Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers stormed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah by air and ground Saturday, meeting only scattered resistance but facing a daunting thicket of bombs and booby traps that slowed the allied advance through the town.
The massive offensive was aimed at establishing Afghan government authority over the biggest southern town under militant control and breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland.
Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, NATO commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan and coalition troops, aided by 60 helicopters, made a "successful insertion" into Marjah in southern Helmand province. He said the operation was going "without a hitch."
Thousands of British, U.S. and Canadian troops also swept into Taliban areas to the north of Marjah, seeking to clear a wide swath of villages that had been under Taliban control for several years.
We think 400 to 1,000 Taliban could be in Marjah, including 100 foreign fighters, but so far direct combat has been fairly sparse, it seems. Mines and IEDs will slow us down but not stop us.
And if the enemy runs, we frankly want that for this operation since we want to quickly focus on restoring goverment services to win hearts and minds. These people have been under the Taliban for a long time and they need to be sure we will stay. And some will have made money under the Taliban. Some of course, will still love the Taliban.
And depriving the Taliban of the area will be a big hit in the wallet for the enemy if they can't run the drug trade that starts in the region's poppy fields.
In a perfect world, the enemy force will dissolve as fighters give up the fight or run to another region rather than being killed in messy, loud battles that risk killing innocent civilians. Some will want to fight and remain, and we'll have to hunt them and kill them. Hopefully without the collateral damage that Afghans are very sensitive about. And other Taliban will run to the sound of the guns. Hopefully we can hunt and kill them on the move before they arrive in the area.
This battle will rage--hopefully quietly--for many months, both in the field and in the hearts and minds of the people of the Marjah region.
