Limited Success in Afghan War (Seattle PI)

A recent news article in the Seattle PI states that the U.S. troop surge has bought some time in the Afghan War but that victory is still a distant goal.  The article says that some short-term tactical victories have occurred on the ground in Helmand and Kandahar Province but other factors still loom large.  These factors include the inability of the Afghan government to extend its reach beyond the district or provincial level, the effectiveness of the Afghan National Police (ANP), and the reluctance of Pakistan to disrupt the Taliban strongholds in the frontier provinces of Pakistan adjacent to Afghanistan.  Read "US Afghan troop surge buys time but not victory" (December 18, 2010).