Although he stopped short of saying the worst is over for troops as they prepare to surge into some of the toughest Taliban-held areas, the top NATO and U.S. commander in Afghanistan said here today that conditions no longer are deteriorating.

The commander of coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says the deterioration of the security situation in the country, which he cited four months ago, has stopped. The general says with the revised strategy President Barack Obama announced in December and more allied troops flowing in, there is an "inevitability" about the Afghan and coalition effort to take