After the ridiculous garbage from Foreign Policy that I kicked the crap out of in the previous piece, it would be helpful to read something useful about what we are doing in Marjah. Here is a backgrounder from Jeff Dressler of the Institute for the Study of War discussing the next phase of our operations there. One challenge for Marines and ANA will be holding terrain that has been cleared of insurgents,preventing re-infiltration from surrounding areas.The fact is there may not be enough Marines and ANA to hold all of the territory they have cleared while also conducting vigorous patrols throughout the rest of town. This means Afghan police, both ANCOP and the Public Protection Force will have to be used as a force multiplier. If insurgents are able to re-infiltrate or successfully evade the clearing force while remaining in Marjah, it will result in a persistent atmosphere of fear. If this happens, it will be difficult to achieve the level of security that residents will require in order to start serious cooperation and engagement with local government and security forces. The population’s buy-in is essential for lasting and meaningful success. A fair amount of success so far, but lots of challenges still remain. The whole piece gives a good look at what has been done and still remains to be done. I think it's fair to say that the initial stages of our counter-offensive have worked and now the key will be how we push out from there and put more of the country in the pacified column. This will rely heavily on the afghans being able to govern and secure the areas themselves, and that is still a relatively unknown quantity.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/F-1e-tz6VyA/a-reasonable-view-of-operation-moshtarak.html
Posted
Mar 04 2010, 01:01 AM
by
BLACKFIVE