U.S. Marines taking over towns in Afghanistan

Taking ground from the Taliban in Afghanistan has always proved easy. Keeping it and ensuring the government's presence has been the difficult part. When the area happens to be the world's largest producer of opium that feeds the insurgency and corrupts government officials, the challenge becomes monumental.

Haji Akhtar Mohammad, from Gereshk village now living in Helmand's capital of Lashkar Gah, said the U.S.-led force will not have community support in the region weary of any foreign interference.

"It is difficult to tell who is Taliban and who is civilians," Mohammad said. "They all have the same face, same beard and same turban," he said. "It is very difficult to defeat them."

Three years ago, only a handful of U.S. troops were in Helmand, Afghanistan's biggest province that is bisected by the Helmand river.

Afghanistan accounts for more than 90 percent of the world's production of opium, and Helmand alone is responsible for about half that amount.

While Pelletier said winning hearts and minds was the mission's main focus, other military officials have said the immediate goal of the offensive is to clear away insurgents before Afghanistan's Aug. 20 presidential election.

Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold but also a region where Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking votes from fellow Pashtun tribesmen. Without such a large Marine assault, the Afghan government would likely not be able to set up voting booths where citizens could safely travel.

The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008 but still half as many as are now in Iraq.

Even bigger challenges, perhaps, will come in the weeks and months after the Marines have established their presence here.

The U.S. will have an opportunity to help develop alternate livelihoods for farmers whose opium poppy crops bankroll the Taliban, who have made a violent comeback since the U.S.-led invasion ousted them from power in 2001.

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email