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US Lowers Expectations for Quick Success in Taliban Stronghold

   VOA News 10 June 2010
   Canadian  soldiers  of  Task  Force  Kandahar  walk with locals down a
   street as they conduct a foot patrol in Kandahar city (File)

Photo: AFP

   Canadian  soldiers  of  Task  Force  Kandahar  walk with locals down a
   street as they conduct a foot patrol in Kandahar city (File)

   The  top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says efforts to secure southern
   Kandahar  province  from  the  Taliban  will  take  longer  than first
   planned. U.S. General Stanley McChrystal said Thursday in Brussels the
   military  operation  will  move ahead more slowly to help ensure local
   support.
   McChrystal said the operation will now take a number of months, adding
   that it is more important "we get it right than we get it fast."
   Kandahar  is  the  spiritual  and  operational homeland of the Taliban
   movement.  U.S.  Defense  Secretary  Robert  Gates  has warned of more
   violence as U.S. forces push deeper into the province but says that he
   expects  progress.  Attacks  against  NATO troops have surged over the
   past week with 18 NATO troops have been killed since Monday.

   Earlier  this  week,  the  New  York Times newspaper reported that the
   expected  military push in Kandahar has shifted to a strategy focusing
   on  civilian  reconstruction efforts first and military action against
   militants second.

   The  newspaper  cites  interviews  with  Afghan, U.S. and civilian and
   military  officials, who said the new strategy was adopted in response
   to   opposition   to  military  action  from  an  unsympathetic  local
   population  and  Afghan  officials.   The report also says the recent
   U.S.  military  push  to  clear and hold Marjah in neighboring Helmand
   province has not been as sucessful as hoped.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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