From CNN, 9/7/07:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/07/afghanistan.poppies/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
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Poppy production in this part of Afghanistan -- the Nangarhar province
-- was nearly wiped out in 2005, but it rebounded this year with a
staggering increase of 285 percent, according to a new report from the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report.
Eradicating opium poppies has been a key pillar of U.S. policy in
Afghanistan since 2004, said Doug Wankel, director of the U.S.
Counter-Narcotics Task Force in Afghanistan.
Yet today, Afghanistan produces roughly 93 percent of the world's
illicit opium, according to the UNODC report, and the Taliban are
making inroads in remote areas of the country thanks, in part, to
proceeds from the drug trade.
Experts say more farmers are producing poppies because they have been
unable to earn a living by growing other crops like wheat and
vegetables.
They say that the money promised by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and
the international community to plant these alternative crops has not
materialized.
"Not only are they back to cultivating poppy because they did not
receive any alternative livelihoods, but they're angry at the broken
promises, and they don't trust us anymore," said Norine MacDonald of
SENLIS, an international think tank focusing on drug policy.
Afghanistan's Addiction
Afghanistan's poppy farmers said there is little the United States can
do to halt production.
"You can try to kill us, but we will still grow poppy," one farmer
told CNN.
Afghan poppies, which start as flowers in farmers' fields and often
wind up as heroin on U.S. streets, fuel a $3 billion a year industry
in Afghanistan.
The industry is filling the coffers of the Taliban, the group who gave
safe haven to al Qaeda before and after 9/11, and it is destabilizing
the Afghan government.
"The Taliban pretty much were ancient history four years ago, and now
they are back, because they are deriving money from the drug trade,"
said Peter Bergen, a CNN terrorism analyst.
Disenchanted farmers find ready allies in the Taliban, who provide
protection for them and their fields.
Both groups align with drug lords who provide upfront money and credit
for crops, pay farmers cash, and after the harvest, pick up the opium
themselves.
For farmers who may not even own trucks to get crops to market, this
service is invaluable.
"Drug eradication is a fantastic opportunity for the Taliban," said
Peter Jouvenal, a British journalist who has reported from Afghanistan
for more than two decades.
"It gives them the opportunity to recruit farmers that are fed up with
these foreigners coming in and destroying their land."
U.S. officials claim a lack of opportunity is no excuse for farmers to
break the law.
"Look, we know you need development and that is coming, but the lack
of development is not an excuse to go against the constitution, to
break the law, to support the enemy," said Wankel.
"I mean, that's part of the message that goes out to the people."
Wankel's goal is to wipe out enough poppy fields that farmers will
think twice before they plant poppies again.
Less than 10 percent were destroyed last year.
The U.N. estimates that eradication of 25 percent of the poppy crop
would start to turn the tide. Photo See photos of eradication efforts
»
The Taliban use their share of drug proceeds to build up their forces
in the frontier provinces in the southern part of the country, which
is also home to the most poppy production.
This puts pressure on local governments as well as President Karzai's
government in Kabul.
It also enables the Taliban to hire forces to attack U.S. and NATO
troops.
"This place has shown itself to be something very, very usable for the
fundamentalists to operate from to do whatever is necessary to
continue their war of terrorism," Wankel said.
American officials are cautious about connecting Taliban drug money to
al Qaeda-sponsored terrorism outside of Afghanistan.
But Afghan officials say there is little doubt that some money reaches
the terrorist organization.
"The drug [money] is directly funding terrorism. The drug is directly
funding the Taliban, and I wouldn't differentiate between the al Qaeda
and the Taliban," said Mirwais Yasini, the former Afghan
counter-narcotics minister.
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Mission Accomplished, eh, Georgie? Oh, by the way, where's Osama?
Harry
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