Should US take all of Afghanistans Opium and call it quits?!

Should US take all of Afghanistans Opium and call it quits?!?

errr the taliban regime stamped out almost all of the opium growing after they gained power - one of the countriest biggest exports
but the west refused to acknowledge it
ah well

yes - but at street value - then they wont be so
poor .......

hmm i just noticed i invented the word 'countriest' nice!

Lets not forget about the afghani skunk strain. If we're gonna go GE we might as well use it on sumfin important

They used to do a nice line in Afghan black hashish up until the Russians invaded in the early eighties.Then it all strangely disappeared.

I thought the whole opium thing was nothing more than propaganda the first day they started reporting it in the news. Esp. when the first article I saw stated that Afganistan produces '40%' of the worlds opium, then 50%, then 60% and so forth, depending on what news item you watched. Plus 'it's estimated that the heroin stockpile is worth US$70 billion and the Taleban taxes the growers to fund their military efforts' [Cue images of shiny tanks, guns and smartly dressed soldiers].

The taliban frown on drug use but dont mind selling it to infidels to make money (kinda like jews with money lending). I think they supply something like 50% of europes herion not the worlds, tho that figure is at best a guess on the part of authorities.

The UN estimates that Afghanistan supplies 70% of the world's Opium (and therefore, much of the world's Heroin), although the reliability of this estimate is open to debate.

Although the Taliban frown upon the use of drugs, they seem to do so selectively. The Taliban implemented a ban in 1999 in accordance with the UN Convention on Drug Control and Crime Prevention, in order to improve the country's diplomatic ties to the rest of the world. However, this did not mean that Opium production was outruled completely. The regime continued to produce the product and although they did not sell it on the market, they stockpiled it (very much like the US strategic petroleum reserves).

Following the attacks, the Taliban were rather less cooperative with the UN and dramatically increased supply. The price of raw Opium on on the streets of Kandahar was around US$700 a kilo on 10 September. A week after the attacks, the price fell to US$100 because of the dramatic increase in supply.

Opium is an important source of Afghanistan's national income, much of which is used to fund the purchase of arms. Only 2.5m hectares of Afghanistan's 65m hectares of land is arable, and Opium is a product that generates an extremely high return for such a small initial investment.

Part of the reason for the shortage of food in Afghanistan is because the Taliban is choosing to grow Opium poppies rather than wheat. In a country where arable land is so scarce, this has drastic implications.

Yeah, that's basically what I'd read over[lay]. Apparently the Taliban and Al Queda jointly control most of the drug and opium production in Afghanistan, with Al Queda being allowed to have pretty much free rein on the scene to fund their terrorist operations, and the Taliban looking the other direction in return for a cut from the takings and logistical and tactical support in their fight with the Northern Alliance.

Dude, don't suppose you've been reading Economist? They've got some good articles (I think all free) on the opium issue anyway, despite you sounding pretty clued up.

I follow The Economist like a religion. The online and hard copy editions are an absolute must read for current events. The articles are self contained and always full of interesting and topical developments. Well recommended reading for everyone.

*grin* Yeah, you sounded like a pretty informed reader - I read it regularly too, using the login I scabbed from my part-time job. *smile*

What do ya do for a living, if I might ask?

I work as an Investment Analyst. I'm feeling absolutely jaded, and this has been a fuckin unproductive day. Hence the thesis on Opium. Yourself?

The USA should stop thier terrorist attacks on Afghanistan immediately and hope like hell it hasn't caused more attacks on themselves.

They've already let Bin Laden (if it was Bin Laden who orginised the attacks on the US, I dont know for sure) win by doing exactly what he wanted them to. Killing more innocent people to create more anti-america feelings, particuarly amoungst muslims.

Not entirely true, because if they do nothing - then what do they do? Sit around and wait for bin Laden and Al-Queda to build up their intelligence, resources and network, and commit further terrorist acts?

That would seem kinda stupid to me. Peace is all very well and good in principle, but when you're dealing with someone who isn't prepared to negotiate, or feels he/she is acting in a "holy" notion, it's hard to work things out peacefully.

Think of the way the terrorist activities of Al-Queda have been stepping up over the past decade. From the embassy bombings, to the attack on the USS Cole, and now killing 5-6000 people in New York and Washington? It seems like unless the US does _something_ it's likely to get worse.

Having said that, it's complicated and I don't think that they're going about things in the right way - although I do support action against Al-Queda and the Taliban (which go hand-in-hand according to most reports).

They're certainly not winning the PR offensive, and I do fear of all-out war in the Middle East, which would not be good.

Oh, and I'm a full-time 3rd year student at Vic in Wgtn (double degree, BCA in both Economics/Finance and a BSc in both Maths/CompSci).

I work part-time during the year at a small investment bank (I think my official title is "junior analyst", but I spend most of my time doing research projects of one form or another). I'll be working full-time there over the university holidays though, when I'll probably get more important (i.e. more interesting) projects to work on.

Fingers crossed, I'm not being very inspired by the finance/investment banking industry right now. :-/

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=225668&thesection=news&thesubsection=world

May be of some interest. About the CIA's involvement in the heroin.