By Ben Anderson Southern Helmand Province, Afghanistan

"By wintertime, the Taliban are going to be on their heels, sitting in Pakistan, wondering what to do next. And we'll have the people," Marine Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Christian Cabaniss told me.

"Once the people decide they won't tolerate the Taliban's presence, there's no way they can stay."

Last month he arrived with the 4,000 marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Southern Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province for Operation Khanjar.

Their mission - the first major military operation ordered by President Barack Obama - was to oust the Taliban and then stay in every area cleared to win the trust of the local population ahead of the presidential elections.

In counter-insurgency talk it is called "targeting the population, not the enemy" - if you win the support of the people, the enemy can no longer operate.

To me this sounded remarkably similar to what the British had been trying to do in Helmand for years, and yet they had just suffered their worst month since the start of the war.

The US hopes this "surge" will drive the Taliban out for good

"The Brits had a good understanding of what was going on down here, but they never had enough combat power to do what they would like to do and then sustain it over time," Lieutenant Colonel Christian Cabaniss said.

"My battalion taking over, we're obviously just a little bit larger, we've been able to position forces all over the central Helmand river valley and really get out amongst the people. They just didn't have the capability to do it right."

Under attack

Echo Company, who at that point were further south than anyone else in Helmand, had met stiff resistance.

During one firefight that had lasted more than seven hours, one marine was killed, the first military death on an operation ordered by President Obama.

This is like... Vietnam... half the time when you're getting shot at, you don't even see, it's like you're getting shot at by bushes US marine

It took me a week to reach them. On my first attempt, the convoy I was travelling with was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) and we had to turn back.

Incredibly, although the front left tyre of our vehicle had been blown 70 metres into a nearby field, everyone inside the armoured MRAP truck had walked away without a scratch. Even Blue, the explosives sniffing dog, jumped out wagging his tail.

It was depressing and infuriating to remember the very different experience British soldiers so often have, when they drive over IEDs.

More traditional threats still exist in Southern Helmand too.

On my fourth day with Echo Company, I was embedded with a platoon that was ambushed first with light arms fire, and then with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).

The tactics being used were central to the success of the troop surge in Iraq

"This is what you wanted, you got it, now go get it," Staff Sergeant Timothy Funke screamed as he ordered his men into position.

We had run through three compounds with AK47 rounds and rockets flying over our heads, until the marines finally spotted the attackers.

The marines aimed heavy fire at a tree line no more than 150 metres away. Soon everything went quiet. The men who had been firing at us were either dead or had retreated.

The Taliban have realised that the marines are here to stay and so are using ever more sophisticated tactics. Increasingly they rely on IEDs.

One marine told me that the Taliban opened fire on his platoon knowing they would run for cover in a nearby compound. The Taliban had already planted the compound with at least three powerful bombs, detonated by tripwire. The marines were lucky not to suffer any losses.

'Hard way'

Long daily patrols in temperatures that often top 50C, amongst a population that many marines find it hard to establish relationships with and impossible to trust, have started taking their toll.

"Every single day we get shot at. This is like... Vietnam... half the time when you're getting shot at, you don't even see, it's like you're getting shot at by bushes," said one.

Lieutenant Colonel Christian Cabaniss said he anticipated frustration.

"What I told the marines before they went out was, this isn't going to happen overnight.

"My hope is that by Eid we will have really cemented relationships with the local population, built that trust.

"The marine battalions in Al Anbar in Iraq had already come to the same conclusion - that working closely with the local population, and building relationships with them had a greater impact on security than just going from street to street shooting did," he told me.

"We learnt that the hard way in Iraq, and we're starting the right way in Afghanistan."

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