[Oct. 17 Seattle] (British Newspaper) Morale dips for American marines in Afghanistan

[Ben Seattle]

British newspaper 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6888996.e
ce

October 25, 2009

Morale dips for American marines in Afghanistan

In a remote part of Helmand troops are dismayed by the ambivalence of
locals and a sense that the Taliban can outlast themStephen Grey in Khan
Neshin 

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A mile from South Station, an outpost of US marines in Helmand province,
the tribal chief was openly hostile. "The Americans threaten our economy
and take our land for bases. They promise much and deliver nothing," he
said. 

"People here regard the American troops as occupiers," said Haji Khan, a
leader of the Baluch tribe, who rules like a medieval baron. "Young
people are turning against them and in time will fight them." 

Inside South Station, soldiers are proud of the progress they have made.
Until they arrived, this remote part of Helmand had not had a government
presence for years. But many are pessimistic about where the conflict is
heading. 

"I'm not much for this war. I'm not sure it's worth all those lives
lost," said Sergeant Christian Richardson as we walked across corn
fields that will soon be ploughed up to plant a spring crop of opium
poppy. 

A New Yorker who joined the marines after 9/11 and served two tours in
Iraq, Richardson, 24, said his men had achieved much. "You can see we
are making progress, slowly. But when we leave, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
will surely return." 

With enough effort, resources and time, the marines are confident the
population can be won over. But, with the platoon's influence limited to
a small area around their base, many soldiers wonder if the Taliban and
Al-Qaeda may simply outlast them, or if the US and Afghan governments
have the resolve to send enough troops to win. 

Third Platoon, Charlie Company of the 2nd Light Armoured Reconnaissance
Battalion, came last July to Khan Neshin, as far south as Nato soldiers
have reached in Afghanistan. It was part of a summer offensive by more
than 4,500 troops of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which has joined
British and other forces trying to turn the war in Helmand. 

Although they have read the manuals on counterinsurgency and heard
generals speak about how to defeat the Taliban, the reality has been
bloody, painful and frustrating. 

The platoon knows there are at least 20 booby-trapped bombs on the high
ground around the base. More than half the men have already been caught
in blasts. One marine explosive expert was killed; others suffered
broken legs and amputated feet. Three have survived two explosions and
come back to fight again. 

General Stanley McChrystal, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan,
says the mission is to protect the population and isolate them from the
Taliban, but the marines are finding it no easier to defeat the Taliban
than it has been for the British, who have fought in the province for
three years. Villagers are rarely willing to express a simple opinion,
let alone inform soldiers where the enemy is hiding. One marine
described the way the Taliban blended with the population as
"unbelievably frustrating". 

In terrain crisscrossed by canals with weak and narrow bridges, the
platoon has to approach villages on foot. Even when they have surrounded
the Taliban, the marines have found the enemy has an uncanny ability to
slip away in the ditches. All this adds to the strain of facing
improvised explosive devices, which are the main threat. 

"We are all brothers here," said Lance-Corporal Corey Hopkins, 22, from
Georgia. "And it hurts to see your brother hurt or put him in a bag for
the last time. It pisses you off. It makes you mad. You know people out
here know what's going on, but they won't tell you." 

Corporal Gregory Williams, 22, from North Carolina, said: "It's going to
take a lot of proving out here to make them talk to us. It's working so
slowly." The marines are trying to implement a strategy dictated from
Washington that bids them separate the population from the insurgents.
But attempting that means a battle not only against the Taliban but
against a feudal system that places real power in the hands of
landowners such as Haji Khan. 

When we talked to the grey-bearded men in the village, in the shade of
one-room mosques, most appeared friendly. Asked if they wanted a school
or more doctors, all said such questions were a matter for those who own
the fields. 

The marines hope to open a school and provide medical facilities. They
are also offering to pay Khan and others to provide jobs to improve the
canal system. 

At a shura, or village meeting, at South Station last Friday, Khan
showed up with 40 elders and heard Captain Chris Conner, commander of
Charlie Company, promise development. "From the bottom of my heart, I
want to say that we are here to help you," he said. 

The villagers welcomed the canal scheme and the idea of making use of a
doctor at the base. But Khan and another landowner rejected the idea of
a school. "Security is still too bad. We've seen how they are burnt down
[by the Taliban] elsewhere." 

Some marines were unconvinced about paying money for the canal to a
tribal leader and drug baron who gave them almost no help and would
probably keep the cash. 

Later, a marine intelligence officer said the drug economy and the
feudal system made the strategy of winning hearts and minds extremely
complex. As drug producers, men such as Khan had a "working relationship
with the Taliban". 

Nobody knew of the announcement last week in Kabul of a new round of
national elections. Nobody voted in the first round. "We never even
heard of elections. If we had, I suppose we might have voted," said one
villager.