Holbrooke: Too early to gauge Marjah success
It would be inaccurate to call the U.S.-led offensive in Afghanistan's Marjah district a failure, and yet it's too early to call it a success, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan told CNN Sunday.
"What's happening in Marjah is that the U.S. military and NATO went into one of the most difficult areas of the country, one of the bellies of the insurgency, displaced the Taliban and settled in," Richard Holbrooke told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." FULL POST
Taliban district chief captured in firefight
International and Afghan security forces wounded and captured a Taliban district chief and killed a "large number" of insurgents in a four-hour firefight, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement Thursday.
The battle took place in a compound outside a village in the Baghran district of Afghanistan's Helmand province after insurgents opened fire on security forces with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, ISAF said. FULL POST
Losing hearts and minds in Marjah?
A U.S. Senate hearing on Thursday offered a grim assessment of the state of Marjah, almost three months after the major NATO offensive Operation Moshtarak began in the southern region.
Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Marjah does not appear to be a turning point in the overall mission in Afghanistan.
"A recent survey conducted by the International Council on Security and Development showed that a vast majority of villagers felt negatively about foreign troops and that more young Afghans had joined the Taliban over the last year," he said at the hearing. "Worse still were the reasons they had signed up with the Taliban: they said they joined because they had no jobs, because they had no money to get married or buy land, because they had no other future. In short, the coalition and their own government have not provided promising alternatives." FULL POST
Behind the scenes: Night in 'The Manger'
Editor's Note: CNN camerawoman Mary Rogers accompanied a U.S. Marine Corps unit on Operation Moshtarak in Marjah from its preparations into the first few weeks. A veteran of warzone reporting, she has filmed in places such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Iraq, Chechnya, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. Here is part 4 of her reflections on her time in Marjah and a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and camaraderie reporting from the Afghan battlefield. (Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)
February 21, night in Marjah
Darkness falls in the mud compound where the Alpha Company is spending the night as they push further west. A huge sandstorm and rainstorm kick in, sending 20? 30? 40? Marines and CNN scrambling into a tiny mudroom for shelter. I think this is the kitchen of the compound. In the corner there is a hearth, and a hen is sitting on her eggs. The dirt floor is covered with straw. I call this room "The Manger" after a Marine jokes that it looks like the place where Jesus was born.
It is getting late, and Alpha Company's resupply trucks have not arrived yet. These are the trucks that carry food, water, ammo, sleeping bags, etc. We have all been up since the crack of dawn. We are all exhausted, and the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in makes everyone silly. In this dark miniscule space, Atia, Gordon, and I begin to bond with the men. FULL POST
Inside a Marine's Javelin missile mission
Editor's Note: CNN camerawoman Mary Rogers accompanied a U.S. Marine Corps unit on Operation Moshtarak in Marjah from its preparations into the first few weeks. A veteran of warzone reporting, she has filmed in places such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Iraq, Chechnya, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. Here is her behind-the-scenes look on filming a firefight involving the Javvelin missile.
Seven days into Operation Moshtarak and Taliban snipers continue to be the bane of the Marines' existence. Just the day before, the Marines had engaged in a ferocious firefight that starts in the late afternoon and goes well into night. On this day they take casualties. One Marine dies.
Expensive ordinance is brought in to play. We see JDAM (guided) bombs dropped from F-16s, Hellfire missiles rocketing off Cobra helicopter gunships and hear the low drone of the A-10 Warthog at night. It's hard to describe this sound. Imagine a lawnmower from hell, mowing down everything in its path. The A-10, with its 30mm canons, can fire thousands of rounds a minute.
Then - time to try the Javelin missile. This is a shoulder-mounted weapon with a sophisticated guidance system, and a six-figure price tag. FULL POST
Behind the scenes: The Marines embedded in memory
Editor's Note: CNN camerawoman Mary Rogers accompanied a U.S. Marine Corps unit on Operation Moshtarak in Marjah from its preparations into the first few weeks. A veteran of warzone reporting, she has filmed in places such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Iraq, Chechnya, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. Here is part 2 of her reflections on her time in Marjah and a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and camaraderie reporting from the Afghan battlefield. (Read Part 1 here)
Many times on assignments there have been people I have been instinctively drawn to (or my camera naturally gravitates to). I do not know why this is. They are people who I will never forget. Most of them spoke a language I did not understand. Not so with the Marines in Marjah. Perhaps what made this assignment so special was that I shared a bond of nationality and language with the men of Alpha Company. Here are a few of my recollections about the men with whom we slogged through Marjah. FULL POST
Mullen meets with Helmand governor
KABUL, Afghanistan - The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, met with the governor of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan Tuesday.
The meeting took place in Marjah, the spokesman for Gov. Gulab Mangal said. No further details on the meeting were available.
The battle-scarred enclave of Marjah was the site of Operation Moshtarak, where U.S and other troops took on Taliban militants in a massive military offensive.
Behind the scenes of the battle for Marjah
Editor's Note: CNN camerawoman Mary Rogers accompanied a U.S. Marine Corps unit on Operation Moshtarak in Marjah from its preparations into the first few weeks. A veteran of warzone reporting, she has filmed in places such as Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Congo, Iraq, Chechnya, Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. Here is part 1 of some of her reflections on her time in Marjah and a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and camaraderie reporting from the Afghan battlefield.
In all my years with CNN, Operation Moshtarak was one of the roughest, toughest assignments I have ever had. It was also one of the most memorable, an experience I wouldn't trade for the world.
D-Day: February 13, 2:30 a.m. local time, somewhere in a farm field on the outskirts of Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Operation Moshtarak begins.
Cold. Dark. Muddy. Miserable. "What in the HELL have I gotten myself into?" These were my first thoughts just minutes after exiting a helicopter with the Alpha 1/6, USMC. Tripping and stumbling in deeply furrowed farmland. Falling not once, but three times! "You are such a dork, Mary," I say to myself. "Wonderful first impression you are making here!" FULL POST
'I don't want to go home'
The Qambar Square camp in Kabul’s west is now home to more than 1,200 families from across Afghanistan.
Bibi Hawa lost her husband, daughter and son to war. She now lives with her three grandchildren in a tent at a refugee camp in Kabul.
The old woman cries as she says, “I fled from Marjah in Helmand province because of the fighting. I don’t want to go home any more. I lost my family there and I don’t believe the war will end in our province.”
She is dressed in old clothes and wrapped in an old blanket. As we talk she frequently asks for money.
FULL POST
Kandahar residents wary of coming offensive
I’m talking to a man with one arm and one leg. His other limbs were recently amputated. The bandages are bloody. He’s smiling.
Sitting on the edge of Atha Jan’s hospital bed, it’s impossible not to be moved by the trauma he’s suffered and the physical and emotional challenges he’s yet to face. This 27-year-old father of two must now provide for his family while living with a major disability. And he’s smiling.
His limbs were taken by a suicide car bomb detonated outside Kandahar’s prison. He was riding by on a motor bike at the time. It was one of five bombs that exploded across Kandahar that night, killing 35 people. 57 were injured.
The Taliban have boastfully claimed responsibility for the attack. But Jan says he doesn’t know who did it. Even more baffling – he insists he doesn’t care. But he wants the violence to end.
"This killing must stop in Afghanistan. It’s a massacre," he says. FULL POST
