Middle East
Petraeus Sees Military Progress in Afghanistan
Once Wary, Obama Relies on Petraeus in Afghanistan
Come December, when the president intends to assess his Afghan strategy, he will be able to claim tangible successes, General Petraeus predicted by secure video hookup from Kabul, according to administration officials. The general said that the American military would have substantially enlarged the "oil spot" - military jargon for secure area - around Kabul. It will have expanded American control farther outside of Kandahar, the Taliban heartland. And, the aides recalled, the general said the military would have reintegrated a significant number of former Taliban fighters in the south.
Petraeus spin on roadside bombs bellied
General David Petraeus claimed limited success this week in the war within a war over the Taliban's planting of roadside bombs, but official Pentagon data show the Taliban clearly winning that war by planting more bombs and killing many more United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops since the troop surge began in early 2010.