Panetta, other U.S. officials in Kabul paint rosy picture of Afghan situation

[unhappycamper]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/defense-secretary-panetta-arrives-in-kabul-to-assess-pullout-pace/2012/12/12/cbeb69cc-4444-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html



U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta walks to his plane after visiting troops at Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base on Wednesday.

Panetta, other U.S. officials in Kabul paint rosy picture of Afghan situation
By Ernesto Londoño, Published: December 12

KABUL —With Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta in Kabul to take stock as the Obama administration weighs how quickly to draw down troops over the next two years, a senior U.S. military commander on Wednesday hailed the progress Afghan security forces have made.

Marine Maj. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, the head of operations for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said NATO troops have begun a radical shift in mission: doing the bare minimum to support Afghan troops, who, he said, are starting to operate unilaterally. “We’re now un-partnering from” Afghan forces, Nicholson told reporters Wednesday evening. “We’re at that stage of the fight.”

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The assessment Nicholson offered, however, is far rosier than the one that U.S. officials have provided recently. They have been citing the resilience of the Taliban and the shortcomings of the Afghan government and military.

Just one of 23 Afghan army brigades is able to operate on its own without air or other military support from the United States or NATO, according to a Pentagon report to Congress that was released Monday.