NATO: True test of Kandahar to come in June

[unhappycamper]

NATO: True test of Kandahar to come in June
(AP) – 19 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — NATO won't know until June if the security gains being made in the Taliban-stronghold of Kandahar will hold, a top commander said Thursday, lowering hopes for a quick return on the Obama administration's investment of tens of thousands more troops.

Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the British commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, said enemy attacks often decrease as the weather cools and foliage disappears, leaving the insurgents fewer places to hide. In the spring, many fighters are harvesting poppy and wheat crops, he said.

"I sensed it won't be until June next year that we'll be sure that the advances we've made during the course of the last few months are genuinely successful," Carter said. He spoke to reporters at the Pentagon from his headquarters at Kandahar airfield via a video link.

The Obama administration is scheduled to report to Congress in December on progress in the war, following the deployment of tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops. Carter's comments suggest that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, may say it is too early to tell if stepped-up operations against the Taliban have yielded permanent gains.

Late last year, President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan with the goal of driving out the Taliban once and for all. Obama also promised that troops would start coming home next July.

[Gravel Democrat]

1. "following the deployment of tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops"

which follow tens of thousands of Contractors*




*These people are really really handy with ball peen hammers

[bemildred]

2. No need to wait, I can tell them right now. nt