The Horrors of Subsistence Farming in Afghanistan

Apparently, after having their country destroyed by war, the people of Afghanistan have resourcefully decided to produce the only thing they can to make money and reconstruct their lives. The only problem is that these poverty-stricken farmers had the gall to grow something in their own country that we in our decadent wealth do not ideologically approve of. Despite the fact that this crop is the only thing feeding children and working to improve the horrible conditions in the nation, we will not tolerate it. Behold the destructive evil of this plant:

British officials point out that the Afghan economy is booming, that three million refugees have returned home and that four million children are in schools. But yesterday's report reveals that the engine of economic growth is opium production. Last year Afghanistan exported 87 per cent of the world's supplies. Opium is now the 'main engine of economic growth and the strongest bond among previously quarrelsome peoples.'

Damn you opium! How dare you bring people together peacefully and help to improve the lives of poor farmers and their families. After all, if your children are to live to be adults, you might have to indirectly provide some junkie waste of life in England (who would have gotten some heroin no matter what) with a slightly cheaper fix.

As stated eloquently by another blogger:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that the trade is also fueling many problems for Afghanistan. Narco-trade is helping to foster widespread corruption, political instability, gang violence, and possibly some hefty smuggling profits for Taleban militants in western Pakistan. So the answer is… to escalate a violent conflict to keep Afghanistan’s only cash crop traded completely on the black market?

The genius of this tactic is so striking it seems almost absolutely ridiculous.

So, the bottom line is that since our government has made it such a high priority to stop spoiled, hedonistic, addict morons in our countries from doing what they will most likely do anyways, it becomes necessary to destroy the lives of Afghan farmers by destroying their only means of subsistence and thereby choking the life out of their recovering economy and starving their families.

Oh but let's justify this atrocity by stating that Afghanistan is on its way to becoming a "corrupt narco-state", since every country that produces something we don't like is automatically "corrupt". Also, it would probably serve the interests of the Afghan people and the world if we could spend millions and millions of dollars trying to destroy opium crops, fail miserably and only decrease production by at most 10%, and in the process force the entire trade onto the black market, creating corruption, extensive criminal networks and warring opium cartels. Then we can starve children, induce the rise of warring factions, and undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan government by breeding corruption. Keep in mind, this is all worth it. Now those damn junkies will have to pay $1 or $2 more every time they get high.

It is always good to see that our government is willing to destroy the lives of poor, honest, hard working foreigners in order to (fail to) protect morons in our country from destroying their own lives. Here's a good, catchy line for Bush & Blair's awesome new policy: KILL THE FARMERS, SAVE THE JUNKIES (from themselves).