U.S. drug czar John Walters defended the policy of eradicating opium poppy crops in rural Afghanistan even though many experts say the policy is turning farmers against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, the Guardian reported Aug. 8.

After 10 British soldiers were killed in a span of two months in restive Helmand province, U.K. officials have reportedly become more critical of the U.S. antidrug strategy. Critics say that the anti-poppy campaign is helping the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

"Sometimes we talk as if security and drugs control are at odds, but the places where we have the best security are the places where we have some of the best drugs control," Walters said. "[Afghan farmers] know that their future and that of Afghanistan depends on rule of law, not being ruled by drug mafias."

But local Afghan officials say that the eradication campaign has led to government corruption and more support for the Taliban.

"Directly attacking the livelihood of farmers like this has very counterproductive side effects. Locals see these eradication programs are conducted by foreigners and they often assume that they're being organized by NATO troops, which makes it harder for those troops to gain local trust," said Emmanuel Reinart, director of the Senlis Council, which has proposed licensing opium production in Afghanistan.

After dropping off during the Taliban regime, opium production in Afghanistan has rebounded, and the country is again the leading source for the world's supply of opium.

The United Nations recently reported a sharp decline in the number of acres of land in Afghanistan devoted to opium cultivation, but another report found that opium production only fell a few percentage points because of improved productivity. Walters said that the U.S. was having success in encouraging farmers to plant other crops. "To say that we are losing ground or [eradication is] not making progress requires you to look at this in a very, very distorted way," he said.