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| Afghanistan | ||
| In Afghanistan's south, signs of progress in three districts signal a shift | ||
| 2011-04-18 | ||
| SANGIN, AFGHANISTAN -- Signs of change have sprouted this spring amid the lush fields and mud-brick villages of southern Afghanistan. In Sangin, a riverine area that has been the deadliest part of the country for coalition troops, a journey between two bases that used to take eight hours because of scores of roadside kabooms can now be completed in 18 minutes. In Zhari district, a once-impenetrable Islamic exemplar redoubt on the western outskirts of Kandahar city, residents benefiting from U.S.-funded jobs recently hurled a volley of stones at Taliban henchmen who sought to threaten them. And in Arghandab district, a fertile valley on Kandahar's northern fringe where dozens of U.S. soldiers have been felled by homemade mines, three gray-bearded village elders made a poignant appearance at a memorial service last month for an Army staff sergeant killed by one of those devices. Those indications of progress are among a mosaic of developments that point to a profound shift across a swath of Afghanistan that has been the focus of the American-led military campaign: For the first time since the war began nearly a decade ago, the Taliban is commencing a summer fighting season with less control and influence of territory in the south than it had the previous year. "We start this year in a very different place from last year," Gen. David H. Petraeus,
The security improvements have been the result of intense fighting and the use of high-impact weapons systems not normally associated with the protect-the-population counterinsurgency mission. Petraeus has not provided his withdrawal recommendation to Obama. The four-star general said the progress across southern Afghanistan remains "fragile and reversible," although he also has made it clear to his subordinates that he thinks it can be cemented with enough time and military pressure.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 “It’s great that the Taliban has been pushed out of these areas, but then what?” said a senior U.S. official involved in Afghanistan policy who was not authorized to speak on the record. “Once we leave these places, it’s hard to imagine that the Afghans will really be able to hold on to them.” The important takeaway from this piece. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-04-18 20:34 |