CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen on Afghan Opium Conundrum
Last week I promised to post comments by Peter Bergen (CNN terrorism analyst) responding to a question I asked of him last week about the Afghan opium conundrum.
Eradication
CONPACCP members in the coca fields (photo by the author)
Eradication Sparks Conflict in Peru's Coca Fields [FEATURE]
The new Humala government in Peru sought coca grower support by promising to end forced eradication, and now the growers are holding the government to its word.
Town plaza with statues honoring the coca leaf in the VRAE (photo by the author)
Peru Halts Coca Eradication -- For Now
The new nationalist government of Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has announced the temporary suspension of coca eradication as it evaluates its options.
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Police Shouldn't Be Proud of Seizing Bigger Marijuana Crops Every Year (It's a Sign of Failure)
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If I didn't know better, some of this week's headlines might have me wondering if the American marijuana market is about to come to a crashing halt.
marijuana fields just before they are burned (image via wikimedia.org)
Lebanese Police Destroying Marijuana Fields Attacked
The Lebanese police's annual marijuana eradication campaign in the Bekaa Valley got off with a bang Monday, as police were attacked at least twice.
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Chronicle Book Review: Hostage Nation
We review a book on Colombia and US drug policy seen through a lens focused on American contractors and Colombian politicians kidnapped by the FARC.
How Afghan Poppy Eradication Efforts Are Helping the World's Largest Heroin Dealers
It has long been known inside Afghanistan that heroin dealers in high positions benefit from the United States and Afghan governments' counternarcotics policies. Now the American public can get a glimpse. US embassy cables published recently by WikiLeaks expose the insider opinion that Afghan officials are using poppy eradication teams to weed out the competitors of major traffickers with whom they are linked.
Ex World Leaders, Branson Launch Anti-Prohibitionist Drug Campaign
"There is a growing perception that the 'war on drugs' approach has failed," the Global Commission on Drug Policies said in a statement, as it began an inaugural two day meeting in Geneva. "Eradication of production and criminalization of consumption did not reduce drug traffic and drug use," the commission said. It concluded that the harm from corruption and violence resulting from prohibition "largely exceeds the harm caused by drugs."
Feature: NATO, US Deepen Anti-Drug Operations in Afghanistan in Bid to Throttle Taliban
The drug war in Afghanistan is about to heat up. NATO has agreed to target drug traffickers and heroin labs aligned with the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgency, and the US is quietly planning to put American soldiers on the ground with poppy eradication teams and their Afghan army protectors. The question is: Will any of this work?
Mexican Marines being trained by US Marines
Election 2010 and US Drug Policy in Latin America [FEATURE]
Will US drug policy in Latin America change for the better or the worse after the 2010 elections? Or will it stay the same? We ask the analysts.