Marines Press On in Marja

The ongoing military campaign in Marja, the Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan, has met "determined resistance" this weekend as Marines and Afghan forces moved in on a western quarter of the region where 40 insurgents have taken cover in a 2-square-mile area of the town. An Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said they were more prepared for planted bombs, not the amount of sniper fire and sustained firefights they have seen so far in the second week of the military advance. "They are squeezed," said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas. "It looks like they want to stay and fight but they can always drop their weapons and slip away. That's the nature of this war." Gen. David Petraeus said today on Meet the Press that additional U.S. losses in Afghanistan will be “tough” and that while Taliban forces are “formidable,” they are “a bit disjointed.”