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March 17, 2010

Inside Marja, Afghanistan's Little America

Peter Lee, Asia Times

AP Photo

To Western reporters, Helmand is the poppy-growing heartland of the Taliban and the home of Marjah, the demonstration project for the Barack Obama administration's new and improved Afghan strategy, "Operation Moshtarak" (Together).

To the locals, the irrigated heartland of Helmand has another name: "Little America".

To the good fortune of observers interested in the context of current US counter-insurgency operations, the backstory of Helmand is told in one of the best books written about modern Afghanistan, Opium Season, by Joel Hafverstein (The...

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TAGGED: Afghanistan, Helmand, America, Taliban

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