Jeb Koogler at Foreign Policy Watch passes on an interesting rumor: that Tony Blair may push for legalizing opium in Afghanistan as a way to weaken the Taliban. Jeb thinks the ploy could work:
[It] would lead to a rise of popular confidence in the government of Hamid Karzai and give many Afghanis a sense of hope that their country is moving in the right direction. Since the Taliban gains recruits and supporters by feeding off of feelings of discontent towards the national government, this could be a critical step in undermining the organization's rising influence.
How Blair expects to convince Bush of this new policy, however, is beyond me.
The Italian Premier Romano Prodi already suggested some time ago the rich nations should buy Afghanistan's opium harvest to take it out of the hands of drug traffickers, especially the Taliban. It then could be resold to pharmaceutical companies for the production of painkillers.
http://www.italymag.co.uk/2007/news-from-italy/prodi-allies-back-plan-to-buy-afghan-opium/
Get Bush to go along? Highly unlikely, given the facts:
1) Opium production was all but eradicated under the Taliban.
The Taliban is chased from power. The "World's Lone Superpower" occupies the land. Monitors movement by satellite, plane and spies.
2)Yet the last two years show record crops of opium.
Makes one wonder, how is it the opium poppies escape being hit with white phosphorus bombs to clear the crops?
Oh, that's right, we used up those bombs on Fallujah civilians.
Posted by: farang on April 16, 2007 8:10 PMPeter,
The Taliban was at war with the druglords supported by the US. The Taliban did NOT traffic opium.
Posted by: farang on April 16, 2007 8:12 PM