A U.S. Marine from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 1st Battalion 5th Marines takes a position next to piles of dried poppy bulbs in the village of Noghara in the Nawa district in Afghanistan's Helmand province Friday July 3, 2009. U.S. forces have encountered little resistance in the initial phase of a massive operation by some 4,000 Marines in Taliban-controlled areas of southern Afghanistan, but that's a common tactic by insurgents. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)