Afghanistan is the worlds #1 exporter of opium, it has been an opium production country prior to the US invasion, however since the Taliban took over in 1994 they lead a campaign to stop Afghans from growing and exporting opium, this was a success and by 2001 opium poppy cultivation was very low: The US has invaded Afghanistan and opium cultivation sky-rocketed and generally kept increasing year by year. Now you might think that the US has nothing to do with it, but when you drive out the Taliban obviously people will go back to growing opium. And there's also evidence that the US assists Afghans to grow opium and to provides them with security. [video=youtube;56XpRyNkf6w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XpRyNkf6w[/video]
I have to admit that I'm confused by the info you provided.My understanding is that the Taliban received enormous revenue from the sale of opium and this was in part how they were able to fund their military. You on the other hand claim that the U.S. has inadvertantly increased opium production by driving out the Taliban. Tell me...where did you get your facts from?
"In July 2000, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, collaborating with the United Nations to eradicate heroin production in Afghanistan, declared that growing poppies was un-Islamic, resulting in one of the world's most successful anti-drug campaigns. As a result of this ban, opium poppy cultivation was reduced by 91% from the previous year's estimate of 82,172 hectares." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_production_in_Afghanistan#cite_note-13 I have already provided the evidence, ever since the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, opium fields grew from almost zero to 75,000 hectares within 1 year, and to nearly 200,000 hectares by 2007: source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Afghanistan_opium_poppy_cultivation_1994-2007b.PNG#filehistory
Yah it is funny to watch him squirm. Now we have driven out the Taliban. According to Mikael/Israel/SolarProducts, jut a couple of threads ago, the US was losing to the Taliban. I'm sure he will be back to that story line soon enough. He is incapable of honesty, though if he were to label this thread honestly, he would point out that the Taliban, who in 2000 declared opium production and consumption unislamic, are now the worlds largest producers of Opium out of desperation to raise funds to combat coalition troops including the US. What he is really saying is, these so called "Islamic soldiers" would do anything against Islam if it meant a shot at beating the Coalition. Murdering of innocents, consumption of bacon, sex with their children, consumption of alcohol, eating during Ramadan, ANYTYHING. What he is really saying is that the Taliban are the most anti-islamic people on the face of the planet.
@Mikael Normal operating procedure for coalition forces is to gaurd the poppy fields until such time as they can be destroyed.These soilders are doing gaurd duty to help eradicate the opium production.
No, but they arent the ones doing the farming and opium sales. That would be the Taliban. Here are some charts and video, provided by YOU that state exactly that. Are you claiming the US has defeated the Taliban? Are you claiming the video in your own post was wrong when it stated clearly the Taliban are the worlds leading opium producers? Were you lying when you stated the Taliban declared Opium production and consumption to be against Islam? One is left with only one conclusion. The Taliban, knowing and believing in their hearts that Opium production is against Islam, are actively engaged in antiislamic activities. Every Muslim who reads about this should join the holy war against the Taliban, who are bringing shame to Islam.
Afghanistan is now a US protectorate, and opium cultivation has flourished under it. Of-course the US military is not growing anything themselves, they get the poor Afghans to do it for them. It was partially wrong. If the Taliban grows opium and sells opium to finance their operations, then that is something you need to give evidence for, and I will gladly accept that they do. But that doesn't mean the US is not in this trade, it just means the Taliban is involved too. Just for the record, I'm not for Taliban. I believe there's a policy of not burning down these fields, but to protect them, not sure if this policy has been changed now.
So the Taliban have been defeated? Right! It was only accurate talking about how the US protects farmers crops, not how the Taliban is the number one producer of Opium. If the article was only half right, why present it? What if people only remember the part that is a lie, and not the part that is not? Seriously, genius, do you just make this stuff up as you go along? Why do I need to get evidence? You provided the evidence. I see you are now trying to say the evidence you provided is no good, but seriously, you are a moron if you expect to be able to cherry pick a story you present, claiming only some parts of it are true. Besides, the fact the Taliban is the worlds largest opium producer is commonly known and reported. Terrific! Go the extra distance and call for Muslims to rise up against them. They are, after all, a blight on the name of Islam! They are arriving in your home country of Qatar as we speak! You should organize the protest! Oh, and stop hitting yourself. [video=youtube;_CFzCBbOXKc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CFzCBbOXKc[/video]
"I believe there's a policy of not burning down these fields, but to protect them, not sure if this policy has been changed now."-@Mikael Protect them from what,the Taliban wanting to harvest them for opium production?
In many parts of the country. Yes, as you saw the reporter gave his evidence for that bit. I don't apologise for only accepting information backed by evidence. There's no evidence in that article that Taliban grows and sells opium. My home country?. Must be the home country of the famous guy that everyone is accusing me of being.
/Sigh. Why can't you just take some friendly advice, and stop hitting yourself. [video=youtube;_CFzCBbOXKc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CFzCBbOXKc[/video]
So the Taliban has been defeated ? This is good news. So according to Mikael the Taliban has surrendered. The US Army is running the Opium trade. So Karzai is not running Afghanistan . My goodness Mars attacks !
Why don't you provide evidence for the allegations you make against the Taliban. Karzai is an installed puppet that is probably profiting from the heroine trade along with Americans. As for the Taliban, they have been defeated in parts of the country, but are still there actively killing foreign troops.
It's all very strange. Opium is allowed to be grown legally in many countries such as Australia, India and Turkey but is judged to be illegal in Afghanistan. The World Health Organization has estimated that current production of opium would need to increase fivefold to account for total global medical need. Pretty easy step to make to allow Afghanis to grow the crop legally and thus remove the stigma. Unfortunately some people's prejudices don't allow them to see that the opium plant in the end helps many people through daily life, even via the humble codeine tablet to relieve a headache. As the worlds biggest consumer of opium derived prescription medicines, the US would benefit most.
When you stop hitting yourself! Seriously funny stuff posting links to evidence while asking for evidence. I'm thinking your parents dropped you on your head a few too many times growing up.
The thing about opium production in Afghanistan is the people literally have no choice. They either grow it or their families starve to death, there is nothing else worth growing, there is no option B. That's why these farmers have resorted using the Taliban for protection, because it's a life or death situation.
It isn't quite as simple as that. Other crops could be grown, but they simply aren't as profitable as Opium. Mind you, the Taliban takes the lion's share of the profits, but even after, Opium is still more profitable to grow. And then there is the Taliban, who mandate the growing of poppies. In other words, if the Afghanis don't grow poppies, the Taliban respond with murder. Islam, according to the Taliban, has everything to do with extortion, murder, and use of illicit drugs. Strange how you don't see Mikael complain.