Article

2009-08-10 Afghanistan

Fifty drug lords on US target list in Afghanistan

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Posted by gorb 2009-08-10 13:31|| || Front Page|| [6 views ] Top
File under: Taliban

#1 The only reason this would matter would be if the US put out deal or alive wanted posters. Knowing how bad this can be for the health, about 50% would probably retire, or tell the Taliban to take a leap. The other 50% would kick down a lot more money to Afghan government insiders.

Posted by Anonymoose 2009-08-10 13:57|| 2009-08-10 13:57|| Front Page Top

#2 They won't put a dent in opium production until they provide the Afghan farmers with a way to make more money growing something else. It's called, 'economics', and someone in Washington should study it sometime.

Posted by Steve White 2009-08-10 14:58|| 2009-08-10 14:58|| Front Page Top

#3 What crop would make more money than opium poppies?

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-08-10 16:25|| 2009-08-10 16:25|| Front Page Top

#4 These farmers could be paid off but some people in Afghan Government are making too much money.

Start with Karzai's dodgy brothers!

Posted by paul2 2009-08-10 17:02|| 2009-08-10 17:02|| Front Page Top

#5 If the Afghans have land to grow poppies then they don't need any more US food aid. The aid is distorting the agricultural market.

Posted by ed 2009-08-10 17:17|| 2009-08-10 17:17|| Front Page Top

#6 Opium poppies grown on very marginal land and are typically planted with primitive slash and burn techniques. Most other agricultural products won't grow there, or require significantly more water, fertilizer, tools and know-how ... not to mention access to markets before the products begin to spoil.

One alternative that's been proposed by a Euro group is to license poppy production and concentrate on harvesting the results. There's a shortage of morphine for medical uses IIUC.

Posted by lotp 2009-08-10 19:58|| 2009-08-10 19:58|| Front Page Top

#7 I disagree. The poppies get the best land and care. The center of poppy production is the Helmand river valley, nourished by a 50 year old US funded irrigation system and Pakistani fertilizer (when not used for bombs). That is prime land for high yields and would go a long way toward relieving Afghanistan's need to import food (actually US Aid).

In 2008, 157,000 hectares of opium were cultivated, down 19 percent from 193,000 hectares in 2007. Opium production only declined 6 percent to 7,700 tonnes because of record high yields. Helmand cultivated 103,000 hectares in 2008.

One more observation. Why is high concentration ammonium nitrate fertilizer allowed to be imported into Afghanistan? Do the government officials know there is a war going on? It would be better for us to subsidize non explosive fertilizer.

Posted by ed 2009-08-10 21:16|| 2009-08-10 21:16|| Front Page Top

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