Afghan opium tradeHAMID Karzai of Kabul may have his concerns, some of them valid, about Pakistan’s role in combating militancy. That said, he is doing little to tackle a major insurgency-related problem that is entirely Afghan in nature. His country saw a record poppy harvest in 2007 that accounted for as much as 92 per cent of global opium production. Worth an estimated $4bn in the international market, Afghanistan’s opium output last year was equivalent to 53 per cent of the country’s licit GDP and another ‘shockingly high’ harvest is expected in 2008, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. True, more than 80 per cent of Afghanistan’s opium is supplied by the Taliban-controlled southern provinces but surely parts of his own country ought to fall under Mr Karzai’s jurisdiction. While the military might of the Taliban may be a factor, Kabul’s hesitancy in cracking down on opium production is also influenced by the systemic corruption plaguing the country. If drug lords sit in parliament, as many allege, is it likely that Mr Karzai will allow meaningful and decisive action against people whose support he needs to stay in power? But then this is just one of many areas where Mr Karzai’s rhetoric, if not vitriol, doesn’t quite match his actions on the ground.
Besides lining the pockets of tribal chiefs and politicians of criminal bent, the Afghan drug trade is fuelling the very insurgency that the country’s government and Nato troops are attempting to quell. By taxing poppy farmers and extorting protection money from operators of morphine and heroin laboratories, the Taliban are estimated to have earned more than $100m last year from Afghanistan’s thriving opium trade. The connection between insurgency and drug trafficking is well established not only in Mr Karzai’s country but across the world, Colombia and its narco-fuelled Farc rebels being a prime example. The Afghan president needs to sever the opium lifeline that feeds home-grown militants and has turned over a million of his people — nearly 3.5 per cent of the country’s population — into heroin addicts with little hope of recovery. He would be doing the rest of the world a favour too, particularly neighbours like Pakistan and Iran. Heroin addiction not only destroys individual lives, it shatters families and perpetuates poverty. It also fuels crime and contributes to the spread of potentially fatal diseases that are transmitted through sexual contact or sharing of needles. Afghanistan, with its monopoly on opium production, needs to get its act together, for its own benefit as well as that of others.
Opium trade was significantly cut short in taliban era (See an excerpt at the end of this post), but still bush etc. blamed them for making profit with a prohibited crop... what is their supported govt. doin now???? y cannt they reduce the production???? How come they r makin profit of all this but still are noble ppl????
Another factor that should not be overlooked is opium. During the Taliban era, opium planting was forbidden. But Aghanistan has a long history as an opium producer. The rise of the Taliban was in some way a blessing in disguise for the Vienna-based U.N. body that has been fighting for a drug-free world. In the last five years, opium production and drug trafficking from Afghanistan have been greatly reduced.
But the fall of the Taliban has given opium farmers opportunities to replant the “heavenly drug.” A farmer from Nangahar, Katib, had intended to plant his field with wheat, but has changed his mind, since the profit from opium is 15 times that of wheat.
It is no secret that opium fields are money fountains for high commanders and warlords as well. Harvest time is known to warlords as a time to fight for expanded opium territory.
http://www.worldpress.org/asia/0202tempo.htm
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