Marines grope with complex Afghan drug woes

Marines from the 2nd MEB, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion run to a position during an operation near Khan Neshin in Helmand province on Dec. 12. The arrival of Marines has disrupted the illegal drug trade in opium-rich province.


Marines grope with complex Afghan drug woes
By Sebastion Abbot - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jan 3, 2010 8:40:21 EST

KHAN NESHIN, Afghanistan — The arrival of Marines has disrupted the illegal drug trade in opium-rich Helmand province — and that’s not necessarily a good thing.

Farmers in Rig district say the troops have driven away many of the smugglers they relied on to transport their opium poppy across 75 miles of open desert to a market on the Pakistani border.

“The people from Khan Neshin will still be growing opium,” said Fathi Mohammad, referring to the capital of Rig district. “But it will be more difficult for them to sell it.”

As the U.S. prepares to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the experience in this rural district illustrates how the illegal drug trade complicates efforts to win over the population.

Many people in Helmand, which produces more than 50 percent of the world’s poppy, rely on the heroin-producing crop to make a living. Disrupting the trade could undermine the goodwill generated by military and civilian development projects, such as dredging irrigation canals and opening schools.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/01/ap_marines_helmand_drugs_010210/

It may take a while for them to transfer over to growing food crops, but we could make that worth their while, as well.