Editor’s note: Breaking views are thoughts from individual members of the editorial board on today’s headlines.

After over 16 years of war and military occupation, and $8.6 billion of U.S. counternarcotics spending, opium production has hit record levels in Afghanistan, according to John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

For context, when the U.S. first invaded Afghanistan, the country had just 7,606 hectares of opium poppy cultivation. By 2017, Afghanistan had 328,000 hectares of opium poppy cultivation. “To put it bluntly, these numbers spell failure and the outlook is not encouraging,” Sopko said.

The report lays out in plain language the failures of counternarcotics efforts.

“Our analysis reveals that no counternarcotics program led to lasting reductions in poppy cultivation or opium production. Eradication efforts had no lasting impact, and eradication was not consistently conducted in the same geographic locations as development assistance. Alternative development programs were often too short-term, failed to provide sustainable alternatives to poppy, and sometimes even contributed to poppy production,” found the report.

The report notes that more people were employed in poppy cultivation than in the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, with approximately 590,000 jobs in Afghanistan in existence due to poppy cultivation. And the impact of the trade on political institutions in Afghanistan is predictably negative.

“While opium production has brought significant economic benefits, its impact on the political economy of Afghanistan has been deeply corrosive,” notes the report. “Corruption associated with the opium economy undermines state legitimacy and public institutions, particularly in the security and justice sectors.”

With developments like this, it’s important to have politicians like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, willing to speak out against the wasteful moneypit that is our ongoing military involvement in Afghanistan.

Bridges and roads across the country are in desperate need of repair, and funding is limited. So why are we spending those limited funds — your hard earned tax dollars — rebuilding bridges and roads in Afghanistan when our own are crumbling? pic.twitter.com/ABmFJ2qUiX — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 15, 2018

American tax dollars and lives are being wasted in Afghanistan. What do we have to show for our efforts? Child sexual abuse by U.S.-funded Afghan military units. Rampant corruption and billions in waste. And on top of that a thriving opium trade.

American intervention in Afghanistan has been nothing but a fool’s errand. The sooner the American military withdraws, the better.

Sal Rodriguez is an editorial writer and columnist for the Southern California News Group. He may be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com