@DCGoldPants Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 So, I run home for lunch and I'm flipping through the cable news channels. 2 things stood out to me. 1. Everybody has ads on each others networks. On MSNBC is was an Ad for Anderson Cooper. On CNN is was an ad for CNBC. Too funny. 2. Right now there seems to be an issue over there with the growth of the Opium producing industry. Turns out that the Taliban for all the evil that they did....they keep the industry down. Since their fall and the current state of Gov't mixed with Warlord rule........its back and stronger than ever (they say). They've tried paying farmers to NOT grow it....but then another farmer starts because either they'll be paid off also...or make mad loot from the harvest. The question is...........who is making the money here? They haven't been able to trace most of it. On the edges of Afghanistan, there is a problem on people being paid off to help get the drug processed and out of the country. Warlords and Military from both the Afghanistan and Pakistan side are being bought off. So...............do you all think the money is going to Al-Queda/Other Terrorist Groups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 If it is, we should stop it. Is Opium illegal in Afghanistan? If it's not, I dont see how the US can complain about their farmers acting like Capitalists. We need to do a better job of stopping it from entering the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 Side note: They also spoke about the problems with hunting Bin Laden. Its mostly locals who are trying to pay off those who live in and around the mountain ranges for information. However.....with no luck. The Pakistan military haven't really had a large amount of troops there in a long time and they don't know the land that well. There was some fighting last week. But no progress in over 6 weeks. Back to the Opium. I don't think its illegal per say....because their Gov't isn't really up and running. The US tells them to stop....they pay off the farmers...the farmers might still grow. Its gets sold and part of the profits go to the border towns who are hiding Bin Laden and Al-Queda from us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 I dont see any problem with us paying off the farmers. Nor would I have a problem with us burning the fields if we discovered the profits were aiding terrorists. But if they are selling it legally and not using the profits for terror, I dont see how or why we would try to stop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 They don't know where the bulk of the $ is going. I think that's the main concern. But if you don't know......I guess in that region...you assume the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 I'd agree with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbooma Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 reminds me of the cocoa plants in bolivia and what a disaster that was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Prior to the Taliban, Afghanistan was Europe's primary supplier of opiates. In essence, they were (and likely are again) to Europe and heroin what Colombia is to the US and cocaine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiebear Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 I was going to say: If the Taliban was keeping it down what must it be like now. I thought it was 2nd only to terrorists on the exports... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted March 5, 2005 Author Share Posted March 5, 2005 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7090585/ it's back................... Afghanistan now nearly 'a narcotics state' White House report cites record opium cultivation The Associated Press Updated: 9:48 p.m. ET March 4, 2005 WASHINGTON - More than three years after a pro-U.S. government was installed, Afghanistan has been unable to contain opium poppy production and is “on the verge of becoming a narcotics state,” according to a presidential report. The report said the area in Afghanistan devoted to poppy cultivation last year set a new record of 206,700 hectares, more than triple the figure for 2003. The Afghan narcotics situation, “represents an enormous threat to world stability, said the report, issued Friday. It listed opium production at 4,950 metric tons, 17 times more than second place Myanmar. Opium poppy is the raw material for heroin. The massive study, covering the illicit narcotics situation in 2004 in virtually all countries, was transmitted to the Congress by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on behalf of President Bush. Colombia remains a major drug country, the report said, despite impressive progress against narcotics trafficking. Colombia's efforts praised It credited Colombia’s public security forces with preventing hundreds of tons of illicit drugs from reaching the world market through interdiction, spraying of coca and poppy crops and manual eradication. The United States has been a major counterdrug partner of Colombia, having contributed billions of dollars to the effort since 2000. Colombia is the source of over 90 percent of the cocaine and 50 percent of the heroin entering the U.S. the report said. It is also a leading user of precursor chemicals and the focus of significant money laundering activity. In Afghanistan, the United States military deposed the Taliban government in November 2001, and President Hamid Karzai has been in charge since then with strong American backing. “Dangerous security conditions make implementing counternarcotics programs difficult and present a substantial obstacle to both poppy eradication efforts by the national government and to international efforts to provide related assistance,” the report said. Also contributing to the situation is the destruction resulting from 25 years of conflict, the lack of legitimate income streams, and the limited enforcement capacity of the national government, the report said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomerics Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 My guess is it is going back to the Taliban. Yep, they are comming back. Before where they were attacking in small forces of 10-15, they are now going after us in groups of 100-150. They are taking control of townships outside of Kabul and trying to base their operations of attacking coillition forces from these locations. They are also bribing young Pastun men to go and fight alongside them. THey are arriving at weddings in Pakistan, then giving the family motercycles to bribe the men to fight along side of them. Well, they have to be getting the money from somewhere, my guess is from the increased opium production. Do we think it is above the Taliban to use drug money to fund a terrorist operation? I sure don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TODD Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 I guess we're finally going to be forced to outlaw poppy seed bagels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baculus Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Some folks think it is tied to the CIA - dn't laugh, there have been stories about the CIA's involvement to the Asian opium trade for years. Even Ross Perot, when he was conducting research for MIA's in Asia, remarked to a member of the adminstration at that time on the ties that he kept discovering between black ops, the CIA, and opium in the region. In fact, more than one military officer and/or oprative has come out and stated as much to this alleged connection. http://users.lycaeum.org/~painter/DARKALLIANCE/ciaheron.html There is strong direct evidence between CIA and cocaine - Olly North even admitted to such connections - so it isn't a stretch to believe that they may have a hand, somewhere, with opium as well. After all, if they really wanted to stop it, wouldn't they have done so by now? The opium trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, and someone is growing, manufacturing, moving, and profiting from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 i could have sworn the US was helping to fund the Taliban, because they were anti-drug.... obviously women's rights and anti-terrorism weren't nearly as important back then. and the drug trade is the most profitable way for a farmer to feed his family in afghanistan. just like in colombia. people can't afford to live by growing other crops, so they turn to drugs. so we destroy their crops (or pressure govenments to take these measures) making them even more desperate... what do they do next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riggo-toni Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Originally posted by AJWatson3 i could have sworn the US was helping to fund the Taliban, because they were anti-drug.... obviously women's rights and anti-terrorism weren't nearly as important back then. Yup! Under Ashcroft's direction we sent tens of millions of dollars to the Taliban just months before the 9/11 attacks to thank them for shooting all their drug farmers/dealers. :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 it's sad how we pick our poison and it came back as 9-11. we chose drugs as the biggest evil and we were wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 We sure were. Let's learn from our mistakes and do the correct thing going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 Originally posted by Kilmer17 We sure were. Let's learn from our mistakes and do the correct thing going forward. which is? Somebody needs to head this off at the pass before the people who are selling this stuff, are also ruling the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 if we want to be successfull we need to focus on demand, not supply. edit: ...focus more on demand than supply... i for one lean libertarian in those regards, so those educated know where i stand on the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Originally posted by AJWatson3 if we want to use our heads we need to focus on demand, not supply. edit: ...focus more on demand than supply... i for one lean libertarian in those regards, so those educated know where i stand on the issue. Dingdingdingding. We have a winner. Legalize it and tax the everliving crap out of it. Make it a mandatory life sentence for anyone trying to blackmarket it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 make Heroin legal? where? here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilmer17 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 agreed, and i wouldn't just stop at heroin which is the extreme of all illegal drugs along with crack. and just because i support legalization doesn't mean in the slightest that i would EVER use those substances. with drugs being legal they would be controlled just like food, tobacco, alcohol in this country. quality would go up making it safer for the consumer (no laced stuff, poor chemical makeups, etc...) and the country could use that tax-money to fund a gazillion new pork-barrel policies.... or we could put it to good use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 wow. ok then. I guess we'd be cool with things getting a lot worse before they got better then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted March 7, 2005 Share Posted March 7, 2005 why would you assume worse? it's just a different approach. and the way this drug war has escalated and been an incredible failure across the board i can't believe more people don't support a new way of dealing with drugs anyways. the only way you are happy with the whole thing is is you are in the military-industrial complex and get to supply foreign governments with weapons and vehicles to combat... plants and the people who plant them, or if you are in the prison industry and you profit because there are millions of good, productive people being jailed. why would you assume worse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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