News - 2009

SOS INTERNATIONAL PRESENTS COUNTERNARCOTICS PANEL AT AFGHANISTAN-FOCUSED IPOA SUMMIT
November 5, 2009

RESTON, VA - A panel discussion of the socioeconomic and logistical challenges of opium interdiction in Afghanistan, led by SOS International Ltd. (SOSi) Senior Vice President Michael Vigil (Stability Operations Group), captivated a standing-room-only crowd at the IPOA 2009 Annual Summit on October 25. This year’s conference, entitled Afghanistan: Supporting Regional Stability Operations, drew professionals from every sector of the stability operations community.

The panel included SOSi Program Manager Rogelio Guevara; Christy A. McCampbell, Vice President, Anti-Terrorism Programs, USIS; and Dr. Brian Williams, Associate Professor, Islamic History, University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth.

The session began with a screening of a film—produced by SOSi and shot on location in Afghanistan—that highlights SOSi's Counter-Narcotics Training Academy in Kabul. The film presented a close-up view of the rigors and danger of working in drug interdiction in Afghanistan.

Noting the inconsistency with which the United States has addressed the issue—a hands-off policy from 2002 to 2005, followed by a redirection to supporting eradication efforts—the panelists then recounted first-hand information about the drug trade in the region and the myriad of ways that it affects everyday Afghans.

“There are virtually no adequate drug treatment centers in Afghanistan,”
Vigil said. “And not only are more and more women becoming addicted in
this war-torn, poverty-stricken country, they are now often injecting their children with heroin to quell hunger pangs.” McCampbell added, “The
porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan serves to greatly complicate interdiction efforts.”

Ironically, the Taliban, which once condemned the heroin “industry” and virtually eradicated it, now depends on the opium trade to fund its operations. Adding the fact that the addiction rate in Afghanistan is five times higher than the global addiction rate (there are more than one million addicts in Afghanistan), the panel provided what an audience member described as a “refreshingly depressive” view of the situation.

In addition to the panel discussion, SOSi was a major sponsor of the event, providing branded credential holders and hosting an exhibit booth.

IPOA is a non-profit trade association committed to raising the standards of the peace and stability operations industry to ensure sound and ethical professionalism and transparency in the conduct of peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction activities.

SOS International, Ltd. (SOSi) is a privately owned defense services firm with more than 1,200 employees worldwide.  Now in its third decade of operation, SOSi provides a wide range of analytical, training, and consulting services to the U.S. government and private sector firms in the defense and aerospace industry. It specializes in counter-terrorism and counterdrug operations, international stabilization and capacity building, public affairs and strategic communications.

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