A PICTURE OF AN AFGHAN POPPY FARMER



[edit on 27-3-2005 by digitalassassin]

[edit on 27-3-2005 by digitalassassin]

Ever notice that "coincidentally"whatever nation we are involved with fighting at any given time, very soon after becomes the worlds nexus for whatever particular "drug" that can be grown in that area?

Consider:

During Vietnam era-Heroin was a big drug in America, which has been cultivated in Vietnam for years

During our interventions in South America Cocaine soon replaced heroin as the country's drug of choice, which coincidentaly has been grown there for years

Now we are in Afghanistan where opium poppies have been grown for years , and miraculously heroin is on the rise in America again, especially in the prison system.

Too many coincidences for me.



[edit on 27-3-2005 by 1wintermute1]

I find it interesting in the light of recent news that North Korea is manufacturing drugs to fund it's military.

There are many coincidences. It really does seem like that is what happens over and over again. Then the U.S. gets flooded with the stuff for a decade or two. Until the process starts all over again. There has to be a more effective way to fight the war on drugs.

As in other countries the actual farmer is on the lowest end of the pay scale.

An Opium poppy crop will pay better than any other crop. It is the only way he can support his family by farming. Shouldn't the governments help the farmers to switch to another crop that will let him support his family?

It seems wrong to me to let the farmers produce these crops and then start having to stop drug traffic.

But, what do I know?

So, the US courts the warlords and holds them up as model citizens for reform in the utopian la-la land that is now Afghanistan. Then they complain about the blossoming (pardon the pun) poppy crops and opiate production which is controlled and trafficked by those same warlords

You really couldn't make this stuff up

Tackle the demand problem at home and the problem will eventually go away. As a British tax payer I'd rather Tony Bliar spent money here at home instead of some backwater the other side of the world. Perhaps if the Afghan farmers were given alternative cash crops then they wouldn't resort to opiates.
Eradicating the drug crops and trafficking would also deprive some of our more shady "intelligence" units of unaccountable cash too.

My goodness the crops look so green in the middle of the desert, it looks like opium is good for that type of weather.

I remember while back that the US tried to dust the crops with poison but it was to many complains about the safety of the people, it was also some allegations that they did it anyway.

But for what I can see, it haven't stop the people from coming back and keep on growing. I wonder what else this people can grow in such harsh environment profitable enough to feed their families.

Originally posted by Britguy

You really couldn't make this stuff up

No you couldn't could you?

As for the spraying of plants that was previously mentioned, I don't know if we have done it in Afghanistan YET, but it is fact that we did it(still do?) in central, south America, and the US.

I believe paraquat was the one used for Marijuana not sure. We had a few years they were actually using it here in california, under deukmejian I think.

I read somewhere that most of american heroine is grown in mexico and colombia nowadays and that the afghan opium finds it way the european market.

So, if you have a problem with the french, don't fight the war on drugs in afghanistan, on the other hand, Iran is often used as the transit route, while the iranians kill quite a few uinauthorised drugssmugglers, do we know if there are perhaps a few "authorised" smugglers that might be granted free passage in turn for a small contribution to the sji'ite cause ?

...And how says these pentafgon funds get involved and allocated into fighting the poppy in afghanistan, maybe they reprogram it to stimulate poppy growth instead...

[edit on 28-3-2005 by Silenus]

FYI, Afghan heroin has been flowing into New Jersey for since we invaded in 2001.
The purity of this heroin is from 68 to 95%.
Heroin purity in the 70's and 80's was 14 to 20%

Prior to the US invasion of Afghanistan, the taliban had that country so tightly under control that they ranked 16th in heroin production. For the past three years they have been NUMBER ONE!
The first years crop yeiled 2.5 years worth of the total world wide market for heroin.

Paraquat spraying of Cannabis ended during the Carter adminstration because it was exposed nationally by NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). 90% of the sprayed cannabis was being cut early, and shipped to an unsuspecting US market, paraquat harms and kills humans. This is bio-chemical warfare against our own population.
During this spray operation, the columbians were allowed to spray the chemical on Califronia crops to reduce the demand in there country of the great humboldt county weed. Read that again, the US government allowed a foreign country to wage an equal bio-chem war on Califronia citizens.

Brilliant! The US government can now seize even more opium, and sell it themselves, on the streets of America for a cheap price. Killing two birds with one stone! Stop militias making money from illegal drug sales, but do it yourself! God Bless the War on Drugs!