Afghan Visions

Walton Cook
September 8, 2010

If you are the average native of Afghanistan--life has a very messy ending, worse if you are female. In fact, your life is out of control. You are staring downward, and into the dark abyss of death. You will not live to age 45. You have little bodily ease or pleasure. You are sick, malnourished, hungry, uneducated. There is nothing to help you say goodbye--you are without hope.

Until…you ask your corrupt government for the one act that may save you. You volunteer to give up narcotics production in return for one last chance for a more normal life. Your narcotics farmers will ask the Americans to teach you to plant alternative crops, nutritious food crops for yourself and your animals. You ask the Americans to purchase your crops in advance, and for the same farm-door price you received for illegal cultivations. You ask for this support for 10 years, so that you can look to the future with a tool against Taliban intimidation. You now have a cause fellow farmers and farm workers can rally around. You promise to abide by your agreement with the Americans. To back this up, you get a new biometric iris-scan ID card, so that Taliban or others cannot take eligible farmer’s money, or any part of it. (Farm income is $1 billon dollars.)

For your government, you ask the Americans to provide an additional $4 billion dollars for each of the next ten years. The total is now $5 billion yearly. $2.8 billion of that is to make up for the GDP lost from giving up drug production. This cumulative $4 billion extra helps Afghan’s to pay for clean water, healthcare, education, and good rule-of-law governance.

But how? Your government hasn’t cared about you up till now. Even if the Americans agree, how will you tell your own leaders? How will you even know about this hope-filled vision, as only 28% of you can read? But you can speak. And will you spread the demand for this last chance by word-of-mouth, within your tribe, mosque, village and family? And what do the Americans have to gain by listening to your pleas?

First of all, Americans save approximately $20 billion that their society loses yearly from Afghan originated drugs. Next, they cut off many troop costs. (Each of 100,000 soldiers costs almost $1 million per year to maintain in the field,) Let’s say they could save $20 billion more here each year. The Americans also cut their enemies income, as the Taliban receive $400 million each year from drugs to conduct terror. Americans save an additional $4-5 million per year for each soldier not killed by the Taliban. They save more from persons not injured, including Afghan civilians.

It looks like a one-to-one gain (profit) for the Americans, a life with a brighter future for Afghans. It’s up to Afghans to speak out, and for Americans to listen. Which of these Afghan visions presents a better tomorrow than a yesterday?

Mr. Walton Cook can be reached at

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