U.S. hopes to begin Afghan security transfer by spring

[unhappycamper]

Pfc. Abraham Figueroa, 19, of Chicago, keeps watch on patrol in Kandahar province's Arghandab valley, a Taliban stronghold.


U.S. hopes to begin Afghan security transfer by spring
By David S. Cloud and Richard Serrano, Los Angeles Times
August 16, 2010

Reporting from Washington — With training of Afghanistan's army and police ahead of schedule, American officials now believe the U.S.-led military coalition could begin transferring some security responsibilities to Afghan forces as early as spring.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in an interview that given faster-than-expected progress in training army units, it was likely that those forces could assume primary responsibility for security sooner in less violent areas of the country, freeing up NATO troops for operations elsewhere.

"With more Afghan forces, we can be on a path to transition in more places around the country," Gates said. "The success with the army in particular, I think, bodes well for in fact beginning to have some transitions maybe as early as this spring, but certainly beginning in the summer."

Gates was referring to the recent announcement by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization training command in Afghanistan that it had reached its 2010 goal of 134,000 trained Afghan troops two months early.

His comments are part of an effort by senior civilian and military officials to counter growing doubts in the U.S. and Europe about the war. In separate interviews, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior commander in Afghanistan, also pointed to what he called "small pockets of progress" in several areas.



unhappycamper comment: In my war, we used to wear peace signs and other 'messages' on our helmet covers.