question: What did Michael Alford serve as, as part of the ISAF force against a known Taliban stronghold and center of opium production?
answer: official War Artist
context: Title: Opium production in Afghanistan
  Passage: Afghanistan's opium poppy production goes into more than 90% of heroin worldwide.  Afghanistan has been the world's greatest illicit opium producer, ahead of Burma (Myanmar), the "Golden Triangle", and Latin America since 1992, excluding the year 2001.  Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent".  Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S. occupation started in 2001.  Based on UNODC data, opium poppy cultivation was more in each of the growing seasons in the periods between 2004 and 2007 than in any one year during Taliban rule.  More land is now used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America.  In 2007, 93% of the "non-pharmaceutical-grade" opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan.  This amounts to an export value of about $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers.
  Title: Michael Alford (artist)
  Passage: Michael Alford (born 15 September 1958 in Cookham, England) is a British figurative painter whose work includes landscapes and cityscapes, figures, portraits and nudes.  Mostly self-taught, he has studied and the Slade and the Chelsea School of Art.  Early in his career he had an annual show at the Duncan Campbell Gallery in Mayfair and lived in Spain for extended period where the cost of living was reasonable.  He also worked as a muralist.  In 2010 he served as official War Artist to the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards during their tour of Helmand, Afghanistan.  More recently he has painted nudes, cityscapes, a portrait of Vaughan Smith and completed a commission for the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment.
  Title: Makin, Pakistan
  Passage: Makin or Makeen (Pashto: مکین‎ ) is a small town in South Waziristan, Pakistan, located on the Y-junction between Sararogha and Wana, just south of Razmak in North Waziristan.  It is mainly populated by members of the Mehsud tribe.  The Pakistani military has called it "the nerve center" of the Pakistani Taliban.  Just north of Makin is the village of China, and the Taliban stronghold of Ladha is a few kilometers to the south.
  Title: Helmand province campaign
  Passage: The Helmand province campaign was a series of military operations conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces against Taliban insurgents in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.  Their objective was to control a province that was known to be a Taliban stronghold, and a center of opium production. <ref name="Gall/Wafa-NYT"> </ref>
  Title: Opium Nation
  Passage: Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan is a 2011 book by Fariba Nawa.  The author travels throughout Afghanistan to talk with individuals part of the opium production in Afghanistan, centering on women's role in it.  Generally, reviewers felt that the book succeeded in its portrayal of Afghan culture and the impact of the opium trade on Afghans.
  Title: Opium licensing
  Passage: Opium licensing is a policy instrument used to counter illegal drug cultivation and production.  It has been used in countries such as Turkey and India to curb illegal opium production.  The main mechanism used under opium licensing is a shift from cultivation and/or production for the illegal market towards legal uses such as the production of essential medicines such as morphine and codeine.
citations: Helmand province campaign Michael Alford (artist)