-Caveat Lector-
Probably the real truth of this is that there is a lot of money to be made by
stateside people in the the trafficking of drugs and that money is being threatened.
It is a real catch 22.
On Tue, 26 June 2001, Yardbird wrote:
>
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> Taliban Twists Shrub With Poppy Politics
>
> Bush's Opium Bender
>
> http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0125/ridgeway.shtml
>
> In its dealings with Afghanistan, the Bush administration has inherited a
> real catch-22. On the one hand, the White House needs to get rid of the
> terrorist Osama bin Laden, who is sheltered by the ruling Taliban. On the
> other, it wants to continue the global war on drugs--a campaign in which the
> internationally shunned Islamic extremists have become an unexpected ally,
> slapping a ban on growing the poppies that provided 75 percent of the
> world's opium supply.
>
> Now Bush is in the ungainly position of favoring the Northern Alliance, a
> Russian-backed resistance group that funds its efforts in part by
> trafficking in narcotics. ''The basic problem is that the U.S. so far has
> failed disastrously in Afghanistan, and for a decade has had no policy
> toward Afghanistan other than bin Laden,'' says S. Frederick Starr, chair of
> the Central Asia--Caucasus Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced
> International Studies. ''It is legal under U.S.-led UN sanctions to send
> arms to the Northern Alliance, which is actively exporting drugs, but
> illegal to send arms to the Taliban, which has stopped drug production.''
>
> In eradicating poppies, Afghanistan shut down a market with a total
> production value of $100 billion. The Taliban received relatively little of
> that money, with annual revenues during the 1990s of $10 million to $75
> million, but farmers could still bank on a crop worth five times as much as
> conventional rice or wheat.
>
> Starr argues that if the UN fails to loosen the strictures against
> Afghanistan, the Taliban may let farmers plant poppies again rather than
> allow other countries like Pakistan and Myanmar to jump in. The Taliban has
> no standing with the UN, which has given Afghanistan's seat to the Northern
> Alliance. So far, the Taliban leaders' biggest role in the world economy has
> been supplying the raw material for drugs. ''And without Western, U.S., and
> UN leadership,'' Starr says, ''it will not change.''
>
> Afghanistan's poppy growers are having an especially rough time of it
> because a drought is compounding the difficulty of switching to other crops.
> This year, the U.S. allocated $120 million in aid to Afghanistan, including
> $43 million in food aid during the month of May. Assisting the Afghan
> people, says Charles Fairbanks, a former deputy assistant secretary of state
> under Bush and Reagan who now teaches at Johns Hopkins, is the only moral
> choice. The U.S. helped create the mess there when it sided against Russian
> invaders in the 1980s, giving the impression we'd be around to help with the
> consequences, too. Aid now ''is a matter of honor,'' Fairbanks says. ''They
> fought on the American side and the side of the administration in the last
> battle of the Cold War, and we just abandoned them. There is something not
> right about that.''
>
> <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
> ==========
> CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
> screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
> sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
> directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
> major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
> That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
> always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
> credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
>
> Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
> ========================================================================
> Archives Available at:
> http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
> <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
>
> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
> <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
> ========================================================================
> To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
> SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
> SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Om
"Welcome to the desert of the real." Morpheus, in The Matrix
"My God it's full of stars!" Dave Bowman, in 2001: A Space
Odyssey
Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping!
http://www.shopping.altavista.com
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
