New York Times – After Push in Marja, Marines Try to Win Trust

CJ Chivers writes that after the declaration this weekend that the battle for the Taliban enclave of Marja had been won, for the Marines standing behind sandbags and walking patrols, the more complicated work has begun. With it will be a test of the strategy selected by President Obama and the generals now running the Afghan war.

New York Times – Afghans Voice Their Fears Amid Marja Campaign

C.J. Chivers in Afghanistan.

Wall Street Journal – Civilians in Crosshairs Slow Troops

As Capt. Anthony Zinni monitored a live video feed from a Predator drone circling overhead, he spotted four men planting a booby trap in the middle of the road here.

For Capt. Zinni, one of the officers responsible for approving airstrikes in the nine-day-old battle for Marjah, it seemed like an easy call: The men were digging a hole alongside a road where a Marine supply convoy was scheduled to pass within hours. But just as he was about to give the order to strike, Capt. Zinni spotted even-smaller white figures on the video running along the path south of the canal.

Children. Maybe 50 feet from the men planting the booby trap. “It’s not a good shot,” Capt. Zinni said, ordering the Predator drone to delay the strike. “It’s not a good shot.”

The 45 minutes that followed help illustrate why it is taking coalition forces so long to secure this hotly contested part of Afghanistan.

New York Times – Marines Do Heavy Lifting as Afghan Army Lags in Battle

As American Marines and Afghan soldiers have fought their way into this Taliban stronghold, the performance of the Afghan troops has tested a core premise of the American military effort here: in the not-too-distant future, the security of this country can be turned over to indigenous forces created at the cost of American money and blood.

New York Times – Soldiers Keep Up Push in Taliban Stronghold

CJ Chivers in Afghanistan.

New York Times – Afghan Attack Gives Marines a Taste of War

CJ Chivers reports that Company K, part of a surge battalion, received a crash course in the Afghan war as it began an assault into the last large Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province.

Washington Post – Marines plan joint mission to eject insurgents from last Helmand stronghold

In the late 1950s, scores of U.S. engineers transformed a swath of uninhabited desert in southern Afghanistan into verdant farmland by constructing a network of irrigation canals fed by the Helmand River. The Afghan government filled the area, which it called Marja, with Pashtun nomads and told them to grow wheat. The wheat fields have since been replaced by tracts of opium-producing poppies. The mud-walled compounds that once housed families now conceal drug-processing labs and roadside-bomb factories. And the canals serve as moats to protect hundreds of Taliban fighters, who use Marja as a staging area for attacks across Helmand province. In the coming days, thousands of U.S. Marines will seek to transform Marja once again. Working in partnership with Afghan soldiers, the Marines are planning a major operation to flush out insurgents and allow the Afghan government to reassert control.

Los Angeles Times – Marines focus on civilian safety in Afghanistan

Preparing for battle in a Taliban stronghold, the Marines are warning civilians to flee the area, and they plan restraint in their use of artillery and air power.

New York Times – As Marines Move In, Taliban Fight a Shadowy War

The Marine infantry company, accompanied by a squad of Afghan soldiers, set out long before dawn. It walked silently through the dark fields with plans of arriving at a group of mud-walled compounds in Helmand Province at sunrise.

New York Times – Counterinsurgency, One Stuck Truck at a Time

CJ Chivers in Afghanistan with the Marines.

New York Times – As Marines Move In, Taliban Fight a Shadowy War

The Marine infantry company, accompanied by a squad of Afghan soldiers, set out long before dawn. It walked silently through the dark fields with plans of arriving at a group of mud-walled compounds in Helmand Province at sunrise.

New York Times – Marines Invest in Local Afghan Projects

Following the emphasis on a more assertive counterinsurgency approach mandated last year by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of American forces in Afghanistan, here on some of the country’s most dangerous ground, Marine infantry units are using this winter to try a soft touch.

Los Angeles Times – Marine assault vehicles key to Afghan strategy

As U.S. and Afghan troops prepare for an offensive in Helmand province, the Assault Breacher Vehicle – a cross between a tank and a bulldozer – is intended to conquer the terrain and roadside bombs.

New York Times – Shave Every Day. Shower Every Two Months.

CJ Chivers with the Marines in Afghanistan.

New York Times – The Hidden Dangers of Helmand Province, Part I.

More from CJ Chivers with the Marines in Afghanistan.

Sea Power – 2010 Almanac Highlights – Status of the US Marines

The status of the US Marine Corps as of January 2010.

New York Times – Foot on Bomb, Marine Defies a Taliban Trap

On patrol with CJ Chivers and Marines in Afghanistan.

Associated Press – US Marines end role in Iraq

The U.S. Marine Corps wrapped up nearly seven years in Iraq on Saturday, handing over duties to the Army and signaling the beginning of an accelerated withdrawal of American troops as the U.S. turns its focus away from the waning Iraqi war to a growing one in Afghanistan.

US Naval Institute Proceedings – Where’s the Special Trust and Confidence?

Marines stand in harm’s way and make tough, split-second decisions in battle. Back home, they face seminars about liberty conduct and fastening seatbelts. Is this smart training for “strategic corporals”?

Der Spiegel – The Marines’ Factory of War

Every year, 21,000 fresh recruits are transformed into warriors at the Marine Corps boot camp Parris Island. With US President Barack Obama now boosting troop levels in Afghanistan, many of them will be on a plane within just a few months.