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| India-Pakistan |
| Eradicating poppy growth is key to fighting terrorism: President Zardari |
| 2008-10-19 |
| (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari has said that eradicating cultivation of poppy from which opium is produced is the key to fighting terrorism. "It is one of the major problems because it finances terrorism," the President said in an interview to China Daily. He said, "People who grow poppy should be persuaded to grow something else." Poppy is mostly grown in various areas in Afghanistan. President Zardari said farmers in those regions should plant corn to take advantage of rising prices sparked by the burgeoning US ethanol industry. He said planting corn could give them the same returns they get from opium. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 See also RENSE/RUMORMILLNEWS > THE CASE OF THE MISSING OPIUM. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-10-19 21:38 |
| #8 Guys growing and distributing poppies deserve to be treated like pirates. You mean paid a ransom and then ignored while they take more hostages? |
| Posted by: Tranquil Mechanical Yeti 2008-10-19 16:34 |
| #7 and no sunroofs! The handles are deadly |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-10-19 15:51 |
| #6 Don't worry, tw, I'm sure Zardari has enough banked away in foreign countries to withstand both wheat shortages and the fall of Pakistan. He will do well as long as he doesn't take a bomb to the limo chasis or a bullet to the head. Of course the ISI probably takes a pretty good cut from the Taliban's opium trade, so he better wear his helmet. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-10-19 15:49 |
| #5 How kind of President "Mr. Benazir Bhutto" Zardari to tell the Afghans what they must do to stop terrorism in Pakistan. Wiser, perhaps, were he to suggest the two countries work together to eradicate a joint problem. But the quality of thought is a seamless whole: corn grown in Afghanistan for the American market would have to be trucked through the mountains to Pakistani ports, whereas wheat could be used to alleviate the flour shortage in Pakistan that we read about yesterday. Or sold to the returned refugees within Afghanistan, leaving nothing at all for the Land of the Pure. The gentleman spouted his inanities while trying unsuccessfully to beg a loan from China. He is lucky the price of petroleum keeps falling -- his country may now have currency reserves enough to get through 2 1/2 months before going bankrupt, instead of only two months. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-10-19 13:58 |
| #4 Yes, bman, thanks to government meddling in the market. If Obama wins, we can expect even more meddling. I'm sure Obama will expect our farmers to share the wealth in addition to feeding the world. At least those who aren't drafted into the Peace Corps and sent to Zimbabwe. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-10-19 13:39 |
| #3 Corn price now equals cost of production: $4. |
| Posted by: bman 2008-10-19 11:27 |
| #2 Guys growing and distributing poppies deserve to be treated like pirates. Point fingers all you want on who is responsible for heroin addiction, these guys are in the critical path. No sympathy here. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2008-10-19 02:47 |
| #1 Corn may be just as profitable, but opium is a much more compact product and can be distributed illegally in boxes and on the backs of donkeys or goats or whatever they use. Probably those bling-bling trucks they are so fond of, too. Hard to fund terrorist operations if your product has to be shipped and tracked legally. Spray the f'in poppies already and be done with it. No money == no payroll == no fighters. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-10-19 01:58 |