Canada and Afstan: This piece says it all/Kandahar, er, offensive delayed?

The best thing I've seen for some time--in, gasp, the Toronto Star by Martin Regg Cohn. The conclusion:

Afghan exit strategy a non-starter
...

It’s easy to find fault with the fog of war. Easier still if no one speaks out to explain what we’re doing there.

Martin Regg Cohn writes Tuesday. To view photos he took of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, click here.

Do read the whole column, one photo:

Secret home school for girls in Taliban era, 2000. Martin Regg Cohn photo.

Meanwhile, one wonders how accurate this story is:

Afghanistan war: Kandahar offensive is now in the slow lane

US officials say key military operations in the Kandahar offensive - scheduled for this summer - will be delayed until the fall. The Taliban have taken the Afghanistan war to the streets of the southern Afghan city with a campaign to assassinate key public officials.

Kandahar, Afghanistan

Although it's just beginning, the U.S.-led effort to pacify Kandahar – the Taliban's spiritual capital in southern Afghanistan – already appears to be faltering.

Key military operations have been delayed until the fall, efforts to improve local government are having little impact, and a Taliban assassination campaign has brought a sense of dread to Kandahar's dusty streets.

NATO officials once spoke of demonstrating major progress by mid-August, but U.S. commanders now say the turning point may not be reached until November, and perhaps later.

At the urging of Afghan leaders, U.S. officials have stopped describing the plan as a military operation. Instead, they've dubbed it "Cooperation for Kandahar," a moniker meant to focus attention on efforts to build up local governance while reducing fears of street battles [more here]...

...According to an updated timeline seen by McClatchy, the U.S. troop buildup won't reach its peak until September, around the time that Afghanistan is to hold parliamentary elections and U.S. congressional election campaigns will be in full swing.

One major question is whether there will be enough forces for Kandahar, where McChrystal's plan calls for the deployment of 20,000 U.S. and Afghan troops.

U.S. defense officials and defense analysts said that McChrystal used 10,000 troops in Helmand to gain control of a rural river valley with about 50,000 residents. But in Kandahar, however, Afghanistan's second largest city, with an estimated population of 800,000, he's calling for just 20,000 troops...