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What are your thoughts on the Coalition force's successful occupation of Marjah, a Taliban-stronghold in Afghanistan?

Asked by Qingu (21185points) February 13th, 2010

The New York Times reports that U.S. and Afghan forces have successfully taken over Marjah, a major city in the Taliban-controlled Helmand province.

Marjah has 80,000 people. So far, I haven’t seen a single reported civilian casualty. 2 coalition soldiers died and about 10–20 Taliban have been killed. Far as I can tell, one or two buildings were bombed.

In comparison: in 2004, we invaded Fallujah, an Iraqi city of about 300,000. According to Wikipedia, 800 civilians were killed and half of their homes were damaged or destroyed, along with dozens of schools and mosques. 1,000 insurgents were killed (and perhaps “insurgents” is broadly defined). 100 U.S. soldiers killed.

Maybe this is premature, but if the Marjah operation ends up being successful—holy crap! That is an amazing improvement. And if this becomes a new model of warfare, I would actually have a great deal more faith in humanity.

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