PrairiePundit

NY Times: The white flags of the Taliban no longer fly from neighborhoods in Kandahar City, as they did in some areas only two weeks ago, replaced instead by the red, black and green Afghan colors. But if the Taliban have been driven further underground, there has been no significant let-up in their campaign of terror and assassination against anyone connected with the government or foreign forces. The long-delayed push by NATO forces has finally come to town, in fits and starts, and with mixed results. “The deliberate campaign has begun in Kandahar,” Gen. David A. Petraeus, the NATO commander, said on Aug. 31. “In some areas the Taliban momentum has reversed, but there’s clearly a lot more work to be done.” Several times a day lately, mostly in rural districts just outside the city, there has been the distinct metallic vomiting sound of an American A-10 Warthog attack plane blasting a target with its cannon, which fires 70 30-millimeter shells a second. Fighting in those rural...

Washington Times: The top U.S. general in Afghanistan told reporters Monday that the growth of the war-torn nation's security forces "is largely on track" ahead of a scheduled drawdown of American troops next summer, but he warned of increased violence as coalition forces target Taliban-controlled regions. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, in Washington this week for a visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said the reinforcements ordered by President Obama last winter will work alongside Afghan forces to secure "the spiritual center of the Taliban" in Kandahar, building on the success of a 10-month-old campaign in Helmand province. ... The Afghan troops were not that good in Marjah. Some refused to go on patrol with the Marines. I remain skeptical that they will be able to hold the gains in Kandahar that our troops get for them. With Obama's goofy schedule of withdrawal of US forces, the Taliban will be wise to fade away and wait for us to leave bef...