http://www.opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html

In the story about the UN-witnessed near-eradication of opium in 2000; and US skepticism, there is also this weak allegation:

" Western diplomats in Pakistan have suggested the Taliban is simply trying to drive up the price of opium they have stockpiled. The State Department official also said Afghanistan could do more by destroying drug stockpiles and heroin labs and arresting producers and traffickers.

Frahi dismissed that as "nonsense" and said it is drug traffickers and shopkeepers who have stockpiles. Two pounds of opium worth $35 last year are now worth as much as $360, he said."

http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/2/0/1/4/1/p201416_index.html

or click on signature.

The one fact seems to be that the world did have stockpiles of opium in 2000 when the Taliban banned poppy cultivation, because the effect on the price peaked only in 2003.

"Abstract:

In September 2000 the Taliban government of Afghanistan imposed a complete ban on the production of opium, the dominant world supplier to the illegal heroin market. This sudden and unanticipated cutback in Afghanistan’s opium production in 2001 initially appeared to be the shot that was not heard around the world that year. There was no discernible supply side response, i.e., no other country increased production of heroin substantially and no new producer entered the market. There was little indication of substantial decline in consumption in 2001. Only a few regional markets saw price increases. Instead it appears that there was sufficient inventory to meet existing world demand and it did indeed enter the market.

However a longer-term analysis yields a notably different picture. The effects of the cut-back persisted long after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Opium prices in Afghanistan peaked not then but only in January 2003. Correspondingly, there are signs that in Western Europe, the consequences were felt only in 2002 and 2003. Just as inventory depletion dampened the initial effects of the cut-back, so rebuilding inventory may have prolonged those responses.

This paper traces the effects of the ban, primarily through changes in prices and purity, in order to improve understanding of the workings of the global heroin market. It does this by examining the episode in statistical detail and interpreting the results in terms of the economic theory of illegal markets."

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/561/context/archive

"The Bush administration has given Afghanistan $43 million including $10 million for “other livelihood and food security programs,” a reference to the ruling Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation that dramatically changed the economy of the war-torn nation......Colin Powell, in announcing the gift, said the administration hoped that the Taliban "will act on a number of fundamental issues that separate us: their support of terrorism, their violation of internationally recognized human rights--especially their treatment of women and girls--and their refusal to resolve Afghanistan's civil war through a negotiated settlement." He also called on other nation's to join the U.S. with “dispatch and energy.”"

The DEA confirms the UN findings re: poppy ban by Taliban.

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n904/a07.html

and I thought it was our cultural promiscuity, godlessness, Transformers II, and bad satellite TV programming.

I always get why they hate us all jumbled up for some reason and forget that it's our freedom that they hate. Must be our "freedom" to keep dropping bombs on their poor heads and houses that's got them all ticked off.

http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?&act_id=1594&menu=11d

posted here before, I think.

One of the main points is that perhaps the international community should let Burma and Afghanistan join Turkey and India as producers of licit opium.

I find it perplexing that in your historical description of the issues in Afghanistan I do not find references to pipelines, Unocal, Bridas, BP Amoco Argentina, failed negotiations with Taliban, "carpets of gold or carpets of bombs", Caspian basin resources, and other incidentals that have a lot more to do with current US involvement than any of the "learned historical" details that you provide.

If you have covered these topics then forgive me for my ignorance.

Any attempt to relate US involvement during the Soviet Invasion and today's US actions is, at best, futile and, at worst, misleading.

What did I tell you all about the New York Times earlier today? Hm? NYT = Prop-a-gan-da. "Pravda on the Hudson."

So anything you read in there, especially about Glenn, has been filtered through the censors to put the best light on the government and the Party.

It's their job.

Say no more...

Dis yo see the recent piece on PBS about the poor tribal children in Afghanistan being used to take drugs across the border to Pakistan.

Thanks for bringing more attention to the McClatchy News. Democracy Now and McClatchy stand out as two pillars of integrity in the soon-to-be forgotten art of journalism.

Should be interesting to see if these two stars can rise and fill in the dark void left by WahPoo and the NewYorkSlimes.

And, while you're there, don't overlook the slide show.

Whoa.

Read my middle finger.

however, that I am even having to tell you that is pretty lame.

Kidding or not, I think it's evidence of the latter of your two proposals. ;-}

Isn't it strange, just to get back to the subject of the article, that so many can with nothing more than a computer and an Internet connection can come up with so much information than the so called journalist can not seem to find and report on. You wouldn't think that they thought it was there job to find facts, report truth and hold the government to account. Somewhere the idea that the writers of the constitution though the press (now the media) was the only thing standing between the people and a dictatorship.How really hard was it to come up with all the factual information that has appeared in this thread alone and the people who claim to make a living reporting the news are so easily outdone by private citizen. Unfortunately most people don't have the time or inclination to dig that deep when it is supposedly already available. How do you get the idea across to the average person t5hat they are really on their own and the so called professionals are pikers leading them down the garden path with their excuses.