The purpose of Operation Moshtarak (Dari for "together") is to clear the Taliban from the city and then to fix the place, winning the hearts and minds of the local population. Toward that end, said Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of Western forces in Afghanistan, "We've got a government in a box, ready to roll in." As government arrives on the coattails of the Marines, it will ensure law and order, set up schools and clinics, repair roads, revitalize the irrigation system and cajole farmers into cultivating something other than opium poppies. The successful transformation of Marja will demonstrate the viability of McChrystal's plan to transform Afghanistan as a whole. At least that's the idea.

Anger spreads on Marjah's front line
By Aziz Ahmad Tassal and Mohammad Elyas Dayee

HELMAND - People in Marjah district in Helmand province, where a Western and Afghan military operation aims to oust the Taliban, say several civilians have been killed in addition to the 12 acknowledged by the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF. They also say the fighting has caused hunger because people cannot leave their homes to fetch food... ...Anger spreads on Marjah's front line
By Aziz Ahmad Tassal and Mohammad Elyas Dayee

HELMAND - People in Marjah district in Helmand province, where a Western and Afghan military operation aims to oust the Taliban, say several civilians have been killed in addition to the 12 acknowledged by the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF. They also say the fighting has caused hunger because people cannot leave their homes to fetch food. .."My wounded brother Fazel Omar got married six months ago. When he was wounded, his wife came out of the house and ran towards her husband, but [they] shot at her from their tank and [killed] her," he said.

All things considered, are we suitable to teach people how to love freedom and ****?