Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2007
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Richard Foot
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Afghanistan (Afghanistan)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/poppy

U.S. TO NATO: HELP DESTROY POPPY FIELDS

Canada Fears Eradication Plan Puts Troops at Risk

The United States wants NATO forces in Afghanistan to launch a major 
offensive this spring to counter an anticipated spring campaign by 
the Taliban, and will press NATO tomorrow to get directly involved in 
Afghanistan's controversial poppy-eradication programs.

A senior State Department official says troops from NATO nations must 
provide security for opium crop-eradication projects, including new 
plans for chemical spraying of poppy fields -- which is something 
Canada rejects.

"There's a lot of talk, you hear it in the media, about a spring 
offensive, that the Taliban has a military offensive in mind for the 
spring," says Kurt Volker, a chief U.S. State Department official 
responsible for NATO policy.

"Well, we want to have our own offensive, and it should be civilian 
and military.

"Part of this is going to be (poppy) eradication, and

NATO needs to provide security support for ground-based spraying and 
ground-based eradication."

Mr. Volker made his comments in an interview this week with the 
independent New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, in a 
discussion about what the U.S. will demand of NATO foreign ministers 
at tomorrow's meeting in Brussels.

Afghanistan is the world's largest opium supplier.

While Canada officially supports the policy of opium-crop eradication 
in Afghanistan -- because much of the profit from opium sales fuels 
the Taliban insurgency -- Canada's military is wary of getting 
actively involved in supporting eradication work.

That is now mostly carried out by the Afghan government and other agencies.

Plowing up poppy fields angers Afghan farmers who rely on the crops 
for their livelihood, and fosters a climate of grievance that helps 
the Taliban in their recruiting efforts.

Canadian commanders in Kandahar have said that any direct involvement 
by their troops in eradication programs would put their soldiers at 
risk, and impede their efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of the 
Afghan people.

This week, one of Canada's senior diplomats in Kandahar, Gavin 
Buchan, also said Canada has "significant reservations" about new 
U.S. efforts to speed up the eradication process through chemical 
spraying of farmers' fields.

Mr. Buchan told The Canadian Press that some Afghans believe chemical 
spraying carried out during the Russian occupation in the 1980s 
caused diseases among Afghan people.

But Mr. Volker says U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will ask 
NATO countries to order their troops in Afghanistan to provide 
security for poppy eradication projects.

He said NATO's new spring offensive should be "broad gauged -- it 
should be reconstruction, development, it should be counter-narcotics 
and it should be security and military as well. And that's what (Ms. 
Rice) wants to talk about with her counterparts."

Mr. Volker also says the U.S. is unhappy with the restrictions placed 
by some NATO countries on their troop activities in Afghanistan.

Some European nations with troops in Afghanistan have restrictive 
rules for engaging the enemy, or aren't allowed to operate in 
volatile areas, such as Kandahar Province, where Canada has 2,500 troops.

Mr. Volker says Ms. Rice will push for a more aggressive military 
contribution by some countries.

"We can't have an alliance where some are fighting and some are not," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake