American Heroes

Until mid-February, the area known as Marjeh in southern Afghanistan was a sleepy agricultural area somewhat removed from the battles that had been fought in this country to date But the area had two big problems – it was Taliban-controlled and the majority of its “agriculture” was Opium. On 12 February, Marines descended from the sky in heavily-laden helicopters and began an offensive to drive out the Taliban. A month later, Marjeh is safe enough for Hamid Karzai to walk down the main street of the village and meet with its elders.

Secure: Check.

Next to the “hold” phase. Two battalions of Marines and four battalions of Afghans have set up shop in the area, and will remain there for the foreseeable future.

Now for the “build” phase. Here’s where we run into a small problem. Opium has, for years, been the foundation of Marjeh’s economy. The opium trade is highly profitable on a per-acre basis, and, unfortunately, is tied directly to our enemies, the Taliban. Local farmers normally have to borrow the money for the seed – loans called “salaam” that repaid at the end of the season in the real currency of this area: opium paste.

Years ago the US decided on a “poppy eradication” program. The state department shipped a fleet of helicopters to Afghanistan from Colombia, specially outfitted with chemical sprayers intended to kill off fields of poppy. But it didn’t take long to realize that this wasn’t the best plan – killing the poppies meant devastating the farmers, which doesn’t exactly fit with the US goal of winning hearts and minds. So the military shifted its tactics to hunting down the drug traffickers, those who collect and transport the opium to the rest of the world. This strategy has been fairly effective – with the help of agencies like the DEA, the military has rolled up thousands of mid-to high level drug runners in Afghanistan and has destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars of opium paste, heroin and precursor chemicals.

This brings us to the thorny problem being faced in Marjeh and elsewhere: what to do now? The farmers are still growning poppy: this year’s crop is almost ready for harvest. But we’re arresting or killing those who buy the opium from the farmers, which means the farmers won’t get paid for their opium, and won’t be able to pay off their loans or get money for next year’s crop.

The Marines have been attempting to circumvent this problem by handing out wheat seeds in Marjeh – trying to get the farmers to plant something besides opium. But the amount of wheat a man would have to grow to replace his income from opium would likely require lots more land, and more importantly, lots more water, which isn’t easy to come by in this desert climate. And if they DO manage to cultivate wheat on a scale that will make it profitable, how will they harvest it without heavy machinery? And to whom will they sell it?

All of a sudden, it’s looking like this will require much more than just substituting one crop for another. Its looking more like a complete overhaul of this country’s economy, and yes, even its culture.

One quick solution: Marines are offering farmers in Marjeh $500 a hectare NOT to harvest this year’s opium crop. Most of that money will likely be used to pay off salaam. The lenders? Well, you might have guessed it…the Taliban. So in order to win hearts and minds, we’ll be indirectly funding our enemies, at least for this Poppy season.

As you can see, the solutions aren’t cut and dried. But let’s hope this year’s poppy harvest won’t be either.