First they were gonna use some chemical that would probably have an adverse effect on the population.  Then there was an idea of torching the fields.  And now they want to pay the farmers not to grow a crop, kinda like the deal agri-business gets in the US.

Here is the idea:  a farmer would get 2 bags of rice, 2 bicycles and 2 years of cash for the crop he would not grow.  Then he would be told to find another way to earn a living.  Is this the best plan that all well paid experts can come up with?

A similar program was tried in Colombia and it failed miserably, so why would it work in Afghanistan?  Ask your self, why would a farmer grow turnips and make $200 a season or grow poppies and make $2500 for the same season?

The truth is that a farmer will grow what will make him the most money–after all there is a living to be had and the extra cash just makes that living a little more bearable.  Surely, somewhere in the administration, maybe in a dark corner of the State Dept basement, is a person that has a good idea.  But the ones they have now are proven failures.  Why keep trying the same failures time and time again?