Afghanistan: High on Opium!

The troops from Western countries, including Australia, are in Afghanistan. People continue to be killed and unrest is widespread. The population has lost any faith it might have had in the Government and even the President won't venture out of Kabul because it isn't safe to do so. War lords are still in powerful positions around the country.

If all of that weren't bad enough, the NY Times today reports:

"Afghanistan’s opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing an increase of almost 50 percent from last year, the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said Saturday in Kabul.

He described the figures as “alarming” and “very bad news” for the Afghan government and international donors who have poured millions of dollars into programs to reduce the poppy crop since 2001.

He said the increase in cultivation was significantly fueled by the resurgence of Taliban rebels in the south, the country’s prime opium growing region. As the insurgents have stepped up attacks, they have also encouraged and profited from the drug trade, promising protection to growers if they expanded their opium operations."

Read the full piece here. The question which Australians should ask is why our troops are being sent into Afghanistan. For what purpose and to what end?

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