Has the U.S. Broken the Taliban’s Momentum?
In December, when President Barack Obama announced his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, he cast it in simple terms. The goal of the military and diplomatic push, he said, was to “break the Taliban’s momentum” and give the governments in Kabul and Islamabad some time to restore order. There are some encouraging signs that the U.S. really has seized the initiative — American forces on the move in Helmand province, militant leaders nabbed in Pakistan. But it’s a little early to declare the Taliban’s momentum broken. The U.S. military is now one week into Operation Moshtarak, a slow and deliberate campaign to clear — and for once, hold — the militant stronghold of Marja in Helmand Province. It’s still early days, but across the border in Pakistan, events have unfolded at a more dramatic pace. Late last week week, Mullah Baradar, the Taliban’s chief military officer, was arrested in Karachi. Two more militant “shadow governors” were arrested this week. Now, a U.S. drone strike in
