U.S. has farmer-soldiers in Afghanistan

[babylonsister]

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/04/us_deploys_farmersoldiers_in_a.html

U.S. has farmer-soldiers in Afghanistan
Posted April 2, 2009 9:54 AM

by Frank James


Listening to congressional testimony is among the best ways to learn about programs that don't get a lot of attention.

Example: yesterday Gen. David Petraeus, commander in chief of Central Command, was asked about an effort in Afghanistan in which U.S. farmers serving in the National Guard bring their agricultural expertise to the Afghans in an attempt to get them to grow something other than the poppy plants which feed the heroin trade.

In essence, we have units operating in Afghanistan who are very much like agents of the agricultural extension service back in the states, except they're armed to the teeth and battle ready experts at small-unit maneuver. And in Afghanistan, they need to be.

An excerpt from Petraeus' appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday:

SEN. INHOFE: Okay. Seeing Senator Ben Nelson here, I had occasion to talk to some of the Nebraska Guard on what they're doing up on the Pakistani border. And they're up there now, and we had an opportunity to talk to them and the value of that program of crop substitution and this type of thing, working with them. It happens that the Oklahoma Guard will be going up to relieve them, I think, in October sometime. Would you make any comments about that program?

GEN. PETRAEUS: I can't say enough about that program, actually. This is a case where the National Guard -- individual states have pulled together agriculture teams. These are individuals, of course, that are serving in the National Guard but either are farmers or farm experts, agriculture experts. They've even been doing the rotation system themselves. Frankly, the more of those that we could get, the better, at this stage as we expand the areas in which our forces are operating, and would convey that --

SEN. INHOFE: They seem to be getting good results.

GEN. PETRAEUS: -- (inaudible). They get very good results. They have all the attributes of soldiers in terms of being able to secure themselves, communicate -- move, shoot and communicate -- and yet they're also experts in agriculture.

[arcadian]

1. Poppies?

[babylonsister]

2. Pomegranates!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5203710

[NashVegas]

3. Armed Agri-Business

Ain't it grand?

[babylonsister]

4. Teaching and spreading knowledge is grand. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Sounds like the "Fortified Village" flop tried in Vietnam.

Petraeus sounds like Westmoreland.