DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Taliban is losing its advantage in Afghanistan

**yatrahnualenu** · 08-29-2012, 11:31 PM

Finally the media decides to remember Afghanistan for at least one week (because Petraeus is there).

Michael Gerson - Taliban is losing its advantage in Afghanistan

When it comes to Afganistan, you can color me a big pessimist. Because if the Afgans really wanted "what we wanted" they would have damn well got it by now. How long we been there?

The fact that this tribal State has not risen from the ashes should be something we need to think about. The lack of desire among the majority throws a monkey wrench in the gears of progress.

What cha wanta bet that poppies will still be grown in vast quanities? This would be like telling the folks in northern Ca. to stop growing pot and start growing vegetables to sell in place of the more profitable weed.

With poppy being so much more profitable than any other crop, don't expect folks to just stop growing it. It won't happen.

The only way you could stop the poppy crop is to tell em to plow under the current crops, and we would pay them the market price for the poppies they plowed under. You know, like we used to do with cotton here in the South! We were paid to plow under a certain amount of acreage as to keep the prices up.

08-29-2012, 11:31 PM	#8
yatrahnualenu Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 477 Senior Member	Finally the media decides to remember Afghanistan for at least one week (because Petraeus is there). Michael Gerson - Taliban is losing its advantage in Afghanistan When it comes to Afganistan, you can color me a big pessimist. Because if the Afgans really wanted "what we wanted" they would have damn well got it by now. How long we been there? The fact that this tribal State has not risen from the ashes should be something we need to think about. The lack of desire among the majority throws a monkey wrench in the gears of progress. What cha wanta bet that poppies will still be grown in vast quanities? This would be like telling the folks in northern Ca. to stop growing pot and start growing vegetables to sell in place of the more profitable weed. With poppy being so much more profitable than any other crop, don't expect folks to just stop growing it. It won't happen. The only way you could stop the poppy crop is to tell em to plow under the current crops, and we would pay them the market price for the poppies they plowed under. You know, like we used to do with cotton here in the South! We were paid to plow under a certain amount of acreage as to keep the prices up.
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