Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Aide workers released and opium harvest is higher
The aide workers, all Afghanis were of no value so their release was negotiable. The news that most Afghans were waiting for came out at the same time.
Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics minister Zarar Ahmed Moqbel said that the profit from producing one hectare, or 2.5 acres, of opium rose from $4,900 last year to $10,700 this year. The area under cultivation in 2011 covered 131,000 hectares and produced 5,800 tons — up 61 percent from the 3,600 tons produced the previous year.By these numbers, the entire crop could be purchased for about $560 Million which is far less than we spend each year to stop Afghan poppy cultivation. And if we left them alone and bought all their crop each year they would be much happier and friendlier to us than they are now. And it would be much cheaper.
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