Good, tough-minded editorial in the London Times on the increasing shambles in Southern Afghanistan. Read the whole thing, and see how it concludes:
“Nato has a hard enough fight on its hands without also arousing hatred by immediately eradicating opium poppies which are close to being Helmand’s sole source of income. Nato would be wise to be imaginative in a battle that cannot be won without a better strategy, one that may need to include licensed poppy cultivation for pharmaceutical purposes. Nato’s job in Afghanistan is to create the conditions for peace. Without military and political realism, however, the notion of stability here will be a fantasy.”
One question. Which drug warrior convinced the administration that the “war on drugs” should be allowed to jeopardize the far more important mission of bringing stability to Afghanistan? And why did anyone listen?