22 November 2001 - The northern poppy growers alliance set to win?

Heroin sells for over $100,000 per kilo in the streets of the west. The average Afghan farmer has been producing this for about $30 per kilo before last year. The amount of heroin produced in Taliban controlled Afghanistan dropped by more than 3000 tonnes last year when it was finally banned by the Taliban - as it should be under Islamic law. 

Potentially if this situation were allowed to continue it would mean $300 Billion lost by drug cartels each year. This is serious money. A mere couple of billion dollars pays for  a US presidential election campaign. It doesn't take many millions to find someone able to dupe others into carrying out stupid terrorist acts.

Of course, you can see why this situation had to stop! The Taliban were obviously getting far too confident of their ability to deny Western demands - demands for drugs that is. 

Now that the northern poppy growers alliance is back in power, we can look forward to a government in Kabul much more sensitive to the demands of "free trade".