Steve Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Record illegal drug production in Afghanistan supplies the Taliban insurgency with money and arms and the U.S.-backed government must take direct, prompt action against poppy growers, a State Department report said Friday. Afghan farmers grew more poppies for opium in 2007 than ever before, the second year in a row of record production in the nation the United States invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. The drug trade deters progress toward a stable, economically independent democracy, the report said... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Hmmm. curious, eh? The Yanks invade, and the opium steadily output increases. Chechen gangs running Yankee/Afghan smack into Europe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpiceMan Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Fidel, let's see if I understand you: The US Army is allowing the Taliban to sell opium so they can buy weapons to kill the US Army? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fidel Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Yeah, sure. Why not? Production has rocketed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 I don't know how involved the US is in opium Fidel. Just a few crooked CIA/DEA guys probably. The official US policy is to eradicate it but they're over a barrel. If they try they become even more unpopular. I'd say the only people who can control it are the Taliban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustian Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 I think it's just great, goes to show how caring and effective the western armies are...invade a country, leave thousands of troops there, drug production rockets! I guess they can't find Osama etc so why would we expect them to be able to stop poppy growth? I mean, it's not like poppy fields can be seen from the air or anything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCorinthian Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 Hmmm. curious, eh? The Yanks invade, and the opium steadily output increases. Chechen gangs running Yankee/Afghan smack into Europe... Yea your nutz on that one. One thing the Talaban DID do when in power was kill anyone that produced drugs. So even one drug grown after 2003 is 100% more then in all of the 90's. Before that it was a drug free for all too. Didn't anyone see The Living Daylights? "I could care less if the Russians died from my bullets or the Snow Leopard Brotherhoods heroin!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 The US wanted to use aerial spraying but that wasn't popular. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/07/afghanistan.usa Alternate crops have been suggested. The best idea at the moment seems to be to legalize production i.e. let them grow opium for medical purposes. The Taliban would still get the money of course and it probably wouldn't stop the smuggling. This is a military document so it's sure to be reliable... http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub804.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 The Taliban prior to Sept. 11, 2001 was totally against growing opium. When the USA invaded the country, the USA made allegiance with the Taliban's major enemy. That was the Northen Alliance. I always found this to be a very strange tactic. Now, Afghanastan is back to being number one in opium production thanks to USA intervention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 Ironic isn't it. Arming Sunni insurgents in Iraq. Backing Turkey against the PKK. Musharraf voted out. Russia reasserting itself. Iran going nuclear. Chinese and Arabs buying US banks. The whole War on Terror has been one irony after another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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