Hmm...apparently you haven't noticed that Afghanistan is on the other border of Iran to Iraq.
Very handy is you did want to control a bit more oil as well as drugs.

The idea of single causation for any one historical event is a recognised fallacy, as a number of different influences may affect different members of the elite, and even chance events can have their input.

Even the siege of Troy can be seen either as for the love of Helen, or a socio-economic conflict to control the entrance to the Bosporus and important trade routes, and so on.

Exactly.. The reasoning is likely more complicated. The opium trade is a valuable asset to control, but so also is the distribution of the crude from the caspian basin. The control of the flow of oil is highly valuable politically and economically. After all, Afghanistan is right between Iran and other oil producing states, and China and Pakistan. After invading Afghanistan, there are milatary bases literally surrounding most of the main oil producing regions. The conflict in Georgia is most likely the Russian response to control the flow of oil from pipelines into Turkey. Its no surprise that we've been seeing anti-russian sentiment in the media!

And also not forgetting that possession is nine tenths of the law. Once you have possession you can make the law. Once you make the laws you have the potential to do pretty much as you like. Democracy anyone?

L,
Sid.