Cobra's Anger a warm up for attack on Marja

LA Times:

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The assault in Helmand province, named Cobra's Anger, may prove to be a warmup for a larger, more complex and more dangerous assault on Marja, a town to which many Taliban fighters and narcotics middlemen fled after Marines descended on nearby villages this summer.

In Now Zad, Marines had to contend with roadside bombs that Taliban militants buried in anticipation of the Americans' arrival. Even more such bombs are expected to await troops in Marja.

"Marja is that last major sanctuary in Helmand province, the last place where the enemy has freedom of movement," said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. "We're going to take that away from him."

Nicholson compared the prospective battle in Marja to the fight in late 2004 to clear barricaded insurgents from the Iraqi city of Fallouja.

But Marja is split up by irrigation canals that will make moving troops and vehicles difficult. A vigorous house-to-house assault by Marines on a town also would raise the specter of civilian casualties, an issue that has strained relations between Western forces and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Still, Nicholson said, the only issue is when Marja will be emptied of insurgents. No timetable has been announced.

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Marja has functioned as a haven for Taliban fighters, with assassins returning to the villages by night. Two members of the nearby Nawa district council were assassinated, with Taliban fighters as the chief suspects.

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We need to set up ambushes on the avenues of approach from Marja while we prepare to destroy the Taliban that remain there. We also need to block the avenues of retreat. While the city has many natural barriers to movement, we can use that against the enemy by isolating one section at a time and destroying the enemy within that section.