In Helmand's fields the poppies grow, and grow, and grow ...

The farmers of Helmand province in Afghanistan are expecting a bumper crop this year, a record in fact, double last year's. The crop is, of course, opium poppies. Helmand produces about a third of the world's heroin.

The opium poppy produces far more revenue per acre than any alternative, such as wheat, and is an ideal cash crop. It grows in relatively poor soil and is reasonably drought resistant. The product is durable, increases in value with age rather like good wine, has a reliable international market and is easy to transport. Not surprisingly therefore, the West's anti-narcotics campaign, which has cost $2-billion US since 2001, has been a complete failure. This is particularly embarrassing to the British, who have 3,300 troops in Helmand and are in charge of the anti-drug effort. Meanwhile, the drug lords, possibly including the minister in charge of counter-narcotics, Muhammad Daud, operate with seeming impunity.

The Taliban have shrewdly allied themselves with the opium producers while the U.S. and NATO oppose the business. Winning hearts and minds isn't easy when you want to destroy the country's top income earner and the "bad guys" are defending it. A number of American politicians want to eradicate the poppies with crop-spraying planes, a strategy that might be a little hard to explain to the farmers.

We Canadians, always pure of motive, are there to help the Afghans, but how exactly do you help a narco state?