Poppies and the Peace: International drug trade starts in rural Afghanistan

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Certainly something that has been discussed in the media but then quitely put on the back burner. In the impervioused villiages of Afganistan the Poppy rules. The plant is indiginious to this area of the world and by some accounts most of the poppy trade comes from this area.

Now that Afghanistan has held it's elections and the country is returning to a somewhat state of calm the question still remains, that, what to do with the Poppy's of Afghanistan? In a region that is practically barren in terms of agricultural benefit, the Poppy is in high demand because of not only its ability to grow here, but also the profits that come from the cultivation of the plant. While there are some plants that can be grown in the region, and some efforts to bring in other plants and business, the allure of the Poppy is still strong. And the world demand for the plant is consistently high and pays a premium price.

The article is shows how the US is present now in meetings with the elders when discussions are held which concern the cultivation of the plant. Although we may have a presence at the meetings and offer incentives for the residents to not grow this plant we are only invited to be there. We are not the final authority on the decisions made buy the people who hold sway over this region.

And as always, the armed men to back up the decisions.

Poppies and the Peace: International drug trade starts in rural Afghanistan

Special to the Rocky Mountain News
by Dr. Derrin R. Smith, GSIS Professor,
Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver
Thursday 16 December 2004
Shura-Meeting of Elders
Panjwyi (or Bazar-e Panjyai), Afghanistan

About the author: Dr. Derrin Smith is a professor with the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, teaching graduate students in the International Security Program. Specializing in Country Team Operations and in International Terrorism, Dr. Smith is spending the inter-term in Afghanistan and Iraq, analyzing force operations and the civil security environment. As communications permit, he will file periodic reports with the Rocky Mountain News from remote bases in these conflict zones. He may be contacted via email derrin.smith@att.net.

"Poppies and the Peace: International drug trade starts in rural Afghanistan"
Elders meet in 'Shura' with US personnel in remote Bazar-e Panjyai, Kandahar

Ultimately, the discussion and debate in this "shura" meeting of village and district elders would all come down to poppy cultivation and the opium trade. As long as there was demand in the west, there would be growers in this region of Afghanistan capitalizing on the opportunity. Six years of intense drought in remote Bazar-e Panjyai, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan had left the landscape barren of the traditional fruit orchards and cash crops that had characterized much of the history of this region. Elders from the district villages were holding a "shura" or council meeting, to discuss the issues confronting their respective citizens. Fifty-seven men, of varying ages and levels of social status, squatted on the concrete porch with tea and sweet candy in front of them. Security personnel armed with assault weapons guarded the doors, the gate into the compound and even kept lookout from the rooftop. Other men arrived, briefly acknowledged the leaders of the shura, and then disappeared into the darkness of the stone building where other meetings were convened. Serious issues were being discussed, some which could not bear the intense light of day. On the porch, 29-year-old Ryan Patrick Murphy of the US Army, far from his hometown of Emmetsburg, IA adjusted his assault rifle in his lap as he shifted in his chair at the right of the senior elder of the shura.

By Sergeant Murphy's count, at least fifty more men were engaged in meetings inside the structure, over and above those seated according to rank and respect in the shura. Including guards, on-lookers and curious villagers gathered at the gate to the compound, the Americans were out-numbered about 50-to-1. Sergeant Murphy, of the 13th Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) Battalion, Combined Joint Task Force 76, expressed concern about the odds. "Whatever you do," he breathed quietly in warning, "don't mention PSYOPS or our host units. We wouldn't make it to that wall over there." It was a warning that didn't need to be aired, but here in Poppy and Taleban country, people asking the wrong questions or mentioning the wrong allegiances had a way of turning up dead. Sergeant Murphy intended to beat the odds and continue with his missions throughout the region.

Poppy cultivation on a dollar basis provides slightly less than half of the total Gross Domestic Product in Afghanistan today. Powerful forces in the international criminal markets benefit tremendously from bulk purchases in provinces throughout the country, for processing in sophisticated laboratories just across the border in Pakistan. For poor farmers, scraping a living out of the dusty, barren soil of the Afghanistan plains, the most profitable cash crop continues to be the beautiful poppy. A hail and hardy plant, it occurs naturally enough. With only rudimentary agricultural knowledge and nothing more than ancient tools, the villagers in remote regions can generate enough crop-and income-to purchase watches from the bazaars and cell phones from Afghan Wireless. For most villagers, it is the best economic opportunity around. Sergeant Murphy pressed the elders at the shura with his questions about the recent arms caches that had been discovered and destroyed by US military patrols in the area. Under the program for Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) of the Afghan Militia Forces, such weapons were to be surrendered voluntarily to coalition military personnel. It was always a concen when large arsenals bubbled to the surface by other means-including use of Tactical Human Intelligence Teams and covert operations-because it meant that senior leaders and village elders were holding out, hedging their bets; keeping armed militias embedded in their citizenry in contravention to official government policy. Civil security requires that the DDR process succeed.

The elders bridled a bit at the pressing of the interrogation on the DDR problems, frequently referring to the Afghan Militia Forces as being the exclusive problem of the national government of newly inaugurated president Hamid Karzai. The most senior elder reminded his American guests at the shura that village elders held no official political or legal position, but rather were accorded deference and authority by the local citizens due to family and tribal influence. Still, they uniformly pledged to 'encourage' compliance with the DDR initiative, but pushed to know what jobs would be created in the place of Militia assignments.

"For the militia members, their guns are their livelihoods," said a senior shura representative. "Without other jobs, economic possibility, what are these men to do?" The obvious economic opportunity in this region is the poppy trade. Right now, militia members frequently provided security services to poppy purchasers, to drug lords who came to buy the crops and transport them to the laboratories just across the Pakistan border. Sergeant Murphy reviewed the options under the 'reintegration' phase of the DDR initiative, but the elders were unconvinced. Cash today for poppy crops seemed a lot more reasonable to their citizens than promises of some form of jobs tomorrow. The charity groups, the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that needed to take the lead on humanitarian aid and reconstruction, were in short supply. The perception of security issues and danger in "Taleban country" continues to limit the involvement of most NGOs in this area. One significant exception has been the Bulgarian initiative related to the commercial cultivation of roses. Bulgaria, a major transit center for opium, seeks to reduce the influence of organized crime due to drug trafficking. This small country in the Black Sea region has provided roses and expertise to cultivate 90,000 acres in different regions of Afghanistan. It is a small step in the right direction to replace the poppy crops. Another viable alternative is fruit. "Fruit is a natural product for us," stated another elder, via the interpreter. "But without more water and irrigation projects, without NGOs, we cannot cultivate enough orchards. The fruits that we do export go only to Pakistan, and the prices are much too low for our farmers to live. If you can convince Pakistan to purchase our fruits at a better price, or to open other export markets to us, then we can discuss other farming, other crops. But, right now, how do I tell people who have nothing that they must give up the only income that they have from the poppy? It isn't possible." The shura dragged on, men came and went from the compound. More tea and candies were served, pictures taken, needs discussed, positions negotiated. Sergeant Murphy continued to press on the DDR issues, the elders continued to respond that more assistance was needed; more wells, more agricultural assistance, better prices. No one will surrender their gun, the source of their influence and livelihood, until something more tangible is offered. Promises don't feed families, and some of these men had ten or more mouths to feed in their little traditional mud-brick dwellings. There were no medical clinics, no factories, few schools, no economic centers. Life goes on as it has for hundreds of years. Local tribal people were scraping subsistence from the dust and rock of the desert. Nomadic tribes drifted through; local citizens, hard people, just barely existed between earth and sky. And now, here were foreigners asking them to surrender their guns for promises. The shura had reached something of an impasse, but another meeting was discussed and there was an opportunity to bring a few more NGO representatives into the area. Apparently some good came of this session after all.

A well-dressed man stepped from a modern sport utility vehicle in the courtyard, squinted at the foreigners on the porch with the shura, and ducked quietly into the entrance to the building without an acknowledgement. In the dark of those rooms, serious business was being conducted. No doubt, business involving the only cash crop that makes sense right now, in this region. Poppies. Powerful international interests want the poppy fields to continue to produce. As long as there is an illegal demand for opium, there will be pressure on these impoverished people to provide the raw materials of the trade. They have their poppies. And they have their guns. In the short term, there will continue to be an ample supply of both. Life in this remote village of Afghanistan, it seems, is little changed by the election of the new president in Kabul. Here, the choices are pretty simple. Poppies and guns.

The elders indicated the shura is at an end and Sergeant Murphy takes his cue. Handshakes all around, promises of more productive meetings soon, even smiles.
"We are, after all, Pastho," says the senior elder. "And now, if our business is over, we invite you to dine with us. It would be our honor if you would share our meal." Sergeant Murphy looked at the lengthening shadows in the courtyard, well aware that the relative security of the base was still some hours away by Hum-V. He politely declined, promising to allow more time after the next meeting. Besides, he had an after action report to write tonight, and had to figure out how to get some help out to these people. The pressure was on to provide something tangible, prior to the next meeting. Walking through the courtyard, Sergeant Murphy casually adjusted the barrel of his assault rifle to cover a young man in traditional garb, whose weapon was pointed at the foreign visitors and who was flipping a switch-blade knife in and out, leering slightly. Toying, perhaps, with the two Americans; letting them know in explicit terms that this is his turf. In rural Afghanistan, there is much work yet to be accomplished, and hard-working military experts like Sergeant Ryan Patrick Murphy represent a hope for a new future.