The US has played a role in the increased production of the poppy crop in Afghanistan for a long time. The key question is should the US withdraw from Afghanistan as a military presence and remain as an economic adviser, not a political intermediary. The agricultural life in Northern Afghanistan is interwoven with Poppies both politically and economically. The Taliban need the revenue from the poppy crops to continue their resistance, the poor farmers cannot exist without the greater returns per acre of the poppy crop. As the US and Afghan forces destroy the poppy crop the farmers are forced to pay their debt to the Taliban and Drug Lords with their children. Our war on drugs and the methods we employ is causing unbelievable horrors to be inflicted on the young (girls and boys) as they are traded off to pay debts.

While there is no clear and effective answer, there are options that must be explored. One of these is for the US to reassess its foreign policy of intervention in the lives and politics of other sovereign nations. As we all know the US has no high moral ground to stand on in the Human Rights Arena, but we do have the where with all to provide economic and agricultural assistance. If we diverted our resources from war (war on terror, war on Iraq, war in Afghanistan, war etc.) and instead converted our many wars into advice and support for a higher quality of life for all (economic assistance, advice, agricultural support) this would alter the foundation of the systems we are fighting against.

The US needs to reassess its foreign policy and become not the savior of the world for democracy but the integrator of the US into the world as a full fledged member, not a conqueror. Our soldiers in the fields of Northern Afghanistan know that every time a farmer is deprived of his livelihood, one or more children are forced into a depraved life. This is not a good trade off.

A temporary and intermediate source of help would be a program to convert areas of Northern agriculture to other crops with all of the necessary assistance to the farmers to market their crops and subsistence to prevent a return to poppy production. The lessons learned from these pilot projects would enable a more expansive program moving forward.

The Middle East should resolve its own problems and find its own destiny without our unwelcome intervention. If our goal is to increase the quality of life within the US and throughout the world our presence will be sought after. If our goal is to subdue and conquer those societies we do not agree with, our presence will not be welcome. War and violence are the predictable outcome of these policies.

Learn more about this author, Richard Carpenter.
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