Inside the CIA's secret mission to sabotage Afghanistan's opium

[reACTIONary]

Source: WaPo, no paywall

In a decade-long covert operation, the U.S. spy agency dropped modified poppy seeds in an attempt to degrade the potency of Afghanistan’s billion-dollar opium crop.

Read more: https://wapo.st/4qWea62

[Buddyzbuddy]

1. So, the CIA is directly responsible for growing opium poppys.

Wouldn't dropping Marathon's weed and grass killer be a more effective weapon to eradicate the poppy fields?
Just asking.

[reACTIONary]

2. Yes and no. It would be a simpler and less expensive...

.... form of eradication, but it would have been more complicated and expensive politically. It would have created resentment against the US backed Kabul regime, thus increasing support for the Taliban. This kept the "eradication" a secret.

[Buddyzbuddy]

3. That makes sense.