Analysis: Hard part in Marjah has just begun

[unhappycamper]

Analysis: Hard part in Marjah has just begun
By Christopher Torchia - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 4, 2010 17:31:18 EST

KABUL — The hardest fighting is over, but the battle for Marjah is just beginning.

The outcome of last month’s military campaign was never in doubt. With 15,000 combined NATO and Afghan troops pouring in to oust an estimated 400-1,000 insurgents, it was simply a question of how long it would take to clear the southern Afghan city that belonged to the Taliban for years.

Now, the fight for Marjah focuses on keeping the population safe and — perhaps harder — setting up the first clean and effective civilian administration there in decades.

The war in Afghanistan is not just about seizing territory. Western forces, in enough numbers and backed by enough firepower, can do that almost anywhere against scattered insurgent squads with inferior weaponry, however determined the Taliban are, however inventive and deadly their booby traps and ambushes.

In the long term, the war is more about perceptions of authority and commitment than casualty tolls and objectives cleared, more about the Afghan civilians and what they believe and fear.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/03/ap_military_meaningofmarjah_analysis_030410w/



unhappycamper comment: This sure sounds Vietnam - the old Hearts and Minds BS.

[asdjrocky]

1. Fuck war.

[bigtree]

2. that 'battle' will never be 'won' behind American force

It's interesting how some military commanders have expressed that the military can't solve the problems of Afghanistan, but with such a weak and isolated regime in power it's a farce to claim there's something substantial toward that political end that the military is achieving with the attacks on the resisting segments of the population. It's as if we are to believe that Afghans are just stupid enough to believe America is on their side and has their best interests at heart. The president's 'primary' justification for remaining and escalating the occupation is to defend against a perceived threat to America from a band of fugitive suspects in Pakistan. Somehow, that 'enemy' has been conflated with the Taliban which our own government and military admits is almost 90% independent from 'al-Qaeda'. The only manner in which resisting Afghans threaten America is their inconvenient location in the way of American interests. Most folks call that imperialism and empire-building. To expect Afghans to respond to that effort with flowers and candy is just another in a long series of pipe dreams.