Joel Hafvenstein on The Interviewpoint pt 1

From http://theinterviewpoint.com ...

Joel Hafvenstein betrayed no culture shock when his 36 hour trip from Afghanistan deposited him in New York and we shared a Central Park bench to discuss "Opium Season," his account of good intentions and bad consequences at the intersection of the war on terror and the war on drugs.

In 2005 he was part of a group of aid workers tasked with bringing alternative job opportunities to the many poor Afghans who count on poppy cultivation--and by extension Heroin production--for their income. He eventually fled the country when his group came under attack but has since returned.

In this conversation Hafvenstein relays his impressions of the largely failing poppy eradication effort and the wider issues at play in Afghanistan.

"The troop numbers and the aid dollar numbers are not what's going to make the difference," he says. What is most important is providing basic security by retraining the failing police.

"Its going to be hard to get people who will go out on the front lines like that. That is a dangerous job. But that is the kind of troop increase we need in Afghanistan."

The danger of failure?

"If we just pull out of there it will go back to being Al Qaeda's playground and we feel the effects of that," Hafvenstein says. "The troops job there isn't done. Its an important job. And what we really need to be focusing on is providing security in Afghanistan, however long that may take."

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• joel
• hafvenstein
• opium
• season
• poppy
• eradication
• afhanistan
• helmand
• iraq
• interviewpoint

[markyp19]

how much money is the entire afghan heroin crop worth each year. compare that to how much cost in policing by foreign troops human life and suffering . if we brought all the crop wouldn't we save money wouldnt we have control of heroin trade we could tax it . we could also do buisness straight with the farmers and cut out the taliban , makes more sense to me .

[mystikast]

relegalize cannabis

[clockworkorange1986]

Bro stop being a moron. Who do you think is the worlds largest consumer of heroin? It's our country. It is in our interest to keep opium production down in Afghanistan and Colombia of course.

[XWIREDX]

I admire folks who take issues they are interested in, in foriegn countries, who take it upon themselves to do something about it. Even though I might not agree or care about thier cause.

[XWIREDX]

We don't even need to worry about that part of the world! Mind our own damn business! If personal efforts like this gentlemen want to get involved it is absolutly up to them and is thier perogative! More power to them. Once again our foriegn policy will create more hatred towards us! Help those who need it when they ask and only if the American people decide if that is what they want to do with our US Treasurary dollars!

[gosciu555]

czeck out fromthewilderness . com if you want to know more about drugs

[ichisatori]

Fascism is here and it is wrapped in American flag and wears a crucifix.