The center of the 2010 NATO offensive, the Kandahar Province never really got much safer. But the policy of attacking one province then moving on continues, as officials say they are shifting out of Kandahar to escalate in southeastern provinces.

“We will begin to thin out and turn over security of Kandahar to the Afghan security forces,” said Lt. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti. Kandahar military officials expressed concern, however, that violence would get worse without the US.

The fear of losing largely illusory “progress” seems to be real, as US officials have continued to escalate the war nationwide and while some of the militant factions seem to flock to where the US troops are massed in the hopes of inflicting major casualties, others seem to prefer softer targets where US troops are less concentrated.

Kandahar was seen as a key province because it is the traditional base of operations of the Afghan Taliban. The US was hoping to secure and build a pro-occupation government around President Hamid Karzai’s n’er do well half-brother Wali, who was assassinated in July.

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