Afstan: Summary of situation/What US forces outside ISAF will be doing

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, commander of US forces outside ISAF, gives an interview.

Last week, Eikenberry transferred control of the 12,000 U.S. troops in the eastern and southeastern portions of the country over to NATO commander British Gen. David Richards [who seems rather less upbeat than his American colleague]. It was the final transfer of command as NATO assumed full control of military operations in the country.

"The transition to NATO has been very smooth," Eikenberry said. "There really was no change on the ground. The only significant changes were the flags flying over the bases. In addition to the United States flag, they now have the NATO flag over them as well. NATO's success is the United States' success is Afghanistan's success."

And that success, he continued, is based on the same goals as it was a year ago -- driving out the enemy while rebuilding the country.

"This is a challenging military mission for NATO -- the most challenging operation in its history," Eikenberry said. "But I believe the NATO alliance will be successful in Afghanistan.

"We're fighting an enemy that cannot defeat us -- NATO, the United States and Afghanistan -- militarily. Militarily our forces dominate wherever we go."

The key, now, is rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure.

"The government of Afghanistan is still new. It's trying to stand itself up. You can imagine that after 30 years of brutal warfare this is a very slow process."

Yes, he said, there are still some areas where the insurgency has a foothold, but those are areas the fledgling government is only now trying to reach.

"It's not that the enemy anywhere is that strong," Eikenberry said. "It's that the government and security forces are still weak. There hasn't been anywhere in Afghanistan where there's been a strong government presence that the enemy has pushed it away...

That, he continued, is why there has been a "steady shifting of (the enemy's) tactics" to suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices in attacks on schools, children, secular institutions and moderate religious leaders.

"They're targeting the will of the Afghan people. I don't look at that as a sign of strength. I look at it as an atrocity and a crime against humanity...

...Eikenberry stressed...there is still a long way to go in rebuilding the country. New roads and schools must continue to be built. New economic structures must continue to be put in place. Judicial systems must be created. And social services must begin to be offered to the people.

"More has to be done by the international community. More has to be placed into reconstruction efforts, but I believe if the effort is made, this campaign is very winnable."

And those are efforts that Eikenberry will continue to oversee as the commander of nearly 12,000 U.S. troops outside the NATO umbrella.

Part of that 12,000 will be charged with training Afghan military and police forces [crucial - MC] and doing reconstruction work, as well as providing administrative, logistical and air support.

The rest of that force will focus on counter-terrorism -- attacking the al-Qaida and international terrorist networks still trying operate within Afghanistan. They also will continue to operate U.S. prisons and interrogation centers...