wader wrote:
Most of the news from Afghanistan has been bad lately. But there is one unequivocal success. A bumper crop of opium poppies -- in fact, it's the largest crop in the world.
In the months before 9/11, the United Nations was able to report that opium production in Afghanistan had been wiped out --- not by outside forces, but by the religious conservatives in the Taliban, who simply jailed any farm caught growing poppies. It was against their religious principles.
But after we kicked them out, the Taliban --- showing a remarkable ability to adapt --- revised their principles. The opium trade turned out to be ethical, after all. And today, 93% of the world's opium come from Afghanistan ... earning the Taliban 100 million dollars just last year.
I guess they weren't such religious zealots after all?
Most of the news from Afghanistan has been bad lately. But there is one unequivocal success. A bumper crop of opium poppies -- in fact, it's the largest crop in the world.
In the months before 9/11, the United Nations was able to report that opium production in Afghanistan had been wiped out --- not by outside forces, but by the religious conservatives in the Taliban, who simply jailed any farm caught growing poppies. It was against their religious principles.
But after we kicked them out, the Taliban --- showing a remarkable ability to adapt --- revised their principles. The opium trade turned out to be ethical, after all. And today, 93% of the world's opium come from Afghanistan ... earning the Taliban 100 million dollars just last year.
I guess they weren't such religious zealots after all?
