forces were on the ground at that time, jose. jim miklaszewski, thank you very much. turning back to michael kay, former se eer senior british of. that is an area that you and jim are telling us has a lot of activity, a lot of economic activity with the opium fields that have been there for hundreds of years, but that are a key part of the taliban s financial infrastructure. yeah. the area is relatively close to the economic powerhouse of helmand province. and what s significant about marjah and the area, there are a number of villages that go from south to north, is that they are all effectively on the helmand river and the helmand river provides a lot of fertility to grow the opium plants. the opium plant bankrolls,