John Craddock says: "Shoot dealers in Afghanistan"

General Says Shoot Dealers in Afghanistan

NATO's senior military commander Gen. John Craddock of the United States has proposed that the alliance’s soldiers in Afghanistan shoot drug traffickers without waiting for proof of their involvement with the Taliban insurgency, according to a report in the online edition of Der Spiegel.

The commander floated the idea in a confidential letter on Jan. 5 to Gen. Egon Ramms, a German officer who heads the NATO command center responsible for Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/world/asia/31nato.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

Opium cultivation in Afghanistan down by a fifth

The UNODC's Afghanistan Opium Survey 2008 shows a 19% decrease in opium cultivation to 157,000 hectares, compared to the record harvest of 193,000 in 2007. Owing to a higher yield of 48.8 kg/ha (up from 42.5 kg in 2007), opium production has dropped less dramatically, down 6% from 8,200 to 7,700.
The UN statement:
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan down by a fifth

Afghan Opium Survey 2008
Map of opium cultivation in 2008 in Afghanistan

Poppy, drugs, corruption and the smuggle of chemicals in Afghanistan

Christina Oguz, representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) gave a press conference in Kabul on Monday about poppy cultivation. She talked about the smuggling into Afghanistan of chemicals that are used in the illegal heroin laboratories.
The Press conference by Christina Gynna Oguz