A Blitzkrieg Surge In Helmand To Crush Taliban

Photo: David Guttenfelder / AP

The Americans are in their fourth day of an offensive surge in Helmand province, former British stronghold for the ISAF forces in Afghanistan, and the enemy is melting away as they approach. A lightning force of 4,000 marines has been sent to clear out the insurgency there, as Barack Obama begins his most important foreign policy decision in office. The operation is called “Khanjar”, or “Strike of the Sword”, and has been made possible by the 17,000-strong increase in troops from the U.S. and former Iraq veterans.

The operation, with coordination of Afghan and Pakistani troops, has seen thousands of marines storm Helmand river valley, and the success of the operation could be a pivotal one in the current stalemate. It is riskiest move since George W. Bush and General David Petraeus implemented a surge in Iraq to contain the insurgency during the worst days of the Iraq war. The goal of the blitzkrieg, a German world war two strategy used to overwhelm the enemy before they have time to respond, is to rout the Taliban as they inevitably attempt to flee the province to safer ground. The hope is that the move will win hearts and minds, as villagers see how committed the U.S. is to winning. As well, the new directive to U.S. troops, to not fire when civilians could be hurt or killed, seems to have worked. No civilians have been reported killed in the offensive so far.

All reports are that the Taliban has fled from the onslaught of U.S. troops, with sporadic gunfire and RPG attacks being repelled by helicopters and infantry. The pincer attack has been aimed at sending the Taliban at the Pakistani border, where the military there awaits to stop any attempts to sneak across. As a last resort, however, the militants could refuge in the mountains, where it would be difficult to track them. Victory in Helmand would be seen as a great change in the war against the extremists, as NATO tries to create as much security as possible before the August presidential elections.

There have been reprisal attacks, but those have been easily repelled, with the Taliban taking heavy casualties for their efforts [as usual]. The new offensive is meant to assure residents of a long-term American presence in the area, so as not to lose out to cynical fears whereby in the past the Taliban had returned to liberated areas when NATO troops moved on. As a local in Lashkar Gah says:

“But I am not optimistic. [These] operations are like the cat-and-mouse cartoon where the mouse escapes when the cat attacks, but when the cat is gone the mouse comes back and starts again.”

The long-term strategy is to stay in Helmand until the end of the Afghan elections, after which they will assist in getting Afghan security forces settled in a patrol circuit to repel Taliban approaches. Ultimately the Americans admit that they are a stop-gap measure. True success remains in setting up an accountable government that is responsive to it’s own security needs, and the stable economy and governmental services that go with it. While I remain hopeful of this current offensive to maintain the first set of goals, I feel skeptical that the Karzai government will be the one to provide the kind of long-term stability that this mission needs to really succeed.