Taliban, poverty fueling Afghan opium boom
Afghan farmer Abdul Ghani looks over his field carpeted in small, green plants and knows this crop will feed his family. His field is covered in opium poppies, now only leaves about 4 inches high and yet to flower.Ghani explains his simple logic that makes him part of an illicit industry that the government says is funding terrorism and threatens to destroy the country. “We’re very poor people. To feed our families we grow poppies,” said the weather-beaten 50-year-old with a gray beard and turban. His two sons, one 11, the other 12, stood by as they took a break from weeding. Full Story