Melon shopping in Garmsir, Afghanistan

AFP:

Brigadier General Larry Nicholson demonstrated the more open approach he wants to see among the new US troops sent to southern Afghanistan by going shopping for melons.

Nicholson, commander of the 4,000 Marines deployed on Thursday in the mainly Taliban-held Helmand River valley, headed to Garmsir district centre to visit a bazaar selling fruit, vegetables and meat.

The day after launching Operation Khanjar -- intended to establish international and Afghan government control in the region -- he was keen to show how the Marines must interact with locals to defeat the insurgents.

"I need a good price," he said with a big grin as he held up a green watermelon. "50 afghani (one dollar)? Am I over-paying? No tourist prices for me, please."

Once the bargaining was over, he asked the stallowner about security in the mud-wall streets just outside a small international military base called Camp Delhi.

"It is good now," the heavily bearded man said. "But one year ago, there was a lot of fighting here between troops and the Taliban. Our shops and homes were destroyed and we have had no help rebuilding them."

Nicholson, who deliberately took off his helmet and sunglasses when talking to local residents, nodded and explained why the Marines had arrived in the Helmand valley.

"We are here to provide security for you and to help you," he said. "We have been sent by the president and district governor, and we are only here until there are enough Afghan police and soldiers to take over security.

"If there is peace in Garmsir, it is because everyone is working towards it. The Marines or the police cannot do it themselves. We need the help of local people."

For more than an hour, Nicholson -- protected by a guard of 11 alert and armed Marines -- walked from stall to stall holding much the same conversation to get his message across.

"What is the one thing Garmsir needs?" he asked five men sitting on a carpet drinking tea.

"We need peace and we need better mobile telephone coverage," one of them replied.

...

The Taliban hate good mobile phone coverage so this guy is probably straight. General Nicholson is doing what Gen. Petraeus did in Iraq and it may pay off in Afghanistan. It is a good way to get the locals talking to you about the situation in their area. It also can lead to good intel. In some areas the locals were coming up to the Marines and pointing out where the IEDs had been placed.

One thing the story tells you is that if the commanding general can stroll through the market the enemy is probably not around.