Despite the thousands of coalition military forces and Afghan security, this year will see another boom crop of Afghan poppies, promising another flood of heroin on the world market. This is, what, the third year of consistent record-breaking crops?
"Eliminating narcotics cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan will require a long-term national and international commitment," said the State Department.
"The Afghan government must take decisive action against poppy cultivation soon to turn back the drug threat before its further growth and consolidation make it even more difficult to defeat."
The report says production of the poppy was up more than a third on 2006 and good weather helped increase the yield of land already under cultivation.
In a report published at the beginning of February, the UN estimated that the amount of opium poppy cultivated in the volatile southern provinces would increase this year.
But the UN's assessment also predicted the overall harvest would be "similar to or lower than" last year's record-breaking level.
According to the AP, the Afghan heroin will make up 93 percent of the world's market, delivering about $4 billion in profits to the drug lords. Can we start spraying already?
Why not buy the opium? It has legitimate uses, for example to alleviate the worldwide shortage of pain-killing opiates. It's cheaper to buy it than eradicate it, and by now we've realized that out-of-work farmers become Taliban insurgents to support their families.
Posted by: rmwarnick | 04 March 2008 at 05:31 PM
Yeah, that's been suggested, along with alternative crops, improved irrigation, etc etc. Until we see the marker moving down, then we're not doing something right.
Posted by: J. | 04 March 2008 at 06:09 PM