Battle of Marjah, Feb. 2010

[Darth Wagtaros]

Won't the Taliban just come back after? Isn't that their shtick? Go to ground and just walk back in after the Gubbermint's gone off to some other brush fire?

[KRonn]

Won't the Taliban just come back after? Isn't that their shtick? Go to ground and just walk back in after the Gubbermint's gone off to some other brush fire?

The intent, as I understand it, is that after kicking out the Taliban, to strongly establish a stable government and other assistance long term. That longer term idea is the key, to give the locals a better way of life and alternatives to the Taliban. This region/city is an important area to do this in, to try and embark on this long term strategy, and deny the Taliban. Then to use this similar model elsewhere.

[citizen k]

Marines test Taliban defenses before Afghan attack
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press


NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines fired smoke rounds Wednesday and armored vehicles maneuvered close to Taliban positions to test insurgent defenses ahead of an anticipated attack on the biggest militant-controlled town in southern Afghanistan.

A NATO spokesman in Brussels called on Taliban militants holding Marjah to surrender. But a Taliban spokesman boasted that the militants were prepared to "sacrifice their lives" to defend the town against the biggest NATO-Afghan offensive of the eight-year war.

The date for the main attack by thousands of Marines and Afghan soldiers has not been announced for security reasons. However, preparations have accelerated in recent days, and it appeared the assault would come soon.

U.S. mortar crews fired two dozen smoke rounds Wednesday at Taliban positions on the outskirts of the farming community, a center of the opium poppy trade about 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul in Helmand province. Marine armored vehicles also drove closer to Taliban positions. Both moves are designed to lure the militants into shooting back and thus reveal their positions. The Marines did draw small arms fire but suffered no casualties.

"Deception is pretty important because it allows us to test the enemy's resistance," said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, the commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines Regiment. "There's a strategy to all this show of muscle."

The U.S. goal is to quickly retake control of Marjah to enable the Afghan government to re-establish a presence. Plans call for civilian workers move quickly to restore electricity, clean water and other public services in hopes of weaning the inhabitants away from the Taliban.

Civilians could be seen fleeing their mud brick farming compounds on the outskirts of Marjah as soon as the American and Afghan forces appeared, though vast numbers do not seem to be leaving. The moves did not draw much of a response from the fighters, who appeared to be waiting behind defensive lines for the Marines to come closer to the town.

To the north, a joint U.S.-Afghan force, led by the U.S. Army's 5th Stryker Brigade, pushed into the Badula Qulp region of Helmand province to restrict Taliban movement in support the Marjah offensive.

But bombs planted along a canal road slowed progress of a convoy Wednesday, damaging two mine-clearing vehicles and delaying the Stryker infantry carriers and Afghan vehicles from advancing for hours. There were no casualties.

"It's a little slower than I had hoped," said Lt. Col. Burton Shields, commanding officer of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.

Shields said the joint force was facing "harassing attacks" by groups of seven to nine insurgents.

"They're trying to buy time to move their leaders out of the area," he said.

U.S. officers estimate between 400 and 1,000 Taliban and up to 150 foreign fighters are holding Marjah, which is believed to have a population of about 80,000. It's unclear how many of them will defend the town to the end and how many will give up once the main assault begins.

In Brussels, a NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the Taliban garrison in Marjah had the options of surrendering, leaving or fighting, adding they "are well advised to take up options one or two."

"The area which is the focus of this operation has been known for years as an insurgent stronghold. It is actively defended and will require a large military operation to clear," he said.

Marjah is key to Taliban control of vast areas of Helmand province, which borders Pakistan and is major center for Afghanistan's illicit poppy cultivation, which NATO believes helps finance the insurgency.

Officials said Afghan soldiers and police would join the operation in greater numbers than in any previous one. Appathurai said the offensive was designed to show that the Afghan government can establish its authority anywhere in the country and "will establish a better life to the people who are there."

But Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi scoffed at NATO threats, saying American and Afghan forces would face a hard fight to take Marjah.

"The Taliban are ready to fight, to do jihad, to sacrifice their lives. American forces cannot scare the Taliban with big tanks and big warplanes," Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone. "American forces are here in Afghanistan just to create problems for Afghan people. This operation is to create problems for the villagers in winter weather."

So far, there are few signs of a major exodus of civilians from Marjah, although U.S. aircraft have been dropping leaflets in the town for days warning of the offensive. Some residents contacted by telephone said the Taliban were preventing people from leaving, telling them it was unsafe because the roads had been mined.

Helmand provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said about 300 families — or an estimated 1,800 people — have already moved out of Marjah in recent weeks to the capital of Lashkar Gah, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) northeast.

Most moved in with relatives but about 60 families are sheltering in a school, where the government provides them with tents, blankets, food and other items. Ahmadi said preparations have been made to receive more refugees if necessary.


Associated Press Writers Noor Khan in Kandahar, Rahim Faiez and Tini Tran in Kabul and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

[crazy canuck]

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Sounds fabulous.

One more snide comment out of you about the Princess Patricia's and I will hound you until you leave leave languish, then I will hound you until you leave the internet and then I will hound you until....

Well you get the picture. 

[citizen k]

Won't the Taliban just come back after? Isn't that their shtick? Go to ground and just walk back in after the Gubbermint's gone off to some other brush fire?

Sounds like both sides are itching for a fight.

[citizen k]

U.S. Marines from the 2nd MEB, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines dig their sleeping holes outside of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province Tuesday, February 9, 2010.
(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)




A US Marine dog handler waits with his dog at a company operation base (COB) in Toor Ghar in the Helmand province on February 8. US Marines have stepped up preparations for a major assault on a key Taliban bastion in southern Afghanistan hailed by officers as the biggest offensive of the eight-year war.
(AFP/Patrick Baz)

[Syt]

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Sounds fabulous.

One more snide comment out of you about the Princess Patricia's and I will hound you until you leave leave languish, then I will hound you until you leave the internet and then I will hound you until....

Well you get the picture.

You will chase me around the moons of Nibia, around the Antares Malstrom and around perdition's flames before you give me up?

[Agelastus]

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Sounds fabulous.

One more snide comment out of you about the Princess Patricia's and I will hound you until you leave leave languish, then I will hound you until you leave the internet and then I will hound you until....

Well you get the picture.

You will chase me around the moons of Nibia, around the Antares Malstrom and around perdition's flames before you give me up?

Part of that sounds like KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN(!!!!!), but I don't recognise all of it. Where's that from?

[katmai]

You will chase me around the moons of Nibia, around the Antares Malstrom and around perdition's flames before you give me up?

Part of that sounds like KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN(!!!!!), but I don't recognise all of it. Where's that from?

You should have more faith in your abilities aggie.

[Agelastus]

You will chase me around the moons of Nibia, around the Antares Malstrom and around perdition's flames before you give me up?

Part of that sounds like KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN(!!!!!), but I don't recognise all of it. Where's that from?

You should have more faith in your abilities aggie.

You're right, I should.

Just checked the line on Memory Alpha, and Syt's almost word perfect.

[Ed Anger]

I will not sacrifice the bowl system. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. Boise State invade our bowls and we fall back. Tim bandwagons every 12-0 team and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And *I* will make them pay for what they've done.

[citizen k]

US troops close Taliban escape route before attack
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press


NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan – U.S. and Afghan soldiers linked up with Marines on the outskirts of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war.

Taliban defenders repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at units poised in foxholes along the edge of the town, apparently trying to lure NATO forces into skirmishes before the big attack.

"They're trying to draw us in," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, 30, of Tulsa, Okla., commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines.

Up to 1,000 militants are believed holed up in Marjah, a key Taliban logistics base and center of the lucrative opium poppy trade. But the biggest threats are likely to be the land mines and bombs hidden in the roads and fields of the farming community, 380 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

The precise date for the attack has been kept secret. U.S. officials have signaled for weeks they planned to seize Marjah, a town of about 80,000 people in Helmand province and the biggest community in southern Afghanistan under Taliban control.

NATO officials say the goal is to seize the town quickly and re-establish Afghan government authority, bringing public services in hopes of winning support of the townspeople once the Taliban are gone. Hundreds of Afghan soldiers were to join U.S. Marines in the attack to emphasize the Afghan role in the operation.

A Taliban spokesman dismissed the significance of Marjah, saying the NATO operation was "more propaganda than military necessity."

Nevertheless, the spokesman, Mohammed Yusuf, said in a dialogue on the Taliban Web site that the insurgents would strike the attackers with explosives and hit-and-run tactics, according to a summary by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant Internet traffic.

In preparation for the offensive, a U.S.-Afghan force led by the U.S. Army's 5th Stryker Brigade moved south from Lashkar Gah and linked up Thursday with Marines on the northern edge of Marjah, closing off a main Taliban escape route. Marines and Army soldiers fired colored smoke grenades to show each other that they were friendly forces.

The Army's advance was slowed as U.S. and Afghan soldiers cleared the thicket of mines and bombs hidden in canals and along the roads and fought off harassment attacks along the way by small bands of insurgents. Two U.S. attack helicopters fired Hellfire missiles at a compound near Marjah from where insurgents had been firing at the advancing Americans.

Marines along the edge of the town exchanged fire with insurgents. There were no reports of casualties.

"I am not surprised at all that this is taking place," said the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Brian Christmas. "We are touching their trigger-line," referring to the outer rim of the Taliban defenses.

A far greater obstacle lies in the hundreds, if not thousands, of mines, makeshift bombs and booby traps which the Taliban are believed to have planted around Marjah.

"This may be the largest IED threat and largest minefield that NATO has ever faced," said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of Marines in southern Afghanistan.

A British soldier was killed in a bombing Thursday in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defense announced in London. It was unclear whether the soldier was part of the Marjah operation.

In eastern Afghanistan, the spokesman for Paktia province, Roullah Samoun, said five Americans were wounded when a suicide attacker wearing a border police uniform blew himself up at a U.S. base near the Pakistan border. A U.S. statement said "several" U.S. service members were injured in an explosion at a joint U.S.-Afghan outpost in Paktia, but gave no further details.

To combat the mines around Marjah, Marines planned to use their new 72-ton Assault Breacher Vehicles, which use metal blows to scoop up hidden bombs or fire rockets to detonate them at a safe distance.

Once the main attack begins, U.S. commanders are eager to avoid civilian casualties, hoping instead to win over support of the Pashtun townspeople, who are from the same ethnic group as the majority of the Taliban. American officers have been instructing troops to hold their fire unless they are sure they are shooting at insurgents and not innocent villagers.

On Thursday, Afghanistan's interior minister, Hanif Atmar, met with a group of tribal elders explaining the goals of the operation and asking for their support.

"This operation is designed to open the way for those Afghans who want to join the peace process and to use the military power against those foreign terrorists who are hiding here," Atmar told the elders during a meeting in Lashkar Gah, the Helmand provincial capital about 20 miles northeast of Marjah.

The elders told Atmar that their support depended on how the operation was carried out and whether a large number of civilians were killed or injured in the fighting.

One elder, Mohebullah Torpatkai, said that if the operation improved the lives of civilians, "we the people of Marjah will fully support it."

As the Marines waited for battle, they received their first mail delivery since arriving in the Marjah area.

Some Marines burned their letters after reading them, either because they didn't want to carry any extra weight or have the letters fall into the wrong hands if they lost them in the fighting.

Others held on to them.

"I'm not burning any of my pictures or letters," said Cpl. Christian Martir, 23, from Northridge, Calif., as he stared at photos from his girlfriend. "She also sent a little letter. I'm keeping all of it," he said.

U.S. soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 23th Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, work on a Stryker armored vehicle after it slid on a narrow road west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010. This unit is operating in support of a planned U.S. Marine offensive against the Taliban in Marjah area.
(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)



U.S. Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment receive boxes of mail from home at a base camp outside Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Thursday Feb. 11, 2010.
(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

[Sheilbh]

Hopefully the bad guys don't read this.

We want them to know about this, they don't need to know operational details, but this has been some cracking PR which I think serves what we're trying to do there.

[Admiral Yi]

Diane Sawyer was selling it as The Turning Point, which seems awfully premature.  I can't help but be reminded of big search and destroy operations in Vietnam.

[Sheilbh]

I can't help but be reminded of big search and destroy operations in Vietnam.

The goal isn't to search and destroy though.