admits what Peters knows, and changes course, the virulent narco-terrorism spreading across South Asia will cause us to lose not only Afghanistan but Pakistan as well."- Robert Baer, "New York Times "bestselling author of "Sleeping with the Devil" and "The Devil We Know"
"Peters has done a superlative job with "Seeds of Terror," It is a primer for the new administration--a blueprint for what must be done in Afghanistan to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat."- Jack Lawn, DEA chief under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
"The linkage between fighting drugs and fighting terrorism is, with "Seeds of Terror," now firmly established. Gretchen Peters, combining personal experience and in-depth research, paints a frightening picture and tells us how to surmont the problem. A critically important book."
- Raymond W. Baker, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and author of "Capitalism's Achilles Heel"
"Detailed and highly readable . . . masterfully traces the enormous success of the illegal heroin trade in Afghanistan."- Frederick P. Hitz, former inspector general of the CIA and author of "Why Spy?"

"Seeds of Terror" reveals the astonishing never-before-told story of Afghanistan's booming opium trade. For the first time Peters shares the complete story of her exclusive investigation into the area's most dangerous and shadowy heroin kingpin. With the breakneck pace of a thoroughly gripping thriller, Peters follows the drugs from the fields of the small farmers; to the armed and secret desert convoys of the drug smugglers; to the clandestine deals of the weapons merchants, international mafia figures, and high-level corrupt politicians of many nations. Risking her life to bring U.S. readers this story, Peters is arguably the most knowledgeable expert on the current poppy trade, and she is the only person who can tell this particular and fascinating tale. Peters calculates the Taliban and Al Qaeda earn more than half a billion dollars every year off the heroin trade alone. What are they saving up for? Based on U.S. and British documents, Peters demonstrates the Bush administration knew about the drug activities of its allies in the Karzai administration - but refused to investigate. "Seeds of Terror" profiles the 'Pablo Escobar' of Afghanistan - a smuggler so powerful no one dares to arrest him. "Seeds of Terror" follows the money trail across three continents, tracing shadowy gangs linked to powerful Arab Sheiks, taking readers inside money-laundering rings from Kandahar to Dubai.