Marine recon teams were inserted by helicopter behind Taliban lines last Friday as the US-led force stepped up operations to break resistance in the besieged enemy stronghold of Marjah. The before-dawn insertion of about two dozen Marines was into an area where Taliban snipers areknown to operate. Marines and Afghan forces began movingin–in a bid to link up with Marinebr /outposts there, carefully searching compounds on the way. The 7-day-old Marjah offensive isbr /the biggest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and a test of Obama’s strategy for reversing the rise of the Taliban while protecting civilians. Residents said some Taliban fighters in the area were non-Afghan. That’s nothing new. This seems like a successful operation at this point.