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Another Report on Kandahar Offensive

May-21-2010 » Filed Under: 5/2 SBCT

U.S. Military Tones Down Rhetoric On Kandahar - NPR

When President Obama announced a new strategy for Afghanistan, he said an additional 30,000 U.S. troops would be deployed, in part, to take on Taliban militants on their home turf in the southern province of Kandahar.

Until a few weeks ago, U.S. and NATO military officials were describing the upcoming operation in Kandahar as a major offensive — the cornerstone of the new strategy meant to break the momentum of the Taliban insurgency — and said it was due to get under way this spring or in early summer, to be wrapped up by August.

But then last month, American military spokesmen in Kabul began telling reporters it was incorrect to use terms such as "offensive" or "operation" in describing plans for Kandahar. Last week, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said the "efforts" in Kandahar are a process, not an event.


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