Mission Accomplished: More Heroin For The World

The Guardian reports statistics on opium agriculture in Afghanistan:

“…the US counternarcotics mission in Afghanistan stands out: opiate production has climbed steadily over recent years to reach record-high levels last year.”

“Far from eradicating the deep-rooted opiate trade, US counternarcotics efforts have proven useless, according to a series of recent official inquiries. Other aspects of the billions that the US has poured into Afghanistan over the last 13 years of war have even contributed to the opium boom.”

“In December, the United Nations reported a 60% growth in Afghan land used for opium poppy cultivation since 2011, up to 209,000 hectares…”

“…the [UN] inspector general also noted that US reconstruction projects, particularly those devoted to ‘improved irrigation, roads, and agricultural assistance’ were probably leading to the explosion in opium cultivation.

“’[A]ffordable deep-well technology turned 200,000 hectares of desert in southwestern Afghanistan into arable land over the past decade,’ the inspector general found, concluding that ‘much of this newly arable land is dedicated to opium cultivation’.”

http://www.globalresearch.ca/afghan-mission-accomplished-more-heroin-for-the-world/5441395

If you recall, I reported much the same two years ago (in April 2013):

http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/04/why-is-the-united-states-really-in-afghanistan-2/

And we're probably staying in Afghanistan to ensure the Taliban doesn't curtail opium production again like they did back in their glory days.