Opium means terrorism?

Afghanistan's economy is struggling, so citizens are returning to a reliable income producer, assuming you don't get caught: opium poppy farming. This year's crop is estimated at enough to make 610 tons of heroin. Why is this a problem?

The top U.S. narcotics official here said the opium trade is a threat to the country's fledgling democracy.

"This country could be taken down by this whole drugs problem," Doug Wankel told reporters. "We have seen what can come from Afghanistan, if you go back to 9/11. Obviously the U.S. does not want to see that again."

The connection between opium and terrorism that Wankel is implying here is absurd. The Taliban cracked down very hard on Afghan opium production (for religious reasons, as opposed to America's delusional reasons), so if anything, opium production pushes Afghanistan towards a less theocratic, more open state, which doesn't sound like an entirely bad idea.

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