We have already slightly touched upon this theme in a previous post, but today we offer you a unique chance to see the full process of destruction of poppy fields in Afghanistan.
The operation starts in the early morning.
It’s quite easy to find poppy fields as almost all the slopes in the vicinity of Faizabad are dotted with them.
They can be both tiny lawns with an area of a few tens meters and vast, stretching beyond the horizon grasslands.
All the policemen are well armed. They understand that growing poppies is the only income for most peasants. There were cases when a field was mined and the policemen were shot at.
A support group.
A field is destroyed in two phases. First, poppy stems are cut down with sticks. Second, a field is plowed up. According to one of the policemen, the first phase is important because it prevents peasants from replanting poppy crops.
The residents of nearby villages get involved in the work too.
Beautiful poppy flowers!
Women and children run out into the field. They cry and throw themselves under sticks. A month later, they might have reaped the harvest and sold it. For many of them this money was the only way to survive another year in this godforsaken place.
Now they have very few options. They can start to work and grow other crops, go to the Taliban or starve.
Having lost everything, many people choose the second option and join the Taliban. The latter often come to the villages after such raids and recruit new members. People in despair are ready for anything…
Here they become suicide bombers so that tomorrow revenge themselves on the police and the military men.
Before a camera, the policemen work with double diligence.
But in fact, they destroy only about half of the crops.
Don’t cry, little girl. Soon the uncle with a camera will leave and your fields will be left in peace. You’ll grow up and won’t have any other skills, except for those of how to grow poppies. After all, heroin is the only thing that Afghanistan produces.
A policeman shows how to make heroin from poppies.
To make the work easier and more entertaining, they wet a cigarette with poppy milk. The action “Bees against honey” begins.
According to some American soldiers, the current U.S. program to combat Afghan drug trafficking which focuses on the destruction of poppy fields is a “waste of money”.
“Yes, the program did destroy a number of acres of poppies, but eventually it just plays into the hands of the Taliban, because, on the one hand, it doesn’t reduce the income from the drug trade, and on the other hand, it forces the Afghan peasants dissatisfied with the destruction of their crops join the ranks of the gunmen.”
The new program aims to create such conditions in which Afghan peasants would realize that to grow other plants is more profitable.
The boy with a GPS navigator, a notebook and a camera works with the police. He makes photographs of all the fields before and after work, writes down all the coordinates. He is obliged to report back to the Americans.
The owners of poppy fields.
A tractor does its job.
That’s how the field looks after destruction.
Helicopters monitor the situation.
Then the policemen gather all the locals and lecture them about the danger of drug production. The peasants are told how they can earn money growing other crops.
The peasants sit and look at the policeman who has just smoked a “funny cigarette”. His head shakes in a strange way, his speech is indistinct. At this moment, they most probably do think that drugs are bad.
NATO believes that the problem of drug production in Afghanistan should be solved very carefully so that not to lose the loyalty of local residents. “We can’t deprive these people living in the second-poorest country in the world of the only source of income without providing them with any alternative.”
But they seem to have already been provided with the above mentioned alternative – more than half of the crops remained untouched.
In the end, the U.S. funds will have wonderful reports from the boy with the notebook which will show how bravely Afghan soldiers destroyed the poppy crops. The government will allocate another several million dollars to fight against drug production. And, in a month, local peasants will probably have a record poppy harvest…
via zyalt
exceptionally, this heroin is for good because 90% of it goes to russia.
And russian people should get what they deserve.
This is a great place for you westerners to show your true nature.
You think with all these guys eliminating the poppy, Afghanistan would have a better golf team
Americans should just use “agent orange”,thats it.
Last post of Addicteds was sad and shocking. But also very brave, as this one. And necessary. A small warning: Today the war is supposed to be against the Taliban madmen. Tomorrow would be against rich, well armed drug mafias.
I should add that tomorrow’s war would be against rich, well armed drug mafias… run by Fanatic Madmen. The US can be blamed now for letting this happen, but also the rest of an indifferent world.
Yes, you should expect the next attack in the US, Europe or Russia from a drug trafficking -and very wealthy Taliban.
Probably Russia because they tend to ignore the problem staring them in the face and continue to do business with terrorist states that are funding attacks against them. Plus their security is less effective.
At least Russia is not spending more than $400 billion to turn a country into the biggest heroin exporter in the world.
I wonder, if such saying about bees are exist en English too, or they just translated Russian one…
America is doing the same thing doing to Russia, what England did to China in 19 th century.When will Russian learn ,that westerner are bunch of power and resource hungry psychopaths.They are pack of ravaged hyenas,well groomed hyenas,but still hyenas.You can’t talk with this people,coz like every sociopath,they only understand power and violence.
A. Bunka here. When Taliban ran the country, they were very effective eradicating the poppy fields, and the farmers suffered. This anti-poppy activity was one reason why the Taliban had so little support inside the country. The USA is much less effective in destroying these fields, (is that a surprise) not because of a grand conspiracy, simply because it’s Afghanistan.
The one underlying truth of Afghanistan is: the people suffer, and, the people are simply pawns to be pushed around and used as obstacles against the opposition of the day.
We have poppies that grow in Arizona on some foothills but they’re naturally wild, or so they say.
Do they work?
I couldn’t say. I have no experience with that kinda stuff.
The hilarious thing is you could, right now, go to any garden shop and buy seeds and grow these exact same poppies in your garden. Depending on your country, of course… but in many modern countries, little old ladies have opium poppies growing in their backyards, along with daisies and roses.
Production has increased by 1000% since the Taliban lost control. (not that they are the good guys). Just a fact.
But it illustrates the fact that it’s entirely feasible to end poppy production in Afghanistan. If the Taliban could do it, what exactly is the reason that nobody else can? Corruption, greed and malevolence is my guess.
If you destroy the poppies, you are damned. If you do not destroy the poppies, you are damned.
Taliban will take over Afghanistan by summer of 2012, after significant number of US troops pulls out of Afghanistan. All of the US effort for the past 10 years will be lost.
No, our objective was to kill Usama Bin Laden and his henchmen, this has largely been accomplished, unfortunately, this fact will not help Afghanistan.
Bin Laden… and oil
Central Asia has fallen far since the end of Socialism. Afghanistan would have been a far better place (and so would all the “Stans”). Socialism brought equality and progress far faster than corrupt capitalism, which though it might somewhat lift these countries, will take generations and trillions of foreign tax dollars to do.
My friend, some days I think you sit there and smoke Afghan’s primary resource when you write this stuff. The USSR killed a million people in Afghanistan, and left a radical mess behind them.
It is listed as the eleventh worse genocide of the 20th century. How were you going to give them socialism, by killing them?
I know you read books, try: “On War” by Von Clausewitz, noted military philosopher of the 19th century. He states: ” the longer and more devastating a conflict, the more it will radicalize a society.” Afghanistan, was totally radicalized after the imperial Soviet war of aggression. After the war, no one helped them, Afghanistan was off the radar. The introduction of “socialism” resulted in a treeless landscape, a million dead, and a radicalized Islamic society in it’s wake. More recently, some politico’s credit the Muslim population of the USSR with breaking it up.
Afghanistan is hopeless, the Haiti of Asia. Give it a hundred years, maybe it will equal Nicaragua. Maybe.
Olut, that’s an intelligent suggestion, the government should buy the stuff and do what they like with it. Naturally, this being the intelligent thing to do means the government will never do it.
Afghan opium just doesn’t go to Russia, it goes around the world.
George, do you intend to pay the “compensation” to all peasants or only those who actually grow poppies? I think you will have to pay to all that are ABLE to grow poppies. Otherwise this incentive program will do the opposite.
What?? I didn’t support the Soviet’s invasion by the neo-Stalinist Brezhnev. I supported Nur Muhammad Taraki’s regime, before the Soviet’s invasion. But even a Soviet occupied AFG was better than what is there today. Remember, it was the interference by a wildcat U.S. pumping weapons into AFG that ruined the country with a war. I believe everything would have been fine w/o the war-lovers Reagan (who never fought in a war) and the senile B. Casey selling weapons around the World like the criminal V. Bout. (what’s the difference between Casey and Bout?). And tell me C.Asia is better today (I’m talking about ALL the “Stans” n. of AFG) than under Socialism? They are better places now if you’re a criminal millionaire (which all millionaires are) or a drug user.
Thanks for the book suggestion, though….
Let’s just be glad we are not living in that religious sewer. I really feel sorry for every woman in AFG. I agree with (r)evolutionist and your last 2 sentences (excluding the “payback” comment).
Imposing a democracy on a stone age culture is fruitless. They best we can expect is a dictatorship that is secular and controls the countryside and maintains order without slaughtering it’s citizen or ours
Amen to that brother. We don’t live there.
This is how hundreds of billions of dollars spent are used for. This poppy destruction “effort” is laughable. And explains why Afghanistan is the world’s main heroin supplier under US occupation. This simply, doesn’t matter. Expect drug wealthy Taliban attacks soon. Don’t say you didn’t know.
I admit, I have not been on this website in a long time, however it was joy to find it again. It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals! I cheers for helping to make people more aware of these issues. Just great stuff as per usual!Enjoy the remaining portion of the year. Your conducting a fabulous job.
Last!
You really need a life, dude.
LAST Again!
I can see that guy checking one more time in his room if he is “last”. That must be “exciting”. Pleaee, do that again.
Lasty Last Last
Do it it again. It’s fun.