themselves on the poison of the opium that grows everywhere and until we address that, and the corruption, when the government official is getting $300 a month to be straight and $3,000 a month to be crooked or $30,000 a month to be crooked, it is he is extremely difficult to clean up your civic society. so i think that we have to have a pragmatic approach, recognize that this is the heartland of the opium crop in the world. 60% of the whole planet s supply at least coming from right around helmand province where we dug the irrigation canals in the 1960s. i think we have to be pragmatic on the one hand. ruthless on the other and as to karzai, when he comes to washington next month, president obama, the rest of the united states government standing together and the united nations have to tell him that where the hell does he get off. bill: that s right. accusing us of the kind of that lingering and evil doing that he and his cronies are doing. bill: maybe we will go down and see hi
themselves on the poison of the opium that grows everywhere and until we address that, and the corruption, when the government official is getting $300 a month to be straight and $3,000 a month to be crooked or $30,000 a month to be crooked, it is he is extremely difficult to clean up your civic society. so i think that we have to have a pragmatic approach, recognize that this is the heartland of the opium crop in the world. 60% of the whole planet s supply at least coming from right around helmand province where we dug the irrigation canals in the 1960s. i think we have to be pragmatic on the one hand. ruthless on the other and as to karzai, when he comes to washington next month, president obama, the rest of the united states government standing together and the united nations have to tell him that where the hell does he get off. bill: that s right. accusing us of the kind of that lingering and evil doing that he and his cronies are doing. bill: maybe we will go down and see hi
themselves on the poison of the opium that grows everywhere and until we address that, and the corruption, when the government official is getting $300 a month to be straight and $3,000 a month to be crooked or $30,000 a month to be crooked, it is he is extremely difficult to clean up your civic society. so i think that we have to have a pragmatic approach, recognize that this is the heartland of the opium crop in the world. 60% of the whole planet s supply at least coming from right around helmand province where we dug the irrigation canals in the 1960s. i think we have to be pragmatic on the one hand. ruthless on the other and as to karzai, when he comes to washington next month, president obama, the rest of the united states government standing together and the united nations have to tell him that where the hell does he get off. bill: that s right. accusing us of the kind of that lingering and evil doing that he and his cronies are doing. bill: maybe we will go down and see hi
defense secretary robert gates is spending a second day in afghanistan. he traveled to a remote outpost to meet with a hard-hit balgt unit. gates told the soldiers their heavy losses of helped push back against the taliban in their southern strong hold. the army unit from ft. lewis, washington, has lost 22 men. another 62 have been wounded since arriving in afghanistan last summer. mixing with the afghan people is seen as key to winning hearts and minds. cnn s senior international correspondent ben wederman takes us along as u.s. marine do so diplomacy. reporter: charlie company and troops from the afghan army prepare to go out on patrol. they trudge through the fields, including fields of opium, toward the village about 40 minutes away by foot. it can be rough going in the midday heat, jumping over irrigation canals on the lookout for land mines and booby traps. but the purpose of this journey is not to engage the taliban in
finding out what s on people s minds and preventing the return of the taliban. the marines are here to show their presence to make contact with village elders to find out what their problems are and how they can help. they re also asking some questions about the taliban. noticeably missing from this patrol is any ranking official from the local afghan government. it s hard to tell who represents whom. the afghan government wants to help build up marjah. reporter: 27-year-old second lieutenant george russo is in charge of civil affairs. he s a diplomat and an aid worker. this man complains that his irrigation canals need to be repaired, that he needs a new pump. that s why i m here. they re getting me come here to help fix or build whatever needs it. reporter: russo finds it ironic he s had to shift gears from fighting to fixing, but insists the marines are up to the job.