Doubts about U.S. tactics shadow war in Afghanistan - USATODAY.com: "The Afghanistan war is at a critical juncture. The surge of 30,000 troops ordered by President Obama will be complete soon. A new commander has arrived. A full offensive against the birthplace of the Taliban —Kandahar— has been delayed.
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Taliban attacks are rising as are U.S. operations against insurgent strongholds. Coalition deaths are at a high. And Afghans such as Safiullah say they are losing faith in America's ability to deliver on its promises.
Progress "is not moving at the pace that anyone would like," says Anthony Cordesman, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a public policy research institute.
Into this situation steps Gen. David Petraeus, the counterinsurgency expert who spearheaded the dramatic drop in militancy in Iraq and the stabilizing of its government. Tuesday, Petraeus took a break from his tour of the Afghan theater to greet Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who arrived in Kabul for an international conference on Afghanistan's future.
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