Drugs and Afganistan

I was revising away and my brain drifted to thinking that it was probably in America's interest to have a thriving drug trade in afganistan. A quick search brought up this article. Of interesting note are the fact that the taliban had almost completely irradicated poppy cultivation back in 2001 (documented by the UN just before the bombing started) and that while growing opium contibutes 2.3bn pounds to the afgani economy it probably represents more than 54bn pounds of profit for the western countries (ie US and UK) where it ends up. Like coffee its not the growers who are making a killing... (no pun intended)

Have a read and see what you think

Kreg

The Spoils of War: Afghanistan's Multibillion Dollar Heroin Trade
Washington's Hidden Agenda: Restore the Drug Trade