Kush, Hammer and Anvil

Patki army on their side of the border as an Anvil and USA forces attacking from the other side as a hammer. Could clear up the Kush.

Kush mountains....

The Khyber Pass in august 1990

...now in 2004
.....

Helmand Drug heartland ( dark purple area )

Everyone's a Winner at Helmand's Drug Bazaars
The arrangements are quite open and operate semi-officially, according to Hajji Aligul, 55, a tribal leader in Nadali.

By IWPR trainees in Helmand (ARR No. 255, 1-June-07)
A distinctive odour ( sweet purfume, flower smell ) hangs over the local bazaar in Chan Jir, a small village in Nadali district, just 15 kilometres from the Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Most of the two dozen or so shops in the market specialise in just one commodity – opium.

Sayed Gul, a tall young man of 25, stands outside his shop, his hands covered in sticky brown paste. A merchant with a bulky bag under his cotton patu, or scarf, passes by, and Sayed Gul springs into action. Running so fast that his sandals kick up the dust behind him, he catches up to the stranger and takes his arm.

"Where are you going, man?" he says, leading him into the shop

Once out of the burning sunshine, serious negotiations begin. Sayed Gul calls for his young son to bring the Hajji Sahib, or respected guest, some tea. He is eager to offer him some of his poppy paste – the man is a small-time trafficker buying up opium in Chan Jir to sell on to larger dealers in Pakistan.

"I attended a shura [council] where we negotiated with the government," he told IWPR. "We agreed that we would give 220 grams of poppy paste per jerib. The police commander told us, of course, that if we did not reach agreement, they would take the paste by force."

The poppy harvest is in and everyone from the Taleban to local government officials is cooperating to get the opium crop to market.

But cooperation has been so close that farmers say the Taleban scaled down their "spring offensive" this year so as not to interfere with bringing in the crop.

"It is not beneficial to have fighting during the harvest," said Shah Mahmud. "The Taleban and the government both receive money from poppy – they lose out if the crop is destroyed by bombing or fighting."

In several places, villagers have requested that the Taleban leave the area until after the harvest.

"We told the Taleban, 'This year the government was very good to us and did not destroy our poppy," said one tribal leader who did not want to give his name. "We said, 'Stop your fighting during harvest time, otherwise we will turn against you, take up arms against you and kick you out of the area.'"

Najmuddin, 25, a landowner in Zarghon village in Nadali, agreed.

BLACK HASH

.....The taliban lie to the Afghan Umma just like al Qaeda lies to the Iraqi Umma.

USA needs to counter/expose/reveal these lies, (see) show the Taliban as
Shaateen...Once the Taliban have been outted, the tide will turn against them...
Just as it is in Iraq against al Qaeda.

SEE:

http://warintel.blogspot.com/2007/07/talk-with-suicide-bomber.html

http://tinyurl.com/2dv3w9

Gerald