Spc. Casey Barlow, 23, of Salem, Oregon, a soldier with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment squeezes an opium poppy bulb during a patrol in the village of Mazar'eh in Maiwand district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. The Taliban are believed to skim at least $100 million a year from the opium trade. NATO officials have struggled for years without success to combat the problem and provide viable alternative crops for local farmers. April 5, 2009. DREW BROWN/STARS AND STRIPES