UK troops tell Afghan farmers they can grow poppies

Afghan officials have reprimanded British diplomats over a campaign by UK troops in Helmand telling farmers that growing poppies was understandable and acceptable. A radio message broadcast across the province assured local farmers that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would not interfere with poppy fields currently being harvested. "Respected people of Helmand. The soldiers of ISAF and ANA [the Afghan National Army] do not destroy poppy fields," it said. "They know that many people of Afghanistan have no choice but to grow poppy. ISAF and the ANA do not want to stop people from earning their livelihoods." The advertisement, which was drafted by British officers and carried on two local stations, infuriated Afghan officials as high up as President Hamid Karzai, who demanded an explanation. The Afghan government has been under intense pressure to smash the burgeoning drug trade. Last year opium cultivation soared 59 percent, earning traffickers an estimated $2.5 billion according to the United Nations. The rise was most concentrated in Helmand, which is the source of much of the heroin sold in Western Europe. "This was an error by ISAF," said Zalmay Afzali, spokesman for the Ministry of Counter Narcotics. "We have asked ISAF to avoid such problems in the future because it can create a hell of a problem. We hope it will not happen again." After a series of stormy meetings, NATO announced on Apr. 25 that it was dropping the ads. "We recognized this was a mistake and addressed it as soon as possible," said spokesman Nicholas Lunt. A British military spokesman said the ads were intended to counter Taliban propaganda that British soldiers had moved to the Sangin Valley, a hotbed of cultivation, to destroy farmers' livelihoods. "The dilemma was that the poppy harvest was taking place and people would take up arms and fight us," said Lt. Col. Charlie Mayo. "They have to understand that we are here to kill the Taliban, not to cut down their poppy." Mayo admitted the wording of the message was "open to misinterpretation" and said that after complaints from the local governor, Asadullah Wafa, it was removed and an apology issued. A drug official played the incident down, saying the message had been drafted by a newly arrived territorial army officer who "got a bit carried away with the language." But it exposes tension inside western policy in Afghanistan centered on arguments about trying to eradicate poppies while fighting a dogged insurgency. Since 2001, western embassies have channeled hundreds of millions of dollars into helping the Afghan government to hunt for drug barons, persuading farmers to grow licit crops and funding eradication efforts. But NATO and the US military have refused to get involved in eradication, arguing that the sight of western soldiers slashing through poppy fields could drive farmers into the hands of the Taliban. NATO says it will provide security so that Afghan counter-narcotics officials can wipe out the poppy crop. The argument is particularly sharp in Helmand, where NATO troops are fighting the Taliban amid some of the world's most extensive poppy plantations. British officers are at pains to distance themselves from expensive eradication efforts that are riddled with allegations of corruption and produce poor results. So far this year Afghan officials claim to have eradicated almost 20,000 acres in Helmand–about 10 percent of last year's crop–and the veracity of even those figures has been questioned. The British policy can create strange dilemmas. Recently in Sangin, officers discussed paying the full market rate for a field of poppies to a local farmer whose land was being requisitioned for a military base. Critics argue that drugs and the insurgency have become so linked it is impossible to distinguish them. In Helmand the Taliban pushes farmers to grow poppies and reportedly uses drug profits to buy guns. One drug official in Kabul said: "Insecurity and poppy are the same issue–one creates the conditions for the other. This won't be over until the poppy is gone." A sea of poppies has become Afghanistan's runaway export success. The crop soared from 20,000 acres in 2001 to a record 400,000 last year. Farmers milk opium resin from the plants which is processed into heroin and smuggled. An estimated 2.9 million Afghans, 13 percent of the population, are involved. There are no cartel lords–western officials believe trade is controlled by 25 smugglers including three government ministers.