The U.S has repeatedly made a "drug war exception" in its foreign policy towards brutal regimes. Perhaps the worst example of this "drug war exception" policy occurred just four months before 9/11 when the Bush Administration sent 43 Million dollars to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Bush Administration sent the 43 Million dollars to reward the Taliban Government for it's declaring that opium growing is against the will of God.
The Bush administration gave this money to the Taliban with the full knowledge that Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan operating his Al Qaeda terror network. To make matters worse Bin Laden had already launched the 1998 attacks on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which left 225 people dead and injured more than 4,000. If that wasn't bad enough Bin Laden had also ordered the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole which left 17 sailors dead along with another 39 injured. Had Bush forgotten that President Clinton had bombed Bin Ladens terrorist camps in Afghanistan in retaliation for these attacks ? The Bush administration also conveniently ignored the fact that the Taliban brutally oppressed the female population of Afghanistan. The Taliban also tortured and executed it's opponents and required religious minorities to wear clothing that marked them as non Muslims which was similar to what the NAZI's had done to the Jews , Gypsies, and Gays.
In the end it turned out that the Taliban had fooled the Bush administration because instead of banning Opium in reality the Taliban had actually increased the production of opium. But what else should we expect from the Bush Administration except more ignorance and more lies.