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Posted 24 April 2003  

The good news is rather simple, it was read that the present opium production into the Afghan landscape was now around 90% of its peak level from the past. Also the price of one kilo opium (the source to make heroin from) is five times as high. Now it is a rough 500 $ a kilo (up from 100 $ a kilo). 
So I have to say 'thank you' to some people, this was supergood news to me. Is it true that the farmers did get some good price this year? You see it is not that difficult to make 'some economy' that is fair to most and even fair to the farmers? 

To (stupid, flock-stuffed) local authorities who will always deny reading this; A few times in the past I just asked to give the farmers a good price this year. That is all there is.

To me the news is good, to local political figures the news must be bad. For example we have that tweety tweety thing called 'Jaap de Hoop Scheffer' (lately I found how to pronounce this name in English, it is 'The Oops Keffer'). Let me share you some wisdoms from the mindset found in the body of this Oops Keffer thing; (quote)

To local political figures like the Oops Keffer thing I would like to ask; Compare your moral crap to my works by simply comparing the numbers found below. The 1.2 and 1.4 billion info sound interesting, what is your standing in this all?
And for the second time I would like to ask you; 'Why do you breed me entire (suicide or otherwise) armies while locking up all those little drugs smugglers with two in a cell for many years while those people have nothing to do all day long? (TheCheapJunkieAct?) How come you are so stupid to deliver me this 'army' on a plate, do you think I will not use them? Do you?  

Now it is time to start quoting the good news to this day. Found this in the Guardian Unlimited, special reports Afghanistan section. Journalist/reporter is Faisal Islam, economics correspondent.
Date: Sunday 16 March 2003.

World Bank chief issues opium alert

Opium cultivation has reached record levels in Afghanistan, World Bank president James Wolfensohn warned yesterday. In an exclusive interview with The Observer, Wolfensohn revealed that drugs were now a bigger earner for the Afghan economy than overseas aid.

And he stressed that the failure to rid the country of its drug lords and poverty could undermine the West's moral case for invading Iraq. 

'We should not forget the experience of Afghanistan is a proving ground for whether the international community can stay the course beside a fragile country as it builds itself up from the aftermath of conflict,' he said. 

Wolfensohn said his officials now reckoned that drugs were back up to within 10 per cent of their peak production under the Taliban, and that the price of opium had risen from $100 a kilo to $500. The $1.4 billion (£885 million) proceeds from this industry last year compared with the $1.2 billion international aid that flowed into the country. 

Reinko says: This is good statistical stuff, I just melt on this. The raw opium a full five times as much while the amount is relatively high (in the 90th percentile of the max). Very nice against most 'economical reasoning' and for me some important stimulus to go on because if it works in this particular case (with opium&heroine) than it could work on some much broader scale. 
Yes this is good news, the 1.4 billion must have saved some lives and all I can hope for is that the 500 a kilo price stays a long long time as some good minimum price. For all those 'evil drugs lords'; again you made my day and why don't you just proceed with this? Do not swell in luxury, who needs three Mercedes cars each 200 thousand dollar? What could some little hospital do with some 200 thousand very carefully invested bucks? But the country needs so much more so do your best in generating these money streams and simply share the wealth as far as is reasonable.
But you made my day, I can say that, yes I can..   ;)               (proceed quotes:)

Opium was banned by the Taliban in 1999. A mere 1,685 hectares were cultivated the following year, according to the US State Department. However, last year a total of 30,750 hectares were harvested, helping restore Afghanistan to its role as the world's number one exporter of heroin precursors. Three quarters of all European heroin comes from Afghanistan, added Wolfensohn. 

Reinko: Wow wow, hey you Wolfensohn what is your problem anyway? You use this statistical information to get some extra help (he wants 600 million more aid pointed towards Afghanistan) and therefore you needed that 'evil statistic' of 1.4 billion to work on the conscience of some of those moral crap tellers giving aid money. 
It is nice to observe you Wolfensohn doing your best to get some extra 600 million dollar into this help, but why the hell do you not do what you are supposed to do?
Why do you do so little to make sure that poor countries too have realistic access to global trading? Because you Wolfensohn you are some extreme representative to the present state of the world economy, why do you do so little in some simple transformations a lot of people long for?

Now preaching ends and more quotes are placed:

The trouble lay with the West's preoccupation with affairs elsewhere. Afghanistan once dominated our attention. But that has now shifted to Iraq. 

'The pattern is a common one,' said Wolfensohn. 'While there is shooting it gets headlines, but when it gets to issues of reconstruction the television crews leave and go to the next spot. There's less publicity and it goes off the radar screen and so the second fundraising is always less good than the first one. In the case of Afghanistan we're in that decline period.' 

Reinko says: Indeed too I was amazed at the speed of the disappearance of Afghanistan from the Media files. This was some disappointment to me but logical from the 'flock stuff' like behavior of people, but on my behalf the Iraqi stuff soared attention too so I kept a little little eye on Afghanistan. Until today the fighting in the Afghan landscape continues, this sure is of interest. So much could be spoken on this subject but this won't be done now. 

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