Fighting intensified this week in Marjah, a region in southern Afghanistan, as NATO and Afghan forces attempt to eradicate the Taliban stronghold.  Marjah has long been a refuge for the Taliban, ever since the initial American offensive in 2001 forced many Taliban fighters out of Kabul.  This mission is an important test of President Obama’s strategy for war-torn Afghanistan.

The goal of the offensive in Marjah is to not only defeat the Taliban, but to set up a stable and efficient government.  The government, led by President Hamid Karzai, has proved over the past several years to be corrupt, culminating in a fraudulent election that destroyed any hope of establishing democracy.  In addition, the Taliban, many of whom fled into Pakistan in the early 2000’s, began crossing back into Afghanistan in 2006.

General Stanley McChrystal, the top military commander in the region, plans to sustain a government by building up the Afghan police and military forces.  Though the U.S. Army claims the Afghan soldiers are leading the operation, U.S. and British soldiers are the ones leading and supplying the operation.  General David H. Petreus, commander of the United States Central Command, said that this campaign in Marjah could last for over a year.

McChrystal has also made efforts to establish a good rapport with the Afghan people during this offensive.  The general has limited the use of heavy weaponry, in an attempt to reduce civilian casualties.  However, U.S. helicopters alone killed twenty-seven civilians Monday, who they thought were a group of Taliban fighters.

In addition to fighting in Afghanistan, U.S. Special Forces have made incursions into Pakistani cites, capturing “shadow governors” and other high-ranking Taliban members.  One of the captured fighters is Abdul Ghani Baradar, a top military strategist, which comes as a major blow to the Taliban fighting force.

General Petreus has stressed on numerous occasions that captured Taliban leaders will not be tortured for information.  Petreus emphasized how such violations of the Geneva Convention had tended to cause more damage than gain.

Pivotal for this campaign are the thirty thousand soldiers that President Obama has pledged to send to Afghanistan.  About five thousand of those deployed soldiers are in action in Marjah.  Obama and his generals hope that the Marjah offensive will create peace and to make certain that it does not become a terrorist safe haven again.

Military strategists are optimistic for the Marjah campaign, which may be vital in ending the war in Afghanistan and removing troops from the region.  Hanging in the balance is not only the future of Afghanistan and the Taliban, but also President Obama’s political future.