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Afghanistan opium production continues to grow

High quality heroin is flooding the streets of London and an announcement by a British parliamentary committee is said to be pending. It will come as no surprise to our readers that they will announce the major source country of this drug, Afghanistan, has returned to near-record levels of opium harvesting. The committee points out:

The Taliban had cracked down on poppy growers, but the regime's fall led to an increase in production and this year's harvest will be the largest since the October 2001 invasion.

The evidence mounts that large areas of Afghanistan returned to the control of warlords, who command militias of up to 10,000 men, which are paid for by the profits of the illegal heroin trade. The pundits predict this will bode ill for Tony Blair, "as he cited the supply of heroin as one of the justifications for the invasion, in addition to removing the Taliban regime and rooting out al-Qaida training camps run by Osama bin Laden."

Here in the US, Bush and his minions continue to insist in the face of these facts to the contrary that life is better for the Afghanis since we "liberated" them. One wonders if the indigenous residents of the country think they are better off with their entire infrastructure blasted to smithereens by a liberating force that immediately left them virtually alone to deal with the rampant violence of warlords fighting for territory.

The situation is so bad, in a rare move, Doctors Without Borders pulled their people out of the country this week.

Officials from the international aid group said the decision is a response to the killing in June of five staff members, the danger of further attacks, and its frustration with both the U.S.-led coalition and the Afghan government.

The impoverished natives unfortunately don't have that option and must continue to live under these abysmal conditions. Is it any wonder they protect the al-Qaida rather than throw their lot in with the few remaining US forces?

[Hat tip to Ben Masel]