Quote of the Day

“The local residents don’t trust we will provide security. They are taking a wait-and-see attitude to the government. The people are worried that the Taliban will return and punish them for supporting the government.”

- Naimatullah, acting district governor of Marjah, in a late-night interview

The London Times continues,

“Until recently Marjah was seen as a success story that could serve as a template for an expected operation against the Taliban in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.

‘In many ways [the Marjah operation] is a model for the future: an Afghan-led operation supported by the coalition, deeply engaged with the people,’ General Stanley McChrystal, leader of Nato and American forces, said.

Yet worries are growing in the Pentagon that if thousands of marines and Afghan security forces cannot entirely defeat the Taliban in Marjah, a town of only 50,000, securing the far larger prize of Kandahar may be an even greater struggle than has been foreseen...”