U.N. Finds Afghan Opium Trade Rising

[struggle4progress]

Source: Washington Post

By Colum Lynch
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 27, 2008; Page A11

UNITED NATIONS, June, 26 -- Afghan opium poppy cultivation grew 17 percent last year, continuing a six-year expansion of the country's drug trade and increasing its share of global opium production to more than 92 percent, according to the 2008 World Drug Report, released Thursday by the United Nations.

Afghanistan's emergence as the world's largest supplier of opium and heroin represents a serious setback to U.S. policy in the region. The opium trade has soared since the U.S.-led 2001 overthrow of the Taliban, which had eradicated almost all of the country's opium poppies. The proceeds from the illicit trade are helping finance a resurgent Taliban that is battling U.S. and allied troops.

The Taliban earned $200 million to $400 million last year through a 10 percent tax on poppy growers and drug traffickers in areas under its control, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime, said in an interview. He estimates that Afghan farmers and drug traffickers last year earned about $4 billion, half of the country's national income.

Afghanistan's high-yielding variety of opium poppies has helped double global opium production since 2005. With production far outpacing world demand, U.N. anti-drug officials and government intelligence agencies worry about massive stockpiling of the drug. "There will be two or three thousand tons of extra supply this year," Costa said ...

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062601813.html

[WilyWondr]

1. How does this make any sense?

1. When the taliban controlled the country they had almost completely eradicated the opium production in Afghanistan.
2. We invade/remove the taliban from power and now the opium trade is supporting the taliban?

That just makes no sense.

We(CIA) are the ones increasing the opium production in Afghanistan....big surprise. We did this in Vietnam, Columbia and we were doing it in Afghanistan in the 80s. This is and has been a very convenient way for the CIA to raise money to do all of those nice things they do all over the world. :crazy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Production_in_Afghanistan

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cia+opium

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Mission Accomplished." - Commander AWOL

"We like to propagandize it as a -SMIRK- 'serious setback' but it's actually a 'serious neocon advance.' I mean, we have to keep the drugs and massive cashmoneybuck profits flowing to fund our occult republicon black ops, of course. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[raystorm7]

3. This is gonna be damn near impossible to reverse anytime soon in our generation =/