Poppy production in Afghanistan has never been as high as it is these days as it is the only crop that seems to be able to survive in the war destructed country. Evidently the colossal amount of money that a small amount of opium fetches is the only and most lucrative industry that flourishes despite the war. All efforts by the American have proved to be merely symbolic in nature as the increased production of it continues despite all odds. Apart from the money that the militants receive for the passage of Nato goods inside Afghanistan, which makes up for the biggest source of revenue generation for the Taliban, drug money becomes the second largest source that aids insurgency in Afghanistan.
Amazingly, no US strategy has worked in curbing the growth of this industry that is one huge factor why counter insurgency operations have not yielded desired results. The US former envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrook, too had envisaged that it was rather essential to break the narco-state in Afghanistan or “else all will fail”. All else it seems, has been leading to failure in Afghanistan as the militants are still enjoying strongholds in Afghanistan and operate with impunity to launch legion attacks to target highly securitized areas in the Afghan heartland. That surge after surge of US troops hardly achieved the objective set to defeat the militants or to weaken them to an extent that to deal with them from a position of strength would be the best means of attaining peace.
According to poppy growers, the produce this year has been very less due to bad weather conditions, thus resulting in the further skyrocketing of its price. This provides an incentive to other small scale farmers to grow poppy as the increasing rates allow them to survive in relative comfort considering a kilo of opium can easily be sold for US$ 300 by the Afghan farmer. This was something that ought to have been looked at by the US for being inextricably linked to the insurgency. Strangulation through curbing this deadly industry would have been a much bigger blow rather than killing each and every single militant. Why the US strategies have failed so miserably in Afghanistan is still an unanswered question. With the amount of money flowing in the region, one would have expected development and industry to have flourished, but the only thing that thrives in Afghanistan is incompetency and corruption.
PROFESSOR KABIL KHAN
Peshawar