UK and Aussie troops will not fight opium in Afghanistan
{{date|February 23, 2006}}
[[Image:8651819 d63dee249d o.jpg|right|200px|thumb|raw opium seized in Afghanistan]]

Colonel Gordon Messenger, commander of the [[United Kingdom|British]] forces in Southern [[Afghanistan]], has said that troops under his command will not be engaged in the fight against {{w|opium}} cultivation. "There will be absolutely no maroon berets [of the marines] with scythes in a poppy field," he said.

The [[United Nations]] has reported that a "fear that Afghanistan might degenerate into a narco-state is slowly becoming a reality." 

[[United States|U.S.]] State department officials and the {{w|Central Inteligence Agency|CIA}} claim that Afghan drug trafficking is a primary source of funding for terrorists. Doug Wankel, a former Drug Enforcement Administration official who is point man for the U.S. counternarcotics initiative at the American Embassy in {{w|Kabul}}, said the opium industry is "financing terrorism. It's financing subversive activities. It's financing warlordism. ... And if it's a threat to the government of Afghanistan, it's a direct threat to the national security interests of the United States."

[[Australia]] recently committed 200 extra troops to Afghanistan. {{w|Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister}} [[John Howard]] has said that they also will not be involved in destroying opium poppies. "Well, dealing with that is overwhelmingly the responsibility of the local authorities," he said. 

[[Image:Papaversomniferum.jpg|left|200px|thumb|opium poppy]]

A 2005 U.S. State department report warned that Afghanistan is becoming a "narcotics state". Afghan hectares in opium cultivation has increased by 50% since the coalition invasion; up from an average of 67,000 prior to the invasion (1998-2001), to an average of 97,000 since the invasion (2002-2005). The last year under the [[Taliban]], 2001, saw production of 185 metric tonnes; in 2005 production was 4,100 metric tonnes.

Afghanistan produced 87% of the world's opium in 2005 with 104,000 hectares in production.  [[Hamid Karzai|President Karzai]] has blamed the coalition for this situation, "This particular operation (controlling opium production) was supposed to be done by an agency, a department that was funded by the international community, by the United States, by Britain. The failure is theirs, not ours." Karzai said. "Where international money and creation of forces for destruction of poppies was concerned, it was ineffective and delayed and half-hearted." Karzai is opposed to aerial spraying which was proposed by the United States, as is done in other drug producing regions of the world, because of what Karzai called "health concerns".

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations stated 2 months ago that early reports indicate "there will be an increase in poppy cultivation in 2006".

== Related news ==
*{{wikinews|title=Australia sends more troops to Afghanistan|date=February 21, 2006}}
*{{wikinews|title=Karzai blames U.S. and Britain for increased opium production|date=May 23, 2005}}
*{{wikinews|title=2005 Afghan opium harvest begins|date=May 3, 2005}}
*{{wikinews|title=Report finds Afghanistan is on the verge of becoming a narcotics state|date=March 5, 2005}}
*{{wikinews|title=U.N. reports Afghan opium production is up again|date=February 11, 2005}}

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=279572006
|title=UK troops will not destroy poppy fields
|author=Kim Sengupta
|pub=The Scotsman
|date=February 23, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article347129.ece
|title= British Army helpless as Afghan drug crop doubles
|author=Kim Sengupta
|pub=The Independent
|date=February 23, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.pm.gov.au/news/interviews/Interview1783.html
|title=PRIME MINISTER THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE HON. BRENDAN NELSON, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
|author=Transcript
|pub=Prime Minister of Australia Newsroom
|date=February 21, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://www.csdp.org/news/news/pb_english_2005_december_05dec12.pdf
|title=UNMA Press Briefing
|author=Transcript
|pub=United Nations
|date=December 12,2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/afg/afg_survey_2005.pdf
|title=Afghanistan Opium Survey 2005
|author=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
|pub=Gov. of Afghanistan
|date=November 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/printout/0,13675,501040809-674806,00.html
|title=Terrorism's Harvest 
|author=Tim McGirk
|pub=Time Asia
|date=August 2,2004}}
*{{source|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/18/world/main656576.shtml
|title=Karzai: Don't Spray Our Poppies
|author=
|pub=AP
|date=November 19,2004}}
*{{source|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-10-26-opium-afghanistan_x.htm
|title=Rise of drug trade threat to Afghanistan's security
|author=Gregg Zoroya and Donna Leinwand
|pub=USA Today
|date=October 28,2004}}

{{publish}}
{{archived}}

[[Category:Australia]]
[[category:Oceania]]
[[category:United Kingdom]]
[[category:Afghanistan]]
[[category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:Asia]]
[[Category:CIA]]
[[Category:United Nations]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Drugs]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:John Howard]]
[[Category:Hamid Karzai]]
[[Category:Opium]]
raw opium seized in Afghanistan

Colonel Gordon Messenger, commander of the British forces in Southern Afghanistan, has said that troops under his command will not be engaged in the fight against  cultivation. "There will be absolutely no maroon berets of the marines with scythes in a poppy field," he said.

The United Nations has reported that a "fear that Afghanistan might degenerate into a narco-state is slowly becoming a reality." 

U.S. State department officials and the CIA claim that Afghan drug trafficking is a primary source of funding for terrorists. Doug Wankel, a former Drug Enforcement Administration official who is point man for the U.S. counternarcotics initiative at the American Embassy in , said the opium industry is "financing terrorism. It's financing subversive activities. It's financing warlordism. ... And if it's a threat to the government of Afghanistan, it's a direct threat to the national security interests of the United States."

Australia recently committed 200 extra troops to Afghanistan. Prime Minister John Howard has said that they also will not be involved in destroying opium poppies. "Well, dealing with that is overwhelmingly the responsibility of the local authorities," he said. 

opium poppy

A 2005 U.S. State department report warned that Afghanistan is becoming a "narcotics state". Afghan hectares in opium cultivation has increased by 50% since the coalition invasion; up from an average of 67,000 prior to the invasion (1998-2001), to an average of 97,000 since the invasion (2002-2005). The last year under the Taliban, 2001, saw production of 185 metric tonnes; in 2005 production was 4,100 metric tonnes.

Afghanistan produced 87% of the world's opium in 2005 with 104,000 hectares in production.  President Karzai has blamed the coalition for this situation, "This particular operation (controlling opium production) was supposed to be done by an agency, a department that was funded by the international community, by the United States, by Britain. The failure is theirs, not ours." Karzai said. "Where international money and creation of forces for destruction of poppies was concerned, it was ineffective and delayed and half-hearted." Karzai is opposed to aerial spraying which was proposed by the United States, as is done in other drug producing regions of the world, because of what Karzai called "health concerns".

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations stated 2 months ago that early reports indicate "there will be an increase in poppy cultivation in 2006".

category:Oceania
category:United Kingdom
category:Afghanistan
category:Politics and conflicts
Australia Europe Asia CIA United Nations Crime and law Drugs United States North America John Howard Hamid Karzai Opium