Written by: Diana West



Remember when Lenin said capitalists will sell communists the rope they will use to hang us? Well, Mr. Marxist gave us way too much credit. These days, in a different struggle, we are giving our enemies the fertilizer they will use to make bombs to kill and maim US soldiers.

Along with 300 metric tons of wheat seed shipped into Helmand Province this month as "as part of an initiative by the Afghan government" (oh, come on, it's USAID) "to provide an alternative crop to poppy for farmers in the region," went 1,050 metric tons of fertilizer. This is supposed to give "farmers a better opportunity for success," but it will surely give Taliban a better chance at making bombs. Paticularly because the distribution is being handled by the "Afghan government," which, as we know, has "weekend jihadis" on its payroll.

Earlier this month -- before that 1,000-plus metric tons of fertilizer went into Helmand Province -- the New Jersey Star Ledger reported on the dangers of buried bombs in Helmand, where 90 percent of Marine operations are taking place on foot:

"We walk. This is not Iraq. We don't drive around," Cabaniss said. Often, there's no other option, Marines here say. Mine resistant ambush protected vehicles, for example, are too big and heavy to allow nimble navigation of the labyrinth of irrigation canals and ditches in southern Helmand Province. Add to that the fact that the bulk of the population in southern Afghanistan is located in rural areas.

"To be amongst the people --

Drinking tea, eating goat...

-- you've got to walk out there," [Marine Col.] Cabaniss said. The strategy of keeping up a security force presence is a main theme of the current International Security Assistance Forces' counterinsurgency campaign under way in Afghanistan. ...

Along with offerings of wheat and fertilizer. But:

Fertilizer-based homemade explosives are increasingly being used against Marine and Afghan troops in the Garmsir region of Helmand. Of the 13 Marines killed in the region since June, most all have been from IED attacks, said one military intelligence officer. IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, act as a force multiplier for the Taliban in that they conserve fighters and resources, said Capt. Trevor Hunt, intelligence officer for 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines.

I wonder what the "intelligence officer" thinks about us force-multiplying the Taliban's force multiplier.