MARJAH offensive clearing the way for the future

Operation Moshtarak in Marjah, Afghanistan is strategic to the overall long term victory in Afghanistan. Within the clearing operations in killing and removing the Taliban from the 80,000 citizen town, will be safeguarding the very civilians the insurgents are hiding between.  According to the Afghan Brigade Commander who is teamed up with the American Marines he says “Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof or in a second-floor or third-floor window,” Ghori said. “They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.”

The difficulty in killing an enemy who is completely integrated with a civilian population will be the largest challenge in ISAF’s fight.  In addition, NATO forces are posed to immediately fill the void in infrastructure that the Taliban has provided and begin to rebuild the city. This counterinsurgency methodology is key to long term stability in Helmand Province and is working across Afghanistan.

The direct contact that the Marines are engaged in is challenging enough without the added challenge of civilian shields. And yet civilians have been killed by rogue rockets this weekend which were intended for Taliban targets. General McChrystal immediately apologized and reiterated his stance on protecting the civilian populace stating that accidents do occur.

Local Afghans are also quickly learning the value in aiding ISAF, Marine Lt Col. Jeff Rule serves as an operations Officer and stated that “most of the people know where they are already” referring to buried IEDs. “We’ve seen people come to the Marines and the (Afghan Security Forces) and tell them where the IEDs are.” This is a sure sign that the Taliban’s time in Helmand is short.

Like all operations in Afghanistan, time will only tell if the Marine/ISAF offensive can actually stabilize the region however, given the progress across the nation things are looking up for the people of Marjah despite the fierce fighting that’s occurring.