Richard Holbrooke is telling Congress that the Obama administration is all set to fix the mistakes made by the Bush administration regarding the poppy trade in Afghanistan. I'd prefer burning out the crops, but this way might be better.
Testifying to Congress, Holbrooke said the United States had "a continued focus on stopping the drug trade, but within that we are downgrading our efforts to eradicate crops -- spraying -- a policy we think is totally ineffectual."
"We are going to increase efforts in interdiction and going after the drug lords. So we're not downgrading narcotics, we're downgrading crop eradication," Holbrooke said.
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US military authorities acknowledge that an eight-year anti-drug effort in Afghanistan has failed to step the heroin trade, which is estimated to fund the Taliban to a tune of close to 100 million dollars a year.
In October last year, NATO nations for the first time authorized the international force in Afghanistan to take action against drug traffickers and their facilities.
Yes, it's only taken eight years to figure out that we need an effective way to stop the Taliban's cash crop. Let's see if the new team can do it.
UPDATE: Of course, things would go smoother if the US govt didn't enable the poppy trade.
LEGALIZE IT!!
Posted by: NVH | 29 June 2009 at 01:09 PM