Gen. McChrystal Assessing Afghan Forces - Jessica Weinstein, Washington Times.
As Afghan officials counted ballots from Thursday's key election, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan was making his way through the Jalrez Valley on Friday, conducting an on-the-ground assessment of the troubled nation.
The journey has brought Gen. Stanley McChrystal to the site of the Afghan Public Protection Program (AP3) - a pilot effort begun under his predecessor Gen. David D. McKiernan - in which Green Berets have been recruiting and training local Afghans to police their own neighborhoods since March...
Gen. McChrystal made it clear that one of the main issues that he wants to address is increasing the Afghans' ability to secure themselves.
"We're working to grow the Afghan National Security Forces more quickly," he said, asking the AP3 commander, Sayad Ali Abbas, what he would need to help recruit more AP3 guards.
"We get one meal a day but we are a 24-hour on-call force. If we could improve our food [situation], that would help," answered Mr. Abbas.
"That's what I hear everywhere," nodded Gen. McChrystal.
The general, who was tapped by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gatesin May to take over command in Afghanistan, has been working on a set of recommendations on the strategy to stabilize Afghanistan...
More at The Washington Times.