Taliban’s Massively Successful Opium Eradication Raises Questions About What US Was Doing All Along

Zero Hedge is reporting that "In April of last year, the ruling Taliban government announced the prohibition of poppy farming, citing both their strong religious beliefs and the extremely harmful social costs that heroin and other opioids – derived from the sap of the poppy plant – have wrought across Afghanistan. It has not been all bluster."

"New research from geospatial data company Alcis suggests that poppy production has already plummeted by around 80% since last year. Indeed, satellite imagery shows that in Helmand Province, the area that produces more than half of the crop, poppy production has dropped by a staggering 99%. Just 12 months ago, poppy fields were dominant. But Alcis estimates that there are now less than 1,000 hectares of poppy growing in Helmand. Instead, farmers are planting wheat, helping stave off the worst of a famine that U.S. sanctions helped create."

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