The unusual approach, according to U.S. and British commanders, is intended to persuade Marjah's civilian population to leave or turn against the Taliban , while pressuring the estimated 2,000 insurgents to flee the town or switch sides.
"We're trying to signal to the Afghan people that we are expanding security where they live. We are trying also to signal to the insurgents, the Taliban primarily in this area and the narco-traffickers, that it's about to change," Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal , the commander of the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan , said Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey .
"We're not interested in how many Taliban we kill. We'd much rather have them see the inevitability that things are changing," he said. "And that's why it is a little unconventional to do it this way. But I think it gives everybody a chance to think through what they're going to do before suddenly in the dark of night, they're hit with an offensive." |