Poppies! Poppies! Poppies!

[DistressedAmerican]

If only we had sent the troops where they belonged instead of into the urban jungles of Iraq looking for weapons that did not exist.

What a lost opportunity to show the world a well functioning Middle Eastern democracy in action...

Say Hello To Osama for us farmer Omar!

[Viktor Runeberg]

1. Pretty flowers

Totally agree we should be doing more to build Afghanistan.

Not so sure we should be fighting against poppies. Drug eradication efforts have never, anywhere, produced anything but hardship, corruption, killing, poisoning with herbicides also toxic to human beings....

In many contexts opium is a worthy drug; and even in the worst of contexts junkies are a lot less trouble than crackheads.

[DemonFighterLives]

3. I think the point might be

that poppy production is up even though our fearless leader told us the opposite was true. All they did was take over the trade. Big money for wars, oppression and whatever else.
Jr. * should be impeached for this alone!

[DistressedAmerican]

5. As Long As The Money Is Not Funding Terrorists, I Don't Care at All.

Certainly has uses.

I just hate to see uncontrolled production fueling attacks on us and our troops. If the Taliban and Al Qaeda make a big comebach, this will be the main cash source.

[FloridaPat]

2. Michael Ruppert has written articles about how our government

depends on the money from those poppies to do those Black Ops our government so likes to do. The launder the money through the stock market. Notice how when the aTaliban stopped all poppy production, the stock market dropped like a rock.

Secondly, we sent in enough troops to get rid of the government we basically allowed to be set up and protect the future oil pipeline.

Third. Our government seems to really like disorganized countries. Disorganized countries allow us to lead them for our interests and not unite for their interests. When the first election was being held, the Afghanis wanted to run the king, saying maybe he could unite the country. No way. He might actually asked more the the oil pipeline then our oil companies wanted to give. Or he might actually go through with the oil pipeline contract that was signed with a S. American company. So the US said to run their puppet.

[freethought]

4. I can sort of respect the guy in the photo

Most people don't know the actual process to harvest opium from poppies.
It is an incredibly tedious process. That guy and his family are going to do that entire field. I'm not talking about picking a fruit or cutting and harvesting the plant either.

[DistressedAmerican]

6. I Have No Problem With The Crop. I Just Do Not Want The Money

Fueling attacks on us. Sell this shit to the US government, subsidize the farmers so they can make a living, but control the product.

The ground level guy is by no means my issue here, it is the overall lack of order and stability that allows rampant uncontrolled production funding who knows who that I object to.

That and the fact that the Taliban and Al Qaeda still control large parts of the country and that reconstruction has been a miserable failure just like every other thing Bush has ever promised.

[freethought]

8. I can totally agree, unfortunately

the opium/heroin trade IS funding terrorism and will likely in some way be used to fund an attack on the U.S. As I recall reading, the Taliban did not have a problem with selling narcotics to "nonbelievers". That same issue was brought up by Sibel Edmonds, the drug trade and terrorism almost appeared to be morphing into one. Scary thought!

[Mutley]

7. I'll bet Rush wishes we'd spent more money and attention

on Afghanistan! :D