British Troops Moved Out of Yet Another Lucrative Opium Trading Center

British troops have handed over to the U.S. Marines the Helmand city, Sangin, which they had captured in 2005. Sangin is one of the six largest opium trading centers in Helmand province, and the British had captured five of the six. Beginning 2006, opium production in Helmand province soared as never before. With the handing over of the Sangin valley, where the city is situated, British troops will have control of two of the largest opium trading centers in Helmand.

Apparently, the British figure they have nothing to fear from the American takeover, as Obama Administration policy is not to challenge, and in some reported cases, to aid the drug-traffickers.

At the time of the takeover of Sangin valley by American troops, the U.S. had 20,000 troops in Helmand as opposed to 8,000 British, located mostly in central Helmand. The takeover is also the outcome of NATO commanders' review of their counterinsurgency mission in recent months. On a visit to London last month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said: "The view of the British military is they probably don't have enough manpower to do that their areas of Helmand."

On July 7, at a press briefing at the Pentagon, US Operational Commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez told reporters that the counterinsurgency policy has made some progress in Helmand Valley, including some success in Marjah as well. Most surprisingly, he pointed at the growing casualties of International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in recent months as an indicator of such success.