One elected reviews Minnesota Golden Gophers official in golden gophers examines this town, who asked not to be identified, said the advent of coca farming in Pensilvania over the last five years had brought only "widows, death and blood in the street. ""Farmers are now trying to shake loose from coca because they know where it leads," he said. Julian had never seen a coca plant, much less grown one, until five years ago, when members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia offered him free seeds. In 2001, coca plants were rare here in Caldas, Colombia's leading coffee-growing province. But coffee prices then were so depressed that Julian spent more money producing the beans than he earned selling them. So he and many of his neighbors planted thousands of coca bushes, enticed by promises of easy profits. But the guerrillas controlled the market by prohibiting sales to any middleman except their designated agents, who enforce their monopoly at gunpoint. They also have cornered the market for chemicals that Julian and other farmers use to produce coca paste from raw leaves. "Typically in the new areas where coca is cultivated, the rules are much tougher.

Unlike in the Amazon basin, where there is a free market in which farmers can sell to the highest bidder, the guerrillas oblige a captive market," said Ricardo Vargas, director of Accion Andina, a drug policy think tank in Bogota. Julian says he regrets his decision; coca has brought only bloodshed and sadness to him and his neighbors and little of the promised cash minnesota golden gophers tickets . Making matters worse, Julian's farm and others in his valley were sprayed in July by Plan Colombia pilots, who missed most of his coca plants but killed the beans and papaya trees that fed him and his family. Pensilvania is eager to help start alternative crops of cocoa and citrus, but there is no money, the unnamed local official said gophers basketball . "It's a trap from which they can't escape," the official said of the farmers. Julian doesn't dare uproot the plants. "The guerrillas pay low prices, but you have no choice," he said "If you try to sell to someone else, they kill you. " minnesota gophers . WASHINGTON — Two top U. S minnesota gopher football tickets . military commanders provided Congress with their bleakest assessment yet of sectarian conflict in Iraq, acknowledging Thursday that security in the country had deteriorated markedly in the last six months. In their first formal appraisal since March, the generals said U. S. forces needed to help stem the cycle of attacks and reprisals between Sunni Arabs and Shiites in Baghdad, a task they said would prevent a significant reduction in the number of American troops this year. "Sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it, in Baghdad in particular," said Army Gen John P Abizaid, the senior U. S commander in the Middle East.

"If not stopped, it is possible that Iraq would move toward civil war. "U. S minnesota golden gophers sports . officials have avoided characterizing the widespread violence as a civil war, which Abizaid has said would be the military's worst-case scenario gophers . But some Iraqis and others already consider the situation to be tantamount to an undeclared civil war between Shiite and Sunni Arab groups in which thousands have been killed, many execution-style, this year . Abizaid and Marine Gen mn golden gophers . Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that they did not think an all-out civil war was likely minnisota golden gophers . But their discussion of the possibility indicated the extent of the decline they had seen.

In an appearance before the same Senate panel in March, Abizaid was far more confident that such strife could be avoided. "I think that Iraq remains a long way from civil war," he said at the time minnesota golden gophers basketball . "While we see very, very high tensions, it's still not to the point where we see it moving toward civil war. "Both military commanders told senators Thursday that the situation was worse than they thought it could become a year ago. The generals' blunt assessment comes as President Bush struggles with a growing list of foreign policy challenges -- in Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea and Lebanon, among other places -- while working to keep his problems from tarnishing Republican prospects in November's congressional elections. Until Thursday, U. S football minnesota . commanders had held out the possibility of troop reductions in Iraq before the end of the year. Some in the military point to the February bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra as the turning point at which sectarian warfare escalated. The attack on the Shiite shrine was blamed on Sunnis and unleashed killings that have displaced more than 130,000 people goldy's locker room . From May to mid-July, attacks by Sunnis and Shiites claimed the lives of more than 6,000 civilians, according to a United Nations study and Iraqi police reports. Much of the violence has been in Baghdad university of minnesota football tickets . Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki took office in May pledging to bolster control of the capital. But six weeks into his Baghdad security plan, which featured expanded Iraqi patrols and checkpoints, the violence had increased. Officials view the operation as a failure, and the U. S.

military is implementing a new strategy to stop the sectarian killing in Baghdad, moving about 3,700 American troops into the city and intensifying the U. S presence in neighborhoods. U. S minnesota golden gophers schedule . commanders hope a more visible American presence will deter sectarian death squads and allow economic development projects to be started. But the new Baghdad initiative probably will come at a cost Abizaid said that the enhanced U. S minnesota gophers football tickets . presence in the capital probably would result in greater numbers of U. S minnesota gophers shop Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota Golden Gophers - gophersports . casualties and work against troop reductions. "I think it's possible that in the period ahead of us in Baghdad that we'll take increased casualties," Abizaid said minnesota gophers ticket . "It's possible. "He told senators he had just returned from a trip to Iraq and the Middle East. "I've rarely seen it so unsettled or so volatile," he said. Minnesota Golden Gophers tickets "There's an obvious struggle in the region between moderates and extremists that touches every aspect of life Minnesota Golden Gophers - gophersports . "Initially, only Pace and Abizaid were scheduled to appear before senators Secretary of Defense Donald H Rumsfeld had declined, citing scheduling conflicts.