Would be interested in the views on the West buying all the opium to take the baddies out of the trade
To completely disrupt this market we could then offer heroin for free to addicts in exchange for them signing on to & attending a rehabilitation programme.
I think we need to re-define our measure of success, after all we have more-or-less done the job we set out to do i.e. driving AQ from the country and installing a democratic (by the standards of the region) Government. We can also dominate any area militarily at will, so we could easily counter any attempts by AQ to re-estalish its presence in the country.
Khan has struck the nail on the head re focussing our efforts on selected areas rather than trying to cover whole swathes of the country. Lets create a network of safe havens to give the NGOs, construction companies etc the opportunity to improve the lot of ordinary Afghans. The bits in between could become a playground for McChrystal's beloved special forces.