From boom tobust in Bakwa

Surplus water pipes line the road of a quiet bazaar in southwest AfghanistanÕs arid Bakwa district, once a hub of the narcotics trade.- @2025 The New York Times

AN oasis stretched far into the desert, a vast sea of emerald stalks and scarlet poppy flowers that grew to the horizon.

The Taliban operated openly, running a social experiment unlike anything in the country. Tens – then hundreds – of thousands of people flocked here to escape the war and grow poppy, fleeing the American efforts to wipe out the crop.