President Obama's Afghan offensive will march on despite data indicating its failure. The operation is intended to drive out the Taliban and win over the population. The Marjah offensive failed on the latter objective. Reuters reported:
A report by policy think tank the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) this week found that 61 percent of 400 men interviewed in and around Marjah felt more negative about NATO forces than before the operation.
On to Kandahar where the offensive is now being described as a "process." Sounds rather clinical, doesn't it? At least to those sitting safely in their American homes.
"More foreign troops means more attacks and more dead civilians," said Khan Mohammad, a car dealer. "I think the government and international troops, especially Americans, should open their eyes and realise they can't beat the Taliban through military means," he said.
"We don't know if this operation brings any advantages, but something we know for sure is innocent people will be killed, harmed and displaced," said Kaka Shirin, a Kandahar shopkeeper.
War is the killing, harming and displacing of innocent people. That's any Commander-in-Chief's implied order, no matter how clinical the verbage of war or how understated the expectations.
Obama warned the war in Afghanistan will get worse before it gets better. The Afghan people know it.
