Nato's victory over Taliban in south Afghanistan

Rowan Scarborough:

NATO'S top commander said yesterday that Taliban insurgents have retreated in southern Afghanistan after taking heavy losses from a British-led force of U.S. allies and that a reconstruction phase has begun.
"The Taliban decided to make a test case of this region," Marine Gen. James Jones, supreme allied commander in Europe, said at the Pentagon. "The outcome of it was that they retreated and we are now in the consolidation phrase and we are going to start to bring aid and reconstruction to the region."
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"We have disturbed the hornets' nest and the hornets are swarming," he said. "We need to make them understand that nest is not going to be there for them anymore."
He added, "I've said that we were surprised by the level of violence and that's true. But what was really most surprising is the change in tactics because they decided to stand and fight in a fairly conventional linear sense, and they paid a very heavy price for it."
The military estimates that Medusa killed 1,000 to 1,500 Taliban from a hard-core force of up to 4,000 fighters. The Taliban is augmented by civilians who are recruited with about $200 each to fight for several days.
At the United Nations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a speech to world leaders that his country needs continued support. He made an indirect reference to neighboring Pakistan, whose tribal areas host reorganizing Taliban forces.
"Terrorism does not emanate from within Afghanistan," Mr. Karzai said. "Afghanistan is its worst victim. Military action in Afghanistan alone, therefore, will not deliver our shared goal of eliminating terrorism.
"We must look beyond Afghanistan to the sources of terrorism. We must destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm and deploy terrorists."
Gen. Jones stopped short of saying the Taliban is defeated. He predicted the movement will revert to terror attacks on innocent civilians.
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If they are smart they will, but if they were smart they never would have taken on the NATO forces in a linear battle. Their retreat to western Afghanistan offers further opportunities to exploit. NATO has sent a force to that area, but evidently it has not made contact with the enemy, since there are no reports of fighting there. Gen. Jones also discussed the role of the drug lords in helping the Taliban. It is not clear what NATO's strategy is with respect to the growers.