http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Marines_ignore_Afghan_opium_so_as_0507.html

Marines ignore Afghan opium so as not to upset locals
Associated Press
Published: Wednesday May 7, 2008

| StumbleUpon

Print This Email This

GARMSER, Afghanistan — The Marines of Bravo Company's 1st Platoon
sleep beside a grove of poppies. Troops in the 2nd Platoon playfully
swat at the heavy opium bulbs while walking through the fields. Afghan
laborers scraping the plant's gooey resin smile and wave.

Last week, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit moved into southern
Helmand province, the world's largest opium poppy-growing region, and
now find themselves surrounded by green fields of the illegal plants
that produce the main ingredient of heroin.

The Taliban, whose fighters are exchanging daily fire with the Marines
in Garmser, derives up to $100 million a year from the poppy harvest
by taxing farmers and charging safe passage fees — money that will buy
weapons for use against U.S., NATO and Afghan troops.