Help stabilize Afghanistan: Legitimize poppy production


Regarding the Aug. 11 article, Stronger US role likely in Afghanistan: The tragic effects of the conflict between NATO-led forces and the Taliban insurgency are being felt across Afghanistan.

Research by ICOS has shown that as long ago as November 2007, the Taliban had a permanent presence in 54 percent of Afghan territory. This figure can only have risen during 2008. Taliban attacks this summer have been widespread throughout rural and urban areas, and key roads are now held by the insurgents.

The usual response of increasing troop numbers and changing command structures is only half the answer to this problem. Long-term, developmental solutions are required to win over the hearts and minds of Afghans who remain wary about international involvement in their country.

Effective counterinsurgency means addressing Afghanistan's illegal opium production – which continues to fund the Taliban – without harming the farmers for whom poppy cultivation is their livelihood.

The poppy for medicine model developed by ICOS would see the licensing of poppy cultivation for the local production of morphine, a medicine that is undersupplied on a global scale.

This would allow farmers to continue selling poppy at a very competitive rate, while being incorporated into the legal national economy.

Only by providing an environment in which the Afghan people can enjoy the fruits of legal employment and genuine democracy will the international community be able to claim victory in Afghanistan.



Paul Burton, Director of Policy Analysis, ICOS


http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0814/p08s04-cole.html