What do you think of this fact about Afghanistan?

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Total U.S. spending on poppy eradication and other anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan in 2004: $780 million

Amount that it would have cost to simply purchase Afghanistan's 2004 poppy crop: $600 million

[Wilms]

1. I think they want the poppy market to do it's thing.

And sure. Make a few bucks on "eradication" programs, too.

[TheFarseer]

2. Sounds like our money is not being spent very wisely

but why should that surprise me?

[mikelewis]

3. That would be immoral...

Of course, torture, unprovoked war and inciting millions of people to committ premeditated murder.... mmmm, those issues are a bit less cut and dry.

[TahitiNut]

4. It's a simple choice. The 'cost' can go to corporations or to people.

Guess which one they picked? :eyes:

[serryjw]

5. Talk about total Bushit!

The Taliban eliminated the poppy crops..The CIA brought them back because that is the money they used for their 'dirty tricks'. They need the money from the sale of of Opium

quote......
Opium production had all but been destroyed by Afghanistan´s Taliban regime. Poppy cultivation, according to the UN, plummeted from 80,000 hectares in 2000 to little over 5,000ha in 2001. But in 2002, with the renewed interest of ISI, production was back to between 40,000ha and 60,000ha, according to the UNDCP. This is a weak indication of US agencies have brought ringing poppy growing and heroin manufacturing spill over to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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http://www.tanzeem.org/resources/articles/article.asp?id=87

[serryjw]

6. Here is a better explaination

quote......
In the 1960's and 70's, as the Vietnam War raged, the CIA fostered and maintained a series of covert wars in Laos and Cambodia. They did this by funding their operations with heroin, refined from opium grown by indigenous tribesmen including the Hmong in Laos. The Hmong, in turn became surrogate U.S. armies and the money from the trade supported the CIA and its allies as the region became totally unstable. In the years since, the only difference is that drug money has become a $500-600 billion a year cash flow that is now an essential part of the world banking and financial system because it provides the liquid cash necessary to make the "minimum monthly payments" on huge stock and derivative and investment bubbles in the U.S. and Britain. These bubbles were already bursting in the weeks prior to the September 11 attacks.
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