Afghanistan situation no longer deteriorating says Stanley McChrystal

By Toby Harnden in Washington

The American commander who warned in September of "failure" in Afghanistan has said that the situation there is no longer deteriorating and President Barack Obama's troop surge has set the stage for "real progress" in 2010.

Speaking in Istanbul before the anticipated offensive against the Taliban-held town of Marja in southern Helmand, Gen Stanley McChrystal gave a strikingly upbeat assessment of the situation in the country he said last year was in danger of slipping into Islamist hands.

"I still will tell you that I believe the situation in Afghanistan is serious," said Gen McChrystal, commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan.

"I do not say now that I think it's deteriorating. I said that last summer and I believe that that was correct. I feel differently now.

The Marja offensive is widely viewed as the first major test of Gen McChrystal's counter-insurgency doctrine.

But the Nato commander linked the Marja operation to the twin American and British-led Operations Khanjar and Panther's Claw, which were launched last June just after he took over in Kabul following the firing of his predecessor Gen David McKiernan.

"What we're doing in the Helmand River valley writ large, we really started last summer increasing security in a number of areas," said Gen McChrystal. "You saw where the Marines went in. And British forces, Danish forces, Estonian forces went in.

"And they started to create a series of bubble security zones – pretty classic counter-insurgency. But they were not contiguous, not connected.

So what we're doing is, we're expanding that, increasing the areas that will be under government of Afghanistan control."

Gen McChrystal conceded that it was "unconventional" to announce the Marja offensive beforehand because it gave the Taliban the opportunity to flee, bury bombs and fortify. The aim, however, was to send a message to insurgents that "it's about to change" and to Afghans that the writ of their government was about to be extended.

U.S. Soldier Caught in Pink Shorts Battling Taliban

A Texas mom says she's proud of her soldier son who appears on the cover of the New York Times wearing boxer shorts while in battle.

Sheree Boyd of Fort Worth, Texas smiled when she saw the picture of her son in the paper for the first time.

"You can see it says I love New York all across his rear end there," she said while examining the picture.

Her son Zachary made the front page of the Times wearing pink boxer shorts and flip flops during a fight against the Taliban.

The 19-year-old is a member of the Army's 1st Battalion 26th Infantry.

Zachary's infantry is on a peacekeeping mission in the mountains of Afghanistan. His area is a hot spot for violence. "When he came home in March in his break, he said he had been in over 200 fire fights," Sheree said.

The photographer took the picture on Monday, May 11, according to Zachary's mother.

Zachary called his parents at midnight on Tuesday, before the paper hit stores, and told them what to expect. He explained to his parents that he was getting ready for bed when gunfire rang out.

"He was resting and then he said they just started getting shot at, so instead of taking the time to pull his pants on and everything, he just put his helmet on, his body armor on, grabbed his gun and went out," Zachary's father, Tommy Boyd, told CBS affiliate KHOU-TV in Houston.

The boxers came from a stop in New York City. His shirt came from Zachary's favorite ice cream shop, Woolley's Frozen Custard in his home town.

People often have their picture taken in exotic places wearing a Woolley's Ice Cream Parlor shirt - this is a first from a war zone.

Zach has a year and a half left to serve in the Army. He left for Afghanistan last year, barely 19 years old, according to KHOU.

The Boyds say their son wanted to join the Army after watching reports of the September 11th attacks as a little boy.

His mom said he felt a duty to serve and he's doing it with a sense of humor.