Crop subsidy is cheaper
than a drug bust

Let's not fool ourselves. The primary export product of Afghanistan, even under those Taliban killjoys, was probably opium. I've been doing my part to protest conditions in that far-off semi-nation by declining to buy heroin. You should, too.

We've dropped a zillion dollars worth of bombs to cause $12 in damage. All the Afghan people know is that they're being bombed by Americans, and they're going to be sore at us for a long time.

The next phase, if history is our guide, is to pour aid into the country, funds that will primarily line the pockets of local warlords. Wasted money. What can we do that's cost-effective and also props up the economy of Afghan poppy farmers?

Yep, the United States should buy up all their opium. It would be cheaper than drug-war interdiction, put money in the hands of those who need it and remove heroin from the marketplace. We can always burn it at Kwajalein, or sell it to the Chinese. Oh wait, that was another war ...

Burl Burlingame

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