Securing crucial area to take time
BRUSSELS — The top commander in the largely stalemated Afghanistan war acknowledged today a crucial campaign to secure the region of the country where the Taliban insurgency was born will take longer than planned because local Afghans do not yet welcome the military-run operation.
The operation to secure the Kandahar region will unfold more slowly and last longer than the military had planned, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said. The slower pace of the make-or-break operation reflects the reality that the Taliban is not a hated occupier in Kandahar, and the residents McChrystal is trying to protect do not universally want his help.
McChrystal predicted he can still demonstrate a turnaround in the war by year's end, as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said this week is necessary to sustain public backing for a war now in its ninth year.
Kandahar is Afghanistan's second-largest city and a key to the success of President Barack Obama's revamped war strategy.
