KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 1 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's crop of opium-producing poppies has come to an early and plentiful harvest, raising U.S. fears of new funding for al-Qaida.
However, the Bush administration has reluctantly decided to leave the matter alone for the time being, the Washington Times reported Tuesday.
Among the drawbacks for intervention is that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is trying to create a security situation stable enough to hold elections in September. He needs the support of warlords who control the poppy-growing areas, and it is fairly certain the warlords would revolt if deprived of the drug money.
The Bush administration has all but ruled out the aerial spraying of herbicides to kill the poppy crop, as is done in Colombia by the State Department to kill the cocaine-producing coca. Not only would spraying enrage warlords, but it also is likely to harm farmers and their families because the poppies grow near farmhouses.
"There's always been proposals to go after the crop" with no agreement on when or how to do it, a Pentagon official told the newspaper.
