• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

An Afghan flag fluttered symbolically over the small town of Marja in Southern Afghanistan on Thursday, signifying that the rural area is now officially out of the Taliban’s hands and under the control of the central government. On February 12th, 15,000 international troops, including 11,000 troops from the U.S. and Afghanistan, were deployed to Marja to fight the few hundred Taliban fighters allegedly tucked away there. The offensive was the first installment in a new military campaign conceived by top U.S. and NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal. In 12 days of combat, at least 28 civilians, including 13 children, were killed, and over 70 wounded. Even as some of the 24,000 civilians displaced by the attacks begin to trickle back to their homes, scattered fighting continues. Twenty year old Juma Gul, whose grandfather was shot and killed in front of his home during the offensive, said that “The operation was painful and full of miseries for our family…We want them [the military] to leave. For us, both the Taliban and Marines are the same.” But to General McChrystal, the war is one of “perceptions,” and he hopes that offensives like the one in Marja could convince war-weary Americans and Afghans alike that, with more time and troops, the U.S. can win in Afghanistan.

GUEST: Gareth Porter, is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, “Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam”, was published in 2006.

Read Gareth Porter’s article at http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50434.