[Vomazoono]

By Anne Gearan and Deb Riechmann - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Dec 16, 2010 6:11:16 EST

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The latest White House review of the war in Afghanistan to be released Thursday will show that coalition forces have relied heavily on air strikes and night raids against insurgents as part of the overall strategy, U.S. and NATO officials said.

The emphasis such counterterror operations — aimed at killing and capturing militants — could reflect the difficulties the U.S. military has faced in carrying out the other, main part of its strategy, known as counterinsurgency, or COIN — to clear the enemy out of a particular territory, then focus on holding and developing it to win over the local Afghan population.

“It may be an indication that U.S. goals in Afghanistan and Pakistan are being narrowed from a broad COIN mission to something closer to the stated goal of disrupting and defeating al-Qaida,” said Rick Nelson, a retired Navy officer who served in Afghanistan last year and is now a counterterrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

NATO officials say ... Read the rest of the story here.

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What do you make of the Afghan war review? Do you think we should start pulling troops by July 2011?