Despite Western efforts to curb production, the Taliban’s major cash crop, opium poppies, is thriving.

Associated Press reports:

The U.S. general in charge of nato’s Afghanistan mission said Wednesday he expects another year of “explosive growth” in the country’s poppy fields, a harvest militants will turn into weapons for use against Afghan and nato troops. …After a record haul in 2006, Afghan farmers increased opium production some 34 percent in 2007. Afghanistan last year produced 93 percent of the world’s opium, the main ingredient in heroin. Its export value was estimated at $4 billion. …Links between drug growers and insurgents have been suspected to be growing in recent years. Proof of that was made clear when Afghan and nato forces last month recaptured from militants the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province, the world’s largest poppy-growing region.When Afghan and nato forces moved into the town, they discovered dozens of heroin labs and stockpiles of drugs worth $500 million in street value, according to U.S. Ambassador William Wood.[Gen. Dan] McNeill estimated that insurgents get 20 percent to 40 percent of their income from drugs, but he said some UN officials have told him the number could be as high as 60 percent.”So when I see a poppy field, I see it turning into money that turns into (weapons) that are used to kill Afghans and members of the International Security Assistance Force,” he said. …

After six long years of battling the Taliban, the efforts of U.S.-led forces have only resulted in the Taliban gaining strength. With a major source of their income predicted to once again break records, not to mention increasing support from next-door Pakistan, we can expect the fight to only get tougher for the United States and its allies.