The Torch: Afghans in charge of Kandahar ops? I'd start looking south

This, from the commander of all Canadian forces abroad, really does stretch credulity:

Afghan mission now about supporting local forces

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD —
...
Acknowledging there will be some operations against insurgents, [Lieutenant-General Marc] Lessard [head of Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, or CEFCOM] said the fighting will be “Afghan-led” — and altogether secondary to the overarching goal of supporting Afghan governance [emphasis added] under fledgling Kandahar governor Tooryalai Wesa, the Afghan-Canadian academic [more here] whose tenuous grasp on power now is crucial to Canadian aspirations to make a positive difference in Afghanistan.

...with the U.S. military buildup at Kandahar Airfield expanding daily and thousands more American troops landing this summer, there remains a question as to how long Canada, with one eye toward the exit, will continue to play a commanding role in coalition decision-making. Currently, four U.S. units answer to Canadian commanders under Task Force Kandahar [more here], while others still report operate under American command and control [see end of this post].

Asked whether the regional NATO operations are best described as Canadian- or American-led, Lessard said the answer is “very simple — it is definitely Afghan-led [emphasis added].”

“The Afghan local commander decides on the plan. It might not be exactly what the U.S. or Canadian commander sees. But that’s what will happen more and more — to constantly partner with the Afghan military,” he said.

“It’s cultural — understanding what your Afghan partner wants to do, how he wants to do it, and complying with it.”

U.S. officers on the ground, meanwhile, told Reuters this week [see below] that a shortage of effective Afghan military leaders recently forced the cancellation of a major helicopter assault involving hundreds of American and Afghan troops. The operation, due to take place in March and repeatedly postponed, was cancelled outright last week.

“It wasn’t Afghan enough … approval was denied,” a U.S. Army officer with knowledge of the plans told Reuters. “The implication is that Afghans are in the lead. The bottom line is we’re nowhere near the stage where they can be in the lead.”

Lessard, however, said he remained confident that as the Afghan summer fighting season approaches, he is seeing a hardening resolve by Afghan police, army and government officials “to get things done.”

The Reuters story:

U.S. scraps assault due to weak Afghan partnership

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - NATO commanders scrapped a helicopter assault by hundreds of U.S. and Afghan troops last week because the Afghans weren't able to take charge, a U.S. military officer familiar with the planning said. The decision to cancel the assault, designed to prepare the ground for the biggest offensive of the nearly nine-year-old war, has frustrated U.S. officers on the ground who say their local partners are not ready to lead...

Earlier: