U.S. Marines Launch Opium Operation in Afg.

U.S. Marines Launch Major Operation in Afghanistan - 01 Jul 2009

Poppies grown in this region account for half the world's supply of opium. Thousands of U.S. Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early Thursday morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the U.S. military's new counter-insurgency 'strategy' in Afghanistan. The operation will involve about 4,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was dispatched to Afghanistan this year by President Obama to combat a growing Taliban insurgency in Helmand and other southern provinces. Obama has to keep Bush's opium routes and gas pipelines flowing.

See also: U.S.-built bridge is windfall -- for illegal Afghan drug trade 28 Jun 2009