Pentagon propaganda: Marjah: Ups and downs are lessons for future

Lance Cpls. Daniel Garner, left, a rifleman, and Chris Ducharme, a mortarman, both with 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, investigate a possible IED on Feb. 22 while on a patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan. Questions raised by the Marjah offensive could be key to how the overall Afghan escalation unfolds.


Marjah: Ups and downs are lessons for future
By Alfred de Montesquiou - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Mar 12, 2010 16:01:33 EST

MARJAH, Afghanistan — After a day spent pinned down in gunbattles or caught in a maze of roadside bombs, with little hope of air support and an erratic Afghan army to coax along, Lance Cpl. Travis Anderson reflected on the frustrations of the campaign U.S. forces were fighting.

"I understand the reason behind it, but it's so hard to fight a war like this," the 20-year-old from Altoona, Iowa, said as his company of Marines spearheaded the ground assault to reclaim Marjah from the Taliban.

Three weeks later, the Marjah insurgents have been largely defeated. The offensive on the southern Afghan town — NATO's largest combined operation in Afghanistan — is described as the first step of an 18-month push to push the Taliban out for good.

Now it's time to figure out what went right and what didn't work. Addressing questions raised by the battle is viewed as key to how the overall Afghan war could unfold. All the more so because the offensive was the first full-fledged reality check for the counterinsurgency warfare that the top commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal has pledged to achieve.

Winning here, and holding the ground in the months to come, would be a first step for the Afghan exit strategy President Barack Obama hopes to start implementing next year.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_marjah_031210/



unhappycamper comment: In case you missed it, Marjah has been a Pentagon setup --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7875565