导读:提起鸦片,中国人首先联想起的是近代遭受的耻辱,它往往勾起中国人一段段痛苦的回忆。当今中国，鸦片已然销声匿迹，而在中东阿富汗，鸦片生意蒸蒸日上。

As violence surges in Afghanistan, so too does the country’s opium business.

随着暴力事件在阿富汗剧增，这里的鸦片生意也蒸蒸日上。

Last year was the deadliest year ever for non-combatants, with nearly 3,700 killed.

去年那些不上战场的人中有将近3700人因此丧生，死亡人数空前。

In its latest World Drug Report, the UN says it was also a record year for the area of farmland used to grow opium: 224,000 hectares, which produced 85% of the world’s opium and 77% of its heroin.

在最近世界毒品报告中，联合国称用于种植鸦片的农田面积达到新高：224000公顷的土地提供了世界上85%的鸦片和77%的海洛因。

When cocaine production was at its peak in Colombia in the 1980s, drugs produced 6% of that country’s income. In Afghanistan, they generate at least 15%.

在20世纪80年代可卡因在哥伦比亚泛滥成灾时，毒品竟然占到国民收入的6%。在阿富汗，至少占到15%。

The business thrives on the lawlessness of conflict, which has escalated in Afghanistan along with the withdrawal of a large part of the American-led international forces. Large-scale poppy-growers often use their connections to keep prying officials at bay.

这个生意之所以红火是因为在打击中无法可依，加上美国主导的国际刑警组织撤退造成在阿富汗地区斗争不断升级。大规模的罂粟种植者经常利用关系使卧底警察陷入困境。

Eradication efforts thus mainly target poorer farmers.

这样一来贫穷农民主要是根除力量的打击对象。

That risks making the violence worse. Desperate farmers stripped of their livelihoods may turn to the Taliban.

这种风险让暴力不断恶化,使得温饱不济而又绝望的农民可能转而投身塔利班。

（来源：爱语吧）