Cutting the tall poppies
The swollen green poppy bulbs are being plucked from the fields as the annual spring harvest is under way in Afghanistan's volatile and dangerous Panjwai district. "Fifteen days," an Afghan farmer told a Canadian soldier yesterday, when asked about how long he expected it will take to clear his field. As the farmer talked, he carefully cut open a bulb the size of a walnut and scooped out the oozing sap. In nearby fields, the harvest could be finished as early as Friday. Canadian soldiers patrolling areas southwest of Kandahar are closely watching the calendar, as they prepare for a renewed...
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