Word: talibans
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...ripened poppies near the lush bank of the Helmand River are counted as a success story by Major Mike Shervington. They may be feeding the global drug trade, but at least they're here. Most locals had fled the village of Kajaki Olya when British forces took on the Taliban in 2006, and today their orchards, spilling with grapes, pomegranates, almonds and apricots lie untended. But the farmers have lately trickled back to tend crops of poppy and wheat - the wheat will feed their families, the opium will provide their income for the year. Shervington stops his patrol of British...
...Taliban threatens us if we stay," one farmer answers...
...right," says the farmer. "But we need more security. We need a military checkpoint where the Taliban stop us. Why don't you soldiers push more...
...More troops would be nice. So would a second Forward Operating Base further down the valley that could help defend these tiny villages. His men could easily take the Taliban checkpoint where the farmers are harassed, but for how long? As soon as his company withdrew up the road to Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, the Taliban would return. A police post would help, or an Afghan National Army presence. These things are coming...
...Indeed, some members of parliament recently proposed a ban on loud music, video games, billiards, playing with pigeons and public mingling between men and women - prohibitions familiar from the Taliban era. In January a university student was sentenced to death for an Internet posting questioning Islam's treatment of women. A few months earlier, a prominent journalist was jailed for translating the Koran into Dari, a local language. The trend worries Barakzai, prompting her to ask, "Why are we even bothering to fight the Taliban...