WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Washington is reducing its support for opium eradication in Afghanistan in favor of a policy advocating alternative options for farmers, a U.S. spokesman said.
Viktor Ivanov, the top Russian counter-narcotics official, said in a recent interview with The New York Times that the United States should do more to eradicate opium crops in Afghanistan.
"I would call on the United States to use defoliation from the air," he said.
Ian Kelly, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, downplayed those comments, saying Washington did not that as an effective method of thwarting Taliban financing through the drug trade.
"We believe that large-scale eradication efforts have not worked to reduce the funding to the Taliban," he said.
Kelly said Washington felt eradication efforts actually worked as a recruiting tool for the Taliban as the destruction of crops forced farmers to find alternative means of income.
Instead, he said, Washington would reduce its support for eradication in favor of finding alternative ways for Afghans to make a living in agriculture.
"We do provide some targeted support for Afghan-led efforts where we think they will work on a case-by-case basis," he said. "But our assistance will focus on increased efforts for alternative crop development."
