Afghan Poppy Eradication Campaign Launched

[DoYouEverWonder]

March 8, 2006, 6:29 AM EST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Narcotic agents on tractors launched a massive campaign Wednesday to destroy fields of poppies in the main drug belt of Afghanistan -- the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, officials said.

About 1,000 police and soldiers backed up the drug agents in southern Helmand province's Dishu district as they plowed the plants under, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial administrator.

The tight security was to deter retaliation from the heavily armed drug gangs and Taliban rebels, who have purportedly vowed to defend the poppy farms, according to posters pasted on walls in various parts of the country's south.

The eradication, part of a U.S.- and British-funded initiative, comes two days after the Afghan government and the United Nations warned that they expect cultivation of opium poppies to increase across large swathes of the country this year.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-afghan-poppy-eradication,0,3051904.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines


So now the Taliban are defending the poppy fields? Weren't they the ones who had shut them down before we invaded?

[Easy]

1. It's not the taliban, it's the "Northern Alliance"

... or whatever they were called during the military campaign. The invading troops local allies were the Afghan war- and drug lords, and their armed thugs. I don't have any sources or links at the moment, but as far as I remember, you are right and the taliban actually destroyed the poppy fields. One year after the invasion the opium production had already increased several hundred percent.

~Easy

[Chemical Bill]

6. Here's a couple of links:

Here's what happened before we got there:

http://opioids.com/afghanistan/

Here's what happened after we took over:

http://opioids.com/afghanistan/opium-economy.html

I think this "eradication" is probably just a way for the most powerful warlords to eliminate competition.

Bill

[zann725]

7. Iran-Contra revisited? Why do Repug Admins. "harvest" war profits thru

foreign drug trade...then hypocritcally call themselves the "Moral Majority?" Those harvested poppies are NOT going to be destroyed...no way! Just "money laundered" to help pay for THIS and future wars. "And the (war) "beat" goes on...(and on)"

[FloridaPat]

2. The only part of Afghanistan we have under control is Kabul.

And the pipeline. This is a joke. Are they going to plow under the entire country? More propaganda. With the rumors that the poppy money goes to the CIA to sell and launder throug the stock market, maybe their helping with the plowing to plant the stuff. Get the stock market up in time for the elections.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. I would assume they have too much product on the market

so it's cutting into their profits.

Kind of like OPEC cutting back on oil outputs.

[acmavm]

4. Oh this will go over well. Destroying the main livelihood of the

country will cause a problem I suspect.

You gotta give these people an alternative if you want to destroy the poppy. Plus face it, the profit margin in the opium poppy is a hell of a lot greater than in a bushel of corn.

[cantstandbush]

5. Now Afghanistan will be a real powder keg. BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!

damn it!!! They are going to be the crossfires of Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan. And for what?

[sattahipdeep]

8. WTF Taliban regime...( government's reconciliation commission)

"We vow to help ensure security and peace and take part in reconstruction of our
country," he said. Among those, who have taken up the offer, were former Taliban
Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil and Taliban regime's Ambassador to
Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef.

The men travelled from various provinces from across Afghanistan to Kabul for a
ceremony at which their surrender was announced by the head of the government's
reconciliation commission Sebghattullah Mujaddadi. They included members of the
extremist Hezb-e-Islami faction of wanted warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Wednesday Feb. 8, 2006, KABUL: More than 170 Taliban and other fighters
surrendered on Sunday as part of a government amnesty scheme, vowing to lay
down arms and work to rebuild the war-ravaged Afghanistan, officials said.

http://indiamonitor.com/news/readNews.jsp?ni=10435

[sattahipdeep]

9. Dancing around the truth-- ERELI...(How does someone become an ex- Taliban

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=545986&mesg_id=564814

How does someone become an ex-terrorist?

Where is Salam Zaeef Taliban Ambassador?

Remember