CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Preparing a major offensive to seize a Taliban stronghold, U.S. Marines are keenly aware of one factor that could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: Afghan civilian casualties.
Deaths of noncombatants in clashes involving Western troops and insurgents are one of the bitterest points of contention between President Hamid Karzai and his foreign allies.
So in the weeks leading up to the imminent offensive to take the Helmand River Valley town of Marja in southern Afghanistan, the Marines’ commander, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, sat with dozens of Afghan tribal elders, drinking endless cups of sweet tea and offering reassurances that his top priority will be the safety of Afghan civilians.
“In counterinsurgency, the people are the prize,” Nicholson said in an interview at Camp Leatherneck, the U.S. base in central Helmand province that is the main staging ground for the offensive.
The Marja operation has been publicized for months by the Marines. One reason Nicholson has taken that unusual step is to give civilians plenty of warning, decreasing the chances they will be caught in crossfire.
It is not clear whether the Taliban forces will fight in Marja or melt away, to regroup and fight elsewhere. But at a minimum, the Taliban has had months of warning to plant booby traps and roadside bombs.
The Marines are equipped with 70-ton Assault Breacher Vehicles that fire line charges to detonate buried bombs in the path of advancing troops.
To minimize civilian casualties in the event of a battle, leaflets have been dropped in the Marja district, urging residents to get out of the area.
Many Afghans, however, are reluctant to leave homes and farms unattended. For cultural reasons, Pashtun tribesmen also are often unwilling to let women and children take shelter elsewhere without a male family member.
The Marja assault will be the largest joint effort by U.S., coalition and Afghan troops since the Taliban was chased from power in 2001, and the first major offensive since President Barack Obama’s decision to authorize sending 30,000 additional troops to the country.
It is also a test of whether a large-scale ground battle can be conducted in a densely populated setting without large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries. About 85,000 people live in Marja itself, and an estimated 45,000 more in outlying parts of the district.
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