TWO APPROACHES TO AFGHAN'S OPIUM

One makes sense, one doesn't.

Here's the one that doesn't make sense:

NATO Agrees to Take Aim at Afghan Drug Trade
By JUDY DEMPSEY and JOHN F. BURNS
Published: October 10, 2008
NY Times

BUDAPEST — NATO defense ministers agreed Friday to allow troops operating in Afghanistan to attack drug lords and their networks supporting the escalating insurgency in the country.

And the same article points out why it doesn't make sense:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in a recent survey on the 2008 opium yield in Afghanistan, estimated that the average income for the 500,000 families involved in the opium harvest amounted to nearly $2,000.

If we deprive the people of Afghanistan of their only source of income, we will surely drive them into the hands of the Taliban or even Al Qaeda.

THIS is the plan that makes sense:

How To Win Afghanistan's Opium War
The best way to deprive the Taliban of drug profits? The United States should buy Afghanistan's poppy crop instead of trying to eradicate it.
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, at 1:31 PM ET

The problem with Hitchen's plan is that the Taliban and Al Qaeda won't stand idly by and let a major source of income vanish:

Australian police in war against Afghanistan drug lords
Ian McPhedran
September 28, 2008 12:00am
Courier Mail
Australia

The crop generates about $1 billion for the Afghan economy, a fraction of the estimated $100 billion street value of the 780 tonnes of heroin it produces.

Stuck in the middle of this dark trade is the Afghan farmer, who can reap up to $5000 a hectare for opium poppies, compared with just $600 for wheat.

Economics dictate the terms in opium's favour, but even if a farmer considers growing alternatives, the drug lords and Taliban are standing by to terrorise and intimidate, and if necessary to kill, to maintain production.

"The traffickers will do anything to achieve their ends, so it is very difficult for the farmers," Supt Duthie said.

"There is a clear nexus between the traffickers and the Taliban to ensure crops are not interfered with."