Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jun 2006 Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 The Calgary Sun Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67 Author: Canadian Press POPPY PURGE DANGERS REJECTED TORONTO -- Canadian politicians and military leaders are rejecting a British report suggesting both troops and Afghan civilians are being killed because of Canada's backing of failing U.S. policies on elimination of the opium poppy crop. The poppy eradication campaign has driven rural farmers into such extreme poverty that they are shifting their support to the Taliban as the international community and the Afghan government fail to meet their basic needs, says the report by the London-based Senlis Council. "Canadian troops have been handed an impossible mission which can only lead to significant casualties," says the report released yesterday. "Until Canada fundamentally re-evaluates its approach and creates its own new strategy for its presence in Kandahar, with a clear split from the failed U.S. policies there, the Canadian mission in Afghanistan is blindly following a path that will lead to senseless military and civilian casualties." Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Canada isn't blindly following anyone. He admitted poppy eradication is a tough sell in a country where its cultivation is often the only form of livelihood. "We have to find some way to compensate the farmers," he said. Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Canada's activities in the war-ravaged country. Canada is working to eliminate the threat of terrorism, but also wants to eliminate drug trafficking which is causing problems in our streets, he said in Ottawa. But at least one observer said that Canada had made mistakes in its drug policy in Afghanistan. "It was stated to me by the senior diplomats or bureaucrats involved with Afghanistan that Canada certainly had made some very serious errors," said Sunil Ram, an ex-Canadian soldier who now teaches at a Virginia university. Opium poppies, which do not require irrigation in the drought-stricken re-gion, represent a huge chunk of the local economy. The drug harvest brings in 10 times more money to impoverished villagers than a crop of wheat. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman