Opium production in Afghanistan has plummeted since the Taliban banned cultivation of the poppy plant, according to a UN report published on Sunday.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers pledged to wipe out the country’s drug industry, banning poppy cultivation in April 2022.

Poppy plants are the source of opium and heroin. Afghanistan was the world’s biggest opium producer and a major source for heroin in Europe and Asia before the Taliban takeover.

  • @teichflamme@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    -178 months ago

    The main takeaway is this backwards country cannot be fixed by anyone and shouldn’t be supported

    • Flying SquidM
      link
      fedilink
      English
      98 months ago

      Women in Kabul in the 1970s:

      Looks to me like it was fixed just fine before it was broken.

      • @TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        38 months ago

        everyone always posting pictures of Persian women in the 70s wearing western clothing and claiming it was better… you are looking at a very small sliver of the population who are wealthy

        • Flying SquidM
          link
          fedilink
          English
          7
          edit-2
          8 months ago

          They’re not Persian women, they’re Afghani. And it was better for them because they could wear whatever they wanted, go to school and listen to music.

          • @Cinner@lemmy.worldB
            link
            fedilink
            English
            5
            edit-2
            8 months ago

            And it lasted all of, what, a decade? For an extremely small, wealthy elite minority of the population. The vast, vast majority were still rural, and I assure you they didn’t build a national rural system of education and culture in that decade.

            1965 - The Afghan Communist Party secretly forms. The group’s principal leaders are Babrak Karmal and Nur Mohammad Taraki.

            1973 - Khan overthrows the last king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, in a military coup. Khan’s regime, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, comes to power. Khan abolishes the monarchy and names himself president. The Republic of Afghanistan is established with firm ties to the USSR.

            1975-1977 - Khan proposes a new constitution that grants women rights and works to modernize the largely communist state. He also cracks down on opponents, forcing many suspected of not supporting Khan out of the government.

            1978 - Khan is killed in a communist coup. Nur Mohammad Taraki, one of the founding members of the Afghan Communist Party, takes control of the country as president, and Babrak Karmal is named deputy prime minister. They proclaim independence from Soviet influence, and declare their policies to be based on Islamic principles, Afghan nationalism and socioeconomic justice. Taraki signs a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union. But a rivalry between Taraki and Hafizullah Amin, another influential communist leader, leads to fighting between the two sides.

            At the same time, conservative Islamic and ethnic leaders who objected to social changes introduced by Khan begin an armed revolt in the countryside. In June, the guerrilla movement Mujahadeen is created to battle the Soviet-backed government.

            https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan

          • @TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            48 months ago

            I’m well aware.

            Still same shit, (slightly) different country.

            Still very few privileged people.

            Imagine if these opium farmers showed pictures of yachts and said this is America?

            • Flying SquidM
              link
              fedilink
              English
              -18 months ago

              Very few as opposed to zero? And was it the law that women had to be covered up and weren’t allowed to go to school or listen to music?

              • @TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                68 months ago

                Dude, you’re missing the point. Do you give a fuck what luxurious lifestyle Eric Trump is living? Does his life indicate in any way what your life is like?

                • Flying SquidM
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  08 months ago

                  I give a fuck that it’s illegal for women to wear whatever they want, go to school or listen to music. I’d say that makes the lives of all women in Afghanistan worse.

          • tech
            link
            fedilink
            English
            48 months ago

            This wasn’t what life looked like on the farm.

      • @Daft_ish@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        3
        edit-2
        8 months ago

        I am doubtful. The powers that be are simply resting their legs on the American people. I imagine if we actually pushed back they might start unfolding the real weapons of oppression. Once upon a time we fought the robber barron’s and won. Not sure it will be so simple the next time.