Siege of Marjah, Phase IV... moving in

Snipers are harassing US, UK, ANA troops moving into Marjah.

Sniper teams attacked U.S. Marines and Afghan troops across the Taliban haven of Marjah, as several gun battles erupted Monday on the third day of a major offensive to seize the extremists' southern heartland.
Multiple firefights in different locations taxed the ability of coalition forces to provide enough air support as NATO forces forged deeper into the town, moving through suspected insurgent neighborhoods, the U.S. Marines said.
In northern Marjah, an armored column came under fire from at least three separate sniper teams, slowing its progress. One of the teams came within 155 feet (50 meters) and started firing.
Troops braced for the estimated 2.5-mile (four-kilometer) march to link up with U.S. and Afghan troops who had been airdropped into the town. Small squads of Taliban snipers initiated firefights throughout the day in an attempt to draw coalition forces into a larger ambush.
The massive offensive involving some 15,000 U.S., Afghan and British troops is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

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A rocket attack over the weekend accidentally hit local civilians who didn't leave when warned the offensive was coming.

The death of 12 Afghan civilians in rocket attacks during a major US-led offensive is a “very serious setback”, the head of Britain’s armed forces admitted Monday.
But Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, said NATO forces could overcome the incident, while warning that the success of Operation Mushtarak could not be judged for about a year.

“It is a very serious setback. It is not one which can’t be overcome and of course the Afghans themselves, the local government, play a key role in this,” Stirrup told BBC radio.

He was speaking the day after 12 Afghan civilians were killed when two rockets missed their targets and landed on a compound as troops came under fire in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province.

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In the meantime, the coalition must figure out how to deliver actual governance to the countryside.

Prior to this weekend's massive attack on the Taliban in Marja - 'spearheaded' by British troops, it's reported - the American commander, General Stanley A McChrystal, said everything was now in place for the aftermath.
His actual words were: 'We've got a government in a box, ready to roll in.'
A government in a box? What a nifty idea. Keep it clean and safe, ready for use. Then roll it in there. What could be simpler? Wish we had one. Not a very flattering image to offer to Afghans, of course, but who cares? They need us to rid them of the Taliban, then bring a government to them.

But I wonder if hearts and minds are being won. Even the 'helping them to help themselves' mission statement is insulting.
They didn't ask us to invade. We did so because the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington were said to have been planned there. But they were planned in Pakistan, too, and we didn't invade Islamabad.

Next year we will have been in Afghanistan for a decade. There hasn't been much progress other than installing a government led by President Karzai, who is accused of being corrupt.
Whatever we hear from Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the allied military campaign in Afghanistan is now aimed at getting troops out of there as quickly as possible, while preserving the fiction that we've won.
Discussing this weekend's military action in Marja, a Barack Obama adviser says: 'It's not about the battle, it's about the postlude.' Or, what happens afterwards.
Can Afghans create and preserve in months the conditions which will keep the Taliban from returning - providing security, light, schools and water in the pipes?
Obama was clear about one thing after his three-month review of Afghan strategy. No military operation can proceed unless a plan is in place to transfer authority 'promptly' to the Afghan government.
There's only one, led by President Karzai - about whom the former U.S. general-cum-military-scholar Karl Eikenberry wrote in a memo to President Obama: 'The proposed counter-insurgency strategy assumes an Afghan political leadership that is both able to take responsibility and to exert sovereignty in the furtherance of our goal.

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Go read The Long War Journal, for a great article about the strategy in Afghanistan, including the current operations.

Since 2006, the Taliban have made a dramatic comeback in Afghanistan after being driven from the country in 2002. As security has deteriorated, they have steadily taken control of more and more territory. In response, a new strategic plan for Afghanistan has been formulated by General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of ISAF and US Forces - Afghanistan. On Dec. 3, 2009, this plan was approved by the Obama administration. While there are several important aspects of the strategy, such as political development, economic development, counter narcotics, and the police and justice system, this article will focus on the military aspect.

By: Brant