Poppy Power

Afghan farmer in poppy field.

And their other brother Muqrin has been named Crown Prince.

The eradication of poppy fields should be seen in this larger context.

Putting pressure on the poppy farmers in Afghanistan alone will not solve the problem.

Considerably more assistance needs to reach farmers directly as a disincentive for poppy cultivation.

Thanks to its Anti Narcotics Force, Pakistan was a poppy free country.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has undertaken a rapid assessment survey of the poppy planting trends, to be published shortly.

But destroying poppy crops has been turning Afghan farmers against NATO.

We have also communicated our agreement to take up a pilot project on community development to wean farmers away from poppy cultivation.

In terms of cultivation eradication, around 5,100 hectares, or 5 per cent of the total crop, have been eradicated.

As for the issue of drugs, we welcome the counter narcotics measures recently taken by Kabul, which helped to reduce opium cultivation this year.

The Alliance has promised to see the job through. So if it abandons the job now, leaving the country to poverty, prejudice, and poppies, what then will happen?

So it is smarter to go after the heroin bosses and their foreign networks, and in the meantime buy the poppy crop from farmers to destroy it.

Indeed, the international community s methods of fighting the insurgency and eradicating poppy crops have actually helped the insurgents gain power.

10. Welcomes the efforts of the Transitional Authority to respect fully the international obligations of Afghanistan with regard to narcotic drugs, and calls upon it to strengthen further its efforts to eradicate the annual poppy crop

If active intervention on law enforcement coupled with effective alternative livelihoods assistance is not provided on an urgent basis, they may return to cultivating poppy.

This agreement includes including collaborating or not with the Taliban, cooperating with the Coalition forces, accepting or refusing poppy eradication in a village.

Their only means of survival was to accept the leadership of local chiefs connected with drug trafficking and to take up poppy growing, which was highly labour intensive.

Also, much of the money needed to buy arms in Afghanistan originates, in one way or another, from poppy cultivation and the burgeoning drug trade, which in itself creates a market for arms.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had reported that 75 per cent of the opium consumed in Western Europe came from poppy crops in Afghanistan.

Both of them live at the confluence of public health and enterprise, and both of them, because they're manufacturers, create jobs directly, and create incomes indirectly, because they're in the malaria sector, and Africa loses about 13 billion dollars a year because of malaria.

Poppy cultivators who willingly submitted poppy seed to the authorities were given support for alternative cash crops under the New Destiny Project launched in April 2002.

Afghanistan is NATO s great test. The Alliance has promised to see the job through. So if it abandons the job now, leaving the country to poverty, prejudice, and poppies, what then will happen?

26. Notes with interest in this regard the decree issued by the Taliban in July 2000 imposing a total ban on opium poppy cultivation, and calls upon the Taliban to implement fully this decree

Mr. Al Enezi (Kuwait), referring to the reports of the Secretary General on international cooperation against the world drug problem, eradication of illicit crops and alternative development, said that his delegation noted with concern that cultivation of opium poppies had increased.

It has been suggested that implementation of this commitment, together with falling prices (resulting from the large supply in 2004), brought about a decline in poppy planting in areas where production has been traditionally high.

It appears that the provincial led campaigns were relatively more successful than campaigns carried out by the central government forces. The latter met with resistance from poppy growers in some areas, resulting in casualties on both sides.

The aforementioned drop in planting has resulted in a substantial rise in raw opium prices, from less than 100 per kilogram in October 2004 to more than 180 in March 2005.

11. Calls upon the international community to assist the Transitional Authority in the development and implementation of comprehensive, coordinated programmes aimed at eliminating illicit poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, including through crop substitution programmes and capacity building for drug control

With particular regard to Afghanistan, mercenaries fell into several categories, including those working for private companies, those in the pay of warlords, and those involved in drug trafficking in the highly lucrative illegal poppy cultivation market.

Nor will they be blamed who came to you for transport , to whom you said I cannot find any means of conveyance for you , and they went away in tears , grieving that they lacked the means to spend ( on carriage ) .

Nor against those who humbly present themselves before you in order that you provide them a mount , and receive an answer from you that I do not have any beast to carry you and so they turn back with eyes overflowing with tears , due to the sorrow that they could not find the means to spend .

neither against those who , when they came to thee , for thee to mount them , thou saidst to them , ' I find not whereon to mount you ' they turned away , their eyes overflowing with tears of sorrow , because they found nothing to expend .

Nor on those who , when they came unto thee that thou mightest mount them and thou saidst I find not any animal to mount you on , turned back while their eyes overflowed with tears for grief that they could not find ought to expend .

Nor ( is there blame ) on those who came to you to be provided with mounts , and when you said I can find no mounts for you , they turned back , while their eyes overflowing with tears of grief that they could not find anything to spend ( for Jihad ) .

Nor on those who approach you , wishing to ride with you , and you said , I have nothing to carry you on . So they went away , with their eyes overflowing with tears , sorrowing for not finding the means to spend .

Nor can there be any cause for reproach against those who , when they came to you asking for mounts to go to the battlefront , and when you said that you had no mounts for them , they went back , their eyes overflowing with tears , grieving that they had no resources to enable them to take part in fighting .

Nor unto those whom , when they came to thee ( asking ) that thou shouldst mount them , thou didst tell I cannot find whereon to mount you . They turned back with eyes flowing with tears , for sorrow that they could not find the means to spend .

Nor is there any blame on those to whom , when they came to you to provide them with a mount , you said , I do not find any mount for you , and they turned back , their eyes flowing with tears , grieved because they did not find any means to spend .

Nor shall those who came to you to be provided with mounts . And when you said ' I can find no mounts for you ' they turned back , their eyes streaming with tears grieving that they could not find the means to spend .

Nor is there blame upon those who , when they came to you that you might give them mounts , you said , I can find nothing for you to ride upon . They turned back while their eyes overflowed with tears out of grief that they could not find something to spend for the cause of Allah .

Those who come to you , ( Muhammad ) , asking to be taken to the battle , but you cannot find the necessary means for them , are exempt from the duty of fighting for the cause of God , even though they leave you with their eyes flooded with tears because of not being able to help the cause of God .

Nor in those who when they came to you that you might carry them , you said I cannot find that on which to carry you they went back while their eyes overflowed with tears on account of grief for not finding that which they should spend .

Nor does any blame attach to those who came to you to be provided with mounts , and when you said , I can find no mounts for you , they went back , and tears welled up in their eyes with sadness , since they could not find any way to contribute .