-Caveat Lector- maybe acing-president bush could get back the $43 million dollars he gave the taliban, a scant 4 months before sep 11, for being our partners in the war on drugs. -- --------- ---- ------- ----- ----------- --------------------------- Complete liberty of contradicting our opinion is the very condition which justifies us in assuming its truth.
John Stuart Mill NEURONAUTIC INSTITUTE on-line: http://home.earthlink.net/~thew > From: Bill Richer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: Conspiracy Theory Research List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002 16:14:17 EST > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [CTRL] Afghans not likely to curb opium > > -Caveat Lector- > > http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=26374 > > WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! > > > STRATFOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATE > Afghans not likely to curb opium > Despite promise meant to placate international donors > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > -- > > > Editor's note: In partnership with Stratfor, the global intelligence company, > WorldNetDaily publishes daily updates on international affairs provided by > the respected private research and analysis firm. Look for fresh updates each > afternoon, Monday through Friday. In addition, WorldNetDaily invites you to > consider STRATFOR membership, entitling you to a wealth of international > intelligence reports usually available only to top executives, scholars, > academic institutions and press agencies. > > > © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com > > Afghan leaders have promised to curb the country's opium trade, once banned > under the Taliban. The measure is less about stopping the drug flow than it > is about placating international donors and undercutting rival warlords. The > lone bright spot for the country's farmers is that a loophole allowing > small-scale cultivation will bring them a measure of relief. > > Echoing an earlier decision by Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai, local > provincial authorities promised Jan. 31 that government tractor brigades will > uproot opium poppies now growing in southwestern Afghanistan under a > "forceful" eradication campaign, according to the Associated Press. The > campaign comes amid news reports that poppy farming is flourishing in > Afghanistan after being banned by the Taliban in 2000. > > It is extremely unlikely that local leaders intend to make a serious effort > to cut Afghanistan's lucrative opium production. Rather, the announcement is > meant to placate international donors and will only be selectively enforced. > Ultimately the ban will contribute to further infighting in the country, as > leaders allied with the interim government but in some cases still > connected to the opium trade themselves use the cover of "drug enforcement" > to destroy their rivals' fields. > > Economics and history argue that the opium ban will be selectively enforced, > if it is enforced at all. Afghanistan supplies about 70 percent of the > multi-billion dollar global opium trade. International drug cartels won't > easily allow their supply chain to slip away, and poppy cultivation is simply > far too profitable for many Afghans to ignore. > > Numbers vary, but the United Nations estimates that Afghanistan's opium > production brought about $250 million into the country in 1999. This is far > less than the roughly $900 million a year the country is scheduled to receive > in foreign-aid pledges, but it also comes with far fewer strings attached and > is not distributed through Afghanistan's central government. And drug money > is guaranteed income while aid pledges can be rescinded. > > Control over opium production hasn't been confined to any specific ethnic > group or leader. Notable poppy growers from the past include Ahmed Shah > Masood the former Northern Alliance commander who was assassinated just > before the Sept. 11 attacks and current Pushtun strongman Hazrat Ali. > > The new interim government itself is not free of drug-connected officials > either. Recently appointed Kandahar governor Gul Agha, whose spokesman made > the eradication announcement, has been linked to the opium trade, according > to London's The Observer. His home province of Kandahar was one of the > largest sources of poppies in Afghanistan during his earlier rule as governor > in the early 1990s. > > Agha also reportedly has ties to Ayub Afridi, a convicted drug lord who > served a short jail sentence in the United States. Afridi was recently > released from a Pakistani jail and moved back to Afghanistan to work with > anti-Taliban forces, according to the London Times. > > Paying lip service to an opium ban, however, will result in generous > dividends for local leaders. It will placate the international community for > a little while and allow aid dollars to keep flowing into the country. The > United Nations and other organizations will have a difficult time > field-checking the ban, as much of the countryside is too dangerous to send > out scores of inspectors. And concealing poppy plants among ordinary crops > will make satellite detection more difficult. > > Allies of the Afghan government can also use the ban to undercut rival > warlords by destroying their opium fields with the international community's > blessing. Some particularly crafty warlords may even be able to squeeze some > drug-eradication funds out of the United Nations or other international > agencies. The violence and retaliation that will result will discredit and > possibly destabilize any central government in Kabul. > > The one bright spot for Afghanistan's civilian population is that the interim > government appears willing to allow small farmers to grow opium legally. This > is vital relief for some of the country's rural population, which has seen > most of its irrigation systems and large-scale farms destroyed by years of > warfare and drought. > > The new law allows that "medicinal amounts" of opium may be freely sold in > quantities under two pounds, the Associated Press reported. An Afghan farmer > working a small piece of land can only produce a few pounds of opium at a > time, and a few acres of opium can bring up to five to eight times the price > of traditional crops like wheat. > > The opium law is a political tool that will be used for personal gain and > internecine rivalries. But it might relieve some of Afghanistan's human > suffering. > > > > *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, > any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use > without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest > in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational > purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] > > Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! > Write to same address to be off lists! > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER > ========== > CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic > screeds are unwelcomed. Substance?not soap-boxing?please! 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These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
