The Poppy Problem

Robert Draper reports on Afghanistan's drug trade:

"We have two forms of money here: poppy, and American dollars," says a beardless 33-year-old Helmand farmer named Rehmatou as he leaves the Marine base with his fertilizer. "This is our economy. The Taliban aren't pressuring methat's just a story you see on TV. I grow for myself. I smuggle for myself. The Taliban are not the reason. Poverty is the reason. And they'll keep growing poppies hereunless they're forced not to. Force is the solution for everything. As we say in Pashtu, 'Power can flatten mountains.'

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