Marines Push Deeper into S. Afghan Towns

One Marine Killed, Several Injured in Helmand Province Operation; Little Resistance from Taliban Reported

(AP)  U.S. Marines moved into villages in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan on Friday, meeting little resistance as they tried to win over local chiefs on the second day of the biggest military operation here since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.

One Marine was killed and several others injured or wounded on Thursday, when some 4,000 Marines launched the operation Helmand province - a remote area that is the center of the country's illegal opium cultivation, which helps finance the insurgency.

So far, however, there has been little resistance from the Taliban, according to a military spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier.

The aim of the operation is not simply to kill Taliban fighters but to win over the local population, Pelletier said - a difficult task in a region where foreigners are viewed with suspicion.

"We are not worried about the Taliban, we are not focused on them. We are focused on the people," Pelletier said. "It is important to engage with the key leaders, hear what they need most and what are their priorities."

The offensive along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled areas in southern Afghanistan will test the Obama administration's new strategy of holding territory to let the Afghan government sink roots in rural areas where Taliban influence is strong.

The insurgency has proven particularly resilient in the area, and foreign troops have never before operated in such large numbers here. Large areas have been under Taliban control, with little or no government presence.

As the operation entered its second day, the units secured control of the district centers of Nawa and Garmser, and negotiated entry into Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district, Pelletier said.

"They waited for the local and village elders," outside Khan Neshin and "with their permission they went in and now are engaged in talks," Pelletier said.

As the Marines in the village of Nawa sat for a meeting with a group of 20 Afghan men and boys who were squatting on dirt ground, they listened as list of their concerns came in a form of questions.

"Are you going to enter our houses?" asked 25-year old Mohammad Nabi, who was there with five of his younger brothers. "We are afraid that you will leave, and the Taliban will come back," he said. And they all described the police as predatory thieves not to be trusted.

Marine officers tried to reassure those around them they will not enter their houses and are here to stay throughout their deployment.

In a display of deep misunderstandings that any foreigner is at pains to overcome, an elder with a gray beard asked the Marines whether they will stop them saying prayers.

In describing the Taliban, they compared them to Americans.

"They spend one night in the village and then move onto another village, just as you guys," Nabi said.

Taking ground from the Taliban in Afghanistan has always proved easy. Keeping it and ensuring the government's presence has been the difficult part. The military challenges are compounded by the fact that the area is the world's largest producer of opium, and drug profits feed the insurgency and corrupt government officials.

Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's production of opium, and Helmand alone is responsible for about half that amount.

(Left: 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 Noghara Friday, July 3, 2009.)

Haji Akhtar Mohammad, from Gereshk village now living in Helmand's capital of Lashkar Gah, said the U.S.-led force will not have community support in the region weary of any foreign interference.

"It is difficult to tell who is Taliban and who is civilians," Mohammad said. "They all have the same face, same beard and same turban," he said. "It is very difficult to defeat them."

Three years ago, only a handful of U.S. troops were in Helmand, Afghanistan's biggest province that is bisected by the Helmand river.

While Pelletier said winning hearts and minds was the mission's main focus, other military officials have said the immediate goal of the offensive is to clear away insurgents before Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election.

Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold but also a region where Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking votes from fellow Pashtun tribesmen. Without such a large Marine assault, the Afghan government would likely not be able to set up voting booths where citizens could safely travel.

The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008 but still half as many as are now in Iraq.

Even bigger challenges, perhaps, will come in the weeks and months after the Marines have established their presence here.

The U.S. will have an opportunity to help develop alternate livelihoods for farmers whose opium poppy crops bankroll the Taliban, who have made a violent comeback since the U.S.-led invasion ousted them from power in 2001.

[dahizzle]

Classic rope-a-dope, the same strategy they used against the Soviets (at our bequest). This will not be a cakewalk.

[babooph]

Like all since Alexander,the US will eventually leave & the locals will go back to doing what they always have-at very great cost to the US middle class taxpayer-[notice the rich are keeping their rip off ?!}

[wyodutch]

Same tactics the Afghan freedom fighters used with great success against the Russians and before them... the British.
.
Fight only when the odds guarantee a victory... fade away in the face of superior forces.

[bajajohn1]

Let's face facts. Republicans do not know how to govern. Hell, look at California and their budge and debt mess. Can't blame that scene on the Demos.

[Sloughfoot]

You bloo it Johnny boy, didn't do your home work did ya?

[mcintoshlou]

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 6/29-7/02/2009. All adults. MoE 2% (6/22-25/2009 results):
FAVORABLE UNFAVORABLE NET CHANGE
PRESIDENT OBAMA 63 (62) 32 (32) +1

PELOSI: 34 (33) 56 (57) +2
REID: 32 (32) 54 (55) +1
McCONNELL: 23 (24) 60 (59) -2
BOEHNER: 16 (17) 61 (60) -2

CONGRESSIONAL DEMS: 44 (43) 49 (49) +1
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS: 13 (14) 71 (71) -1

DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 50 (49) 43 (43) +1
REPUBLICAN PARTY: 23 (25) 71 (70) -3

This poll is updated every Friday morning,


welcome to the world of reality YOU NEO CON'S FASCISTS

[sean58z]

Helmand grows a good crop of poppies. The product is safe and healthy. Afghani Farmers do not cater to drug addicts. Enemy Combatants in Helmand should be shot or apprehended by the Afghani Army. The Marines must separate growers from felons. Criminals fight to avoid law enforcement.

[eiddam]

It seems to have became a game, to the US. Create the start of a war,than before the finish, began another, like jumping from Afghanistan, to Iraq, Pakistan, back to Afghanistan, and now Iran, on to Korea, until, not only the Middle East is a complete mess, but soon to be Korea, to Venezuela,and probably jump back to Russia, and while this is going on, our country will become the wild west again, with all the shooting, and robberies that occur every minute of the day.

[mcintoshlou]

PROPAGANDA, GLORIFYING WAR FOR OIL

[StrategyWatch_dot_org]

Deploying troops in Afghanistan is a strategic mistake. There is no benefit for us fighting the Taliban. The Taliban became our enemy when they refused to hand over Al Qaeda after 9/11, but we don't need to view their very existence as a permanent problem for us.

Surely, it's a substantially militant group. There will always be militant groups in one place or another, but it doesn't mean we have to become enemies with all of them. Yes, they will fight, but, we don't have to be the fodder for their aggression. They are much more likely to fight each other or their neighbors, than us. If you were itching for a fight, would you attack someone all the way across the globe?

We need to find a way to diffuse the prevailing image that we are their #1 enemies, and let them pick fights with somebody else.

www.strategywatch.org

[Sloughfoot]

You have at least given it some thought before you put pen to paper. Can disagree with you entirely but I see the Taliban and Al Qaeda factions more as a brotherhood. If you got one, more than likely you have the other with many in the leadership roles walking both paths at once. Kind of like the KKK and the American Nazi movement, you often find the same members at both rallies.

Don't really know if we can win the "Hearts and Minds" of the villagers. it is these people that I really sympathize with. Not unlike a "lifetime" ago when we promised many other villagers we would never abandon them an we did. I still have not foregiven the U.S. for that treachery.

Take care, for I believe the Islam warriors will "attack someone all the way accross the globe".

[woeisme1]

All I know is Marines ALWAYS push deeper. Remember that ladies.

[mnelsonix]

and gentlemen - remember - don't ask don't tell! lol

[mcintoshlou]

what a crock these units are un-reliable and too elite thinking to

be of any use on the modern battle field,

the marines should be disbanded

and made a part of the Army, not the Navy.