May 20, 2004
RECRUITING DARWIN FOR THE TERROR WAR:
The War on (Narco) Terror (Rachel Ehrenfeld and Walton Cook, May 20, 2004, FrontPageMagazine.com)
Assistant Secretary Charles draws a chilling comparison between drug use and the losses we suffered from terrorists on September 11, 2001. "Drugs are a very big national security issue. We lost 21,000 kids in this country last year to drugs—that’s seven Twin Towers. We are heavily involved and fully committed," he says. This commitment includes $310 million for the eradication of the opium poppies in Afghanistan. [...]Enter the use of mycoherbicides, which are naturally occurring fungi that attack and kill a specific plant. They are used to control such illicit pest-plants as the coca shrub, opium poppy and other noxious weeds. Unlike chemical controls, mycoherbicides assail only the targeted plant. They continue to live in the soil, thus preventing the future growth of the intended plant. Biochemists say mycoherbicides will not cause a plant to become extinct- rather, they will greatly reduce yield and render cultivation uneconomical.
Experiments with such biological agents have been going on for years, and recent scientific papers indicate that researchers are close to further breakthroughs in bio-control science. However, these researchers have expressed exasperation with the lack of government funds, preventing the conclusion of the studies, and therefore the use of this method to eradicate opium and coca plants.
The use of mycoherbicides in Afghanistan will mitigate the production of heroin and cocaine and cut off the terrorists’ major money supply, and will help keep the country from returning to a haven for terrorists and their leaders. The procedure may free up billions of dollars used to fight the opium and coca addiction and make those monies available to help to fight terrorism directly. It would also free up funds for an array of social and governmental reforms in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Ultimately, eradicating narcotics means eliminating the cost of fighting them not only in Afghanistan but also throughout the world.
Now we're talkin' root causes. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 20, 2004 12:56 PM
"The use of mycoherbicides in Afghanistan will mitigate the production of heroin and cocaine ..."
Funny, I didn't realize coca was grown in Afghanistan. Is it really?
Posted by: jd watson at May 20, 2004 1:46 PMThe environmentalists will try to stop its use.
Posted by: Genecis at May 20, 2004 3:56 PMGenesis is exactly right.
Even we plant pathologists are more than a little leery of using plant diseases as a weapon. Entomologists have used natural insect antagonists to control unwanted introduced weeds and insects before, but have had many failures where the insects released attacked desirable plants and insects that were not the intended targets.
There has been some interest in using plant diseases against coca plants in Colombia, and I know that tests were run some years ago at a Coca-Cola owned plantation in Hawaii.
The strategy may be feasible against Cannabis in the western hemisphere as the plant is not native, so there would be less danger of killin closely related non-target plants, as there would be with poppies in asia. Of course the Canadian hemp growing industry could get pretty uptight.
Posted by: Jason Johnson at May 20, 2004 4:20 PMMr. Judd;
It might end up stopping food production in Afghanistan entirely, rather than just poppies. I'd consider that a downside.
And of course, what happens when the favor is returned to us against say, corn?
AOG:
I honestly can't see a downside to making Afghanistan and Western Pakistan uninhabitable, especially if it gets rid of drug crops at the same time.
Posted by: oj at May 20, 2004 7:21 PMoj:
I'm really glad you aren't King of the World.
You would make a fun advisor to said ruler.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at May 21, 2004 3:58 PM