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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Ryan Wassink

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Ryan Wassink

Poppies making a strong comeback in Afghanistan - Wire - Lifestyle - bellinghamherald.com - 0 views

www.bellinghamherald.com/...-making-a-strong-comeback.html

shared by Ryan Wassink on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • They say soaring drug prices, along with the government's failure to fulfill the promises it made as part of its eradication program, left them no choice.
  • I could be making as much from growing poppy in one year as I'd earn from other crops in 10 years.
  • Initially, farmers were paid for destroying their poppy fields. The Afghan government eventually stopped that program and instead promised to provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers and infrastructure improvements so
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  • "Last year, opium was priced at $90 per kilogram," he said. "This year, it's $380."
  • Ryan Wassink on 12 Apr 11
     
    Source: The Bellingham Herald: Poppies making a strong comeback in Afghanistan Summary:This article was about how farmers were getting angry with the government. The government tried to get farmers to stop producing poppy. They did things like pay people to get rid of it or provide them with other things to do. But in this article there are a few testimonies where the government did not do what they promised to do so now these farmers are going to go back to there old ways and farm poppy again so they can get money. Otherwise they have no way of making money. Reflection: This was a very helpful article for me to read. I was not entirely aware that the government was trying to do things about the poppy production. I thought it was mostly just NATO and other forces. But all in all this was a very helpful article for me to read. It had more interesting statistics and also gave me a better idea of what was going on. Questions: What was the government eradication program? Why was the government not as involved as they said they would be?
Ryan Wassink

Who is winning Afghanistan war? US officials increasingly disagree. - CSMonitor.com - 0 views

www.csmonitor.com/...fficials-increasingly-disagree

shared by Ryan Wassink on 12 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • nearly two-thirds of Americans no longer believe that the Afghanistan war “has been worth fighting,”
  • Although the Taliban have taken “tactical losses, they continue to maintain influence over much of the local population, particularly outside urban areas,” he told the committee.
  • had some tactical victories in the east and removed “several key leaders from the battlefield … this does not appear to have affected their operational capacity
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  • Burgess, however, had another take on Taliban finances. He attributed the drop in poppy yield to a disease in the south, and he suggested that farmers made up the difference by charging more for poppy to make up for the decline in opium yields
  • “Alternative livelihood programs designed to encourage Afghan farmers to end poppy cultivation will not significantly discourage farmers from planting poppy in 2011,” he told the Senate committee, “primarily because a lack of security impedes their implementation on a large scale.”
  • Ryan Wassink on 12 Apr 11
     
    Source: Christian Science Monitor: Who is winning Afghanistan war? US officials increasingly disagree. Summary: This article does not exactly relate to my research question but it is a little bit about how we as a country are involved in afghanistan and how it is going. This article thinks that we are really not making much progress in the war. We have taken out quite a few high officials but it really isnt helping our case very much. Then at the end it mentions opium a little bit. It says that they realize there was a decrease in opium this year so what they did is raise the price on it. It also says despite all the hinting at stopping opium farmers will still plant in 2011. Reflection: Although this was not the most helpful article I have found I still got some use out of it. I also thought it was just interesting to see our progress in the war and be able to read up on it. Questions: What are we doing about our status in the war? Do we have any affect on poppy production?
Ryan Wassink

PressTV - Iran seizes 400 tons of narcotics - 0 views

www.presstv.ir/168770.html

shared by Ryan Wassink on 10 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • With a 900-kilomet
  • With a 900-kilometer (560-mile) common border with Afghanistan, Iran has been used as the main route for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.
  • The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 3,700 Iranian police officers over the past 30 years.
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  • Najjar said that Iran has spent more than $700 millions to seal its borders and prevent the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
  • Ryan Wassink on 10 Mar 11
     
    Source: Press TV: Iran seizes 400 tons of narcotics http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168770.html Summary: This is an article about how Iran is trying to stop drugs from afghanistan to come through Iran. Iran is the main root for afghanistan to smuggle drugs into europe. There has been a war on drug trade in afghanistan for the last 30 years and it has claimed the lives of 3700 people. Iran has spent 700 million to try to seal its borders from drug smuggling. Reflection: This was a very helpful article to read. I did not know that Iran had big problem with afghanistan. I also that it was insane on how much Iran has spent on there borders and also that this ongoing war has lasted over 30 years. You would think by now there should be some sort of agreement. Questions: What are the relations between Iran in Europe like? How much of afghanistans drug production goes to europe? Have there been any agreements at all between Iran and afghanistan?
Ryan Wassink

Myanmar reports progress in opium destruction - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2011030700861.html

shared by Ryan Wassink on 10 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Afghanistan supplies more than 90 percent of the world's opium, the raw ingredient used to make heroin, with 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of the crop planted last year, according to the U.N. Myanmar is distant second with less than a third of that land being used to grow poppies in the country.
  • Opium cultivation in Myanmar has dropped from more then 400,000 acres (160,000 hectares) in 1996 to a little more than 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) in 2006, but has been inching up since.
  • Ryan Wassink on 10 Mar 11
     
    Source: The Washington Post: Myanmar reports progress in opium destruction http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/07/AR2011030700861.html Summary: This article is about how myanmar (the second leading producer of opium in the world next to afghanastan) has been trying to get rid of the drug in there country. In this specific article 15,000 out of there total 50,000 acres of opium had been destroyed. They say that the drug should be eliminated by 2014. Although the US is uncertain about this because in myanmar the governments first priority is to dealing with ethic minority groups.  Reflection: This article was about myanmar not afghanastan which my research question is about. However I got some great information that I believe will be able to help me. This article gave me the amount and percentage of opium in afghanastan which I did not know before and it also told me that the second leader in opium is trying to get rid of it so that could mean more for afghanistan.  Questions: Why is myanmar getting rid of opium? Do they have other exports? What does the UN think about this after dealing with afghanistan? Will they actually be able to get rid of all there opium?
Ryan Wassink

Afghanistan's curse: Opium - Afghanistan Crossroads - CNN.com Blogs - 0 views

afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/...afghanistans-curse-opium

shared by Ryan Wassink on 28 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • e 6,900
  • nearly 5,000 pounds of opium is just a tiny fraction of the 6,900 tons  - or nearly 14 million p
  • ion of th
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  • ounds
  • produced last year in Afghanistan
  • much of which is processed into heroin. Earnings from opium make up about a third of the country’s gross domestic produc
  • Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium
  • In Afghanistan, the average daily per capita income is less than $2.
  • The number of opium addicts in Afghanistan has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2005 it was estimated that there were 900,000 addicts in the country. Three years later that number had jumped to 1.5 million.
  • Ryan Wassink on 28 Feb 11
     
    Source: CNN News: Afghanistan's Curse: Opium http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/22/afghanistans-curse-opium/ Summary:  This Article is about different burning of opium in afghanistan. People are trying to burn opium to get rid of it, because to many people get addicted to it and turn it into heroin. It has a terrible affect on there society although it is almost 1/3rd of the countries total GDP. So You can see that they have a problem. They need this product to make money except this product is ruining there society, Reflections: I thought that this was a very interesting article. Except I now realize that Afghanistan has a real problem. They have this way of making money, but it wrecks there society. This article says that they are trying to burn all there opium. My question is if they burn it all, what happens to there GDP, the countries average daily per capita income is already less than $2. Questions: If they get rid of all there opium will there GDP be greatly decreased? Is it possible to get rid of all the opium? Is there a different solution?
Ryan Wassink

High opium price not increasing cultivation in Afghanistan: report - Monsters and Critics - 1 views

www.monstersandcritics.com/...tivation-in-Afghanistan-report

shared by Ryan Wassink on 28 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • strongly associated with insecurity and lack of agricultural assistance.'
  • aid the reasons
  • The UN report said the reasons for decreasing cultivation could be dry cli
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  • mate conditions leading to crop failure
  • a changing political environment, increasing government control and more military operations by Afghan and international troops around the time of poppy planting which 'may have' discouraged the farmers.
  • The price went up by 164 per cent in 2010
  • The total harvest was nearly halved due to bad weather conditions and a plant disease.
  • istan is the world's biggest opium-producing country with a global share of 77 per cent. At least 1.7 million farmers are directly engaged in the cultivation of poppy farms, according to the UN. For the Taliban insurgents, poppy production is one of the main sources of income which funds their insurgency.
  • Afghan
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