Pentagon Lies to Influence US Public Opinion on Afghanistan: ‘Operation Moshtarak’http://info-wars.org/2010/09/18/pentagon-lies-to-influence-us-public-opinion-on-afghanistan-operation-moshtarak/September 18, 2010 by Infowars Ireland
By Neil Faulkner
independent.co.uk
Friday, 17 September 2010
The aim of Operation Moshtarak in February was to capture the city of Marjah in Afghanistan’s war-torn Helmand province. Fifteen thousand troops, mainly American, British and Afghan, were to take on between 400 and 1,000 Taliban insurgents holed up in a city of 80,000 people.
Commanders talked of a “new model war”. An Afghan administration and police force would move into Marjah behind the soldiers. Engineers would maintain power and water supplies. “We’ve got a government in a box, ready to roll in,” said the then-US General Stanley McChrystal.
But as the offensive unfolded, reported Taliban casualties were few, and Marjah turned out not to exist. Faithfully reported by global news media, it was in fact invented by US military officials. “This is all a war of perceptions,” McChrystal said. As The Washington Post reported, the decision to launch the offensive was intended to influence US public opinion on the effectiveness of military action in Afghanistan by showing it could win a “large and loud victory”. In reality, Marjah is a vaguely-defined area of villages, markets and family compounds. If there are tens of thousands of people, they are spread across 125 sq miles. Marjah was invented because a military operation has to have a clear-cut goal to be deemed a victory. President Obama had doubled the total US troop deployment, but public support was waning. The generals needed a victory, so they created Marjah and planned Operation Moshtarak to capture it.
A phantom city was needed because the enemy is a phantom. A task force is assembled and motors into bandit country. If it is too small, it risks annihilation. If it is too big, it finds itself punching the air. A golden rule of guerrilla warfare is that you fight only if you are certain to win. So the invaders of Afghanistan are waging a war against an enemy who is never there.
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