Afghanistan's New Jihad Targets Poppy Production

[chlamor]

Afghanistan's new jihad targets poppy production

By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Last year at this time, the southeastern Afghan province of Nangrahar was covered with pink and white poppies, producing a quarter of the nation's opium crop. This year, after President Hamid Karzai announced a jihad or holy war against drugs, Nangrahar is almost 80 percent free of poppies.

<snip>

But she points out that being a policeman in Afghanistan is nearly as tough as it is in Iraq. Some 600 Afghan policemen have been killed on duty since Karzai's election. "They weren't killed because they saw someone speeding," Ms. Müeller says. "They were killed because they are out there doing a difficult job."

Until now, Afghanistan has put much of its energy into a $100 million, US-funded carrot and stick approach. The stick is forcible eradication of poppies in key growing areas. The carrot is cash-for-work on rebuilding irrigation systems and other infrastructure.

Eradication efforts in Nangrahar may have had some success, but elsewhere it has either been delayed by heavy snows, or met with armed resistance. In the Maiwand district of Kandahar gunfire broke out between government forces and local farmers during an abortive eradication effort, led by the country's new counter narcotics task force, the Task Force 333, which is being trained by the American security firm, Dyncorps.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0516/p07s01-wosc.html

[warrens]

1. Why is it that I doubt this story in its entirety?

CS Monitor is generally very reliable. But I think they got snowed this time. I heard an interview on NPR with a poppy grower who was explaining why he couldn't be bribed to stop. First, he said that payments from the U.S. might be very nice this year, but he said, look at what they did about the Taliban. Overthrew them, then ran to Iraq and the Taliban are back. Second, he said, the narcotics traffickers would kill him.

This is just U.S. propaganda.

[chlamor]

4. I found this particularly

suspicious:
"abortive eradication effort, led by the country's new counter narcotics task force, the Task Force 333, which is being trained by the American security firm, Dyncorps."

Dyncorp is known to have been involved in narcotics trafficking. Hmmm.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Who better to teach them the trade

:shrug:

[Roland99]

2. 600 Afghani police have been killed??

Where's that been in the media?

[lala_rawraw]

3. Oh, Cheney won't like that one bit

Oh oh, time for another regime change.

[bemildred]

6. Hamid can start "holy wars"? Who knew? nt

[Alpharetta]

7. The story would be easy to verify

If the White House truly wants us to believe this story, they could release the datasets of satellite images showing the before and after of the growing areas.

Similar to the satellite images discussed in this article
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=638590