rc3.org

It looks like Afghanistan is funding its own economic recovery by growing lots of opium. Hamid Karzai’s government has banned opium production, but the claim is that the government can’t enforce the ban. Given the state of Afghanistan’s economy and government, I’d imagine that letting opium growers bring cash into the country peacefully is in many ways preferable to fighting a narco war (Colombia style). Besides, the opium farmers are probably better funded and armed than the government in Kabul.