Opium is just a valuable as oil.

There is another relevant war other than Iraq and Oil. CBC.ca ran the astonishing report on DocZone.
AFGHANISTAN: BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR

Sunday March 23 at 8pm on CBC-TV

Canada went into Afghanistan with lofty goals, promising to fulfill the basic needs of its citizens, and vowing to rid the world of a regime that terrorized and brutalized its people. The costs to Canada, both human and material, are considerable: more than 80 soldiers and a diplomat have been killed, and hundreds of millions of Canadian tax dollars have been committed.

But are these efforts making a difference to the people of Afghanistan? Are their lives getting any better since the brutal Taliban regime was chased from power?
Read more and watch this film online.

This is worth viewing for anyone who wants to know the cultural settings, very similar to what is experienced in Iraq, regarding government/officials/warlord and zones of power.

The comments from the recent post on Iraq re that Iraq culture historically respects "force" other than American Ideology of Democracy, rings true. Watch it. That war should not be given second ratings--particularly since NATO is a real coalition of the willing and is costing money, resulting in government officials building mansions, while citizens are starved, killed, or shaken down at every turn.

Who gets the money and aid and work that we provide to these "governments" the war and we support? Democracy idealistists or pragmatists?