U.S. Efforts Fail To Curtail Trade In Afghan Opium

Afghan policemen destroy an opium poppy field in Alingar, Laghman province east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The New York Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — For years, American officials have struggled to curb Afghanistan’s opium industry, rewriting strategy every few seasons and pouring in more than $6 billion over the past decade to combat the poppies that help finance the insurgency and fuel corruption.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

Comments

[Gracie fr]

02:20 PM on 05/28/2012

Eradication efforts - favored by top opium consumer Russia but condemned by the United States - and a fungus that leaves the poppy bulb without the liquid form of raw opium are now threatening to give insurgents even more cash by cutting output and driving up the price,....According to the United Nations, opium is emerging as a new gold standard in Afghanistan, where traders and farmers are hoarding the drug as a source of ready cash to hedge against the risk of a power vacuum when foreign troops leave.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-afghanistan-drugs-idUSBRE8470YY20120508

[chvemn]

11:55 AM on 05/28/2012

Here is more proof how our government treats the poppy fields.

http://publicintelligence.net/usnato-troops-patrolling-opium-poppy-fields-in-afghanistan/

[chvemn]

11:47 AM on 05/28/2012

What a world we live in, when the Taliban was in control of the region they banned opium crops, then our government moved in and the crops grew 600+% and are having our troops guard them, need that drug money to run black ops for the CIA.

[chvemn]

11:40 AM on 05/28/2012

What a joke, our troop's are guarding the fields.

http://www.naturalnews.com/034289_Afghanistan_opium_trade.html

[AgainstAnimalAbuse]

04:16 PM on 05/28/2012

Is this the real reason, besides keeping Karzai in power and mine the minerals, to keep troops there until 2014?

[chvemn]

05:28 PM on 05/28/2012

Don't forget about the pipeline:

http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/oil.html

[offcenterlevi]

09:39 AM on 05/28/2012

If we could get back all the money we lost during our failed war on drugs, we could go a long way to solving the problems in this country. We now have more people in prison per captia than any country in the world, including the repressive ones we profess to hate. Most of these people are non violent drug offenders who offer little threat to society. We can continue to build more and more prisons and lock up these people and continue to lose money. On the other hand, we can accept that in a free society we need to trust our citizens to make their own decisions. If they choose to eat to the point of obesity, drink too much, or smoke, that is their decision. If they choose to use drugs, that also is their decision. If we are truly free, why should anyone care?

[brekinla]

01:13 PM on 05/28/2012

I have an answer for you. First we are not free and the reason is debt. This is why laws are passed "for your safety." It is in the interest of those who loan us money that laws be passed that increase the GDP. Victimless crime laws are there to prevent damage to taxpayers. Seat belt laws for example prevent injury and death, thus keeping thousands each year as productive taxpayers. If there was no debt then who other than you would care how you lived your life? I am sure you have heard the saying, 'the borrower is subservient to the lender?'
It is also apparent that our gov is owned by special interest groups. Our gov operates in their interest, not in the interest of the American people. Be thankful there is still order in this country and one has to learn how to live free in an unfree world.

[snarkyhaiku]

08:56 AM on 05/28/2012

Afghan opium:
another War on Drugs we
totally suck at.

[lobear00]

08:54 AM on 05/28/2012

As long as the United States has the same puppets in the US Congress nothing is ever going to change, both parties. It's not to hard to figure out which one's actually work on behalf of the people and those who don't.

[NorthwestBBQ]

08:51 AM on 05/28/2012

When will the government leave plants alone?

[brekinla]

01:14 PM on 05/28/2012

When there is a revolution.

[oral surgeon]

08:45 AM on 05/28/2012

US looking to curb opium industry in Afghanistan???....surely you are joking...we can't curb our own drug issues here...Opium is the number one cash crop in Afghanistan.....cut the demand and you "curb" the industry...(btw...a lot of that finds it's way here)...

[brekinla]

01:23 PM on 05/28/2012

The people who make money from the current failed American drug policy are entrenched. They don't want their golden goose touched, regardless of the pain and suffering it causes. You are 100% correct, cut the demand and the drug problem goes away. Violence in Mexico, drug cartels, etc it all goes away if Americans don't spend money on drugs.
Americans are going to spend money on drugs, so instead of continuing a failed policy our government should move to a tax an regulate policy. Whenever gov changes policy there are winner and losers and those who are winning don't want change. Hence the failed policy of our gov will continue until a crisis demands change.

[taylor5]

08:45 AM on 05/28/2012

Don't befriend the Taliban and don't grow poppies. We can not have both.

[AZreb]

08:34 AM on 05/28/2012

Lacking in the fight against the opium trade? "Political will" was the answer. If the Afghan government does not have the "political will" to destroy the opium trade, then why the heck are we supporting that corrupt government?

[btbamfan]

08:32 AM on 05/28/2012

Legalize it. Done.

[brekinla]

01:25 PM on 05/28/2012

That makes too much sense.

[rikadarling]

08:09 AM on 05/28/2012

This story is pure propaganda. Not only do we guard their poppy fields, we profit immensely from the sale of their opium. We're talking tax free cash folks.

[Raymond Hietapakka]

08:05 AM on 05/28/2012

Annual treatment of the poopy fields with Monsanto Round-Up.

[brekinla]

01:26 PM on 05/28/2012

Let's continue the same failed policy? If your fellow Americans didn't buy opium products the poppy fields would disappear.

[ccurt78]

07:54 AM on 05/28/2012

6 billion, I would think that would have set every farmer up in a nice house, with a pension and sent their kids to college. So why are we still dumping trillions worldwide pursuing failed policy.

[NotesFromME]

08:51 AM on 05/28/2012

Absolutely right. If all the money that has been wasted in this debacle had gone to directly improve the lives of ordinary Afghans, the Taliban would have been defeated long ago.

The answer to poppy cultivation? Buy it from the local farmers directly and set up factories to convert it to pharmaceutical grade pain killers for use in the US. If there is a surplus, incinerate it. At least the money goes to the local farmers, keeps them in work supporting their families, and lowers the cost for the military and US consumers.

[brekinla]

01:30 PM on 05/28/2012

Cause someone benefits from our gov's failed drug policy. What the gov pays to investigate, prosecute, and incarcerate someone, for half that money they could simply pay them to not engage in criminal activity. The system is dysfunctional. And dysfunctional systems can't go on forever.