"US backs down over Afghan poppy fields destruction"

[[R-MOD]Saobh]

The US government has conceded defeat in its attempt to persuade the Afghanistan government to begin the aerial destruction of poppy fields as part of its opium eradication strategy.

"We have decided to stop pursuing the aerial spraying of poppy fields in Afghanistan," said Thomas Schweich, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

US officials have climbed down in the face of widespread criticism from the Afghan government and other coalition partners, notably the UK.

Although attempting to destroy poppy crops from the ground can be dangerous, the Afghan government is against the use of aerial spraying because of fears about the herbicide glyphosate's effect on the environment, other smaller crops and on health.

"The United States has always indicated that we would not pursue any counter-narcotics activity in Afghanistan that did not have the full support of the government of Afghanistan," said a spokeswoman in the US State Department.

"While we believe there are advantages to using aerial spray to augment existing eradication programmes, president Karzai is on record opposing the use of aerial spray and we respect his decision in this matter."

The decision was met with widespread approval. "We agree with the Afghanistan government that the best way forward is through the building up of law enforcement, treating addiction and providing alternative livelihoods," said a spokesman at the Foreign Office.

Schweich, now touring Europe to explain the change in policy and to drum up support for other counter-narcotics initiatives, wants to "dramatically expand" the so-called Good Performers Intiative, which pays communities to finance local infrastructure if they cease poppy farming.

The thirteen provinces declared poppy free in August will each receive $500,000 (£244,000) in development assistance. Next year, this is set to rise to $1m.

The US and UK governments have allocated over $25m for the initiative. The US administration wants to go further and has already asked Congress for an additional $50m.

Schweich hopes to persuade other countries, including Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Austria to support the programme. "I hope we can get to over $100m," he said.

But the US is still committed to destroying poppy fields.

"Gound-based eradication ... will continue, but the decision on whether to proceed with ground-based spraying is still under discussion with the government of Afghanistan," said the US State Department spokeswoman.

Reducing the country's reliance on the opium trade will be difficult. Afghanistan's poppy harvest this year is expected to be 17% bigger than that recorded in 2006, according the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The country produces 93% of world's opium supplies, worth around $4bn to the Afghan economy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanista...224001,00.html

Poppy free provinces will get $500,000 in development assistance... wow I'm sure that'll make the population crazy with gratitude
Hope things will be able to step up, otherwise poppy will be growing back up quickly.

[dunkellic]

the problem with destroying the poppy fields is, that without them a lot of farmers simply won´t be able to make a living - not financially-wise - nor food-wise.
the only thing that a forced destruction of those field would bring, is more animosity and hatred against the west, for destroying the only source of income of those farmers.
so basically, what is needed, is an alternative for all those poppy farmers.
a former bundeswehr officer once held a lecture at my school. he´s now out of service and well, providing developement aid for people in pakistan, a-stan and around (most times due to earthquakes and other catastrophes) and he had the suggestion, that instead of trying to illegalize the poppy-production in afghanistan, the west should buy those poppys to use them for the production of pharmaceuticals.
right now, as far as i know, most of the controlled poppy-production - i.e. that is used for "clinical" drugs and pharamceuticals - comes from canada. if the west would abandon that source, and i´m shure canada won´t have to starve because of that, it could basically solve the poppy-problem (god i love that stylistic device...)
anyways, i know that this idea is far from perfect, for example it would have to be made shure, that the money stays with the farmers, and not with some war/drug lords, something not easily accomplished - but i think, that this idea is at least worth thinking of.

[Viper5]

"The Afghan government is worried about the health effects."

Yeah, and the fact that once the heroin money is gone they wont have so many huge bribes...

IMO let a few C130 Squadrons have a field day.

[ArmedDrunk&Angry]

There has to be a transition or there will be more violence.
Personally the whole really p***es me off because of the drug laws in this country but the reality is that amount of heroin is already on the market so why not control it instead of eradicating it ?
Dunkellic has the right idea, and I think someone else mentioned a plan for legal pharmacutical use that would benefit everyone, including the warlords.

We need the warlords because they are the government and will be for a while despite elections and what not.

This is definitely where it is better to teach a man to fish rather than give him enough for a day.

But who knows what idiot decision will come from our government over drugs ?

[TheOldDog]

Dunkellic it’s a great idea, there is a large shortage of opiate-based medicines. The reasons that it has not been done, the reasons it will never be done,

1. A shortage of a product makes it more valuable.
2. Its easier to make $1 moving one item unit that $1 moving 100.
3. As long as demand exceeds supply the market is in the hands of the seller, not the buyer. There is no market gain for sellers to alter that structure.

[SiN|ScarFace]

To destory the fields would be like burning money, literally. No business man would do that.
To burn the fields would mean the creation of more people who would fight you, which is the last thing we need.

[G.Drew]

Originally Posted by [R-PUB]Viper5

"The Afghan government is worried about the health effects."

Yeah, and the fact that once the heroin money is gone they wont have so many huge bribes...

IMO let a few C130 Squadrons have a field day.

yeh

the fact of the matter is, theres money to be made out of it

[[R-MOD]Wasteland]

Originally Posted by TheOldDog

Dunkellic it’s a great idea, there is a large shortage of opiate-based medicines. The reasons that it has not been done, the reasons it will never be done,

1. A shortage of a product makes it more valuable.
2. Its easier to make $1 moving one item unit that $1 moving 100.
3. As long as demand exceeds supply the market is in the hands of the seller, not the buyer. There is no market gain for sellers to alter that structure.

Ummm, have you ever taken economics? This only works in a monopoly situation. In a competitive market a shortage will be filled by new entrants into the market or by existing actors increasing production. Producer surplus is maximized at equilibrium, not at shortage.

[dunkellic]

Originally Posted by [R-MOD]Wasteland

Ummm, have you ever taken economics? This only works in a monopoly situation. In a competitive market a shortage will be filled by new entrants into the market or by existing actors increasing production. Producer surplus is maximized at equilibrium, not at shortage.

normal economic rules don´t apply here - after all we talk about drugs.
the cultivation is heavily regulated and controlled - there is no competition, there are near-monopolies and demand is also very controlled.

also, i doubt that anyone can underbit the afghan poppy farmers

[[R-MOD]Wasteland]

Oligarchies still operate in a competitive marketplace. Game theory comes in, but it doesn't keep people from trying to maximize surplus. There is competition between pharmaceutical companies, and therefore the demand for opium as an input. TheOldDog suggested that they would attempt to block legal opium production, but this does not make economic sense.