Final Word from Wednesday, August 25, 2021

According to U.N. figures, opium production in Afghanistan blossomed in the final years of the U.S.-led war. In the five years before the invasion, an average of 70,400 hectares of poppy fields were under cultivation; in the final five years, the average was 235,800 hectares. This led us to write in 2018 that the role of American and Czech soldiers was to make Afghanistan "safe for opium." In 2018, when the U.S. dropped 7,362 bombs on Afghanistan, its $717bn defense bill devoted more space to Afghan gender issues than to drug eradication. Miloš Zeman and others are warning of new waves of Taliban terrorism funded by opium, but is this truly in the interest of the new masters? China, Iran and Russia haven't really minded the chaos since Kabul fell, because it makes their rivals in the West look incompetent. After Aug. 31, it will be in the interest of the new overseers to instill peace and calm in Afghanistan and to grow something else, thereby adding to Joe Biden's humiliation. [ Czech Republic United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime survey UN USA president ]