Afghanistan’s economy

A couple of weeks ago Afgan forces captured a bunch of Taliban and also 2600 pounds of black tar heroin. If you didn’t know, heroin is the cash crop for many Afgan citizens. It should be pretty clear that we’re going to have to help the people of the country find a new, profitable cash crop as a part of winning this war. There aren’t that many terrorists, but they’re mobile and viral–they hit and run; as long as the people won’t turn them in (and they don’t for at least because the people fear for their lives–the terrorists don’t play by the rules, ever) the terrorists have free run of the country. It seems to me that the major effort here needs to be protecting the population so that they can act in their own self-interest without fear, and providing them with a cash crop that will help them be welcomed as a productive nation. It takes troops to protect the population. I wonder if we’ll ever send any more over there.