Marjah prelude to larger military campaigns, next stop: Kandahar

[G_j]

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/1/headlines/us_begins_planning_for_assault_on_kandahar

US Begins Planning for Assault on Kandahar

The Washington Post reports the recent US assault on the Afghan area of Marjah is a prelude to larger military campaigns. Senior Obama administration officials say the United States has begun initial planning for a bigger, more complex offensive in Kandahar later this year. Eleven thousand US and Afghan troops fought in Marjah, making it the largest US-NATO military operation since 2001. The city of Kandahar is ten times larger than Marjah

.........................


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022606008.html

In Afghanistan, U.S. plans major push into Kandahar

By Anne E. Kornblut and Greg Jaffe
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 27, 2010

Even as Marines in Afghanistan continued to fight for control of the Taliban stronghold of Marja, senior Obama administration officials said Friday that the United States has begun initial planning for a bigger, more complex offensive in Kandahar later this year.

The assault on Marja, the largest U.S.-NATO military operation since 2001, is a "prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations," senior Obama officials said Friday. Administration officials declined to say when the Kandahar offensive will begin, but military officials have said that it probably will kick off in late spring or early summer after additional U.S. forces have moved into the area.

"Bringing comprehensive population security to Kandahar City is really the centerpiece of operations this year, and, therefore, Marja is the prelude. It's sort of a preparatory action," said one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials telegraphed the Marja offensive for many weeks before it began, and they appear to be laying the same kind of groundwork before moving into Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city and the original base of Taliban leader Mohammad Omar. The drives into Marja and Kandahar come as part of the administration's decision to deploy 30,000 additional troops in the country, a final push to secure major population centers almost nine years after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Any military operation to drive the Taliban from Kandahar will probably play out very differently than the battle taking place in Marja, which is a tenth the size. About 11,000 U.S. and Afghan troops pushed into Marja and within the first 13 days of the operation raised the Afghan flag over the district's government center. Afghan officials also quickly selected a new district governor to oversee reconstruction efforts.

..more..

[tekisui]

1. WHack-a-mole in a city of half a million. Great!

:mad:

[G_j]

2. "the centerpiece of operations this year"

and next year???

[Oregone]

9. Marjah

[SpiralHawk]

18. Groan

too damn likely

[unhappycamper]

3. Oh goody!

This will be sure to push the American death toll up. :(

[NJmaverick]

4. The Taliban are on their heels. NATO is now telegraphing their moves

and there is nothing the Taliban can do about it. Secure Kandahar and the nation will be pretty much secure.

[G_j]

5. were you around during the Vietnam war?

just curious.

[NJmaverick]

6. Yes and I also have studied the history of that conflict

in fact I am a student of military history. Even did a major college paper on asymmetric warfare. What are your qualifications on the matter?

[G_j]

8. I was paying attention

the reason I ask, is that most of us (who were paying attention) remember the endless military spin on progress and projected victories.
And most of us learned through years of repetition, that the military is completely unreliable for providing accurate, truthful information about its' wars.

[NJmaverick]

13. This isn't the military putting out the stories

these are reporters and experts on the region.

[G_j]

16. there are only embedded reporters

and experts on the region have vastly different takes on the situation.

[NJmaverick]

19. No they don't have a different take

who has a different take is the scores of unqualified bloggers

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Oregone]

10. "Secure Kandahar and the nation will be pretty much secure"

Heh. Yeah. Such a small country. They can just dig in, sit back in luxury, and bask in the sun.


:rofl:

[NJmaverick]

11. You should familiarize yourself with the conflict

when you do, you will see these are the major Taliban strongholds.

[Oregone]

12. You have elite special amazing knowledge

Of course, only you can be correct. We are turning a corner.

Does it feel fuzzy inside to think you have amassed a wealth of knowledge that no one else has?

[NJmaverick]

14. Nothing elite, just what you get after you put in the time and effort

to study and learn the facts

[Oregone]

15. They should of hired you to win Vietnam for them

Im sure there were a few empty airchairs

[NJmaverick]

17. where are your facts and figures?

snide comments are a poor substitute and are insulting to the seriousness of this issue.

[Oregone]

20. Where are yours?

Or is the propaganda from the embeds considered facts & figures? Oh my. I apologize. Carry on now

[NJmaverick]

22. So your answer is you don't have any?

[Oregone]

24. Ditto

[unhappycamper]

23. Hi Guys!

I saw Tet of 68 up close and personal and was in the invasion of Cambodia in April 1970. Does this mean I can have a valid opinion about Afghanistan?

[Oregone]

25. Do you have an armchair and a PC in your mom's basement?

Sure! Expert opinions welcome!

[unhappycamper]

27. Nope.

My mom has been dead for five years now and my dad has been dead for 56 years now.

I spent 26 months in Vietnam starting in 67~68. I went back in 69~70 - two tours = 26 months in a combat zone.

Some parts we 'fun' but most were not. I was happy when the United States pulled that last helicoptor off the roof of the Saigon embassy. I was happy when the US military decided to look at what went wrong (everything) and decided to go to a volunteer force.

I was not very pleased with GW I, and I've been damn unhappy about the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

No one (REPEAT: NO ONE) has conquered Afghanistan since the 13th century. What makes our government think they can control Afghanistan? The only thing I can think of is they are either ignorant, greedy or stupid. The last two for sure, the first maybe. Unless you outnumber them 10 to 1, you do not have a chance of 'winning'. You don't have a chance of 'winning' when the local government is incredibly corrupt. You don't have a chance of 'winning' when the civilian elections were laced with fraud. You don't have a chance of 'winning' when you turn a blind eye to the narco industry because those warlords are (momentarily) on your side.

We were in Vietnam for 14 years; Afghanistan has lasted now almost twice the time it took the world (and us) to 'win' WW II.

To the point: the United States will most likely stay in Afghanistan playing whack-a-mole until the money either runs out or Congress gets some balls and cuts the money off. Escalation is not peace. Occupation is not peace. War is not peace. Peace is peace.

Give it up guys. We should not even be there.

[robdogbucky]

30. But unhappycamper

you didn't author a college paper on asymmetric warfare while a student of military history, so your direct experience doesn't count. You should know that the "surge," worked in Iraq, as long as the bribe money kept coming to quell the barely suppressed civil war there. And that means that the same, cough, cough, "strategy," will work in a second country in that region with similar civil war and corrupt government problems.

Don't you know that "With select bribes to sway the people that could go either way, it is possible (not assured) that the surge plan could work to weaken the Taliban and give the Afghan government time to strengthen itself to the point that they can deal with the situation."

I am surprised that you, a VN vet with direct experience with the Pentagon's long arm of information dissemination to its American audience, would doubt a single word they say, especially during a well-publicized, recently hyped "operation," in said country. And you don't even have a college paper to back you up. The shame. Didn't you get it? This is direct information from "reporters and experts in the region." You can't believe anyone like a blogger, no, when you get reliable information from the Pentagon. See "This year, the Pentagon will employ 27,000 people just for recruitment, advertising and public relations — almost as many as the total 30,000-person work force in theState Department."
Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/02/27000-work-in-p/#ixzz0h2bscoMj

I would provide the underlying AP story but that was scrubbed long ago.

At least FDL's Marcy Wheeler, saved some reference to it in her article from Feb. 2009:

"The AP just did a great investigation on how much money DOD is spending on PR and outreach (via Noah Shachtman). There are lots of nausea-inducing details in the story: that PR funds have grown 63% in the last five years, that DOD has almost as many people working in PR as the State Department employs altogether..."

See archived article entitled "DOD Spends More on Domestic PsyOps Than On Foreign PsyOps"
By: emptywheel Friday February 6, 2009 1:16 pm

Make no mistake about it unhappy, this is the newest form of message control, just like Cronkite's body counts on the CBS Evening News back here to the domestic audience when you were in country. Remember, the surge is working this time, even though it has not been completed and even though it really didn't work in Iraq. We just might pay enough in bribes this time, so that when we begin our pullout the generals don't have to beg to stay there past the deadlines, etc.

Just like a visit to the dentist, doncha' know?



Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Pissing in the wind is a brilliant military strategy.

[formercia]

26. So, what do we get out of this Goat Fuck, when it's all over

besides going home and counting our dead and maimed?

[bigtree]

28. fucked goats

:shrug:

[Echo In Light]

29. The People, there, and here, get zip, or, dead, if you're there. Vested interests get what THEY want