I think the AmeriKan media is smoking the stuff.
"2 killed in Afghan suicide attack; Taliban targets Defense Ministry" April 19, 2011|By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post
KABUL — In a separate development, the United Nations predicted a strong increase in poppy cultivation in north and northeastern parts of Afghanistan where insurgents have stepped up attacks after being heavily pressured in their southern strongholds by Afghan and coalition forces.
Related:
"U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer."
Also see: WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING FOR IN AFGHANISTAN
Drug Money Saving Banks
Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor
Yeah, it's Taliban, yup.
Overall, however, a report released by the United Nations said it expected poppy cultivation across Afghanistan to drop slightly this year because less of the crop, used to make opium, is being planted in the south.
Jean-Luc Lemahieu, the top official for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, said soaring opium prices is the driving force behind the planting of poppy this year....
Government eradication of opium seedlings in the coming weeks and months could leave some provinces where planting had begun to be poppy free by the fall, Lemahieu said.
What effort?
U.S. Wages Chemical Warfare on Afghanistan
U.S. Pushes For More Chemical Warfare on Afghanistan
Aren't those war crimes?
Mohammad Ibrahim Azhar, deputy minister of counternarcotics, said 12 police officers had been killed and 44 wounded in eradication efforts since Feb. 23.
--more--"
Related: U.S. to Cease Chemical Warfare on Afghans
They said it was a waste of money.
