Afghanistan Opium Policy Turnaround

On innumerable occasions, I have mentioned that the US and its allies in Afghanistan have picked the wrong fight by concentrating on opium poppy eradication. This story in slate Magazine states that Richard Holbrooke has clarified that the policy from now will be the quest for an alternative. In truth, that some distance away from the futility of trying to fight Opium and not the Taliban. The same story proves why the economics of growing opium poppy in the region makes it a very attractive activity compared to alternatives. It demonstrably has higher returns for the effort. That should not have taken five years, and more, to figure out.