8/12/2019 Opium Production Thrives in Afghanistan as Troops Withdraw 05-01-14

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Print (http://blog.oregonlive.com/today/print.html?entry=/2014/05/opium_production_thrives_in_af.html)(http://connect.oregonlive.com/staff/oliveassocpr/index.html) By The Associated Press(http://connect.oregonlive.com/staff/oliveassocpr/posts.html) Follow on Twitter (http://twitter.com/AP)

on May 01, 2014 at 5:19 PM, updated May 01, 2014 at 5:27 PM

MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) Pink-and-white poppy blooms stret ch toward thehorizon in this field in southern Afghanistan as laborers slice open the green bulbsswollen with raw opium, the main ingredient in heroin.

The opium from Marjah, a district in southern Helmand province, likely will make its way to drug addicts in the region and the world. Helmand's harvest t his year is expectedto be one of the largest ever, mirroring trends in the rest of Afghanistan.

This year 's bumper crop, after t he U.S. has spent $7.5 billion trying to eradicate opiumin Afghanistan, repres ents one of the most tangible and visible failures as the American-led military force prepares t o withdraw by the end of this year. And with Afghanistan'semerging anti-narcotics forces vast ly outnumbered both by Taliban brokers andcorrupt officials involved in the t rade, the opium trade likely will only grow.

"Poppy is like a v irus that is already embedded in a sick body," said Ashita Mittal, actingcountry director for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Kabul. "It is goingto impact the whole economy of this country. We do believe that in the absence of thegrowth of the licit economy, the illicit economy will take over."

Last year, 209,000 hectares (806 square miles) of poppy were planted across Afghanistan, up 36 percent over the year before and producing an estimated 5,500metric tons (6,062 tons) of opium, according to the U.N. drug agency. By comparison,only a little over 7,000 hectar es (27 square miles) of poppy field were eradicated.

The 2014 harvest is expected to match or even exceed last year's record. In coming years, opium will grab an even larger share of Afghanistan's already troubled economy,as money from U.S. military contracts and aid work dries up. The U.N. estimates that

some 200,000 families in Afghanistan are involved in opium production already andthat the country has some 1 million addicts.

As a share of Afghanistan's economy, opium looms large: The U.N. estimates thepotential gross value of Afghan opiates last y ear was around $3 billion equal to 15percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Throughout the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan, it has worked with Afghan forces to try to eradicate opium a major source of funding for the T aliban insurgency. At first, t hatmeant hacking down and burning fields, though later tr oops sought to persuade farmer sto plant alternative crops. A report to U.S. Congress this week by t he Special InspectorGeneral for Afghanistan Reconstruction said Washington has spent $7.5 billion on theeffort. For a few years, opium production dropped, but as t he NATO withdrawal looms,more farmers are turning back to poppies.

For Marjah farmer Mohammad Ayub, the choice is easy. Opium poppies are easier togrow than other crops, they are easy t o convert into quick cash and far more profitable.He says he can earn 80,000 Afghanis ($7,000) growing poppies for opium on his land,

while he can barely break even planting cotton."Opium has a good income, and that is why people are cultivating it with all its

O p i u m p r o d u c t i o n t h r i v e s i n A f g h a n i s t a n a s t r o o p s

w i t h d r a w ( p h o t o s )

Afghan farmers collect raw op ium a s they work in a pop py field in Chap arhar dis trict of Jalalab ad, east of Kabul, Afghani stan, Thursd ay, May 1, 2014. This years bumper crop represents one of the mos t tangibleand visible fail ures of U.S. p olicy in Afghanistan, as the American-led military force prepares to withdrawby the end of t his year. (AP P hoto/Nisar Ahmad)

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8/12/2019 Opium Production Thrives in Afghanistan as Troops Withdraw 05-01-14

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problems," Ayub said. "We are not scared from the government, because most of theofficials have their share in the harvesting."

In Marjah, the resurgence of opium is particularly str iking because the Helmand district was touted in 2009 as a showcase of the U.S. military's "surge" strategy of drivingTaliban from the area. At t he time, the American coalition flew journalists to newly liberated Marjah to see efforts to convert poppy fields to wheat, grapes and other cropsand install a clean, competent local administration, memorably described at the t ime asa "government in a box."

In 2009, opium cultivation in Helmand by far Afghanistan's largest producer dropped by 33 percent to about 70,000 hectares (270 square miles). It continued to fall

before ticking back up in 2012. Last y ear, though, poppy cultivation surged to morethan 100,000 hectares (386 square miles), almost the same level as before the big U.S.push into Helmand.

The T aliban have not r egained the same leve l of dominance they once had in Marjah, but they are activ e enough to make the area too insecure for many governmentactivities, including poppy eradication.

In an interview with T he Associated Press, Helmand Gov. Mohammad Naeem blamedthe rise of opium cultivation on a resurge nt Taliban.

"In the areas under the control of the government the cultivation has decreaseddramatically, but in areas where t here are Taliban the cultivation still exists because theTaliban are persuading people to get more money," Naeem said.

The gove rnor also said there is resistance from local people in eradicating opium because they are dependent on its income.

While government officials generally blame the Taliban for opium production, poppy fields can be found all over the country, even in areas where the government has fullcontrol. Mittal, the U.N. official, concedes the current level of production would not bepossible without corruption and collusion at all levels of government.

"It is not exactly an invisible crop," she said.

After most international forces are gone, Afghanistan's government will face an uphill battle in stemming the resurgent opium economy especially since so many influential Afghans are profiting from the trade.

"What will be the most important thing is the political will," Mittal said.

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() Tell me again why the govt sent y oung Americans to die trying to c hange these people?

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() Just another reason to legalize all street drugs. Control the quality, control the dist ribution andthen TAX, TAX, TAX just like we do with alcohol and tobacco. All you have to do is look at thepolice blotter to find out when a new dealer takes over in a neighborhood. The fewer times thedope gets "cut" with t alcum powder the more ODs hit the ER.

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(http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/kpu7m/index.html) America war on drugs....or is it something else? The weapon of choice drugs like Heroin , Meth.

The weapons of choice in the never ending battle to control regions of the world.

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(http://connect.oregonlive.com/user/nonaffiliatednative/index.html)Oddly enough, heroin has flooded the streets of America for over a decade now, evenkilling a famous person or two along the way. Kind of like in the 80's when crack cocaineflooded the streets of America during our military involvement in Central America...it 's right out in

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