Afghanistan War News Updates -- December 17, 2009

An Afghan boy works in a poppy field in the Panjwayi district of Kandahar in 2006. Lower cultivation, output and falling prices of opium have seen its export value in Afghanistan drop 18 percent since last year, the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) has said. (AFP/File/John D Mchugh)

Export Value Of Afghan Opium dDwn 18% From 2008: UN -- Yahoo News/AFP

VIENNA (AFP) – Lower cultivation, output and falling prices of opium have seen its export value in Afghanistan drop 18 percent since last year, the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) said Thursday.

In 2009, the potential gross export value of opium from Afghanistan was 2.8 billion dollars (1.95 billion euros), or about a quarter of the country's gross domestic product, the UNODC found in its 2009 Afghanistan Opium Survey published on Thursday.

In 2008, the export value was 3.4 billion dollars, or a third of GDP.

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More News On Afghanistan

Mullen visits front line of Afghanistan war -- AP
U.S. forces chief warns of Afghanistan fight -- Vancouver Sun
HQ to Marines in Afghanistan: sleep in a hole -- Politics Daily
Nato fails to gain Russia aid in Afghanistan -- BBC
At Kremlin, NATO’s chief seeks military help in Afghanistan -- New York Times
Nato chief seeks Russian helicopters for Afghanistan -- BBC
US to expand eyes in the sky over Afghanistan -- AP
U.S. ramps up aerial spying for Afghan surge -- Reuters
U.S. steps up special operations mission in Afghanistan -- L.A. Times
U.S. failed to get nest planes, best bombs, and best plans into Afghan fight -- The Danger Room
Afghans fleeing Taliban are flooding Tajikistan -- Washington Post
U.S. tries to thin Taliban with jobs, cash offers -- Washington Times
U.N. officials say American aide plotted to replace Karzai -- New York Times
AP-GfK Poll: Gains for Obama, not his Afghan plans -- AP
Congress investigating charges of 'protection racket' by Afghanistan contractors -- Washington Post
Congress opens probe into Afghan trucking contract -- USA Today/AP

Comments And Analysis

Time for a civilian surge -- Globe And Mail
Afghan War Effort Key Obama Foreign Policy Issue -- Voice of America
The President and his Generals -- Karel van Wolferen, Huffington Post
Overall strategy is needed -- Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan and Laura Conley, Washington Times
The Battle for Kandahar and Helmand -- Captain's Journal