Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
Why were the Taliban in Marjeh, and why did the people allow them to dwell among them? Was it coercion/co-option, tribal, familial, or simply "I hear you my brother," support?
Perhaps the problem is viewing the "Taliban" as something separate from "the people"? Perhaps the Taliban existed in Marjah (and everywhere else) because they are, to any degree, of the people?

Bob's World spoke of two insurgencies - a revolutionary one (Quetta Shura) that views itself as a legitimate replacement for Karzai's government, and a reactionary one which is localized resistance to both foreign forces (to a larger degree) and northern suzerainty (to a lesser degree). Every village has its own "insurgency" for its own reason - police robbed them, ISAF destroyed their fields, mullah preaches a good line about the duties of expelling infidels, airstrike killed some villagers, it's the Pashtun thing to do, etc, etc. In essence, there are hundreds of small, reactionary insurgencies going on at the same time. The overarching revolutionary insurgency is the glue that binds these together. It takes all these grievances and turns them into "The Taliban" and can supply them with some extra horsepower. The best term for this I've seen is a "Pashtun Intifada".

Apply that to Marjah (or Panjwayi, or Arghandab, or Kunar) and you'll probably get your answer of why the Taliban were allowed to exist in the area.

My 2 cents.