Summer to bring long offensive in Kandahar

The U.S. military this summer is looking toward a lengthy offensive in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar, an operation that could ultimately define the outcome of the war. The two-month campaign, expected to begin in June, also will test President Obama's bet that tens of thousands more troops can make the difference in an eight-year war that has shown only modest progress. "This is really a strategic moment in the history of our involvement," national security adviser Jim Jones told reporters aboard Air Force One during Obama's covert overnight flight to Afghanistan last weekend. Kandahar has long been considered crucial to winning the war. U.S. officials believe it was where al-Qaida leaders planned the Sept. 11 attacks, and it served as a governing capital to the Taliban before the 2001 invasion.