AFGHANISTAN SETS A RECORD

What year did we arrive to free Afghans from the clutches of the Taliban?

This is called winning hearts and minds?

It seems we are having as much success with the War on Terror as we are with the War on Drugs.

It almost appears like we don’t really want to win these wars. I wonder why?

Washington, 21 October 2014 (Reuters) – Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has hit an all-time high despite years of counter-narcotics efforts that have cost the US $7.6bn (£4.7bn), according to a US government watchdog.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime [pdf] reported that Afghan farmers grew an “unprecedented” 209,000 hectares (523,000 acres) of opium poppy in 2013, surpassing the previous high of 193,000 hectares in 2007, said John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.

“In past years, surges in opium poppy cultivation have been met by a coordinated response from the US government and coalition partners, which has led to a temporary decline in levels of opium production,” Sopko said in a letter to the secretary of state, John Kerry, the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, and other top US officials.

“The recent record-high level of poppy cultivation calls into question the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of those prior efforts,” he said on Tuesday.

Afghanistan produces more than 80% of the world’s illicit opium, and profits from the illegal trade help fund the Taliban insurgency. US government officials blame poppy production for fuelling corruption and instability, undermining good government and subverting the legal economy.

The US has spent $7.6bn on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan since the start of the 2001 war, it said.

Sopko said the UN drug office estimated the value of poppy cultivation and opium products produced in Afghanistan in 2013 at about $3bn, up on the $2bn estimated in 2012.

“With deteriorating security in many parts of Afghanistan and low levels of eradication of poppy fields, further increases in cultivation are likely in 2014,” Sopko said.

He said affordable deep-well technology brought to Afghanistan over the past decade had enabled Afghans to turn 200,000 hectares of desert in the south-west of the country into arable land, much of it devoted to poppy production.

In a letter responding to the findings, the US embassy in Kabul said the rise in poppy cultivation and decline in eradication efforts by provincial authorities was “disappointing news”. It said American officials were helping Afghans develop the ability to lead and manage a long-term counter-narcotics effort.

8
Leave a Reply

avatar
  Subscribe  
Notify of
backwardsevolution
backwardsevolution

“It almost appears like we don’t really want to win these wars. I wonder why?” No, they’re not there to win these wars. Too much money in it for the right people.

llpoh
llpoh

Maybe it is time to employ a bit of Agent Orange. How hard can it be to spot large poppy fields from the air?

The fact is there is no intention to stop the poppy (ie opium) production. Warlords control poppy production. Warlords collaborate with the US forces. US needs warlords, so US turns blind eye in practice to the production of poppies. Production of poppies soars. Imagine that.

Interestingly, Afghanistan is also the world’s largest producer of cannabis. Betcha lot of folks didn’t know that.

The fact is, the war is on terrorism, not on opium and assorted opiates. Even though the deaths in the US from opiates far outnumber the deaths by terrorism. Thousands die from heroin and poppy each year, and almost none from terrorism.

And guess who funds itself out of the sale of opium? This is a sick joke.

Gee, I wonder why the effort to stop terrorism but not opium? Not really.

llpoh
llpoh

In other words, I am saying this: there are draconian laws in place monitoring money transfers, etc., world-wide. But a major source of terrorism funding is completely ignored and de facto is allowed to exist with total impunity.

Americans have their freedom infringed, in the name of fighting terrorists, but real, not imagined, terrorists are allowed to freely produce opium to support their terrorism with nary an action by the US.

How much more fucked up can the world get.

Westcoaster
Westcoaster

Nothing’s changed since Gary Webb reported the CIA was the biggest Coke dealer of them all!

BEA LEVER
BEA LEVER

When our military went into Afghanistan, 7% of the opium was produced there. Today 90% comes from Afghanistan with the Americans guarding the poppy fields and making sure production is at capacity. Video of American troops guarding the poppy fields was on Fox, CNN etc., they never tried to hide their agenda. PLEASE try to watch a documentary called ” DARK LEGACY” if you would like to know the truth about George HW Bush and the CIA drug running. The first half is mostly about the Kennedy assasination but the second half is a treasure trove of info. It also covers the Bush crime family connection to the nazis back to Prescott Bush.

Iska Waran
Iska Waran

Honestly, Afghanistan needs to just get over here and suck my dick.

bb
bb

Iska a very long trip for such a small snack

nmb
nmb

Drone slaughter

http://bit.ly/1tzMnr6

Discover more from The Burning Platform

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading