So, the 'success' and 'progress' in Marjah has turned into a 'bleeding ulcer'

It'll be impossible for anyone to credibly describe any military operation in Afghanistan as a 'success' without referring to the 'bleeding ulcer' in Marjah that their assault fostered and aggravated. This is an interesting narrative . . .


May 25, 2010
Knight Ridder/Tribune

MARJAH, Afghanistan -- Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top allied military commander in Afghanistan, sat gazing at maps of Marjah as a Marine battalion commander asked him for more time to oust Taliban fighters from a longtime stronghold in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.

"You've got to be patient," Lt. Col. Brian Christmas told McChrystal. "We've only been here 90 days."

"How many days do you think we have before we run out of support by the international community?" McChrystal replied.

A charged silence settled in the stuffy, crowded chapel tent at the Marine base in the Marjah district.

"I can't tell you, sir," the tall, towheaded, Fort Bragg, N.C., native finally answered.

"I'm telling you," McChrystal said. "We don't have as many days as we'd like . . ."

read more: http://www.military.com/news/article/mcchrystal-calls-marjah-a-bleeding-ulcer.html


___ "This is a bleeding ulcer right now," McChrystal told a group of Afghan officials, international commanders in southern Afghanistan and civilian strategists who are leading the effort to oust the Taliban fighters from Helmand.

"You don't feel it here," he said during a 10-hour front-line strategy review, "but I'll tell you, it's a bleeding ulcer outside."

read: http://blog.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/05/24/marjah-a-bleeding-ulcer-mcchrystal/

fought for "good reasons" and not a mindless slaughter to protect a pipeline. After all, it's the Democrats now, so it must be OK.

Everybody else that lost there did so because they were weak and stupid, not like us.
:eyes: