In the country's poppy-growing provinces, farmers are being forced to sell their daughters to pay loans.
Comment: let's just hope things get better for afhgans - UN must keep a closer eye to regions experiencing changes such as afghanistan -- we're wacthing
Comment: what the hell? y arnt these *** articles posting
Comment: i thought the article was written very well and i thought i learned much by reading this article and discussing it during class
Comment: How can i join the gay group like the comment underneath the one im typing right now
Comment: How can i join your group... im retarded and dont know anything...lol... what a retard... am i right?
Comment: this article was retarded.... i thought that reading this in class was very boring and i almost feel asleep during class and got in trouble by the teacher just for not reading this boring and retarded article
Comment: GOD SENT AMERICA TO SAVE IRAQ FROM SADDAM.
WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE WE ELIMINATED SADDAM AND HIS FOLLOWERS.
GOD BLESS AMERICA FOR WE ARE THE IRAQI'S SAVIOR.
HISTROy WILL SHOW THAT AMERICA GAVE THE IRAQI'S THE GIFT OF FREEDOM.
WE ARE THE IRAQI'S SAVIOR.
Comment: To SKD500 I am actively involved in attempting to track down this farmer with other people who commented in this section. Our goal is to pay off this drug dealer and help the little girl get an education. We cannot save the world but we can save this girl and that is something worth doing. You can contact me at hojo312@hotmail.com. To others with comments I say stop intellectualizing this tragedy and do something about it , join our group..
Comment: How can I join your group?
Comment: Peter,
The easiest thing to do in the world is to blame the US for the ills of the world. The US did not bring about any devastation in Afghanistan. The US is not unravelling like the 30s, perhaps only in your dreams.
In Afghaninstan the US soldiers are standing like a wall between the Afghans and another run with the bloody Taliban.
Comment: Those here who wax indignant against these desperate men that have to sell their daughters ought to be made to listen to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." What are you going to do, babe, here in the States when our society unravels as in the 30s, after having in its wealth and pride brought such devastation to places like Iraq and Afghanistan - just because it could?
Comment: I feel sad for these children. Given away nonconsentually and doomed for life. It should not be allowed to exist anywhere, not in their country or ours. It is disgusting to think that these children will be raped the rest of their lives, and it is simply to pay a debt that the child had nothing to do with and no one will help them because they will be nonconsentually married which forces their submission. There should be intervention here........skd500
Comment: How does a culture that goes into convulsion at the sight of a glass of wine justify growing this poison?
Comment: Why is it so difficult of an idea for people if we were to legalize all drugs? Has making them ILLEGAL solved the 'drug problem'? Are our streets less flush with adulterated/unregulated substances and violent gangs?
Americans seem to not remember the history lesson provided by our experiment with Alcohol Prohibition -- and the reason why we eventually repealed prohibition. Does nobody realize that alcohol prohibition made alcohol a lucrative, illegal commodity that became controlled by violent criminal gangs, most notably AL CAPONE and the MAFIA! Does nobody realize that making drugs illegal simply did the same thing -- created lucrative, illegal commodities for which there will ALWAYS be a demand -- and this demand is satiated through black market supply that is controlled by violent criminal gangs/cartels. This exactly parallels the alcohol-running gangs like that run by Al Capone during Alcohol Prohibition. Thousands of lives and trillions of dollars have been wasted on this "Drug War" that will never end because people are ALWAYS going to want to use psychoactive substances. The only human culture to ever exist that has not used psychoactive substances has been the Inuits of the Arctic and thereby one can infer that its only a natural aspect of human existence for humans to crave altered-states. Even animals like birds and elephants have been demonstrated to eat fermented fruits because they enjoy getting drunk! Drug use is a natural part of being a living creature and it's not going away! We only create more problems by making drug use illegal -- as was demonstrated by Alcohol Prohibition, which almost anyone can agree made things worse than when alcohol was legal.
Comment: I wasn't saying my aforementioned solution would AT ALL solve the problem of western demand for heroin -- as far as history can tell that's never going away, opium has been used to ease the pains of human existence for thousands of years and making it 'illegal' isn't going to stop it's continued use. My solution would simply solve the problem of Afghani girls being sold and raped because the West outsources it's drug problems to third world countries (Afghanistan and Colombia both have massive instability and violence because we in the West don't control and regulate our own domestic drug production and consumption and so drug production is relegated to the black market via third-world countries like Afghanistan and Colombia.) However, since it's politically impossible (though logically necessary) for the West to control and regulate it's domestic drug consumption (i.e.: legalization, regulation and taxation just like alcohol and cigarettes) I proposed a simple halfway measure of buying all the opium from Afghan farmers and turning it into morphine to be freely distributed for medical use to the third world. I don't care if there are abuses to the system and people still find sources of heroin for recreational use -- that's always going to happen-- but my solution will ABSOLUTELY stop the sale of Afghani children as brides to pay off the debts of opium farmers, because the farmers would no longer be in debt or poverty!
Comment: !!!SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM!!!: As the article states, these opium farmers cannot grow anything else as they earn 10 times as much growing opium poppies as they would any other product... and, as I've read in other news articles, the transportation infrastructure is so poor in Afghanistan that farmers are unable to transport any other viable crops to lucrative markets, such as the pomegranate idea floated by an earlier poster, for the pomegranates would perish in the long journey to the market (roads and bridges in Afghanistan are rare and are controlled by militants that require toll-payments for passage). Therefore, since it is painfully but irrefutably obvious to any reasonable person that these impoverished farmers MUST grow opium... WHY DOESN'T THE U.S. GOVT BUY THE OPIUM FROM ALL AFGHAN OPIUM FARMERS! As the article states, the farmers themselves only receive a total of $1 billion for their opium crop. Thus far the US GOVT has spent more than that on trying to eradicate the opium crop in Afghanistan. It seems to me it would be easy enough for the US GOVT to pay the opium farmers $2 billion for ALL their opium (thereby doubling the pay of the farmers and outbidding what the opium traffickers/Taliban could pay the farmers). We could then turn ALL Afghanistan's opium into Legal opioid pharmaceuticals (i.e. morphine) and give it for free to Africa and other third world regions for use as pain medicine. This would be timely as a recent UN report just pointed out the fact that there is a shortage of opioid pain medication in the third world -- some African countries don't have any morphine AT ALL. This means that in some African countries, if someone gets in a car crash and has a limb severed off they don't get ANY pain relief WHATSOEVER! On top of this solution solving the problem of Impoverished Afghan farmers being FORCED to sell their daughters as brides, AND SOLVING the shortage of opioid pain-relief in the third-world, this solution would also completely wipe out Afghanistan's problems with the Taliban and al-Qaeda as the NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. McNeill has admitted recently that the Taliban and al-Qaeda likely receive 70% of their funding from the opium trade and therefore if we bought ALL the opium from the farmers by paying them DOUBLE what the Taliban pay the farmers we would effectively remove 70% of the Taliban's/ al-Qaeda's funds. The fact that nobody in a high-level position is proposing this -- the ONLY real solution to 3 separate problems -- is scandalous!
Comment: Are you serious? Actually do something constructive to make the world a better place??? What an un-American idea!! No, no, we're much more comfortable being right and pointing out the flaws of all who don't think in lock-step with the VERY FEW "Americans" who run this country. Sorry, VoodooSoup, you make too much sense to be listened to.
Comment: Then people wonder why the world is the way it is, when you have all this monstrous stuff going on. All that is considered RAPE and I can't believe that the father would go along with that. It is terrible and disgusting that we are in 2008 and all this crap is still going on! There should be a law against all of this and hopefully we the U.S can take over their country .
Comment: I think the same thing...
Comment: How can anyone be so heartless as to suggest that children are a `cash crop?` What is happening to this girls is a CRIME and the consumation of their `marriages` amounts to nothing more than matial RAPE. These are living breathing human beings, and their fathers obiviously hate to give their daughters to wife in this manner. I feel sorry for the girls, their families and Afghanistan. How would you feel if this were your child?
These people need help, not harsh words.
Are all Republicans so cold and frigid? Have you no humanity in that ice cube you call a heart?
And from someone who knows, the poor would rather not be poor. Welfare moms would rather work decent paying jobs and spend time actually parenting, not like rich people who contract childrearing, just like everything else....
Comment: It would appear that they have found a new cash crop,their children. It seem to be the thing to do nowdays unless of course you live in the USA where the Gov. just pays you for them and you get to keep them and you use the money to buy opium. But not to worry when Hillary gets in all will be well.
Comment: YOUR A JERK
Comment: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343850,00.html
Comment: According to the "Center for research on Globalization", drug trafficking constitutes "the third biggest global commodity in cash terms after oil and the arms trade". Out of over $ 300 billion annual heroin trade in the US, 95% of which originates from Afghanistan, hardly $ 2.7 billion reaches Afghanistan in benefits. It has been reported that, opium production has increased over 3,200% since fall of Taliban government. It is a bitter irony that, US military presence has served to restore rather than eradicate the opium cultivation and drug trade in Afghanistan.
It is heartening to see the concerns shown by the writers on this discussion site with overwhelming offers to help the unfortunate girl facing inhuman ordeal of her life. But, this isolated case is just a tip of the iceberg. Atrocities in Afghanistan have no limits. Human life has lost value. Developed world is more concerned in protecting animals from human cruelty than gravely oppressed human beings in many countries of the world. Unlimited number of high profile world bodies headed by the UNO, having all sorts of fancy names and protocols, are practically doing nothing to protect and save human lives from horrible tortures and inhuman treatments at the hands of their contemporary humans, in this world of highly dis-balanced distribution of life opportunities.
For the convenience of those having soft and humane hearts, following would give further details about situation of struggle for survival in Afghanistan, with some insight on who benefits how much from it.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060921&articleId=3294
Comment: Before Bush bin Laden invaded Afghanistan, poppy/opium production was non-existent. The US is making a *killing* on the opium trade. After the Cheney Halliburton UNOCAL gas line was complete, the US corpora-terrorists turned to poppy production.
Cheers,
Lori R. Price
Mgr., Citizens For Legitimate Government
http://www.legitgov.org/
"Hi, mom, this is Mark Bingham... you believe me, don't you?" Mark Bingham - Sept. 11, 2001
http://www.legitgov.org/9_1_1_oddities.html
Comment: and the moon landing was staged!
Comment: To FATJOY???Did you really read the article? It???s a story of despair and a shame for all humanbeings. It???s not a situation about religion.You CANNOT say bad things about Muslim with little idea you have(!) and make propaganda. Instead of doing this, we, all people must be more sensitive to the other people and try to do something for abolishing this kind of dramatic events-as much as we can do. It doesn???t matter whether as a Muslim like me or as a Christian like you???
Comment: shut up you animal!!!
Comment: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343850,00.html
Comment: To FATJOY... Did you read the article? It's a story of despair. It's a shame about all humanbeings. There are many evil things that people on the world are doing. I mean, it's not about religion. You CANNOT judge Muslim with little idea you have(!) and make propaganda. Instead, we must be more sensitive to these kind of people and try to do something for abolishment of these shameful situations. As a Muslim like me, and as a Christian like you, as much as we can...
Comment: As much as many people have said here and some might even give money ( and i feel it is a wonderfull thing to do) it dose not fix the problem! People it is not just afghanistan but also look at africa and othe places in the world, where has the issue of education. The old saying will always be correct {fead a man and he will not go hungry, teach the man to fish and he can feed his family}
And yes i do agree that muslims and there beliefs are not mine and do not like them but i am sure there are some good muslims in the world.
Also people if the world could stop the drug trade it would even be better.
Comment: We cannot destroy in a blog that which has taken hundreds of years to build - the drug trade is an unfortunate side-issue. The issue is: how many people from wealthier countries are willing to sponsor a family, not just the daughters. The parents will continue to have children. Save the first daughter, others are in line to take her place. In sponsoring the family (i.e. with healthier crops - the fruit juice was a good idea) the parents are then more willing and able to care for their children as parents are wont to do under normal circumstances.
Blame and fault are for the righteous and mighty - history is written by these same people. They're often called conquerors, not humanitarians.
Comment: For those who are offering to pay the debt of this farmer to save his daughter - what a lovely gesture you propose.
Those who want to help could contact the editors of Newsweek to ascertain how to reach this particular family as one of its sources for the story.
Editorial questions and comments: WebEditors@newsweek.com
I would also recommend that you contact Amnesty International as they have been combating human rights violations in Afghanistan and have many connections.
Amnesty International USA
5 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001
phone: (212) 807-8400
fax: (212) 627-1451
Comment: I think they should start selling their sons.
Comment: What a wonderful world we live in. The article makes me think of welfare moms who make more babies to get more money, take the infants to shady doctors who pronounce the kids "disabled" so their parents get cash. So America has similar problems, using children for cash.
Comment: It may sound cruel... But the only way to stop such tragedies is to castrate the men and put a limit on the number of kids they are allowed to breed... Having multiple wives or polygamy in islam is also at the root of the problem ...Uncotrolled breeding is causing political upheavals in many poor and under developped muslim and non christian nations, the world over, because they "never" heard of family planning and would most likely oppose it.... It truly is a tragedy that is a substitute to the misery of slavery...
Comment: I want to put up the money to pay this loan so that the girl is not sold. How can I do this? I want to contact the reporter for this story. Email: oneWorld@webname.com
Comment: Amnesty International USA
5 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10001
phone: (212) 807-8400
fax: (212) 627-1451
Comment: To: oneWorldnews, what a lovely gesture.
You can email the editors at Newsweek:
Editorial questions and comments: WebEditors@newsweek.com
Thank you for your kindness, it helps renew my faith in AMericans. Sincerely, Tane
Comment: I would put up the money to pay the loan so that this girl would not be sold. How can I do this? Email to oneworld@webname.com
Comment: "Lenders never show any mercy," the old man says. Local farmers say more than one debtor has been bound hand and foot, then locked into a small windowless room with a smoldering fire, slowly choking to death.-----------Sounds like a system America could use right now with all the deadbeats and welchers skipping out on their mortgage payments. Could I suggest that Sayed Shah bring his fellow farmers to the United States and use what they've learned about collections to assist our banks and thrift institutions? There would be a tremendous market for their services here and by accepting a percentage of the collections, as is customary in this country, Sayed and his friends would make far more than their little farms could ever produce and would be able to keep their daughters in the bargain.
Comment: Local farmers say more than one debtor has been bound hand and foot, then locked into a small windowless room with a smoldering fire, slowly choking to death.----------Bet the lenders got the money then, by golly.
Comment: All: PLEASE by this soap if you want to help: http://www.arghand.org/
Comment: By 2030, the single most limiting factor to human growth will be access to water, not even clean water. This includes vast areas of India, China, S. America, and even the United States and certainly Afghanistan. For many areas there will be no forewarning or advance planning to deal with theses crises as aquifers and rivers that supply water to billions will no longer be viable sources almost overnight. It is an arguable but not an unreasonable guess that the Earth can only sustain about 100M humans indefinitely and that nature has kicked off a chain of events that will ultimately rein in our numbers alberit with its fury.
Comment: spamdam, did you read the article? the country is so poor the farmers cannot live off anything but poppies for crops. they have no other option unless they want to starve to death. I dont see they have any choice. I am curious where are the benefits of the US's wonderful liberation of Afganistan?
Is there any NGO you can donate money to that saves these children? This is absolutely horrible what is happening.
Comment: To Spamdam...You can afford a big family because you live in a rich country, one that consumes a huge percentage of the world's resources. Billions of people people live a very different lifestyle, never have enough food, water or security and are illiterate. This poor man didn't deal in drugs...he farmed poppys the way his family had for generations...the only way he knew how to make a living. I suspect you would have done the same thing in his position. By the way, justecause you can have a big family doesn'y make it morally correct when the planet is overpopulated and showing the strains...especially when you have a bu=ig family because of some superstitious nonsense.
Comment: @fiber artist: What do Catholics and Mormons have to do with poverty and drug runners? Hello? Just because you have a large family does NOT automatically make you poor. I come from a large LDS (what you call Mormon) family with generations of families from 5 to 9 children and we're all doing fine. Getting rich is not the goal of our religion - we find our happiness in family - so the more the merrier!
The reason this man and his family are suffering are because of his terrible choices -and now he is making his daugher pay the debt - he's a coward. It has little to do with family size. Don't like drug runners theatening your life and family? Ummmm - don't deal in drugs? What a concept.
The question is, what can be done to save these children. Is there a foundation setup that will pay to adopt these children into a real life, before they are sold into a certain death?
Comment: To Spamdam...Wake up, you live in a rich country, of course you can afford a big family, but that doesn't make it morally right. The planet is overpopulated and we're all beginning to suffer for it. No one shold be happy about having more than two kids if they elect to have kids at all, and having a big family because of your superstition makes it even sadder. Much of the world lives in poverty, while people like you hum a happy tune and have no sense of the world outside your neighborhood...
Comment: One more blatant example of why people are in poverty - too many children and their religion promotes it the way Catholicism used to and Mormons and evangelicals do today. Gee, what would happen if the farmer just had one child or maybe, none? The biggest disservice the US has done around the world is to colonize, brow beat, threaten with our might and give extra food and medicines to the 3rd world. Where is the family planning? That would lift them out of poverty, give their kids better education and stop this endless horendous cycle of poverty and misery.
Comment: It isn't so much that their religion promotes having many children (I haven't seen any reference to it in the Koran), it is that not only do they not know about birth control, they are too poor to buy the pill or condoms, and anyway these are not available there even if they could afford them.
Comment: we should help that girl before it is too late. I mean, if we can have doctors fix a boys burnt up face (you know, the boy from Iraq), we can surely raise more than $2000 to help with someone's debt, especially when the girl is worth so much more, beyond a price. I don't care who is at fault, but a little girl is about to be sold toa 45 year old, disgusting man who is going to rape her. If the 30 or so of us who have posted a comment would just stop bickering about who is at fault, and each raise about $70 through your friends and family, it could be done. It would be the best story ever. I do understand that the problem will persist and the family may fall into that situation again. But at least for now, it will save a little girl's life. All it takes is one less starbucks latte, one less month of cable tV, one less movie to rent/watch, etc. We live in a great, blessed country with so many privileges and riches and i'm not saying we should give them up permanently, but maybe just one less.
If you yourself were in such a desperate situation, you would just take out a balance transfer out of your credit cards, refinance your home, sell your used car, borrow from another family friend, etc. It's not so easy over there. And as we are here in the US arguing about the situation, you are probably taking out a loan right now on your house before it goes into foreclosure. We are so willing to take out 100,000's of dollars on loans, and at the same time give our self-righteous reasons to attempt to explain why afghanistan is the way that they are. And don't say that we are imposing our ideas on another country by trying to save a little girl. That's so stupid. People who say that have given up on what they believe in. We don't have to impose our religion (I'm a christian), we don't have to impose our culture (MTV, baseball, fashion, food). We just have to save a 9 year old girl and help get her to stay with her family.
I'm just trying to be objective, balanced, and have the realization that we cannot solve other people's social problems, but some situations are salvageable for the meantime until the environment changes. It's not going to be an issue later, hopefully.
Comment: Pauliejc: go down to my e-mail under Hojo and then go down one further who would also like to help. I have already given my e-mail address .
Comment: we should help that girl before it is too late. I mean, if we can have doctors fix a boys burnt up face (you know, the boy from Iraq), we can surely raise more than $2000 to help with someone's debt, especially when the girl is worth so much more, beyond a price. I don't care who is at fault, but a little girl is about to be sold toa 45 year old, disgusting man who is going to rape her. If the 30 or so of us who have posted a comment would just stop bickering about who is at fault, and each raise about $70 through your friends and family, it could be done. It would be the best story ever. I do understand that the problem will persist and the family may fall into that situation again. But at least for now, it will save a little girl's life. All it takes is one less starbucks latte, one less month of cable tV, one less movie to rent/watch, etc. We live in a great, blessed country with so many privileges and riches and i'm not saying we should give them up permanently, but maybe just one less.
If you yourself were in such a desperate situation, you would just take out a balance transfer out of your credit cards, refinance your home, sell your used car, borrow from another family friend, etc. It's not so easy over there. And as we are here in the US arguing about the situation, you are probably taking out a loan right now on your house before it goes into foreclosure. We are so willing to take out 100,000's of dollars on loans, and at the same time give our self-righteous reasons to attempt to explain why afghanistan is the way that they are. And don't say that we are imposing our ideas on another country by trying to save a little girl. That's so stupid. People who say that have given up on what they believe in. We don't have to impose our religion (I'm a christian), we don't have to impose our culture (MTV, baseball, fashion, food). We just have to save a 9 year old girl and help get her to stay with her family.
I'm just trying to be objective, balanced, and have the realization that we cannot solve other people's social problems, but some situations are salvageable for the meantime until the environment changes. It's not going to be an issue later, hopefully.
Comment: pauliejc, some of us (actually a LOT of us) don't have acess to the resources you mentioned, I know I don't. This all comes down to "busybodiness". If people want to get high, they will...period. Stop tring to fix things that are none of your business in the first place and work on something that will actually do some good. Yes, by all means, help this child AND AT THE SAME TIME quit messing with people that didn't ask for your two-cents- worth. I'm sure someone will post to say that their son's, daughter's, cousin's, wife's, husband's, etc. life has been "ruined" by drugs, but you know what? For every sob story there are 20 others who go on to lead perfectly "normal" (whatever that is) lives. Either way, when you try to force your idea of right and wrong on others this is ALWAYS the result : a bigger mess than when you started. We're so ready to blame the Taliban for being such rigorous moralists; lets paraphrase the Bible..."don't be so worried about the mote in your neighbor's eye, be concerned about the beam in your own"
OK, oh Righetous Ones, you may attack now.
Comment: Poor kids... If you want to know how you can help, read 3 cups of tea. Afghanistan will be saved though education.
Also, google Ahmad shah massoud or commandant Massoud. Then, you will know how wonderful afghan people are.
Also, see the movie kite runner.
For the many ignorant, Afghanistan is not an arab country. They are the victims of arabs invader like Al Queda and the talibans..
Comment: Enter Your Comment; Wildlifeusa, I would suggest that instead of treating this as an intellectual exercise, if you really wanted to help you should read my comment under hojo and also the one from Pauliej above and tvb1000.
Comment: Target the drug purchasers USA.
Comment: Regarding the previous comment by tvbiooo I would to be prepared to to also donate money to save at least one poor little girl form such a disgusting practice. Please ask the writer of this article as well as the donor who replied below contact me at HOJO312 @hotmail.com . so insread of talking about it lets do it..
Thanks
Comment: Isn't there anything we can do? I would like to donate some money to that farmer so his daughter can stay home.
Comment: Enter Your Comment ; TVB1000 if you are serious read my e-mail above and also the one from pauliej above. qnd then contact me to see if we can do something.
Comment: I live in the High Desert, In California. Same climate as most of Afghanistan, but at a lower altitude. In my yard, requiring very little water, are four pomegranate shrubs. Pomegranate juice sells for about $20.00 per gallon in the local grocery store. "Where is this fruit from?" you might ask, or "Where do native pomegranates grow?" Afghanistan! All pomegranates are grown from cloned stock, available for FREE from various USDA suppliers and sponsoring unversities. There are several varieties available, but the Wonderful version is the one generally preferred for juice. Someone Please send these poor folks some clone stock, which, after all, came from their country in the first place.
Comment: End their misery with a nuke.
Comment: DUH! Maybe a crop that you could sell localy,or even eat,might keep from starving and even make you some money. But if all you know how to do is sell DEATH I guess this is your FATE! I am sorry about their children but then I'm sorry about my grandchildren that are going to inherite a 100 Trillion dollar debt that they can't pay and will probably have to grow opium to stay alive. And if that is going to be the case I hope the dumb asses that take drugs don't stop.
Comment: What a miserable and soulless culture and, moreover, country where girls are raised as crops, traded like cattle, and treated like dogs. You simply cannot eradicate this mindset by military or economic policy or by throwing offenders in prison...there are simply too many and the abuses widespread. Compounding the problem fourfold is that Afghanistan has become a narco-state much like border towns in Mexico, and we have not yet developed a straightforward strategy to combat the corruption and terror backed by opium dollars that can outspend our commitments. The canvas of the world seems to have broad strokes of gray over black and white these days.
Comment: yea, thats right, lets enforce our 'ethics' on another foreign country's social problems...yea, boy that war on drugs continues to be such a brilliant solution. There's your nobel prize! Shoot 'em, imprison them, irradicate them....*puke*
Comment: petefranke: I don't think the ethical standard that says "You don't sell your children" is an American standard; it's a human standard. And, I don't consider selling your children a "social problem." My comment was posted in reply to the guy who thought the answer was to legalize the opium trade. Excuse me, but I don't believe that the answer to something as despicable as this is to run away from it. My assertion that a couple dozen repetitions would solve the larger problem is called sarcasm. Of course, it would not. But it is the right thing to do, and it should be done, one case at a time, until a solution to the bigger problem is found. The fact that you can't save the world doesn't mean you shouldn't save this little girl. .
Comment: Clearly, great minds think alike. If selling opium is legal, selling your daughter merits a Nobel prize, I guess. On second thought, how about this: Any father whose drug trafficking creditor demands his pre-teen daughter as payment goes to the police - or the US Army. The authorities put the trafficker/child molester in prison for the rest of his miserable life. Repeat a couple dozen times, you'll eradicate child trafficking and opium farming.
Comment: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Because there are lots of problems in the world that it is not our responsibility to try to fix, since any attempts to do so would only create worse problems (witness our experience in Iraq). We are not the government of most of the world. But we ARE the government of Aghanistan, which imposes on us a moral obligation to address this kind of injustice.
Comment: Why does it matter who's faullt it is?? A little girl is about to be sold into slavey and the comments on this board are only concerned with fault. How about this - everyone is at fault and no one is at fault - what does it matter??? Why are people so quick to point fingers?? So they can sleep better?? Pathetic. There is sadness in my heart after reading this article and disgust from reading the post. Sleep well all.
Comment: Make all illegal products Legal. Tax all products. All plants have their positive and negative qualities. Why is there a need for an illegal trade? Because society is immature to deal with facts of life. In a mature society there is no such thing as an illegal trade. Those who want to abuse a substance will always find a way to do so. The duty of society is to inform not to dictate how people should live their life. Take away the 'forbidden fruit' tag and the interest is less teasing. Simple human nature. Legalize all the illegal substances and put pay taxes accordingly. 60% taxes on 'extraordinary' items is reasonable. Same goes for deceiving religious entities: Why must they be exempt from taxes? It is an insurance they cannot prove.
Comment: Make it all legal
Comment: sex,drugs,rock and roll.......perfect world!
Comment: haha, well at the risk of sounding like a total liberal freak.....I could not agree more. Peace, pot and microdot, lol
Comment: Yes, it really is our fault...particularly as our administration uses the double barrels of the War on Terror and the War on Drugs against one country. And while societal norms in Afganistan clearly allow for the brutal abuse of its poor and its women, as an american I hang my head in shame as yet another example of this country's hypocricy and duplicity creates a situation where the innocent are made to suffer and die. We've been using the drug war to bomb and murder farmers in South America, now we get to flex our muscles in Afganistan, the same place where 20 years ago we were providing money and weapons to. Now we indirectly promote slavery and murder with our idiotic policies and futile attempts to stem the drug trade. I hope Nancy Reagon is propped up on her pillows somewhere, clutching a picture of Ron and telling him about all the bloodshed that their foreign policies have perpetuated. Please, please lets stop the madness. Trillions of dollars spent on war all over the world by our great 'democracy', it is no wonder that the U.S. is hated more and more. It seems that all this evil is finally coming home to roost. God help us all...
Comment: Um...what's the point? Grow a drug crop and poison the world or sell off your children to pay for your bad loans because you live where nothing grows.... Maybe we could send some Californians to Afghanistan to teach them about risky life styles and poor investment choices like interest only loans?
Comment: Um...what's the point? Farm a drug crop and poison the world - or sell off your daughter to pay for a bad loans because you live where nothing grows.... Maybe we could send some Caifornians to Afghanistan and they could teach them about poor investments like interest only loans.
Comment: The moneylenders should be prosecuted for financing the opium trade, and it should be illegal to give your daughter as a loan repayment. This is a sickening practice, and it should be stopped at all costs. I can't understand these people, however. Why are women considered so worthless in these countries? Until women are given equality with men, I'm afriad there will be no change for these poor women and children.
Comment: The women aren't worthless. Obviously, they are worth a year's pay for an entire family. That's quite a dowry, actually. Is it barbaric? Of course it is. Don't confuse that with worthlessnes, though. It beats India, where Families have to pay someone else to take their daughters away, sparing them the extra mouth to feed. Oh, did I mention that India is a fully modernized nuclear nation, and is one our primary trading partners?
Comment: Don't even compare the status of women in India to those in Afghanistan. India does have a dying tradition of dowry, but the mistreatment of women in Afghanistan is rooted in religion. You think India can have a growth rate of 9-10% since the past 5 years without the participation of 50% of its population? A country that is so reluctant to bring a woman into power as the President needs to shut up when it comes to women's rights.
For country that
Comment: I'm at a loss to understand why it matters what the reason is that a culture treats women like dirt. What difference does it make whether the reason is religion or something else? The problem is that women are being treated like dirt. For you to speak as though it's fine for women to be chattel as long as it isn't for religious reasons is ridiculous.
Comment: Yes, it really is our fault. This is the kind of tragedy that arises in an econmic an political vacuum. When you invade and occupy another country there is a moral obligation for competence. Once the Taliban fell, the Bush people treated Afghanistan as a minor annoyance while they concentrated on Iraq. Colonizing Afghanistan qas never going to be easy or fun, but we had a moral obligation to do it right once we made the decision to do so, no matter what our reasons for doing it.
Comment: "These people" raising opium to make a living are only trying to feed their families, Eagle Spirit. Extreme poverty does not allow for your kind of morality. The fact that they are reduced to selling their daughters is one more cruel irony in their lives. Funny how you don't suggest shooting the dope users as well.
Comment: These people raising opium to make a living and finding themselves selling their children to repay loans should have thought about the many lives that have been ruined due to these opium crops. These crops should be completely and permenently destroyed and the people raising and selling dope shot on sight, with no excuses.
Comment: Agreed with caveats
When you shoot (on sight) all drug dealers and users in your own country (will assume the US) that encourage and support the trade through their consumption.
Quid pro quo
Or find a way to make it better.
Even were people to listen and act on this suggestion, market forces would simple fill the vacuum of western demand.
Comment: I guess it's Ok to say that it's the US's fault.. But who really is at Fault.. We try to help and change other countrys troubles, only to be told all thats wrong there is our fault.. Our shoulders are large, but come on people.. grow up.. Look at there history,, they have to take the steps to change there worlds.. Sorry we can't butt out,, We are human, and your right most is probily none of our business. When you have the best country and life any place on earth it's really hard not to want other people to have the same..We have it all..
Comment: This article is a testimony for one of the many failures of the US in Afghanistan. Therefore it is only fair that the drugs are being exported to the US, all these in a vicious cycle that benefits only the drug barons in the US and of course the many corrupts officials.
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