Pubdate: Tue, 16 Oct 2007 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1154/a12.html Author: Norine MacDonald Note: The writer is president and lead field researcher of the Senlis Council, a drug policy organization with researchers in southern Afghanistan. DON'T SPRAY THE POPPIES Re "Afghans Pressed by U.S. on Plan to Spray Poppies" (front page, Oct. 8): The American-led counternarcotics policy of forced poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan has been pivotal in hindering stability, security and development in the country's most impoverished regions. Starting a more aggressive approach like chemical spraying would be nothing short of disastrous. Chemical spraying was undertaken in Colombia and proved ineffective. Not only did aerial spraying merely displace illegal coca cultivation to more remote areas, it also led to starvation and displacement of entire farming communities while posing severe health risks to both humans and the environment. With southern Afghanistan already suffering from a severe starvation crisis, aerial spraying would be catastrophic for the rural community while turning the local population against NATO troops. It would trigger more political hostility against the NATO presence and the Karzai government in a country where the battle for hearts and minds is already suffering tremendously from our past errors. President Hamid Karzai has declared his opposition to any forms of spraying. The international community has a duty to respect his wishes. We need to win back hearts and minds to succeed in Afghanistan, not destroy any trust that may remain. Norine MacDonald Paris