TAKE A SHOT AT OPIUM

Going into this Afghanistan thing, our government made a concerted effort
to impress upon us that drug production in Afghanistan was inexorably
linked to terrorism. We were treated to footage of huge fields of opium
poppies, entire villages dedicated to the production of heroin and
warehouses packed with the fruits of their labor.

So when do we get to see footage of the blackened fields, bombed-out
production facilities and warehouses in flames? It seems to me that drug
production is an even more legitimate target than the Taliban.

Granted, obliteration of the drug infrastructure would result in the
collapse of the Afghan economy, making things a tad difficult for the shiny
new puppet government we put in power, but such is the price of just and
noble causes.

Are we now saying that drugs are evil only if they are used to fund
terrorism, but are perfectly acceptable when used to fund our political
agenda? The president talked the talk with regard to the drug trade in
Afghanistan. Now it's time to walk the walk.

Karen G. Cheesman

Sherrard