More on Afghanistan and Drugs

The Province of Helmand (No. 11 on Previous Map) in December 2005 was called by the BBC News as "the number one opium poppy producing region in the number one opium producing country in the world." Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Well, not really. Four years after the Taleban and not much progress has been made in eradicating production even though (according to the BBC) that hundreds of millions of dollars of British and U.S taxpayers money has been spent. In fact, one might state that it has gone up in smoke .

In Helmand, there has been a 10% decline in opium production. But big deal! In the next province, Nimroz or Nimruz, there has been an increase in opium production by 1,370%. According to the BBC, it is believed that the opium trade in Helmand is moving to Nimroz because this province is even more remote and weakly policed.

At town meetings in Helmand, there are questions about when the government is going to do something about alcohol and prostitution which are prohibited by the Qur'an. Area residents have been quick to point out that opium is not mentioned in the Qur'an but the Qur'an prohibits alcohol and prostitution.

To HarleyDad, this is somewhat similar to slaveowners in the Southern U.S. arguing that slavery was good for the blacks and was supported by the Bible.

Further the residents of Helmand believe that their commitment to reducing the poppy crop was conditioned upon aid and assistance that never arrived. So the bargain is broken.

Lastly, many claim that the Taleban and al-Qaeda are forcing them to grow poppy. Again this is somewhat similar to saying that "the Devil made me do it."

Mmmmm........maybe the residents of Helmand have a point after all.

One thing for sure, you can NOT expect "Mothers Against Drugs" to have a say in Afghanistan, because women are neither to be seen nor to be listened to.

Only men can have a formal education. In fact, perhaps more of them will be applying to Yale in the near future (and I thought they were an equal opportunity institution). I guess not. Well, at least they are understanding.

Where you have abandoned the concept of evil in the pursuit of understanding, it is hard afterall to make distinctions between good and bad because they are all the same.

HarleyDad