The thing about a non-democracy is that they don’t encourage their people to become addicted to opioids.
That’s one of the reasons that democracy is who we are – our values is you should be addicted to opioids in a rules-based order.
AP:
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have begun a campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation, aiming to wipe out the country’s massive production of opium and heroin, even as farmers fear their livelihoods will be ruined at a time of growing poverty.
On a recent day in Washir district in southern Helmand province, armed Taliban fighters stood guard as a tractor tore up a field of poppies. The field’s owner stood nearby, watching.
The Taliban, who took power in Afghanistan more than nine months ago, issued an edict in early April banning poppy cultivation throughout the country.
Those violating the ban “will be arrested and tried according to Sharia laws in relevant courts,” the Taliban deputy interior minister for counternarcotics, Mullah Abdul Haq Akhund, told The Associated Press in Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Afghanistan is the world’s biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia. Production spiraled over the past 20 years despite billions of dollars spent by the U.S. trying to stop poppy cultivation.
But the ban will likely strike a heavy blow to millions of impoverished farmers and day laborers who rely on proceeds from the crop to survive. The ban comes as Afghanistan’s economy has collapsed, cut off from international funding in the wake of the Taliban takeover. Most of the population struggles to afford food, and the country has been suffering under its worst drought in years.
Yeah so, the US set these people up as heroin producers. Then when the US lost the war, they cut them off from the global economy – except the heroin economy. So people think they’re going to starve unless they sell the drugs.
Just remember: US is the good guys, because they are a democracy in a rules-based order of our values.
Noor Mohammed, who owns one poppy field in Washir that was torn apart by Taliban tractors, said his plot of land is small and lacks water, so he can’t survive by growing less profitable crops.
“If we are not allowed to cultivate this crop, we will not earn anything,” he said of his poppies.
Day laborers can earn upwards of $300 a month harvesting opium from the poppies. Villagers often rely on the promise of the upcoming poppy harvest to borrow money for staples such as flour, sugar, cooking oil and heating oil.
You don’t really need $300 a month living in a village in Afghanistan, unless you’re literally the only provider for a very large family. Given that people have so many kids, there’s no chance you’re going to be the only provider.
These heroin people just sound greedy, and it’s something else that the AP is making them out as victims, once again.
Helmand is the heartland of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. It appeared the new eradication campaign was targeting mainly those who planted their crops after the ban was announced. Many others who had planted earlier succeeded in harvesting, going from plant to plant, slicing the poppy’s bulb, then scooping up the sap that oozes out, the raw material for opium.
Akhund, the deputy interior minister, said the Taliban were in touch with other governments and non-governmental organizations to work out alternative crops for farmers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said the eradication campaign will take place across the country. “We are committed to bringing poppy cultivation to zero,” he told the AP.
…
Today, Afghanistan’s opium output is greater than all other opium-producing countries combined. Nearly 80% of the heroin produced from Afghan opium reaches Europe through Central Asia and Pakistan.
Seriously – the US was growing these drugs while they occupied the country. They were doing it from the beginning.
This was one of the biggest points of contention between the fake US-backed “Afghan Government” and the Taliban – the Taliban said that everyone shouldn’t be producing and distributing hard drugs.
Imagine the US painting the Taliban as “dinosaurs” because they don’t support drug addiction.
That’s a pretty cool image though. If I was the Taliban, I’d start putting “Dinoban” on merch and maybe create a cartoon series about it.
I loved that cartoon “Dino Riders.” It was created by Gerry Conway, creator of the Punisher.
It was really frustrating as a kid that you couldn’t just get this stuff on demand and actually had to figure out what time it came on TV, or convince your mom to buy you the cassette tapes. The cassette tapes were purposefully expensive, and stores would put them where children could grab them and demand their parents buy them for them. I remember my mom complaining about that, and refusing to buy me the cassette tapes I wanted because she felt it was a manipulative scheme. But my grandma would buy me a lot of them.
For whatever reason, Dino Riders was not available. I recently went back and watched some episodes of 1990s cartoons to examine the story-telling. Frankly, these shows should be taught in schools as examples of story structure. I think SpongeBob is a reason why kids today are so stupid – there is not a definite story structure to that show or any of these other post-2000 cartoons. If children aren’t going to learn anything about literature from cartoons, they should just learn ditch-digging from an early age.
I also had some of the Dino Riders toys, which were fricking awesome.
My point is: I would be happy to help the Taliban violate the copyright of Disney and Tyco Toys and relaunch the Dino Riders as a literary analogy for the Taliban fighting the American invaders. The show would help teach kids the values of Sharia Law, such as that women need to shut up because they’re stupid whores and how homosexuals should be thrown off roofs.
This could be a real competitor in foreign markets to the current Disney show about riding dinosaurs, “Gay Rimjob Dino Meth Party.”
Parents beware! This short video from a cartoon on Disney+ is another example of how Disney indoctrinate children against the biblical family to push their LGBTQ anti-God agenda on younger generations. It may seem sweet like candy, but in reality it contains poison. Families,… pic.twitter.com/kg2CIDrdYd
— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) May 28, 2022
We can run foreign ads: “100% Dino Adventure with Zero Monkey Pox! Buy Now to Stop Your Kids from Being Gay!”
If anyone knows the Taliban, tell them to give me a ring. We can start production whenever.