And Whose Fault Is This?

President Bush is complaining about the poppy production in Afghanistan. Whose fault is it that the production has increased? Before we attacked, and then basically withdrew from, Afghanistan, poppy production was at a very low level. It was outlawed by the Taliban and severely dealt with. After we attacked Afghanistan, removing the Taliban from power, production increased to record levels. This is our doing.

Instead of staying in the area and putting a proper government in power, we chose to cut out and attack Iraq. You can't remove the powers of a country and expect illicit activities to decrease. That seems to be the thinking of this administration. We have not supplied the people of Afghanistan with the tools and support they need to keep a viable government in power. Already they have no say outside the capital city. It also looks like we'll be doing the same thing in Iraq. The last time we tried these techniques, Vietnam fell as soon as we left.

I'm not saying that removing Bush from office is the answer to the mess that this administration has got us into. It's a good place to start though.