Talk about your Friday Night News Dump before the Winter Suprisingly Early Spring Olympics dominate world coverage tonight and this weekend...
The biggest offensive of the war by NATO troops in Afghanistan should be under way now, military officials say.

The operation targets what they call the last Taliban stronghold in a war-scarred southern province.

Military officials said the offensive—dubbed Operation Moshtarak—was scheduled to be under way at 2 a.m. (4:30 p.m. ET Friday).

Some of about 15,000 troops from the United States, Afghanistan and Canada were to attack Taliban targets in and around Marjah, a city of 80,000 to 100,000 where the Taliban has set up a shadow government, coalition military authorities said.

The coalition says its troops expect to confront up to 1,000 entrenched Taliban fighters. It expects foreign Taliban fighters to battle to the death but is prepared for local Taliban members in Marjah to try to escape.

“We will follow the enemies and bring them to justice,” said Gen. Mohiyiden Ghori of the Afghan National Army.Obama's Fallujah is now go.  Not even Dick Cheney could have worked the timing on this any better.  America's worried about jobs and the economy, the Olympics will rule the international space, and domestically Obama's pushing the jobs bill and the health care summit.  They even had time to telegraph the coming slaughter days before as a trial balloon, and nobody noticed.

Well played, Team Obama.  Well played.