New commander ISAF RC South/ “Taliban Score Publicity Coup”

Further to this post,

Afstan: It's official--ISAF RC South bifurcated

Voice of America seems to have had a bit of a scoop (plus some Canadian comment--Update: looks like North Country Public Radio had it first):

...
U.S. Major General James Terry [commander, 10th Mountain Division] will take command of southern Afghanistan forces in the fall. He is visiting Kandahar to get a sense of what is happening and describes what the coming weeks will bring.

"You are going to see an uplift of forces come in and I think you'll start to see this tightening ring of security in and around Kandahar city that I think will then provide the security bubble for governance to start to take in and development to start to take root in Kandahar city," the major general said.

In Kandahar city itself, Afghan police and military forces are to take the lead in the operation. Their military units, called "Kandaks," will be supported by coalition troops.

Afghan security forces have improved a lot since General Terry was last here in 2006 [one would rather hope so]...

Canadian Ambassador William Crosbie welcomes the strategy to build up forces and establish security. Canadian forces led the vanguard here nearly five years ago says Crosbie.

"We have battled against the odds in a province that has become increasingly violent. It's a province that desperately needs development, and better security so we're delighted to have the American troops coming."

Crosbie desribes the U.S. commitment as more than just forces.

"They're not only bringing the opportunity to give Afghans more security, working closely with the Afghan national security forces, but bringing very important development dollars," said Crosbie.

Alongside the additional military forces, civilians have come as well in an effort to shore up the region's infrastructure and provide opportunities for the people. Tens of millions of dollars have been poured into projects to help the people, like a $50 million Afghan police compound that will open later this summer.

Ambassador Crosbie said there have already been many changes.

"The biggest area of progress is giving Afghans the ability to actually change their own future, through education, through training of teachers, through economic opportunities such as the rehabilitation of the Dahla Dam, restoring agriculture [ah, that Canadian warm and fuzzy]."..

About the dam, from this January:

...
The auditor general visited several Canadian bases and flew over the Dahla dam - Canada's $50-million "signature" rehabilitation project that has largely stalled, in part because of security concerns...

More on the warm and fuzzy, from December 2009:

...
The report [Canadian government quarterly] also noted:..

-Seven more schools were built under Canada's supervision, bringing the total number completed to 12, with another 21 under construction...

This bit on the Dahla Dam [see also Upperdate here] is rather revealing in the minimal precision on real progress achieved:

...
The three-year, $50-million rehabilitation of the Dahla Dam with its canals and associated irrigation system is a second Canadian signature project and one of the highest development priorities of the Afghan government. Completion will mean reliable delivery of water to an area supporting four out of five Kandaharis, with the irrigation encouraging farmers to shift from opium poppies to legal high-value crops like pomegranates. In the quarter, Canadian project engineers tackled technical aspects of the project, and a manufacturer for the gates and weirs of the irrigation canals was identified...

(Some recent Torch analysis about the new RC South HQ:

...
It would also seem that the new HQ--and commander?--for RC South (East ["East was dropped]) will be from the US Army's 10th Mountain Division (based near Ontario) when one puts these snippets together:

[1]...
Col. Andre Corbould will be promoted to brigadier-general and appointed as deputy commander of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division headquarters in Afghanistan...

[2] The 10th Mountain Division headquarters will deploy to Afghanistan this fall, officials confirmed Wednesday [Feb. 3]...

It’s still unknown where the division headquarters will be assigned once it is deployed to Afghanistan [one would think Kandahar]...)

Meanwhile, a Conference of Defence Association's media update, with lots on Kandahar:

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Matthew Fisher for The National Post calls the recent Taliban attacks, “militarily insignificant,” but nevertheless a “spectacularly successful publicity coup” for the insurgency.
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=3067325

Matthew Fisher is interviewed by CFRA on the recent attacks on Bagram Air Base, which Fisher argues were neither unique or a demonstration of an emboldened insurgency.
http://www.cfra.com/chum_audio/Matthew_Fisher_May24.mp3

Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post writes that the Taliban’s ‘calculated assassinations’ is spreading fear and suspicion in Kandahar, but officials warn that they cannot all be attributed to the insurgency.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/21/AR20100521049...

David Zucchino for Los Angeles Times reports on Operation Kokaran, a comprehensive civilian-military effort to clear insurgents from Kanadahar’s western district from which the Taliban have been systematically assassinating government sympathizers.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-kandahar-sweep-201...

Yarislov Trofimov for The Wallstreet Journal reveals that in a war of perception, the Taliban insurgents are succeeding in their attempts to intimidate Kandaharis.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704904604575262231676468708.htm...

John F. Burns for The New York Times reports on the historic and current importance of Kandahar to Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/weekinreview/23burns.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

Karen DeYoung for The Washington Post writes that ‘there is no Plan B’ should the counterinsurgency’s campaign for Kandahar fail.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/22/AR20100522034...

Matthew Fisher for CanWest News writes that Lt.-Col. Conrad Mialkowski, Canada’s new battlegroup Commander [emphasis added], considers holding eastern Panjwaii a priority and will only push west in cooperation with allies and Afghan counterparts. http://www.canada.com/news/Hold+ground+then+push+forward+Canadian+commander+d...