The coming Kandahar offensive and a certain reality

Further to this post,

Major ISAF ops: First Helmand, then Kandahar
...

Canadians to be 'tip of the spear' in Kandahar

it seems that pointy end is invisible to some important Americans:

In Afghanistan, U.S. plans major push into Kandahar

Even as Marines in Afghanistan continued to fight for control of the Taliban stronghold of Marja, senior Obama administration officials said Friday that the United States has begun initial planning for a bigger, more complex offensive in Kandahar later this year.

The assault on Marja, the largest U.S.-NATO military operation since 2001, is a "prelude to larger, more comprehensive operations," senior Obama officials said Friday. Administration officials declined to say when the Kandahar offensive will begin, but military officials have said that it probably will kick off in late spring or early summer after additional U.S. forces have moved into the area.

"Bringing comprehensive population security to Kandahar City is really the centerpiece of operations this year, and, therefore, Marja is the prelude. It's sort of a preparatory action," said one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity...

Any military operation to drive the Taliban from Kandahar will probably play out very differently than the battle taking place in Marja, which is a tenth the size. About 11,000 U.S. and Afghan troops pushed into Marja and within the first 13 days of the operation raised the Afghan flag over the district's government center. Afghan officials also quickly selected a new district governor to oversee reconstruction efforts.

In Kandahar, U.S. forces are unlikely to move into the city in large numbers and instead will probably attempt to drive Taliban fighters from towns and villages surrounding the main city, military officials said. Local politics in Kandahar, where the Taliban movement first secured its foothold in Afghanistan, are also far more tangled than in Marja.

The success or failure of U.S. operations in Kandahar will probably dominate the administration's next review of war policy in December [emphasis added]. In the interim, President Obama is conducting monthly video conferences with leaders on the ground and receiving lengthy written assessments.

Briefing reporters at the White House, officials described the Marja effort in cautiously optimistic terms, saying it is "well into" the first phase of clearing the Taliban out of the city and that "pockets of resistance" remain. The real test in the area will be whether the United States can help the Afghan government jump-start reconstruction projects and build a non-corrupt government in an area that has in recent years been dominated by the opium trade [more on Marja here]...

And a NY Times headline--note that neither that piece nor the Washington Post one above even mention Canadians.:

U.S. Eyes New Target: Heartland of Taliban

Two Canadian headlines; two solitudes, or what?

NATO prepares for major Kandahar offensive

Canadian forces gird for summer fighting season
Ring of security around Kandahar city key to coalition's strategy, commander says

The simple fact is that the great majority of forces involved will be American, even if many are under Canadian operational command. The US now sees Kanadahar as their area of operations and Canadian should get used to it--and our reporters (and their editors) should cover things accordingly, and realistically.