Anyone for a little Smack?

$287 Billion Spent on the war terror. $11.2 billion fighting the war on drugs. Instead of combining our efforts on both, Bush failed to act on an exceptional opportunity to strike a blow against both at the same time. Afghanistan, the country that let terrorists train to kill Americans, is also the largest producer of opium in the world. But, instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan by ridding it of terrorists and stabilizing the government, Bush turned his back on Afghanistan and the real war on terror and went after Saddam. Not only is the majority of Afghanistan back in the hands of the Taliban and militant warlords, but it also has had the largest crop of poppies in years because Afghanistan is now more lawless than it has been in a decade. If Bush had focused on ridding Afghanistan of the terrorists instead of abandoning the country, we would have been able to both protect our national borders from terrorists and from illegal drugs. Now we have new training grounds for terrorists and cheap heroin. Thanks Bush. Millions of dollars from the sale of this heroin on our streets will flow back into the hands of the people who want to harm us.

AP wire sept 24th, WASHINGTON - Afghans significantly increased their poppy crop in the past year, fueling a narcotics trade that endangers U.S.-led efforts to stabilize the country, officials said Thursday. A report expected in a few weeks from the CIA and United Nations is expected to show Afghans planted 100,000 hectares with the crop, up from 80,000 hectares last year, said assistant secretary of state Robert B. Charles, head of the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. "We know that profits from the production of illegal narcotics flow into the coffers of warlord militias, corrupt government officials and extremist forces," Rodman said in a written statement for the House International Relations Committee hearing on the Oct. 9 Afghan elections. Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., criticized the administration for not moving faster against a drug trade that threatens efforts to build a stable Afghan government. "The drug lords are getting stronger faster than the Afghan authorities are being built up," he said.