WHERE the latest US operation in Afghanistan, involving thousands of American Marines, is headed will not be known for quite some time. Begun on Thursday, the operation is significant in many ways. One, it is the first major offensive after Barack Obama moved into the White House and appears to reflect his keenness to turn the tide of a war that has dragged on for nearly eight years without producing any significant results. Two, it aims at capturing the Taliban heartland which — and this is the third point — is a poppy-growing area. Helmand’s capture could be a blow to the Taliban, for Afghanistan’s booming drug trade is the biggest source of funding and arms for the militants. Crop destruction has failed to work so far. As admitted by Richard Holbrooke, this policy has not paid dividends. It has only served to drive peasants into Taliban hands.

Welcome though it is, the fall of one of Helmand’s districts to the Marines shouldn’t lead to undue optimism, for the Taliban have vowed to fight back and they are capable of putting up strong resistance. Helmand’s strategic location is a challenge for both Pakistan and the US-led coalition forces. It shares a 130-mile border with Balochistan, which means that Islamabad has a vital stake in the successful outcome of the current operation. Once again, as the Pakistan military spokesman said, our troops are being moved there to ‘challenge any crossing’. US-Isaf forces have so far put the onus of stopping the militants’ two-way movement on Pakistan. The fact remains that this must be the joint responsibility of forces on both sides of the Durand Line, especially because the allied forces are better equipped. This also leads to the question of how far Islamabad was taken into confidence before the operation was launched. Even though a tripartite commission has been in existence for years, the extent of intelligence-sharing has often fallen victim to mistrust.

There is no guarantee that the current operation will be over soon. That means there must be a well-coordinated joint strategy to block militants fleeing the operation to take refuge in Pakistan. Islamabad has already deployed more than 100,000 troops on its western border. The operations in Swat are still not over, and experts think the time is not yet ripe for a crackdown in Waziristan. Now that the operation has begun, there are expectations of greater cooperation from the US-led forces to make a success of the current offensive and not subject Pakistan to the ‘do more’ mantra again.