Follow-ups

Here is some new info on past posts...

Heroine- It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore:
U.S. officials can't decide what Afghanistan should do about its massive poppy harvest, the LAT reports. Some, fearful that the proceeds will go straight into the pockets of Al Qaeda, have recommended killing off the crops with aerial spraying. But others, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai, warn that this would cripple the Afghan economy and provide a powerful Anti-American image for terrorist recruiters. The State Department is hoping for about $780 million from Congress to fight narcotics in Afghanistan, $152 million of which would go to spraying poppy fields with an herbicide. In an effort to clue Karzai into the threats of drug trafficking, some U.S. officials have been urging him to chat with members of the Colombian government.


Tsunami of a Bitch:
Re: FYI: According to the Congressional Research Service, an independent agency, the United States is the largest aid donor in terms of dollars, but its record of donating two-tenths of 1 percent of its national economy for foreign aid makes it among the smallest donors as a proportion of what it could theoretically afford.
Bush announced that America's donations towards the tsunami relief effort have gone up to $350 million- this is 10 times the original pledge of $35 mil. We can only assume this is due to all the chastising by the UN and of course because the US must always appear to have the biggest dick on the playground. Funny thing is, a day after President Bush promised $350 million in American funds, Japan upped its tsunami aid pledge to $500 million. The offer from Tokyo is the largest of any government so far and brings the international aid total to $2 billion.