posted on Aug, 14 2007 @ 06:06 AM
I'm flipping through my copy of the United Nations
2007 World Drug Report and on page 11
this graph hit me in the face:
Thats right! According to the UN, last year's opium exports from Afghanistan alone was greater than
the yearly global output of opium for each
of the last 16 years!
Oh but it gets better. The ability of the UN for spin cannot be understated. Look at this graph from page 10 of the same report:
The text next to the graph points out ONLY the good interpretation of the data in the graph.
The significance of the contraction in opium cultivation in Myanmar and Laos cannot be overstated. Although opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan
increased massively in 2006, the global area under illicit poppy cultivation
was still 10 per cent lower in 2006 than in 2000, due to reduction in South-East Asia.
-From
UN World Drug Report 2007, Page 10 (Emphasis mine)
I love how they cherry pick the two years to do the comparison with "2006 was 10% lower than 2000." While at the same time the graph points out that
in 2006 the opium cultivation was better than 10% greater than cultivation in any year SINCE 2000 (with the exception of 2004 which was another good
year for the CIA.)
This report is simply astounding. It is almost a perfect study course in political spin. The charts and graphs say one thing and the text points out
only the most positive aspects of the data.
Jon
[edit on 8.14.2007 by Voxel]