Afghanistan opts for humane approach to poppy cultivation

This is good news. Afghanistan continues to resist US pressure to institute a "Plan Colombia" style eradication program to bring poppy cultivation under control, asking donors to instead "invest in law enforcement and alternative livelihoods for poppy growers, rather than crop spraying or eradication at gunpoint."

"I think this problem can be taken care of and we will not need to reach to use force against poor farmers," Wardak said.

But he said force would still be used in "exceptional cases" against drug processing labs, as opposed to poppy growers.

Uribe should take a lesson from this, but then again the billions of US tax dollars given to Colombia doesn't really go towards fighting drugs anyway. It merely provides the cover for clandestine support of their military.