We don’t actually have access to the Taliban’s books — actually, they didn’t keep books when the ran Afghanistan either.  They just handed out sacks of cash as appropriate.  And of course, our insights into the financial structure of AQ are equally indirect.  Still, over the past month, three separate “stories” about Taliban finances have come out.  I’ll be writing more about this when we update the “Are We Winning” this fall.  But for now, the following stories are fascinating in their contrasts.

Organized Crime in Pakistan Feeds Taliban – NYTimes.com

Pakistani counterterrorism officials say they believe that kidnapping for ransom may have been the single largest revenue source for the Taliban’s top commander in the country, Baitullah Mehsud, before he was killed this month in an American drone strike.

U.S. to Hunt Down Afghan Drug Lords Tied to Taliban – NYTimes.com

They also said the move is an essential part of their new plan to disrupt the flow of drug money that is helping finance the Taliban insurgency.

Report: Drug money to insurgents overestimated – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The
CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency have concluded that the amount
of drug money flowing to the Taliban in Afghanistan is far lower than
widely estimated but remains critical to insurgents’ ability to
survive, according to a Senate report released Tuesday.
….
The lower estimates suggest that other avenues of funding — including
money flowing from wealthy donors in Arab Gulf states — remain
important sources of support for insurgent and terrorist networks
straddling the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.