US efforts in Marjah were a PR campaign – journalist

The US offensive against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in southern Afghanistan was branded a great success by NATO, but investigative journalist Gareth Porter says the operation was, in fact, a PR campaign.

“[Marjah] was not a city of any kind, despite the hype given to it by the US military in southern Helmand Province. So now, I think we have a clear picture of the US military really trying to shape public opinion,” Porter said.

“They are going to use the media at every opportunity to advance what they call the ‘counter-insurgency narrative’. In this case the narrative was ‘we are going to show the American people that we are capable of really beating the Taliban decisively.’”