Saturday, September 2, 2006

Afghanistan Opium Harvest: Highest Levels Ever Recorded

286161.jpg"Afghanistan?s opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing an increase of almost 50 percent from last year, the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said Saturday in Kabul," reports Carlotta Gall in Sunday's edition of The New York Times."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," the article continues. ... ?This year?s harvest will be around 6,100 metric tons of opium ? a staggering 92 percent of total world supply. It exceeds global consumption by 30 percent,? Mr. Costa said at a news briefing. - rawstory

Mike Ruppert, a conspiracy theoriest and former LAPD narcotics officer, says the US economy rests on the massive international drug trade controlled secretly by our government. That assertion makes it interesting that we invaded and continue our military presence in Afghanistan, yet drug output is at an all time high. Could we just destroy the fields? What is our stated mission over there? The DoD lists conternarcotics as one of several goals and says it is working with the Afghan government on this. Our military mission also includes farming:
"By supporting land titling efforts, development of irrigation and other infrastructure ... we will help the Afghan agriculture sector raise its productivity and provide viable livelihoods to rural families." - dodmission

Is some of our military help with agriculture accidentally benefiting the poppy crop? One wonders.

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