From the U.S. State Department –
On February 12, 2013, Afghanistan’s Minister for Counter Narcotics Zarar Moqbel Osmani and U.S. Embassy’s Coordinating Director for Rule of Law and Law Enforcement Ambassador Stephen G. McFarland announced $18.2 million in Good Performers Initiative (GPI) awards. GPI awards are given to provinces that achieved or retained poppy-free status, reduced net poppy cultivation by more than 10 percent over the previous year, or made other exceptional counternarcotics efforts during the cultivation season. Twenty-one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces received GPI awards, including 17 provinces that earned $1 million awards for being poppy-free.
President Karzai launched the Good Performers Initiative in 2007 to deliver timely, high-impact development assistance to provinces leading the fight against poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. GPI projects help build infrastructure, employ local citizens, and give tangible recognition to governors who demonstrate strong leadership in reducing and eliminating poppy cultivation in their provinces. To date, the GPI program has supported more than 100 development projects, including roads, schools, clinics, and other infrastructure projects.
The Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs funds GPI, and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Counter Narcotics works with each province to design and implement development projects using GPI funds. GPI awards are calculated based on final poppy cultivation figures from the annual Afghanistan Opium Survey published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
@msgordy-Not all people that are on welfare are misusing the system. Some really do need the help and there are a lot of street people who are not on any kind of welfare. Interesting fact I stumbled on. The maximum amount of Food Stamps a family of four can get each month is $668.00 That is $135.72 p/person p/month. There are 47 million people receiving food stamps so that cost us taxpayers $6.4 billion p/year. Now that is a lot of food. Then if you figure the tax break they get if they are under the poverty line most of them make more than I do and I worked all my life and never took a dime. When I look at it like that I get pissed.
Wow, then I guess 18 million to a few foreign farmers for a 10% poppy reduction makes you furious. Then again I suspect you’d spend any amount of money to bring the “war on drugs” world wide wouldn’t you? America must not stop until we can dictate exactly what every person on the Earth can put into their own bodies and we must spend any amount of money it takes.
@brick-you are a SPECIAL kind of STUPID.
@LVS This person never called you names and you claim that you only call people names when attacked. I guess that makes you a liar.
Stupid? It’s our foreigner policy. If Iowans can’t even use cannabis if we have terminal cancer, what makes you think foreigners can use what they wan’t without our approval?
@brick-are you really Sick and Stupid posting under another name? It sound like one of her idiotic post.
I am not a lawyer, but this sounds an awful lot like an extortion payoff to me. The US either pays money or else. Of course, I could be wrong.
It is just business. The farmer says you don’t want me to plant then make me an offer. No different than here where they pay farmers not to plant corn or soybeans. I want to know how much of my tax dollars are spent on feds going into the woods and cutting down marijuana plants. What a waste of money!
Stop growing herion- HA HA HA !
Too bad they don’t give California money if they keep that state’s land cannibis-free. There are huge fields of pot growing in our national forests being guarded by cartels. DUH. Let’s welcome some more illegals to our homeland.
Cannabis free? Come on now, how will that ever happen? Prohibition is the problem. The only way to stop the cartels is legalization and regulation.
Who ever agreed to this ought to be fired!!! We just have to stop throwing money around.
Do they think that for one second that once we leave they won’t go right back to raising what pays them the most? What a bunch of fools. We have homeless people and people that are starving right here at home and we give millions to those people who hate us and our way of life.
LVS I agree that this isn’t right by any means BUT. People are starving right here at home? Have you seen the size of the welfare parasites that are running around? They are NOT starving…