Back in 2000 - 2001 with the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, opium poppy production was nearly eradicated. It was such a sudden phenomenon that it took the world by surprise:

The chairman of the Central Asia Institute at Johns Hopkins, Frederick Starr, said the West, especially Europe, had been inexplicably slow in recognizing developments in Afghanistan. “The reduction is probably the most dramatic event in the history of illegal drug markets, not only in scale, but also in the fact that it was done domestically, without international assistance,” he said. He added that Europe, where most Afghan heroin was consumed, had been ‘’stunningly dysfunctional” in helping Afghan farmers who have sacrificed livelihoods and in moving to prevent new fields from springing up in other poor countries.”

The UN touted the Taliban’s success in the spring of 2001:

“A new tour of Afghanistan’s poppy-growing areas by UN officials has confirmed that there is almost no cultivation in Taliban-controlled areas this year.”

No doubt it put a real crimp in the CIA’s black budget.

The fascists subsequently pulled 9/11, and the Taliban were offered “either a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs”, meaning an ultimatum to submit to foreign dominance or else. The US invaded and we’ve been involved in a war of occupation for almost eight years.

Funny about the opium poppy production ever since - about every year it’s a record harvest - Read this: Afghan poppy crop harvest sets another record

Funny also that the mightiest military in the world backed by hundreds of billions of dollars can’t quite manage to stem the record opium poppy harvests like the ragged Taliban managed to do back when.

Not only that, according to the US occupiers all of a sudden it’s the Taliban who’s profiting from the opium production now:

“NATO has failed to stem the vast opium trade in Afghanistan that helps finance Taliban insurgents despite an eight-year effort, the top US military officer said on Thursday.Countering narcotics networks is crucial to weakening the Taliban and allied insurgent groups, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate hearing.”Strategically my view is it has to be eliminated,” Mullen said.”We have had almost no success in the last seven or eight years doing that, including this year’s efforts,” he said.Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world’s opium, the raw material for heroin across Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East while cash from the trade helps insurgents buy weapons, according to officials.”

Let’s just re-cap this argument… (1) Taliban takes control, opium production goes to nothing. (2) US takes control, opium production soars to all-time highs. Therefore, it’s the dirty Taliban bastards that are causing this.

If you believe that, there are some really nice little wars you might like to finance, too.

Major portions of the preceding came from here.

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