LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.   Exclusive Truthdig Merchandise: Mr. Fish T-shirts and Signed Prints
November 23, 2009
Log in / Register

 Choose a size
Text Size

Most Read

Refuse Allegiance to Coal

Intelligentsia Against Intelligence

The Guantanamo Lawyers: Shipwrecked

Obama's Third Way in Afghanistan

Give Kennedy His Cracker

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
Freedom’s Fight: Part II

Digs
Financial Meltdown 101
Vetting Sarah Palin

Truthdig Bazaar more items

 
Ear to the Ground

U.S., Britain Part Company in the Poppy Fields

Email this item Email    Print this item Print   
Posted on Jun 29, 2009
ENTER_ALT_TEXT
YouTube / Al Jazeera

The U.S. has decided to stop funding poppy field eradication in Afghanistan, declaring the policy a failure and a waste of money. Since 2003, opium production has gone up 40-fold in Afghanistan, making it the producer of 90 percent of the world’s heroin. But Britain, backed by the Afghan government, will continue destroying poppy fields as a way to stem the drug trade.

The Telegraph:

The British Government said destroying poppy fields remained a key deterrent to growers and one of the “seven pillars” of its anti-opium strategy in Helmand province, just a day after Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to Afghanistan, said that destroying the crop only drove poor farmers to join the insurgency.

In a reversal of policy, he said the United States would stop funding poppy eradication and instead concentrate on encouraging farmers to grow alternative crops.

Read More


Check out Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the U.S. decision.

Al-Jazeera:

More Below the Ad

Advertisement


Elsewhere: .

Comments

Are you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.

By Folktruther, June 30 at 2:16 pm #

Freedom loving Ameircan puts his finger on the crucial issue.  The Taliban crushed the opium trade, one of the reasons that they were so easily deposed, naving lost peasant support.  Under the US, opium growing increased enormously, and, according to a truther on a English language paper in an Arabic country, it was ferried in US military planes across the border to Turkey to be processed into heroin.  There is an enormous amount of money in hard drugs, as long as they are kept illegal to keep the price high. 

the trade with Turkey involved Israel and arms, also a big money maker, and was one of the reasons that Valerie Plane was outed, to keep her from informing on it.

The US plan apparently is to keep the drugs illegal while stopping any efforts to enforce the law, increasing the supply of heroin.  Afghanistan now accounts for 90% of the heroin in the world market.  Buying it for medical purposess wouldn’t make near as much money.  And isn’t making money what American Freedom&Democracy; is all about?

Report this

By WykydRed, June 30 at 8:44 am #

Uh…This wouldn’t have a single thing to do with New Zealand growing “50% of the medical opium poppies in the world”, would it? I wonder who’s growing the other 50%?...

Guess American Big Pharm couldn’t pay the American Government enough to put those “bloody British drug dealers” (read: Getting their medically used opium cheap) on the rug by having their own cheap source of opium poppies. Sigh. Big Pharm will just have to keep paying premium price from ... whoever’s growing the other 50%...

Double your prices, guys! Big Pharm will no longer be able to fund Anti-Constitutional groups like anti-smokers, Lung Associations and FDA! Wheeeeee!

Sorry. Did I say that out loud? Ooopsie!

Report this

By Claudia, June 30 at 4:18 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Tasmania might not like the idea of Afghanistan producing legal opium- I think they now produce most of the world’s medical crop.

Report this

By diamond, June 30 at 4:01 am #

At last the voice of reason is heard dimly in the distance. The whole poppy ‘problem’ could be solved very easily. All that poppy in Afghanistan is badly needed because there’s a world wide shortage of poppy being grown for medicine. Pay the farmers for medical poppy and voila! 90% of the heroin gone. This won’t stop someone else growing it. The only thing that will stop that happening is to legalize heroin. It will then come off the black market and when the dealers can only charge market value it just won’t be worth it to hang around on street corners or in front of schools selling drugs. Even those running the so-called war on drugs know that they might as well be pissing in the breeze but the taxpayers’ dollars come flooding in and that makes them remember why they’re doing what they’re doing. After world war II people were selling cigarettes and women’s stockings on the streets for ridiculous prices. It was a black market. They all operate the same way and have the same result somewhere along the chain of supply and demand. Rich crooks.

Report this

By coloradokarl, June 29 at 11:30 pm #

Who wants to bet California taxes Their Green Bud by this time next year? How about letting all the local growers out of Jail? This Governmental “reccession” will be the straw that breaks the Drug War’s back, Who would of thunk it? When can I start collecting My check for “PSTD” for my 30 years of service in the “War”. FUCK YOU! Hypocrit Bastards, Have a Drink and screw another poor person.

Report this

By hippie4ever, June 29 at 8:17 pm #

Seems their War on Drugs was as successful there as here. Chalk up another raving failure for the American government.

Report this

By Claudia, June 29 at 6:50 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

For $80 million a year the US could buy the whole crop, de-fund the Taliban and provide local farmers with income while they find new cash crops. The US could have done this years ago, so one must assume war and destabilization are the real goals and that this new policy is a sham.

Report this

By rodney, June 29 at 5:12 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

If they stop fighting drugs there, they should stop fighting them here.Let’s tax it and pay off the federal deficit. We could also save medicare and Social security.

Report this

By freedom loving american, June 29 at 4:58 pm #

This article is confusing.  It says the US will stop the poppy eradication funding in Afghanistan.  I’m assuming everyone knows there was no poppy growing in Afghanistan until the bush-petraeus gun running/drug running cartels invaded the country in 2001.  Since then, they spent millions (of our taxpayers dollars) setting up the poppy growing operations. They have made hundreds of millions if not billions through their drug running/ arms dealing cartels. These funny little MSM articles are so cute and yet informing.

Report this

Add Your Comment

Posts by unregistered readers are moderated. Posts by members
are published immediately. Why wait? Register today!







Number of characters remaining: 4000

Notify you when others comment on this article?


Are you a human?
Retype the word you see here.


Please read and abide by our comment policy.
By submitting this comment, you agree to this site's terms and conditions.

 
 

 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2009 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.