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But getting rid of illegal drugs has not been a part of the official
mission of international forces in the country. It is the responsibility
of the Afghan government, which receives assistance from the United
States and United Nations.
"Our line is that we have nothing to do with poppy eradication,"
Canadian commander Maj. Steve Graham told the Canadian Press.
"But even though we want nothing to do with it and we stay
away from it, it can't help but have an impact on us."
According to Graham, local poppy farmers provide key intelligence
to troops about the Taliban or the location of bombs. But they
are less likely to provide information if troops are involved
in eradication efforts.
 "Anything
that damages that relationship is detrimental to what we're doing,
and there's no doubt that poppy eradication damages that relationship,"
Graham said.
American-backed projects to rid the country of illegal poppy
crops include bringing in experts from Colombia, where there also
is a wide-spread drug eradication program; helping create a judicial
system to prosecute those guilty of drug crimes; and providing
American contractors to act as security for laborers who are helping
destroy poppy fields.
To date, the Afghan government does not allow any chemical spraying
because of concern it will harm livestock or other crops.
But those who believe that getting rid of terrorists means getting
rid of drugs say a broader effort is needed.
"I think everybody recognizes that with the Taliban receiving
funding from narcotics, much more so than in the past, that there
has to be a coordinated effort," Thomas Schweich, a senior
State Department official who advocates more military involvement
in fighting narcotics, told the AP.
Some critics, however, say the current effort is too little too
late.
"This is the Afghan equivalent of failing to deal with looting
in Baghdad," Andre Hollis, a former deputy assistant secretary
of defense for counternarcotics, told the New York Times. "If
you are not dealing with those who are threatened by security
and who undermine security, namely drug traffickers, all your
other grandiose plans will come to naught."
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This
has lead many U.S. and NATO officials there to say that efforts
to rid the country of terrorists must also include increased efforts
to eradicate the poppy crop.
"I
can feed my family very well by poppy cultivation, not by cultivating
wheat or other vegetables -- and several other families are being
fed while working in our field during harvesting season,"
a farmer who called himself Abdullah told the Canadian Press.
American schools and financial aid should be only for legal citizens of the United States. There should be no exceptions to this.
