US announces big shift in Afghanistan drug policy

BlnBernie

01:29 PMJun 27 2009

double face america---cannot shoot taliban inside a house- cannot shoot the farmer because he is funding the taliban. cannot destroy the farmers crops (drugs) he funds the war against the usa. well it is not a police action nor a war on terror. it is putting americans in a position to be killed at the will of the taliban. at their choosing. whose side is obama on?? his old roommate in college of course. and the father he never knew. the father who loved him so much he went to live in his own country.

TheMaleBod

12:53 PMJun 27 2009

If we really wanted to make a difference, we'd end our drug war, legalize all natural substances, then produce, regulate and tax them. We're losing the drug war and funding terrorism right now. Instead, we could put people to work and end the bloody drug war.

KHOD3

12:15 PMJun 27 2009

This whole Afgan thing is crap anyway for the USA, First off it's about the Caspian gas which will be piped to India. Just so happens that they want that pipeline through Taliban country to cut out the Russians and Iran. Iraq was about the oil and oil backs the dollar so the bases are permanent. The Trans Afgan Pipeline deal was re-signed back last year financed by the Asian Developent Bank in April. The opium should be encouraged as the world needs legitimate pain killers and is short in supply. Opium is needed badly for legitimate drugs in many poorer parts of the globe. Could be a win win but the CIA and criminals are making a fortune off it shipping it through Turkish middlemen and European mafia types. Oh just the top three Italian mafia families had 3 times the profit of EXXON last year-Bloomburg.

AlfredJSenior

12:11 PMJun 27 2009

Yeaaaaaahhhhh! Instead of seeking out and destroying the offensive crops in the South of Afghanistan near the border with Iran, a program that has resulted in a 19% drop in overall production and helped us recon and control insurgent activity in the South, we are just gonna increase the budget a bit and use articulate diplomat like folks to talk those Afghan farmers into doing the "right thing" and giving up the lucrative narcotic crops that make a ton of money for them, the Taliban in their region and the Iranian government right across the border.Brilliant!

ShortSchoolBus

11:49 AMJun 27 2009

Article said: "Eradication is a waste of money," ... It doesn't take a genius to figure out that prohibition doesn't work. Statistics and our own lack of success at home should have been the first clue that this wasn't going to work in Afghanistan or anywhere else. The war on drugs is a sham.

Awoosoul

11:29 AMJun 27 2009

Here we go again, another so-called conservative heard from. Where were these so concerned fiscal conservatives when Bush was spending billions on this phony war that has brought us nothing but lives lost and for what, give me a break. Bush wasn't even including this money when they repoprted their budget and when a five-star general tried to imply how much the war would cost, he was demoted. So if you want to talk about money, bring it on.

Martintmrtn5

11:25 AMJun 27 2009

It's a step in the right direction, it will help a little. But the best solution would be to legalize the junk in this country. That would really get us to win in Afghanistan. Also it would help here. Remember the Prohibition era? We have similar problems combatting the other drugs as we had combatting alcohol. Similar increase of gangs, crime and police corruption. Sure, heroin is dangerous, but so is alcohol. And the fact that heroin is more addictive than alcohol just means that much fewer people will risk experimenting with it even when it is legalized, compared to alcohol. I sure wouldn't try it.

JBRACALE

11:16 AMJun 27 2009

I THINK SINCE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE PAY THE GOVERNMENTS WAGES WITH OUR "HARD EARNED MONEY" WE THE PEOPLE SHOUD DECIDE WHAT STIMULIS PASSES, AND WHAT IS IN THE BILLS! BETTER YET, LETS PUT THE AVERAGE TAXPAYER INTO OFFICE AND GET RID OF THESE DAMN "SPEND IT ALL IDIOTS" AND THAT INCLUDS THE PRES!!!!! TODAY ON A TV TALK ABOUT THE MEDICAL, HE SAIDIN HIS OWN WORDS" THAT IF YOU HAVE A CONDITION THAT YOU THINK SURGERY WON'T FIX THE PAIN, THE IT WOULD BE BETTER TO GO ON "PAIN P[ILLS!" NOW WHO DO YOU THINK HE IS TAKING CARE OF?? IF YOU SAID "THE DRUG CO'S" THAT WANT TO FUND 80 MILLION OR BILLION WHAT EVER IT IS, HE WANTS TO PAD THEIR DAMN POCKETS!!!!! WAKE UP AMERICA, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!!!!!!!!