Afstan: More on US plans for ISAF Regional Command South

Further to this post, more from US Army Brig.-Gen. John Nicholson (see 10:30 at the PBS Newshour video here--first part also worth a watch):

U.S. Military Work to Bring Stability to Remote Afghan Areas
...
Taliban strongholds in south
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MARGARET WARNER: At the other end of that vital highway lies the coalition's Regional Command South. It will soon see a lot more action.

It is here at Kandahar air field where most of the new U.S. troops will come to be deployed throughout the south. This is where the Taliban started taking over Afghanistan 13 years ago. Subduing them here now is essential to stopping them this time.

BRIG. GEN. JOHN NICHOLSON, Deputy Commander, Regional Command South: The primary method of operation is to secure the population. So we'll move in initially to these areas where the population is. We also want to ensure we have freedom of movement.

MARGARET WARNER: U.S. Army Brigadier General John Nicholson is the deputy commander of R.C. South, which is headed by a European.

[One way of putting it. How about even identifying the Europeans there--Dutch, British, Danish, Estonian et al., plus the Canadians and Australians. While non-Americans have not been able to do enough in RC South, there are political realities those countries face that the US does not. In a weird sense how, though one hates to say it, American that even PBS has such a limited lens.]

BRIG. GEN. JOHN NICHOLSON: We've had insufficient forces to adequately secure the population in the southern region for some time. Despite the heroic efforts of our allies, they've simply not had enough forces to do it.

With the introduction of U.S. forces, we are going to be able to adequately secure the population and then move forward in terms of governance and development.

MARGARET WARNER: But this is a huge area. Can 17,000 more troops really enable you to secure the population throughout this area?

BRIG. GEN. JOHN NICHOLSON: Well, when you look at the American Army, the American Marines that are coming here, most of them have service in Iraq, so we all must learn the culture of Afghanistan, learn the people of Afghanistan, show respect for their culture and religion, and perform in a way that does no harm to the population...

Excuse the slight snark and good, really good, on the United States of America. It's just that it's mildly galling to see first on American television, via Public Broadcasting from a US Army Brigadier General, what is supposed to happen in the part of Afghanistan so central to Canada's effort.

Where is our government? The CBC? Want to bet that the latter will soon discover the awful implications of the US coming in large to RC South?