Kandahar Cluster**** Watch - The Lessons of Marjah Version

Kandahar Cluster**** Watch - The Lessons of Marjah Version
Posted by Michael Cohen

C.J Chivers is an extraordinarily brave man and a helluva reporter - and his latest update from Marja is harrowing and a fascinating piece of reporting. Embedded with a Marine unit patrolling in Marja we get a clear sense of how tenuous that supposedly cleared village remains.

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Indeed, what is happening in Marjah should be a giant, wake-up call to the US military about the follies of trying to stabilize and pacify southern Afghanstan when operating under a timeframe where the beginning of US troops withdrawals are only 14 months away. It's a point Chivers hammers on in his article:

"Whatever the anticipated pace of an expected American-led push into Taliban strongholds in Kandahar Province, even the most determined effort to defeat the Taliban and drug traffickers where they are deep-rooted will require substantial resources and time.

"Months after the carefully planned offensive here, large areas of terrain are not fully cleared. In these areas, fighting continues. And while clearly punishing for the Taliban, it also tests American troops and exacts a civilian toll."

This is happening in Marjah, which theoretically should be a lot easier place to clear than an actual city like Kandahar. And keep in mind, we are still only in the clear phase in Marjah. Holding and building is still quite a distance away.

I feel a bit like a broken record on this point, but if three months after the Marjah offensive we are still in the clear phase why would anyone believe that we are prepared for an offensive in Kandahar this summer? Indeed, what we've seen in Marjah is a puncturing of many of the myths underpinning the entire US mission in Afghanistan.

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http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2010/05/kandahar-cluster-watch-the-lessons-of-marjah-version.html