# Commanders apply Marjah lessons to other regions

/ Published March 21, 2010

WASHINGTON (March 19, 2010) –  The Marjah operation has served as proof of principle for operations in  Afghanistan, and commanders are working to adopt the principles in other  areas in the country, a senior military official said.

                      The official, speaking on background, said that although much remains  to be done, operations in Afghanistan’s Helmand province have proved  that the counterinsurgency strategy does work. Still, actions in  the region are in the early stages. Clear, hold, build and transfer are  the steps in the strategy, the official said, and operations in the  region are still in the hold and build stage. The best  counterinsurgency strategy is one the local government and people  embrace, the official said, and operations in Helmand have that. Afghan  President Hamid Karzai’s government came up with the plan in Helmand,  and many Afghan troops and police participated in the operation. Local  tribal elders and district officials asked for the offensive, the  official said, and Afghan officials wanted the operation designed in  such a way so that it would minimize civilian casualties. Local  officials did not want Afghan police participating, the official noted,  because local people regard the police as corrupt. Now, the  official said, the idea is to extend the effort to Kandahar, the  second-largest city in Afghanistan and the spiritual home of the Taliban  movement. Taliban leader Mullah Omar had his palace in Kandahar, and it  is the heart of the Pastun area of the nation. Shaping  operations – mainly political – already have begun in and around  Kandahar, the official said. Government officials and NATO commanders  are working with local councils and provincial officials to get buy-in  from the people of the city. The area around Kandahar is just as  important, the official added, and shaping operations in the outlying  areas also are going on. “These operations need to support and  protect the population,” the official said. “Once this happens [and] the  population sees the government as legitimate and the insurgents are  marginalized, they become little more than brigands.” The  shaping initiatives will continue and will pick up steam, “but there  won’t be a D-Day” in Kandahar, the official said. The enemy’s  “order of battle” is anything but orderly, the official said. Taliban  are in the city, and some people sympathize with the group. But other  extremists not affiliated with the Taliban or al-Qaida are there as  well, and they don’t want order in the city. Criminal gangs and local  warlords also want the status quo to continue, the official said. Marja  was a physical stronghold for the Taliban – the Taliban flag flew over  the town, and fighters built fortifications in the area. Kandahar has  problems with Taliban shadow governments, courts and community councils,  the official said, and disassembling them will take different  capabilities. Training the country’s security forces is  important to getting the Afghans to take the lead, the official said,  noting that the Afghan army is doing well. “It’s uneven, but the Afghan  National Army is a respected entity in the country,” he said. “The  Afghan police are not regarded as highly.” Overall, the goal is  to train and field just over 300,000 Afghan security force members. In  December, President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 additional American  troops into Afghanistan. The Afghan surge is going well, with about a  third of the troops in place with their equipment, the official said.  Most of the rest of the forces will be in place by the end of August,  with a few units moving in later. The flow of forces is proceeding, and  the official said that U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Central Command  and the NATO International Security Assistance Force have surmounted  many obstacles. “It’s like FedEx on steroids,” he said. The  American transportation effort is all the more incredible when the full  scope is taken under consideration, the official said. U.S. military  planners supplied the needs of two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They  have maintained supplies going to bases and operations around the world.  Then, “when Haiti happened, they managed to supply that without a  hiccup,” the official said, referring to the recent earthquake relief  mission.