Britain losing new Afghan opium war

Should have defoliated the damn country when you had the chance!!! Here’s to another round of see-I-told-you-sos. . .

Afghanistan supplies 70% of the world’s heroin and 90% of the British market, making the success of the Afghan harvest a key determinant of the street price of British heroin.

Preliminary surveys in the spring showed Afghan poppy farmers have refused to abandon such a profitable crop. They have avoided government eradication programmes by planting in more remote areas and staggering their production.

Gee, ya think? In 2001, we were begged not to defoliate the poppy seed crop. . . just let them collect this year’s harvest and next year they’ll plant something reasonable like cotton or soybeans. Wrong answer, guys!

The 2002 figures showed an increase to 74,000 hectares (185,000 acres) from the low of 8,000 after a Taliban-imposed ban in 2001. The 2002 production figures appeared to exceed the 1999 record yield. A quarter of the 2002 harvest was destroyed, the UN estimates.

“Proper law enforcement is crucial,” Mr Rammell said. “Without sufficient capable police, the Afghan authorities will struggle to solve the problem.”

DEFOLIATION DAMMIT!!! Find the poppy fields and exterminate them! Find fields where poppies are growing amidst viable crops and defoliate them too. You can’t tolerate illegitimacy while attempting to establish a legitimate government! No wonder the Taliban are still holding out hope. . .