Green Alligators (con't)...

Very good multimedia photo essay here by Phil Zabriskie and Yuri Kozyrev of TIME Magazine on the increasingly dangerous situation in Afghanistan. The recent airstikes in the southern providences certainly indicate that coalition forces are stepping up efforts to counteract the Taliban insurgency. It would also appear that Michael Yon and his other colleagues are scooping the likes of the NYT and WAPO on this "Forgotten War".

The opium harvest continues to be the dark force in this extremely tricky situation. A quick synopses:

Afghanistan is about to harvest a bumper crop of opium from the seemingly endless amount of poppy fields growing just about anywhere water can be found in the country. Government supported alternative crop programs abound, but farmers are reluctant since so much more can be earned from growing poppy. That's the simply part of the problem and one that there are many solutions for, all of which take time and consistent focus, but should work in the long run.

The equally pressing part of the problem right now is related to the act of harvesting itself. Poppy pickers make a good wage in Afghanistan. So good that, when harvest time arrives, it's hard to find anybody to do any other work.

The wholesale revenue that will be reaped from this years poppy harvest will buy a lot of weapons and influence for the Taliban. Their other streams of revenue have been significantly cut off due to the efforts of the international community, so opium is their biggest cash cow.

Coalition forces have the ability to virtually eradicate the opium production in Afghanistan and came close to doing just that two years ago, so eliminating the problem at the source is not the issue, the back blast of what would result unfortunately is. Eliminating in one fell swoop a major source of income from so many who rely on the harvest, would put the public support for the Karzai government and coalition forces in severe jeopardy. At the same time, allowing the Taliban a major windfall to further embolden their forces is obviously a losing option as well.

This is not a partisan debate but rather a difficult predicament with huge consequences for Afghanistan, without even addressing the burden of tons of cheap heroin that will be hitting America’s and the rest of the world's streets in short order.

Given all these facts, the only option I see assuming nothing major changes soon, is to allow the harvest to be picked and put the alternative crop programs on the fast track. In addition, step up efforts in the Southern providences and along the Pakistan border, and prepare coalition forces to fight a better equipped army in the coming year. In my mind, losing the support of the general population at this critical period would be a more severe blow given the two options.

I also think this is where legitimate, albeit hindsight, criticism of our involvement in Iraq comes to bear since our ability to send more troops to shore up the trouble Afghanistan is squeezed.

Any other thoughts or ideas?