The MSM lied to you again, that's all.
Can't have a wider offensive when the first one doesn't work.
"Taliban disrupt Marines’ efforts to pay Afghans; US struggles to build alliances to defeat insurgents" by Richard A. Oppel Jr., New York Times | April 4, 2010
MARJA, Afghanistan — Since their offensive here in February, the Marines have flooded Marja with hundreds of thousands of dollars a week.
How come they are not giving anything away on my street corner?
The tactic aims to win over wary locals by paying them compensation for property damage or putting to work men who would otherwise look to the Taliban for support.
Yeah, but f*** your own citizens. They just pay for all this.
The approach helped turn the tide of insurgency in Iraq. But in Marja, where the Taliban seem to know everything — and most of the time it is impossible to even tell who they are — they have already found ways to thwart the strategy in many places....
Related: The New Mayor of Marjah
Getting a clue now, Americans?
Also see: U.S. Paying Taliban For Protection
Huh?
Just a few weeks since the start of the operation here, the Taliban have “reseized control and the momentum in a lot of ways’’ in northern Marja, Major James Coffman, civil affairs leader for the Third Battalion, Sixth Marines, said in an interview in late March. “We have to change tactics to get the locals back on our side.’’
I thought we had already won them over with all the rebuilding, blah, blah, blah, blah!!!!!!!!!!!!
Colonel Ghulam Sakhi, an Afghan National Police commander here, says his informants have told him that at least 30 Taliban have come to one Marine outpost here to take money from the Marines as compensation for property damage or family members killed during the operation in February.
Hey, what's the big deal? Think of it as a protection payment.
“You shake hands with them, but you don’t know they are Taliban,’’ Sakhi said.
One can always hope that someday the fighting will stop and yes, hands will be shook.
“They have the same clothes, and the same style. And they are using the money against the Marines. They are buying [improvised explosive devices] and buying ammunition, everything.’’
That is because they live there.
One tribal elder from northern Marja, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being killed, said in an interview on Saturday that the killing and intimidation continued to worsen.
“Every day we are hearing that they kill people, and we are finding their dead bodies,’’ he said. “The Taliban are everywhere.’’
That doesn't mean they are the ones doing the killing.
Related: Occupation Iraq: Blackwater Banging on the Door
Yeah, could be them or CIA.
Oh, same thing.
The local problem points to the larger challenges ahead as American forces expand operations in the predominantly Pashtun south, where the Taliban draw most of their support and the government is deeply unpopular.
In Marja, the Taliban are hardly a distinct militant group, and the Marines have collided with a Taliban identity so dominant that the movement appears more akin to the only political organization in a one-party town, with an influence that touches everyone.
What it sounds like is Washington D.C. without the pernicious Zionist influence.
Even the Marines admit to being somewhat flummoxed.
Here, let me give you a quick lesson:
I hate saying it, but....
“We’ve got to reevaluate our definition of the word ‘enemy,’ ’’ said Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine expeditionary brigade in Helmand Province. “Most people here identify themselves as Taliban. We have to readjust our thinking so we’re not trying to chase the Taliban out of Marja, we’re trying to chase the enemy out. We have to deal with these people.’’
The orders from Washington say kill 'em.
The Marines hoped the work programs would be a quick way to put to work hundreds of “military-aged males,’’ as they call them.
Meanwhile, sign up for the service, American kid.
In some places, that has worked. But the programs have run into jeopardy in other parts of Marja, an area of about 80 square miles that is a patchwork of lush farmland and small bazaars and villages.
Translation: Another failed AmeriKan program.
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