April 15, 2010: In northern Iraq, near the city of Kirkuk, farmers are being driven off their land by wild pigs. Rather, farmers have abandoned fields where the pigs are active, because the swine eat all the crops. This is a new development. For a long time, the wild pig population was kept in check by Christians in the area, who would hunt the pigs for food. Moslems cannot eat pork, as it is forbidden by the Koran.

Since 2003, there has been so much fighting in the area that the hunters were afraid to go out, as their shots would often bring return fire from someone else in the area who mistook the hunters for terrorists. Worse yet, the Islamic terrorists have driven many Christian Iraqis out of the country. The farmers are desperate.

American reconstruction teams have brought in wild pig traps, which are used in parts of the United States where the wild pigs get into populated areas, and using guns against them is not safe (for nearby people). Once trapped, the pigs can be killed, preferably by a Christian, quietly, with a knife or something else that won't attract gunfire. If the traps work, Iraqis can manufacture their own. U.S. troops have hunted the pigs, but not enough to make a significant dent in the porker population. Meanwhile, the local government has banned pig hunting, as a public safety measure, and warned Moslems not to develop a taste for pork.