Field of Dreams--Opium and Afghanistan

By Joellen Perry Tue May 31, 5:48 PM ET

KANDIBA, AFGHANISTAN--In a cool, mud room in this Afghan village nestled in a lush plain at the foot of the Hindu Kush, five farmers rue life on the right side of the law. For almost a decade, nearly everyone in this 184-family community worked in the drug trade, planting poppy and selling the opium to traders in the nearby town of Jalalabad. "The only ones not involved," says Wakil, a wan village elder, "were the mullah and small children." But this spring, facing the threat of government crop eradication, Kandiba's farmers planted wheat instead. Wakil strokes his hollow cheeks to demonstrate the result. "Look at us," he says, gesturing to his fellow farmers who ring the room, sipping green tea. "We have hungry faces."

Hungry faces may become even more common in the wake of a major new push to uproot the lucrative poppy economy. Newly elected President Hamid Karzai declared a national "jihad against poppies," and the international community has increased its counternarcotics aid pledges to nearly $1 billion. To understand the unprecedented magnitude of the challenge, consider this: Afghan opium poppy cultivation, by U.S. estimates, more than tripled last year from a near record level the year before. No other country in modern times has produced so much opium. The crop now accounts for 60 percent of Afghanistan's overall economy--and supplies nearly 90 percent of the world's opium (most of which is turned into heroin). Still, there are questions about the commitment to action by both the Afghan and U.S. governments. Amid criticism that Washington has let the problem fester, Lt. Gen. David Barno, former top U.S. military officer here, says, "Last year, the priority was the political process. This year, it's poppy."