"We're sitting on their money"--Marines in Afghanistan

USA Today:

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Two dozen Marines arrived here from the military base at Kandahar Air Field to join hundreds already engaged in an offensive here in southern Helmand Province, a center of opium production and sanctuary for Taliban insurgents.

Infantrymen from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit came under intense fire from rockets and rifles Friday, the fourth day of their mission in Helmand. Taliban leaders ordered their fighters to defend the ground at all costs, according to information intercepted by the Marines.

Behind the Taliban's resolve: The Marine Operation Azada Wosa – "Stay Free" in the local Pashto language – threatens to disrupt the Taliban's lucrative trade in opium, says Maj. Tom Clinton Jr., executive officer of the Marines' infantry battalion.

"We're sitting on their money," Clinton said at this military base near Garmsir, a Helmand market town seized earlier this week by the Marines. "If they don't have money, they can't buy weapons."

Despite the intense fighting, the Marines had suffered no serious casualties by Friday evening. But they believe they have killed dozens of Taliban fighters.

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The Marines are position to inflict both a strategic and tactical defeat on the Taliban. It is the kind of operation that can shorten the war. It is too bad the Brits have not engaged in this type of operation during the time they have been in the area. The Taliban has to be getting frustrated at not being able to inflict casualties while they are taking so many.