We have previously discussed how domestic programs are being cut while the government pours billions into Iraq and Afghanistan. I have previously written about the waste of billions of dollars by the government without any significant discipline for government officials. We have become accustomed to reports of unimaginable corruption and waste in Afghanistan from bags of money delivered to officials to constructing huge buildings to be immediately torn down to buying aircraft that cannot be used. The common element to the stories is the absence of any reported prosecution or even discipline for those responsible. We now have yet another example of spending huge amounts of money on failed programs because no one has the guts to cut off the money. The latest example is our $7.6 billion eradication campaign for poppy fields which has proven an utter failure. Yet, no one wants to be accused of being soft on drugs — so officials sending kept spending as we cut educational, scientific, environmental, and infrastructure programs at home. It is better to waste billions than make a tough decision in government.
An oversight investigation has found that poppy plant production in Afghanistan is now at an “all time high” after our $7.6 billion counternarcotics campaign. According to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), places previously declared “poppy free” now have robust poppy production. Ten years and roughly 8 billion dollars and we not only did not eradicate poppies, we have a record production. Imagine what that money could have done in the United States. My kids have almost 40 students in their public school class in Fairfax County because there is no money to hire teachers. That apparently is not a problem but cutting off billions for a failed eradication campaign is unthinkable for government officials. After all, a few less educated kids are not alarming but a few politicians faced with tough decisions would be horrific.
Afghanistan has experienced a 50 percent increase in poppy-related proceeds from 2012 to 2013. Some of our closest allies have been accepting money from the United States while profiteering on poppy production for opium and heroin. The irony is that the CIA clearly knows this. So one branch is trying to eradicate poppies while another branch is actively helping those growing poppies. We apparently have a plan . . . its just a plan that no one can possibly understand.
The eradication campaigns have always had a dubious premise because they are fighting market forces. The annual profits from opium and other poppy-derived drugs is now $3 billion annually. There is demand and there will be supply to meet that demand. The $7.6 billion spent over ten years is just three worth of profits and this money is not all going to farmers. The result is obvious. It is not a problem traced to the views of Bin Laden. It is a problem traced to the views of Adam Smith.
Source: Global Post
Actually, the harvest will belong to the subsistence Afghan farmers who need to support families and have no interest in political philosophy. The suggestion that any American president can make a difference is laughable.
Mike – since this President paid 7.6 Billion to stop the harvest, he takes the blame.
The people have to eat. Poppies provide income. There was much talk about showing Afghan farmers how to grow other crops, producing more, getting into the world market. Their soil and conditions were very good for many different fruits and vegetables. Sadly, didn’t happen. If we legalize these drugs the Taliban may go,out of business and other crops will be necessary.
” [Thou] vicious mole of nature!” – Shakespeare (Hamlet)
As of today, I am removing myself from Professor Turley’s blog. I used to think that it was a site for smart discussion, but I have come to realize that it is just the same partisan rancor with a great dose of xenophobia thrown in.
I’ll miss some of you, but I don’t need to keep on wasting time whistling at the wind. This is no more an exchange of ideas than an unplugged computer is, as no one wants to hear the other side, regardless of what is said, and every topic becomes instantly politicized.
What Personanongrata, the Bush Biographer, said.
Thou whoreson, senseless villain! – Shakespeare (The Comedy of Errors)
“I find the ass in compound with the major part of your syllables.” – Shakespeare (Coriolanus)
Dredd – I have seen no proof you can speak Shakespeare. You can cut and paste Shakespeare insults, but that is not the same as speaking Shakespearean English.
Where ever the US government goes to war three things are sure to follow:
1. Drug trafficking
2. Arms/munitions trafficking
3. Human trafficking
Drug prohibition is a colossal failure.
Human beings have been ingesting various substances in search of an altered reality for thousands of years and all the petty authoritarian moral busybodies cloaking themselves in the patina of self-righteousness will never change that.
Back to my man because of PC the S who quoteth only himself:
“[Thou art] a fool, a coward, one all of luxury, an ass, a madman.” – Shakespeare (Measure for Measure)
BM can speak Shakespeare just like me:
One of the Bush gang is named “Poppy” …
Paul C. Schulte
It is thought that the collapse of the Afghan economy in 2001 is what caused farmers to go back to Afghans largest cash crop. And it has been growing since. Obama has not made a dent in it.
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Another precept of Ronnie Raygun.
“The republican party’s greatest power … the ability to totally forget.”
Dredd – if you did any real research of your own and had an original thought, you would realize I was correct. However, since you are incapable of either, prove me wrong.
Prove that Obama has made a dent in the opium growing in Afghanistan. Prove that it was not an economic collapse that sent the farmers back to planting their historically top cash crop.
maxcat06
Dredd – Many thanks. I do know some people whose idea of history extends either back to Reagan, or begins in January, 2009, depending on what point they wish to make.
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Yep.
They are the classified witness protection program.
It is thought that the collapse of the Afghan economy in 2001 is what caused farmers to go back to Afghans largest cash crop. And it has been growing since. Obama has not made a dent in it.
The link to the quote in my comment above is First Day of Spring 2009
Paul C. Schulte
maxcat06 – this harvest is on Obama and Obama only. Bush had no part of this harvest.
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A Saint Raygun aficionado … “the chief sacrament is to forget.”
This is the history you must repeat because you forgot it:
. Your cognition would blame one who beat the life out of a person, but left just before they died, and blame a nonstarter passer by for the mayhem.
It is basically unjust and not all the bulbs in the chandelier are operable (click youtube button)
Dredd – Many thanks. I do know some people whose idea of history extends either back to Reagan, or begins in January, 2009, depending on what point they wish to make.
Paul – You were very quick to blame the Obama administration. I know this administration didn’t eradicate the production, but you can’t tell me the last one was successful in doing so, either. That wasn’t what I have heard throughout our eradication attempts.
maxcat06 – this harvest is on Obama and Obama only. Bush had no part of this harvest.
Paul – so Bush was responsible for the last one. I mentioned Obama’s part, but some here are acting as if there was no poppy production by the end of 2008.
maxcat06 – Bush would be responsible in part at least for the harvest after he left office. After that it is all Obama. And the harvest after Obama leaves office will be his.
Be careful JT. You are exposing the narco corruption of our federal government. The lives and careers of many have been destroyed in this effort. “Kill the Messenger” is a film in theaters now that shows the career destruction of Gary Webb.
Corruption is not a liberal/conservative issue.
Of course, Mr. Morgenthau was incorrect.
“We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. And I have just one interest, and if I am wrong … somebody else can have my job. I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. … I say after eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started. … And an enormous debt to boot.”
– Henry Morgenthau, Jr. May 9, 1939