WASHINGTON — The top military commander in the Mideast said Wednesday that he does not expect Taliban forces in Afghanistan to launch a spring offensive this year. If anything, he said, he sees the momentum continuing to swing in the direction of coalition forces.
“The spring offensive is going to be by our people, as they move out and take advantage of the situation that they helped create through their good works there in the fall of last year,” Adm. William Fallon told the House Armed Services Committee.
The U.S. is sending another 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan. Fallon said the influx will give Gen. Dan McNeil, head of forces in Afghanistan, the “shot in the arm he needs to really go after the security, particularly in the south, where he intends to deploy those forces.”
Overall, Fallon said that while the situation in Afghanistan is not ideal, recent improvements are encouraging.
However, independent assessments of the war suggest a grimmer view: Afghanistan now produces 93 percent of the world’s opium poppy, a business that has aided the resurgence of Taliban militants. Also on the rise is terrorist violence, namely suicide bombings.
