"We know you fear the corn"

Following is excerpted from a post by 1LT Alex Pruden in Blessing on Friday, June 18, 2010:



" So the bad guys are getting a little restless again. They've been stepping up attacks as of late out to our east and west...but fortunately for now the FOB and surrounding area is relatively quiet. However, for their lack of direct action the enemy has more than made up for it in terms of propaganda operations. The quote from the title of this post is from a letter anonymously given to the district center. It alludes to historical use of the cornfields by the Taliban / AAF to cover their positions and conduct attacks much closer than they would normally be able to.

In response, the coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan have launched an effort to encourage alternative crop growth near the FOB and the roads....In our AO alone, there are over 500 fields adjacent to or within 300 meters of MSR Rhode Island (the primary E/W road). All in all, it sounds a lot easier than it is. The last 3 days have been spent walking through fields trying to figure out who has what field. Depending on which elder I am talking to, that always seems to change. Then there are the people who own the fields but don't actually live in the area. And some fields are owned by children (yes, really) whose fathers have died and passed it on to them. A man might have 1 field here, another 2 over there, and oh by the way that's his brother's field right there (are you sure?). It's a nightmare, but we're wading through it as best we can."