Bombing Makes the Price Go Up

I was disappointed to read today that allied forces in Afghanistan have begun bombing opium fields in Afghanistan, regarding it as a central pillar of the ongoing operation. I can't help but think back to the days of Plan Colombia, when the U.S tried a similar tactic in order to stop the flow of Cocaine across their borders. This simplistic tactic failed because, whilst they may have destroyed the crops, in providing no viable alternative to the farmers in the region, they simply replanted them. To this day, America's per capita consumption of Cocaine is second only to that of Spain. The amount America spends on fighting the drugs trade regularly mirrors the amount that the Americans spend on drugs each year. In other words, the methods used thus far do not work.

So it is to my great dismay that the Obama campaign has chosen to follow the same flawed path as many previous administrations. Their reasons for doing so, only they will know. The reality is, however, that unless bombing raids are allied with viable alternatives for farmers in the region, they will be no more successful than Plan Colombia.

To be fair to the Obama administration, they have made fledgling attempts at this through providing subsidies and resources for growing different crops and have made some progress in doing so. Nonetheless, the amount spent on bombing these fields still far outweighs the money spent on providing aid to those affected, and this needs to change. When farmers can earn $5,385 per hectare cultivating opium and just $575 per hectare growing irrigated wheat (according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the current incentives are not sufficient.

In the current climate, destroying the only source of income for many in the Helmand province will likely lead to an increase in poverty and make the region a target for anti-western groups such as Al-Qaeda. Thus, if we are unable to provide immediate support for those worst affected we risk making the region even more dangerous than before we arrived. Furthermore, bombing the region will add to growing resentment towards western 'imperialism' and risks scuppering the goodwill which came in the wake of President Obama's election.

Whilst I am not specifically against the boming raids per se, we must spend more on the 'carrot' and less on the 'stick' as the raids alone will neither lower opium output, nor bring peace long term peace. Providing alternatives to opium production will help to win over support from the Afghani people so we can work in collaberation, not conflict. If we make no attempts to do this, our efforts will simply raise the price of Heroin, making richer the very people we are meant to be fighting.

ADJB