Attacks signal end of poppy harvest in Afghanistan

Attacks signal end of poppy harvest in Afghanistan

news.yahoo.com

GHUNDY GHAR, Afghanistan – The gunfire and explosions echoing across this Taliban-infested district in southern Afghanistan on Friday signaled the end of the opium poppy harvest as militants again turned their attention from agriculture to attacking NATO and Afghan forces.

Building up resources is especially important for the Taliban this year as NATO is ramping up its latest military operation in Kandahar, the group's spiritual heartland. Military commanders have characterized the Kandahar mission as the make-or-break battle of the nearly 9-year-old war.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Well, summer is pretty much here, opium harvest is pretty much over, and its looking like its going to be a pretty bloody summer in Afghanistan once again.

Each month this year has had the highest amount of casualties compared to the years before. Im guessing this summer will be the worst so far.

If the Kandahar is the "make-or-break" as our military commanders say it is, its going to be one heck of a battle, atleast from what I see. Could this be the last couple months of the war? Problably not, atleast I dont think so, but it could be a possibility.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by buni11687


I wrote a thread on this very topic late last year 2009. In it I predicted this eventuality. Marines Engage Al-Qaeda & Taliban Militants

As far as the troop build up it really only has just began recently.
Source

Karzai is going to Washington as the 30,000 U.S. reinforcements Obama dispatched to the war continue to stream into the country. About 4,500 have deployed, with another 18,000 due to arrive by late spring and the rest by early fall. The military buildup is aimed at routing the Taliban from their strongholds, especially in the south, and bolster security needed to start development projects and offer public services so Karzai's government can win the support of residents.

Thousands of U.S., NATO and Afghan forces just finished a major offensive to oust the Taliban from central Helmand province in the south. They now are ramping up pressure on the Taliban's birthplace of Kandahar province next door.

The CIA is going to have a field day with those poppy fields.

All that black market money for their ops.

They must be jumping for joy.

It's kinda sad it's going to go to them though, I would think that the Afghan population deserve that money regardless of whether it's drug or not.

~Keeper

reply to post by SLAYER69


I was thinking the same thing the past couple months. Ive been looking at the ICasualties website, and every month this year has had a higher casualty rate than the previous years. Looking at the way some figures are double of the previous year, I can only imagine how many casualties we will see over the next couple months.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


What's even more interesting is that under the reign of the taliban opium production was practically destroyed. Makes one wonder what the real reason for the war in afghanistan is. I've read statistics that show opium production is up more than 85% since coalition forces have moved into afghanistan. There are also programs set up to try and turn the opium production into morphine and sell the morphine for legitimate uses rather than for heroin. But there's more money to be made for TPTB in the black market than legal ones.

reply to post by azrael36


Here a link to an article back in May, 2001, before 9/11 that talks about how the Taliban succeded in almost completely erradicating the opium buisness in less than a year. Article

UNITED NATIONS, May 18— The first American narcotics experts to go to Afghanistan under Taliban rule have concluded that the movement's ban on opium-poppy cultivation appears to have wiped out the world's largest crop in less than a year, officials said today.

The American findings confirm earlier reports from the United Nations drug control program that Afghanistan, which supplied about three-quarters of the world's opium and most of the heroin reaching Europe, had ended poppy planting in one season.

The sudden turnaround by the Taliban, a move that left international drug experts stunned when reports of near-total eradication began to come in earlier this year, opens the way for American aid to the Afghan farmers who have stopped planting poppies.

''We will continue to look for ways to provide more assistance to the Afghans,'' he said in a statement, ''including those farmers who have felt the impact of the ban on poppy cultivation, a decision by the Taliban that we welcome.''

Look how fast all that drastically chaged.

reply to post by buni11687


Amazing or Tragic? Ole Poppy Bush was neck deep in coc aine trafficking until after the iran/contra affair broke. Did Poppy Bush see a way to get back into the millions/billions that are to be made in the drug trade? Or is it just coincidence that within a year of lil Bush taking office that the govt found its way into afghanistan? Its fairly well known that the drug trade finances a large part of black ops budgets for intelligence services worldwide... I think the facts speak for themself in this case.

As crazy as it sounds, I wonder how long the drug money would keep flowing if you could convince the people taking the drugs that they were, in fact, paying for black ops and all sorts of illegal operations by governments.

Would be most interesting to see if that would get some to stop thier drug use, and bleed the shadow folks dry.

'tis a thought, at least..

We need to start calling this war what it really is: VIET-GHANISTAN

There is no way around it. There is no winning situation for the USA. Kharzai is corrupt. The police force is a joke... They sell all their ammunition to the taliban.

Even if the troops supposedly "won".. and the majority pulled out... What do you think would happen immediately???? Mujahideen would flood back in and reclaim it.

There is no winning scenario for the US. The only way I could see them leaving after this summer is if it's in complete and total defeat.

reply to post by FalselyFlagged


And I hear the afghan police use opium and other drugs all the time, even before and after a firefight. I hear some of them dont even show up with body armor or even their guns sometimes. Its like a mob of people that just run around, not even listening to what theyre told to do most of the time.

If we did "win" and pull out, the country would be overrun in less than a year again.

Sure we can all see this. We know all about the Black Projects money, where it comes from, how some of it is spent, and who the biggest drug dealers in the world are. This is common knowledge in these conspiracy websites, but is not yet that way in the mainstream, and the MSM still call it a "War on Drugs," along with the other code words they use to control Americans. If the complacency doesn't stop pretty soon, the rich elite will kill us all off.

Ohdear,i do wonder how the CIA will ever get funding now

There is NO winning in afghanistan. From Alexander the Great to the present day the afghanis and people of that region have fended off every attack or occupying force. There will be no victory, short of laying waste to the area with a nuclear bombardment. That is a no win all the way around for everybody and I don't advocate it or foresee it happening.

Originally posted by buni11687
Well, summer is pretty much here, opium harvest is pretty much over, and its looking like its going to be a pretty bloody summer in Afghanistan once again.

Yeah well now that they've harvested the opium for the US military maybe they can get a cut of the profits. Buy a Nintendo Wii or something. Surely that's better than fighting.

There is no winning situation for the USA. Kharzai is corrupt. The police force is a joke...

And the opium harvest just came in. And since Kharzai is on the take, and the police are too weak and ineffective to stop the opium trade or drug shipments, and probably aren't allowed to anyway. This is a win. Kharzai might be a corrupt puppet. But he's your corrupt puppet.

Didn't you hear there is at least a trillion worth of natural resources in Afghanistan? Between those, the oil pipelines and the opium you should start seeing significant returns on your investments there and in a few years you might break even.

You guys are winning all the way to the bank.


[edit on 7-5-2010 by belial259]

reply to post by belial259


"We'll start seeing a return on our investment" hahaha no my friend, TPTB will get their pockets lined as always but "we" will get what we've always gotten, the shaft!

reply to post by SLAYER69


You made a lot of predictions in different threads Slayer, and don't forget, one of them was, if I say by memory, that the offensive would succeed, but as we all see it failed..

Your next prediction is on the line, that the surge will succeed..

Let's wait and see..

Back on topic, good luck to the occupiers, they call Afghanistan the Graveyard of empires for a reason..

Originally posted by oozyism
reply to post by SLAYER69

 

You made a lot of predictions in different threads Slayer, and don't forget, one of them was, if I say by memory, that the offensive would succeed, but as we all see it failed..

I would love for you to show me and any reader here where I have made a "Prediction of an outcome" I predicted the situation.
You can start here.

reply to post by SLAYER69


I take it back, if you seriously gonna make me search for it lol..

OMGosh, I take it back hahaha

Originally posted by azrael36
What's even more interesting is that under the reign of the taliban opium production was practically destroyed.

People always cite this as proof that the Taliban were against drugs. They did destroy a lot of the fields and production while they were in power. The reason: to shorten supply and drive up the price. You see, they had warehouses full of the stuff and wanted to get the most profit from it.