Spring Offensive

The Taliban boasted of a spring offensive, but both the Pakistanis and our forces in Afghanistan seem to be on the offensive against the Taliban instead.

In Pakistan:

"The people of South Waziristan now have risen against the foreigners. They have killed about 300 of them, and they got support from the Pakistan army. They asked for support," Musharraf said in a speech at a military conference in Islamabad.

"We are demanding the same in North Waziristan, and there are indications the same may happen there also," he said, referring to the adjoining border region in northwestern Pakistan.

And in Afghanistan, Afghan security forces backed by our airpower killed 35 enemy.

This is all part of a different kind of spring offensive:

Each year Taliban fighters have stepped up their attacks as the spring thaw began, but this year Gates said NATO should take the offensive and bring the fight first to the militants.

The initial phase of the assault began last month with Operation Achilles — sending more than 5,500 NATO and Afghan troops into opium-producing Helmand province to battle hardcore Taliban insurgents.

Evidence of our distraction from Afghanistan continues to be elusive.