Bad News For The Taliban In Helmand: 7,000 New U.S. Marines Are Now On The Ground

Yep, this is the news that the Taliban have been dreading in Helmand province, that the first wave of new U.S. troops has arrived in Afghanistan and it has been confirmed that 7,000 Marines are now on the ground and headed to Helmand. Now, if you're a Taliban in Helmand, the problem is this - before, if you wanted to take a little break, you could just hoof it over the Pakistan border and chill for a bit but alas, there's a bit of artillery and apache action going on over there by the Pakistani military right at the moment so....what do you do? You want to face 7,000 U.S. Marines or Pakistan's heavy artillery? Yeah, I'd choose the artillery, too.

Here's the full story of the announcement from Breitbart:

7,000 US Marines patrolling southern Afghan desert

CAMP LEATHERHEAD, Afghanistan (AP) - Some 7,000 new U.S. troops ordered to Afghanistan by President Barack Obama are fanning out across the country's dangerous south on a mission to defeat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency.
Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Abe Sipe says 7,000 troops from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade are now in the country. The brigade is based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The Marines represent the first wave of 21,000 troops ordered to Afghanistan this summer. Most of the buildup will take place in Helmand and Kandahar.
The two southern provinces lie at the heart of the insurgency and are close to the border with Pakistan, where the Taliban's top leadership is believed to be based.