The commander of NATO-ISAF forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus said, on Monday 08/23/2010, the momentum built up by the Taliban has been reversed in the south of the country and capital Kabul.
"The momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many areas and will be reversed in the other areas as well. This will entail tough fighting," he told the British BBC in an interview (see also - Petraeus Mission).
Gen. Petraeus also said he would offer President Obama his best professional advice on the wisdom of handing control to Afghan forces next July (2011). But it was the president's prerogative to accept or reject that advice, he added.
If he thought President Obama's deadline of next July for the start of an American withdrawal involved too much risk, he said he would tell him so.
Gen. Petraeus is injecting a new note of confidence into the NATO campaign and he is doing what he did in Iraq- talking up the chances of success, while restricting expectations.
It is clear he expects more casualties as NATO captures Taliban strongholds.
But he got visibly emotional when he talked about the deaths of men under his command.
In 07/2010 66 USA soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, the highest number since operation Absolute Justice in 11/2001. There is s significant reduce in the number of NATO casualties in 08/2010 but the general reduce in violence in 08/2010 can be also attributed to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on 08/17/2020.
