Post by jeffolie on Mar 21, 2010 9:59:42 GMT -6
This is wrong: America and NATO save opium and oppose Afghans trying to destroy opium.
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U.S. ignores Taliban cash cow to appease Afghans
By Rod Nordland - The New York Times 03/21/10 at 9:45 AM
FILE - In this Monday Feb. 15, 2010 file photo, U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment advance in an open poppy field during a firefight as Taliban fighters fire on them in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration employees nosing around the base found more than two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of opium, five large bags of poppy seeds, some 50 sickles, jugs and a large scale for measuring opium. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File )
The effort to win over Afghans on former Taliban turf in Marja has put American and NATO commanders in the unusual position of arguing against opium eradication, pitting them against some Afghan officials who are pushing to destroy the harvest.
From Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal on down, the military’s position is clear: “U.S. forces no longer eradicate,” as one NATO official put it. Opium is the main livelihood of 60 to 70 percent of the farmers in Marja, which was seized from Taliban rebels in a major offensive last month. American Marines occupying the area are under orders to leave the farmers’ fields alone.
“Marja is a special case right now,” said Cmdr. Jeffrey Eggers, a member of the general’s Strategic Advisory Group, his top advisory body. “We don’t trample the livelihood of those we’re trying to win over.”
[...]
“How can we allow the world to see lawful forces in charge of Marja next to fields full of opium, which one way or another will be harvested and turned into a poison that kills people all over the world?” said Zulmai Afzali, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Counternarcotics.
“The Taliban are the ones who profit from opium, so you are letting your enemy get financed by this so he can turn around and kill you back,” he added, referring to how the Taliban squeeze farmers for money to run their operations.
Read more: dailycaller.com/2010/03/21/u-s-stops-destroying-taliban-cash-cow-to-appease-afghans/#ixzz0ipKmjE33
dailycaller.com/2010/03/21/u-s-stops-destroying-taliban-cash-cow-to-appease-afghans/
=====================================================
U.S. ignores Taliban cash cow to appease Afghans
By Rod Nordland - The New York Times 03/21/10 at 9:45 AM
FILE - In this Monday Feb. 15, 2010 file photo, U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment advance in an open poppy field during a firefight as Taliban fighters fire on them in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Two U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration employees nosing around the base found more than two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of opium, five large bags of poppy seeds, some 50 sickles, jugs and a large scale for measuring opium. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File )
The effort to win over Afghans on former Taliban turf in Marja has put American and NATO commanders in the unusual position of arguing against opium eradication, pitting them against some Afghan officials who are pushing to destroy the harvest.
From Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal on down, the military’s position is clear: “U.S. forces no longer eradicate,” as one NATO official put it. Opium is the main livelihood of 60 to 70 percent of the farmers in Marja, which was seized from Taliban rebels in a major offensive last month. American Marines occupying the area are under orders to leave the farmers’ fields alone.
“Marja is a special case right now,” said Cmdr. Jeffrey Eggers, a member of the general’s Strategic Advisory Group, his top advisory body. “We don’t trample the livelihood of those we’re trying to win over.”
[...]
“How can we allow the world to see lawful forces in charge of Marja next to fields full of opium, which one way or another will be harvested and turned into a poison that kills people all over the world?” said Zulmai Afzali, the spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Counternarcotics.
“The Taliban are the ones who profit from opium, so you are letting your enemy get financed by this so he can turn around and kill you back,” he added, referring to how the Taliban squeeze farmers for money to run their operations.
Read more: dailycaller.com/2010/03/21/u-s-stops-destroying-taliban-cash-cow-to-appease-afghans/#ixzz0ipKmjE33
dailycaller.com/2010/03/21/u-s-stops-destroying-taliban-cash-cow-to-appease-afghans/