Quote Originally Posted by JMA View Post
Does the same rationale apply to Mexico? ... (I await your response)
Yep, same rationale. I don't think the US has any business sending soldiers into Mexico to do crop eradication.

I never thought I would see the day when the US (and NATO) would support a narco economy openly aggressively and without shame. My of my how times have changed.
Except that's not what anyone is arguing. No one in this thread is suggesting that opium production is not a problem. What has been suggested is that it's a secondary problem and, furthermore, that going after the middle-men and "big fish" (when possible) is a better strategy than attempting to eradicate the crop in the fields for all the reasons cited upthread.

I would go further and argue that supply-side drug interdiction is ineffective - at least that's the US experience with 30 years of the "drug war." Can you point to any example where an eradication strategy has been successful?

So, if you want to convince me that eradication is the best policy, then you need to at least demonstrate that it's a feasible, achievable COA and have a plan to mitigate all the negative consequences.