Afghanistan: Opium Poppies


	Afghanistan: Opium Poppies

Bodark

10-26-2007 12:40 PM

173 views

tags:

afghanistan, herbicides, opium, poppies, taliban, al qaida, heroin, insurgents, karzai

Bodark says:

Seems like one of those situations where we're caught between a rock and a hard spot.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/72b4d9c5-b781-4536-9d97-91bd462e2526/86983F52-8AA8-44EF-85CD-C273C618DC8B/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102607N.shtml" href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102607N.shtml" style="font-size: 11px;">www.truthout.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102607N.shtml">In 2004, U.S.-contracted aircraft secretly sprayed harmless 
  plastic granules over poppy fields in Afghanistan to gauge public reaction to 
  using herbicides to kill the opium poppies that help fund the Taliban and al 
  Qaida.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102607N.shtml">the Bush administration is pressing Karzai to spray real herbicide against 
  what's expected to be another record opium poppy crop, which is refined into 
  heroin. There's wide opposition - from Karzai and his government, NATO 
  allies such as Britain with troops in Afghanistan and even major parts of the 
  U.S. government, including the Pentagon, the CIA and U.S. military commanders.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/102607N.shtml">No matter what action the U.S. government 
  takes, it seems likely to benefit the Taliban insurgents. Opponents fear that 
  spraying would trigger a backlash against Karzai, who's already politically 
  weak, said U.S. and European officials, and deliver a propaganda bonanza to 
  the Taliban. At the same time, a great percentage of the proceeds of opium poppy 
  farming, if unchecked, will go to the Taliban.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/86983F52-8AA8-44EF-85CD-C273C618DC8B/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>