Helmand River Valley, Afghanistan.

A folder of some points of interest in an almost 200 mile swath of Helmand Province. This is poppy-central, birthplace of heroin. Poppy growing has increased dramatically and a rise in shipments of heroin to the US and Canada can be traced to this fertile valley. Efforts by the Afghan government to eradicte poppies and convince farmers to grow legal crops have failed. The payoff for poppies is just too lucrative, because it funds the resurgent Taliban, who control much of this province.
The Economist. A farmer uses a thin metal scoop to remove the poppy paste from cracks in the pods. See photo below for a huge bag being sold in a market. As long as the West demands heroin, opium poppies will be big business in this region, with or without the Taliban.

Time. British soldier in a poppy field in Helmand Province, Apr., 2007.

RadioFreeEurope

Journalist Saroya Sarhaddi Nelson of npr.org, below in burka, standing in a field with poppy farmers, says that the local population is frightened by the dominance of the Taliban here. Their capacity to provide the fortune to fund the Taliban makes them vulnerable to forced cooperation, kidnapping, or death.

Quote:

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Civilian casualties [in Helmand Province], largely in NATO airstrikes against Taliban fighters, are contributing to the pessimism. Life in Afghanistan these days is a tale of two cities - the somewhat Westernized Kabul, and a violent Taliban stronghold called Lashkargah, in southern Afghanistan. "In Kabul, you'll see women or girls...with just a veil on and jeans," Nelson says. ...You definitely see that Afghanistan has come a long way from the Taliban days"... But the situation is much different in Lashkargah, the capitol of Helmand Province. "You don't see any women on the streets without burkas. [There is] a lot of paranoia. The bazaar is very rarely filled. People are so scared, they don't trust their neighbors... [they race] to work - if they even still go to work - and race home at night...because it's difficult to tell who's Taliban and who's not. ... A lot of times, bodies will be left outside the city. ... As a result, you just don't have really any life."

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Taliban with their weapons. These two photos: WorldNews.com and Truthline.org

PBS. Selling raw opium in Lashkar Gah market, just another fund-raiser for the Taliban.

WorldNews. Drug use among local men has skyrocketed in Helmand Province, so it's not just a Western problem. It's one more reason to loathe the Taliban.

The Taliban are a fascistic menace to their female neighbors and I find it impossible to pretend objectivity - in other words, to attempt any research into their "point of view." So, they can sue me. Below, burka-covered women lined up to vote in Lashkar Gah, 2006. There's something heartbreaking about women wearing burkas to vote. Certainly, radical Islamist women exist all over this part of the world, but it is also the opinion of knowledgeable womens' groups working in Afghanistan that most continue to wear their burkas out of fear of what the future may bring. It's a nation of traumatized women, and girls with a future of groveling subjugation. There could not be anything more destructive to a culture than to kill the souls of its women and children.

Blackfive Photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwel.

Women scurry from the path of British soldiers. Honestly, they're safer with this guy walking by with a gun than they are with the Taliban....

chinadaily.com Photo by Staff Sgt. Jacob Caldwell.

...who are running around Helmand Province burning down girls' schools...

NPR: Taliban Wages War on Afghan Girls' Schools.

....and blowing off farmers' legs with mines.
UN.org.pk

Some of the above is my opinion, informed by reading and attention to current events, and not directly attributable to specific sources.
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Thank you bullsnose, for pointing me to the correct location of the Bost Fortress! And, to britchickie for giving the correct name of the airport. I have updated accordingly. Thanks a million, Explorer572007, for leading me to find the town of Musa Qala and read about its central location in the Taliban drug trade.
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Women for Women International - For the special needs of women surviving war.
Kiva - Small loans changing lives around the world.
Bukavu Foundation - For the Panzi Women's Shelter & other programs in Eastern Congo.
Room to Read - Change begins with educated children.

Edited by diane9247 (12/18/07 02:09 PM)

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