Country Battles Terrorism, Poverty, Human Rights abuse and Now Wages War on Drugs

Afghanistan is the world's leading supplier of opium, the drug derived from a certain kind of poppy plant that is used to produce Heroin. Almost 10% of the Afghan population regularly uses opium or a derivative. One million Afghans between the ages of 15-64 are addicted to drugs.This figure has risen dramatically over the past few years. 

Afghan man smokes opium, a powerful narcotic drug

Afghanistan has been blanketed by poverty and that hardships it brings for many years. Because of the difficulty of day to day living many citizens seek escape, often this escape comes in the form of a cloud of smoke or an intravenous injection. The prevelance of drug addiction is astounding and due to the increase in IV users in many of the big cities the AIDS virus has also been on the rise. Beceause of the lack of medical care and the inability to pay for expensive drugs, Afghan citizens have no help to get off these highly addictive drugs.

Drug abuse runs rampant throughout the U.S., however in most cases individuals who seek help can usually recieve it, whether it is a drug that curbs cravings or a treatment facility, there are options for those who desire sobriety. Unfortunately in Afghanistan this is not the case. Dr. Zemaray Amin from the Medecins du Monde (MDM) health group says that due to lack of access to social programs and addiction counseling, those addicted to these drugs have no options. An international health group concerned with the increase in drug addiction worldwide has started a program in Afghanistan that hands out methadone to willing addicts. Methadone is a synthetic perscription drug mainly used to treat heroin addiction. Methadone works on the same receptos as morphine, blocking the desire for users to get high. Hopefully with the introduction of more methadone programs Afghan civilians will at least have the option to get off drugs.







Because Afghanistan exports and produces 90% of the world's opium, the issue of drugs in the country is not simply one of abuse and addiction, rather it is entangled in the web of government corruption and terrorism. Members of extremeist terrorist sects are often the ones controlling and growing the opium supply. Often these individuals have strong links to the Taliban and even sometimes government officials. These drug lords employ Afghan civilians to farm the opium crops, paying them little in comparision to the profit they rake in. American soliders have had the daunting tasks of finding the opium fields and setting fire to the plants, destroying tens of thousands of dollars worth of heroin producing plants. Similar to the situation in Mexico, the individuals at the helm of these large, million dollar drug rings terrorize civilians and create havoc.

Many women who suffer abuse at the hands of their husbands and male family members seek escape through drug use

Some Afghan Culture

Not everything about the country of Afghanistan is corrupt, evil and disheartening. Afghanistan is a country with a rich past and many unique cultural traditions.

Usually everything I post on this blog is in some way related to war, death, dying or blood. I decided to use this opportunity to blog about some aspects of this region that do not involve any of the above.

Some interesting Afghan superstitions

• If your foot touches or hits another person's foot, you will get into a fight with that person, unless you shake hands right away
• If a boy chews gum, his beard will grow uneven
• It's not good to let someone compliment your child or other loved one too much, because they may become jinxed and bad luck may fall on them ( This is called "Nazar"-ing a child). For example, if you say a child is beautiful, the child may become sick. You can ward this off by either saying "Nazar Nakona", or by reciting a surah from the Quran

Afghan food is very unique and embodies a very specific culinary style. 

Salaata is an Afghan salad made with cucumbers, tomato, yellow onion, cilantro, lemon and radishes.

Dogh is a blended yogurt drink, famous in the region.



Bolaanee is a traditional Afghan appetizer that consists of spiced and salted leeks or potatoes wrapped in an egg roll wrapper.

Although we often think of Afghanistan as a desert region where water is scarce and camels are abundant, the weather for this week is not unlike our Spring weather. The forecast for the coming week in Kabul consists of highs in the low 70s during the day and lows in the 40s during the night.

Traditional cloth contains beautiful pigments and patterns.

Traidtional clothing

Afghan dress

Has anyone ever heard of Buzkashi? Probably not, it is the official sport of Afghanistan and involves a decapitated goat carcass. Sound interesting?

The game is a symbol of Afghani culture and its roots date back hundreds of years. The game begins with a dead goat, headless dead goat, in the middle of the designated playing field. The object of the game is to capture the dead goat, on horseback mind you, and bring it to the scoring area. Two teams compete in this fiercely competitive and oftentimes dangerous sport.

The most popular name for a baby, boy or girl, in Afghanistan in 2011 Namir (swift cat)

Zalmai is the most popular name for a boy, it means young

Muna is the most popular girl name, it means may the lord be with you.



1 US dollar = 45 Afghanis



Terry Jones-Idiot who fuels more hate for Americans among the Muslim communities

-2010 September 11th-Florida preacher Terry Jones sparks international outrage after declaring Burn the Koran Day. Jones outrages Muslims worldwide after posting facebook messages incouraging individuals to set fire to the Islamic holy book.





Terry Jones Pastor at Dove Outreach Center in Gainsville FL. thought of the brillant idea to insult Muslims around the world by burning the Koran.



-General David Petraus indicated that he believed the Koran burning was a disasterous idea that could lead to severe consequences for those Americans serving in Afghanistan.
-March 20th, 2011 the Dove Outreach Center- Gainsville Florida. A copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, was bured.
-March 24th 2011-Afghan President Hamid Karzai spoke publicly concerning the Koran burning that took place four days earlier in FL. Karzai called the act a desecration.
-Saturday, March 26th, 2011. Kandahar Aghanistan. Protesters marched through the streets of the country's largest provincel, holding long sticks and carrying copies of the Koran over their heads. Gunfire erupted overhead and thick black smoke blanketed the air.
-Following the protest march turned riot, a government spokesperson declared the deaths of nine protesters. 81 others were injured.
-"Some wicked and destructive people placed themselves amongst the protesters and started rioting throughout the entire Kandahar city," the governor's office said. "The enemies of the people and country also burned down the furniture and a bus at a ladies' high school in Kandahar and destroyed some other properties."
-The protests that began Friday incited thousands of Afghanis across the region in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif.
-Seven foreign UN workers were killed at the UN compound as a result of the unrest.
-A UN spokesman said that the UN had no plans on pulling out of the devestated country. He said that the UN would remain because the Afghani people are still in need of aid.
-Hamid Karzai sent his condolences to the families of the those UN workers that were slain.
-Saturday-A Taliban spokesman sent a text message to the AP denying Taliban involvment in the murders.
-Wayne Sapp, pastor at the Dove Outreach Center in FL who participated and coordinated the burning of the Koran on March 20th reported that he felt sorry for those killed, but did not see that the deaths or riots were the fault of the parishoners."I in no way feel like our church is responsible for what happened."
-Afghan officals believe that insurgents somehow melded with the throngs of protesters outside the UN compound and detonated explosives.

Protests in Libya, Bahrain, Iran, Syria, Tunsinia and Egypt all resulted from people desiring freedom. Although there have not been political uprisings in Afghanistan that resemble those in many Middle Eastern nations, the unbelievably stupid actions of one ignorant moron have lead to thousands taking to the streets. Hopefully Mr. Jones and Mr. Sapp are capable of single handedly defending our country from Islamic extremeists and even average Muslim followers, because they certainly should have to.




US soliders stand guard at a US base in Afghanistan following an attack on April 2nd at a UN compound that killed seven foreign aid workers.