A US Marine speaks with farmers during a security patrol August 11, 2009 in Khan Neshin, southern Helmand province, Afghanistan. US Marines are posted at Forward Operating Base Castle, the southern-most US military post in Helmand province, nearly 80 miles from the Pakistan border.

A farm boy watches US Marines carry out a security patrol August 11, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Helmand province, Afghanistan. It's estimated 80% of the farmers in Khan Neshin district directly or indirectly earn their money from poppy growing for opium and heroin production.

US Marine Lance Corporal Nathan Nail, of Oxford, Alabama, walks through farm fields during a security patrol August 11, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan. Taliban forces, having been forced to flee with the recent influx of 4,000 Marines into Helmand province, had control of southern Helmand for 3-4 years.

Three US Army soldiers with the Psychological Warfare unit speak through an interpreter to an Afghan farmer August 15, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan. The US Army unit hopes to convince Afghan farmers to stop growing poppy plants used for opium and heroin production.Taliban forces take their 10% cut by taxing the opium and heroin smuggling trade. Helmand province is responsible for 85-90% of Afghanistan's opium production of 6,000 tons per year.

US Marines from a Explosives Ordnance Disposal team investigate possible fertilizer bomb-making ingredients at a farmer's home August 11, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan. The EOD team determined the fertilizer was for agricultural use.

Two camel herders halt outside Forward Operating Base Castle as a US Marine helicopter unloads troops August 11, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.

A member of the Afghan Independent Electoral Commission advises local residents how to navigate the presidential election ballot paper with 41 candidates August 20, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.

Shop fronts in the local bazaar remain closed and unoccupied within a half mile of a US Marine outpost in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan. Taliban militants, having been forced to flee with the recent influx of 4,000 Marines into Helmand province, have had control of southern Helmand for 3-4 years.

US Marines attend a Sunday church service at Forward Operating Base Castle August 16, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.

US Marines attend a Sunday church service at Forward Operating Base Castle August 16, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.

An Afghan elder sits with the district governor of Khan Neshin, Afghanistan in a temporary office discussing water and drainage projects. The Khan Neshin district had been held by Taliban forces without a civil administration for 3-4 years until June, 2009, when a company of US Marines deployed to the southern Helmand district.

US Marine Lance Corporal Sama Sandi, 24 years, from Maple Shade, New Jersey, sits in a guard tower at Forward Operating Base Castle in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.

US Marine Sergeant Andrew Schlake, from Greenwich, New York, walks through a farm field during a security patrol outside a centuries old earthen castle August 15, 2009 in Khan Neshin, Afghanistan.