Afghan heroin production 'boom'

Afghanistan Forum

Afghan heroin production 'boom'

London Financial Times
December 1, 2004
Pg. 10

Kabul Warns West Not To Spray Poppy Fields

By Victoria Burnett

Kabul yesterday warned the US and Britain against spraying herbicide on poppy fields in Afghanistan, saying this would constitute an affront to national sovereignty.

The warning underscored the potential for controversy as Afghanistan's allies step up efforts to combat the country's booming opium industry, which is the world's leading supplier of raw material for heroin. It followed indications that unidentified aircraft had sprayed fields in an eastern province with chemicals.

US officials said recently they were considering aerial crop spraying to combat the poppy harvest, but Kabul is against the proposal.

"Anything that's related (to counter-narcotics) has to be done on the basis of an understanding between the government and the international community," Jawed Ludin, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said. "It is a question of the sovereignty of the country."

Kabul launched an investigation 10 days ago into claims by villagers in Nangahar province that low-flying aircraft had sprayed a chemical on their fields at night. Mr Ludin said soil samples showed a chemical had been sprayed in two districts, although it was unclear how or by whom. Investigators were trying to identify the chemical, he said.

Mr Karzai held talks with senior British and US officials in Kabul, who denied any involvement in crop spraying, Mr Ludin said. Britain has been co-ordinating Afghan and international efforts to tackle the opium industry for three years. The US this month announced a plan to spend Dollars 800m (Euros 603m, Pounds 422m) next year on counter-narcotics including eradication, law enforcement and rural development. The US embassy in Kabul said yesterday it could not comment on the issue.

Afghanistan's opium output accounts for 87 per cent of the world's supply. The UN estimates the industry involves about 2.3m Afghans and represents 60 per cent of gross domestic product.

The US has been looking into crop spraying as a more efficient way of eradicating poppies, which must otherwise be cut down by scythe. Western officials believe that if spraying were to be pursued, the US would contract Dyncorp, a security company involved in US-funded eradication efforts in Afghanistan and in coca spraying in Colombia.

Kabul said it objected to crop spraying because it could damage benign crops, cause skin disease and harm livestock. Mr Ludin said crop spraying was "morally wrong". He said the health ministry had registered recent cases of skin complaints and diarrhoea in the area but that there was no proven connection with the alleged crop spraying.

Great - maybe they'd rather set the fields on fire instead? They oughtta do something if they're serious about restricting drug trafficking. If instead they simply piss & moan to the international community when they get complaints from "field owners" when their crops are attacked, it's clear that they're not serious about cooperating. The first thing they should have done was arrest the "field owners" and then plow the field under and put corn or something in its place...

The heroin problem in Aghanistan has increased exponentially since we sent troops there looking for osama bin laden.

Haven't caught o bin laden and heroin production makes up the majority of the countries "GDP."

Another "mission accomplished????????????????????????"
Truth is we don't know what the hell we are doing in the middle east.
Send the boy scouts in or something cuz I am sure they'd do a better job than this.

How do you know there are more poppie feilds now than before? Is the an AG report on this or what? Show us the link that shows the exponential increase.
I have a hard time belieing this report because they were completely unguarded before.

I also fail to see what this has to do with America fighting the taliban.
Do we now turn our toops into the DEA ?

if the Afganis wanna smoke opium let'em smoke opium

sheesh

Dekka00

Those poppies/opium are made into heroin and sold on the streets of New York, LA and whatever cities and towns they decide to infest. That's why.

USA1,

Why don't YOU go to Aghanistan yourself, or ask your little buddy to go over there for some R/R and scout it out for ya?

So guarded poppy fields are better than unguarded ones?

Problem is we go to Aghanistan for our own little project (which has been in my book unsuccessful since OBL still walks free)...and turn the country into an even more lawless society....
Oh, but they now have elections, you say? Yeah and who do you think they'll vote for, heh?
The men who will look the other way on their little poppy empire that's who.

And why should the USA act as the DEA?

Great question....I'll take it even further....why should the USA be the policeman and "liberator" for the world.....???

If we're gonna stick our noses into everything...why not go all the wayyyyyy???

While opium is the mainstay of the Afghan economy the place will be violent, poor, lawless and corrupt, run by gangs, criminals and warlords, who's vested interest will be to keep the country lawless and corrupt.

It's three years since we bombed the place and we obviously haven't been paying enough attention to what's been going on there. Any guesses why? Iraq maybe? It seems governments are very willing to cough up the cash to destroy things, but not to rebuild them.

Incidentally, a recent report states that despite Western economies becoming richer over the last 30 years, aid since the 1960's has HALVED. Is anyone surprised or even just a bit outraged?

It's how people feed their families in Afghanistan.

...

The Taliban stockpiled heroin and then banned production to drive up the price of their own holdings. The US and UN funded the Taliban's eradication of opium, unwittingly helping their market ploy. This caused the price of raw opium to go from $35 to $750, spurring a major production increase after the Taliban departed.

Killed two birds with one stone.

There's a good article on this topic in today's Christian Science Monitor (online).

Then we should stop people from selling it here. Once we do that, there is no issue. Spend the money here to stop it not there.

Good idea, except it can't be done.

Poppies are not only used in the creation of heroine. They are also used in morphine and other opiates. Just as they used to be used 100 years ago as medicines here, there are many parts of the world that cannot afford western medicines and continue to use drugs that we call illegal. We would still be using many illegal drugs for medicine if we had not patented something else that we could charge more money for, call the natural drug illegal, and make a killing from annually increasing the cost of the drugs. Of course we have corporations that want to destroy the poppy crops so that the pharmaceutical corporations are the only game in town. The problem is that some countries still cannot afford what the drug companies charge. They will never be able to stock sufficient quantities of Western drugs. The black markets are illegal, but in some parts of the world they help people survive, save lives, reduce pain. Just because there are weak minded and weak willed people in America who become addicted, that is no reason the rest of the world should suffer. Not everyone gets addicted to medicines like Rush Limbaugh. Some are smart enough to stop taking drugs when their purpose has been served.

With the Taliban still in power even with a war against Aghanistan....
all kinds of crimes can and are being committed.

Like treating your women like dogs...
murdering Christians...
and selling opiates.

But hey, the CIA started the drug war (read 'drug supplying and pushing') so this makes it even easier for the "Say 'yes' to drugs" campaign.

A friend burned a music CD for me...the first two tracks are Ronald and Nancy Reagan admitting they do heroine, pot etc and that drugs are a constant temptation in their house. Unbelievable but true.