U.S. strikes on Taliban opium labs won't work, say Afghan farmers

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

#WORLD NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 2017 / 7:34 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

U.S. strikes on Taliban opium labs won't work, say Afghan farmers

Mohammad Stanekzai, Girish Gupta
5 MIN READ

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan/KABUL (Reuters) - As U.S. and Afghan forces pound Taliban drug factories this week, farmers in the country’s largest opium producing-province and narcotics experts say the strategy just repeats previous failed efforts to stamp out the trade.

U.S. Army General John Nicholson, who heads NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, announced on Monday a new strategy of attacking opium factories, saying he wanted to hit the Taliban “where it hurts, in their narcotics financing”.

Critics say the policy risks further civilian casualties and turning large swathes of the population dependent on poppy cultivation against the Afghan government.

“The Taliban will not be affected by this as much as ordinary people,” said Mohammad Nabi, a poppy farmer in Nad Ali district in the southern province of Helmand, the heartland of opium production.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-drugs/u-s-strikes-on-taliban-opium-labs-wont-work-say-afghan-farmers-idUSKBN1DN18Q

[safeinOhio]

1. Fentinayl will put them out of business

Much cheaper, easier to smuggle and stronger.