U.S. SHOULD BUY AFGHAN POPPIES
I’ve been thinking about this for sometime now, but I don’t claim it as an idea that originated with me. But since it’s gotten so little notice, I thought I’d float my strategy for ending the Afghanistan war once again.
The U.S. and or it’s allies should buy the entire Afghan poppy crop every season. We should pay them a premium price as well. The harvest could then be sold to pharmaceutical companies to process the heroin into the superior sedative and pain killer it is. This may sound like a wacky idea, but consider the possible outcomes.
1.It would deprive terrorists of the money they need to fund their crimes.
2.It would provide a stable living for farmers in the region.
3.It would help Afghanistan rebuild its economy.
4.It is a better strategy to fight drug abuse than the wasteful boondoggle known as the war on drugs.
5.I don’t have hard figures, but I bet it would be cheaper than the war on drugs and the endless occupation of Afghanistan that may never come to a positive conclusion.
6.It would go a long way to diffuse hatred of the West in the region.
These are just a few reasons. Perhaps you could think of more.
It’s time for us to jettison our outdated, puritanical ideas about drugs and fashion a hard-headed blueprint for reducing violence and drug abuse simultaneously. Americans are dying in vain. War is a dull, archaic, ham-fisted approach to problems that take more thought than brute force. It is an admission that all other avenues have failed, perhaps even before they’ve been explored.
I’m not saying that we should never use force, but it isn’t always the best or most effective choice. So c’mon, let’s think our way out of this mess rather than dig the hole deeper everyday. Buying Afghan poppies is just part of the solution, and I think it’s time that we took a serious look at how it could be implemented.
This is one of the best foreign policy ideas to be put forth regarding the Afghan war since it turned into a civil war.
It seems odd to me that our State Department, with a long history of exerting influence over remote regions of the world via CIA-executed drug trafficking , isn’t doing this of their own volition right now.
Refer to a well hidden book titled “The Politics of Heroine in Southeast Asia” for America’s history of using organized crime to distribute contraband purchased from local warlords — who just happen to be opium or cocaine traffickers — if you’re skeptical about our ability to engage in this kind of enterprise.
The policy dates back to World War II.
Your 6 points are spot-on.
Good work!
~KSG~
Thanks, Keith! I appreciate how you fleshed out the point with the historical reference. I know I’m merely an obscure scribbler, but maybe someone will see free enterprise as an antidote to more death and destruction.
Your Friend,
Tim Keim