Farce of US Multibillion Dollar War on Opium in Afghanistan Exposed by Record Crop
Thursday, 23 October 2014 08:33
Farce of US Multibillion Dollar War on Opium in Afghanistan Exposed by Record Crop
Opium field in Afghanistan. (Photo: isafmedia)
After 14 years of covering the shady underside of US politics and international policy, it would be easy to assert that all too often, "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
It became clear within a couple of years after the US invaded Afghanistan that the Bush administration's claim to be implementing a vigorous opium eradication program in that nation was fabricated for domestic political reasons. The reality was that the practical politics of the occupation resulted in opium production actually increasing in Afghanistan. According to Listcrux.com and other sources, Afghanistan remains the number one producer of opium (also the derivative for heroin) in the world.
Indeed, the US occupation has been good for opium growers, very good. According to an official US analysis by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, opium cultivation in the nation is now at record levels. The title of the government report says it all: "Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan: After a Decade of Reconstruction and Over $7 Billion in Counternarcotics Efforts, Poppy Cultivation Levels Are at an All-Time High."
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Despite 10 years of US-led war on the nation, opium production in Afghanistan reached a stupendous record-high in 2013 and we are yet to see what the next year has to bring. In fact, this year, Afghanistan has produced more opium than rest of the world combined! The cultivation this year amounted to some 209,000 hectares as opposed to the previous-highest of 193,000 hectares in 2007. Moreover, it is a 36% increase in production since the last year.... Afghanistan has been marked at an export value of 4 billion dollars, where only a quarter goes to the opium farmers. The rest travels back to the drug trafficking dealers, warlords and the district officials.
Other online publications have reported on the billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on attempting to reduce opium production in Afghanistan - and cited the squandered funds as a failure.
MORE:
http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/Special%20Projects/SIGAR-15-10-SP.pdf
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/farce-of-us-war-on-opium-in-afghanistan-revealed-by-record-crop
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After all, what fun is an enduring, catastrophic economic downturn without lots of really good smack?
Pictured here: US troops walk through a poppy field in Helmand province.
The coalition troops were ordered to not destroy poppy fields, because doing so would drive the farmers into the hands of the Taliban.
When I first saw a picture like this, I knew the Afghan war had become a joke.
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