Oliver North: Test case: Marjah

Third in a series of reports from Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Springtime. Back home, Congress is in recess, the kids are out of school and the redbuds, dogwoods and cherry trees are about to bloom. Here, south of the Hindu Kush, opium poppies are in full blossom, the harvest is about to come in and it’s the start of what the locals call “fighting season.” Though people in both countries have come to accept those conditions as “patterns of life,” some here intend to change the archetype for the people of Afghanistan. If their plan succeeds, it could prove to be the undoing of the Taliban — and mark the beginning of the end of this long war. And most of the so-called mainstream media will have missed the moment.