H02173
Headlines : "War on Terror"US Mercenaries Spill Blood Over Afghan Opium
“The farmers are angry with the Americans and the Kabul government,” said Ahmed Weil. “It is only the fields of the poor that are being destroyed, not the fields of the rich.” Afghans complain that wealthy warlords keep their stockpiles of opium while poor farmers are stopped from growing the crop or have their fields cut down. There are also persistent claims that farmers are spared eradication if they can afford to bribe teams, or if they share the clan background of eradicators.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]Republished from The Independent/UK
Hundreds of Afghan eradicators under the command of American private security contractors were going to head into the fields around the town and destroy the beautiful red and white blooms days before they could be harvested for their narcotic sap.
But instead of the peaceful, model operation that was promised as an example to demonstrate the Kabul government’s serious intentions, Maiwand and its surrounding villages exploded into violence in what could be a foretaste of resistance to Western-backed efforts to bring Afghanistan’s opium industry under control.
By the end of yesterday four government soldiers had been wounded by gunfire from farmers, American security contractors were said to be sheltering behind razor wire in a protected camp, and Afghan police and counter-narcotics forces had fought fierce battles which local people said left five dead. Plans to eradicate poppies were temporarily shelved in the area as political bigwigs shuttled to and fro trying to ease tensions and broker some kind of deal with the angry opium farmers.
Dense clouds of black smoke hung over the town from burning barricades, hundreds of shots rang out from gun battles, and American helicopter gunships flew low overhead.
One policeman said he had seen five bodies, but it was difficult…
Posted by ShiftShapers
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Good story.
“If they destroy my poppies, I will throw my children into the river,” he said. “If they bring the tractors, I will lie down in front of them. They will have to kill me to get into my field.” Sardar Mohammed Associated Press/Noor Khan
Afghanistan produces 87 percent of the world’s opium. An estimated 2.3 million Afghan farmers grow poppies, which can be worth up to 10 times more than other crops. Countries such as Australia, France, Turkey, and India produce opium legally under a UN licensing program (see “RFE/RL Afghanistan Report,” 1 September, 18 November, and 3 December 2004).
Mohammad Daud’s boss, Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, earlier said Afghanistan will not legalize opium production for medicinal use despite proposals to do so, AFP reported on 14 March. “We cannot just legalize it,” Jalali said. The Senlis Council, a drug-policy think tank, urged President Karzai in December to consider allowing opium production for use in medicines.