this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
235 points (73.6% liked)

World News

32286 readers
621 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (6 children)

You got a source on that? Last I checked Opium is an excellent cash crop that the Taliban used to fund their guerilla war with the US. Now that the Americans are out there is no point to keep growing it.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Last I checked Opium is an excellent cash crop that the Taliban used to fund their guerilla war with the US. Now that the Americans are out there is no point to keep growing it.

You got a source on that?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The source for that claim is entirely from the US state department. Not to mention some expert disputed that claim

"The estimated all-time high for opium production was set in 2017 at 9,900 tons worth some $1.4 billion in sales by farmers or roughly 7% of Afghanistan's GDP, the UNODC reported."

"Mansfield says his field studies show the most the Taliban can earn from illicit opiates is about $40 million annually"

So the Taliban made at most 40 million per year while the entire country (under US occupation and control) made over 1 billion per year

load more comments (3 replies)